Growing up I liked to eat waffles, we had them every Sunday morning it was tradition in our home.  Dad would get up and make waffles every Sunday we would pile them high with way too much brown sugar or drench them in more than enough Maple Syrup, but they were always good.  Well when my wife and I got married we got a waffle maker and I am ashamed to say that until this past weekend I had not touched it, one year had elapsed and we had not so much as made a single waffle.  Well that changed and we will be making waffles more than once in the following years.

Being that I knew absolutely nothing about making any kind of waffle that did not originate in box (I am ashamed to say), I was pleasantly surprised when one day a tweet from @thefoodgeek about waffles from scratch broke my concentration.  Now making waffles is not my specialty, so the recipe looked really simple and we gave it a whirl.

Waffle on a plate

It was almost like making waffles from a box except you have to plan ahead a little the night before and start the batter, then in the morning, add the eggs and cook them like you would cook a box waffle.  It was simple and they were really quite tasty.

Ingredients
2 c flour
2 c milk
8 tbsp butter, melted and cooled (we used margarine, blasted allergies)
1/2 tsp yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla ( the original recipe called for 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp cinnamon ( to original recipe called for 1 tsp, but it seemed like to much for my palette)
2 eggs

Instructions
The night before mix dry ingredients.  Stir in milk, butter and vanilla until it is mixed well.  Cover and let it sit out overnight.  The next morning separate the egg whites from yolks, mix the yolks into the batter.  Whip the whites and fold them into the batter.  Pour the batter on a waffle iron and enjoy when cooked.

Adapted from A Year from Scratch – Simply Amazing Waffles

I didn’t change much in the original recipe but I did increase the vanilla and decrease the cinnamon to match my tastes.  It is probably pretty incredible the way it is written up on A Year From Scratch, but I really like my vanilla.  There are some other great recipes and cooking information over at A Year From Scratch that are worth reading through, make sure you check them out.

One last note, these waffles freeze incredibly well, just let them cool throw them in a zip lock and freeze.  Then pull them out and toast like a toaster waffle, they make a pretty wicked toaster waffle.

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Rarely to I find Dutch food a treat, I am Dutch and the closest thing that I find that is Dutch that I purposely plan to consume is Rusk and I am not sure why that is, I am usually not a fan of bland food.  However, this Christmas I was asked to make Pigs in a Blanket, to bring to Christmas brunch and so I have.  Using a recipe found online and then confirmed against a family recipe to create a truly Dutch treat, it is possible.

Homemade Pig in the Blanket

Ingredients
For the dough
2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 c vegetable shortening
1 egg beaten
1/2 c milk

For the filling
1 lbs pork sausage
1/2 lbs ground beef
1/4 c bread crumbs, made from bread dried in the oven and crumbled
2 tbsp cream
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
Sift together dry ingredients, cut in shortening.  Mix in beaten egg and milk.  Turn out onto a floured surface, knead dough about 10 times until uniform.  Divide into two sections, roll each to 1/4 inch thick and cut out 15 2″x3″ rectangles from each, set aside.

For filling, blend all ingredients together by hand, until uniform.  Roll into 30 rolls of meat, think sausage links.  Wrap dough around each “link”.

Place on brown paper bag on cookie sheets with sides, bake 40 minutes at 350°F

If you are afraid it is going to be too bland, spice it up with some hot and spicy whole grain mustard.  This will become a Christmas, and most likely year around favorite for me.  What are you favorite Christmas time dishes?

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