sunday freshness

After we finished dinner this evening, Cornelius turned to me and said, "We ate really well this weekend". So true. Everything we ate was fresh and didn't require extensive cooking or baking or heating. Our morning started off right with light and crispy waffles topped with fresh and juicy peaches. Since we had a relatively late breakfast, lunch wasn't necessary. Dinner was tomato and red onion and feta sandwiches (because everybody likes sandwiches, right?!) served with fresh refrigerator pickles and accompanied by some icy cold homemade lemonade. As for dessert, the previous night we worked up a sweat the old fashioned way as we whipped up a batch of homemade coffee ice cream with a touch of cinnamon, some roasted pecans and some dark chocolate shavings. Oh my!

I'm not sure if I'll post the ice cream recipe because I found it was a bit too sweet for my tastes, but the rest of my Sunday cooking adventure can be found below. Enjoy.

crispy waffles
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c whole wheat flour
1/4 c cornstarch
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
3/4 c milk
1/4 c vanilla yogurt
2 T vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1 envelope of vanilla sugar

1. In a batter bowl, mix flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

2. Measure yogurt, milk and vegetable oil in a 2-cup measuring cup.

3. Whip up egg whites into soft peaks.

4. Beat egg white in a small bowl with an electric hand mixer to almost soft peaks. Sprinkle in sugar and continue to beat until white and glossy.

5. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and whisk until just mixed. Fold in egg white to batter in dollops. Fold in with a spatula until just incorporated.

6. Add batter to waffle irons and cook as usual. Serve with syrup or fresh peaches.

lemonade
1 c sugar
1 c water
1 1/4 c lemon juice (use fresh only! approximately 6-8 large lemons)

1. Create a sugar syrup by bringing water and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and add in lemon juice.

2. Pour into pitcher along with 4-5-6 cups of cold water. Add enough water to suit your tastes. I like a lot of water, so I usually fill up my pitcher with about 6 cups of water. Serve over lots of ice. Decorate with fresh mint, if desired.

refrigerator pickles
I spotted these refreshing pickles over at Kitchen Parade and decided that I'd start making some right away. It seemed like the most perfect summertime snack. Tangy and sweet and crispy fresh. I made these in the morning and ate almost a whole jar by the afternoon! What can I say, I love pickles! I made one batch according to Alanna's recipe (subbing the mustard & celery seeds and tumeric with dill, garlic and hot peppers since its' what I had on hand), but then decided to make a second version with different vegetables and different spices altogether. Both versions tasted great and I'll post my version here.

1 c white vinegar
1 c water
1 c white sugar
2 t pickling salt
1 long stick of cinnamon, broken into 3 peices
1 t hot peppers
3 cloves garlic
1 green pepper, cut into strips
1/2 small red onion, cut into quarters
baby carrots

1. In a small saucepan, heat vinegar, salt, water and sugar to the boiling point. Remove from heat. Add carrots to simmer in the hot liquid for 5 minutes.

2. Add green pepper, red onion and garlic and spices into a glass jar. Add carrots to the jar and pour in the hot liquid. Cap off jar and let cool before putting into the fridge.

Once you are finished the jar (and I've already polished off one), you can add more vegetables into the liquid. I've added in some radishes and yellow peppers for my next batch. This should keep for about 1 month in the fridge.

tomato sandwich with lemony-feta spread
I like my sandwiches with a bit of a bite. If you want a fresher taste, then you can skip marinating the tomatoes and onion in the vinegar and just add them fresh to the sandwich.

Please note Cornelius' lovely handmodeling duties!

2 red + ripe tomatoes
1/2 red onion
2 T red wine vinegar
handful of fresh basil, torn
1/2 avocado, sliced
romaine lettuce
1 small block of feta cheese
1 T olive oil
1/2 c parsley
1/2 lemon, juiced & zested
salt + pepper
good bread, toasted

1. Cut tomatoes and onions into slices. Place in a shallow bowl and drizzle with vinegar and add some salt & pepper over top. Tear some fresh basil over top and marinate for 30 minutes. You can skip this step if you don't like a tangy sandwich!

2. In a small bowl, mash together the feta, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest and parsley together.

3. Toast the bread. Add feta mixture to one slice and mash avocado on the other slice. Add tomatoes and red onions and lettuce to the feta side and cover with the avocado side. Add salt & pepper if necessary.

Serve with fresh refrigerator pickles.

happy canada day!

This post has nothing to do with celebrating Canada, except that it sure is lovely eating waffles and if a holiday tempts you into making the effort, then by golly, make waffles!! The best waffles I've ever eaten were at Roscoe's House of Chicken n' Waffles in Long Beach, CA while we were on our honeymoon roadtrip through California & the Southwestern states. While it may seem like a strange pairing of syrupy waffles and fried chicken, it was heaven on a plate. So when we received a waffle iron as a wedding gift, Cornelius and I tried very hard to replicate the lightness and crispness of those fantastic Roscoe's waffles. And though we'd never complain about all the waffle bounty our wonderful waffle maker has doled out over the year, we still dream about hitting up Roscoe's again.

On this holiday weekend morning, I decided that waffles would really hit the spot, so I looked at my standard waffle recipe and hoped that I had enough milk in the fridge to make it happen. I was a 1/2 cup short so instead of scrapping the waffle idea, I improvised by adding the juice of a lemon with it's zest and the results were fantastic! Lemony, light and crisp these were very fine tasting waffles and since visiting a Roscoe's House of Chicken n' Waffles would involve a couple days of driving, I think these waffles will do nicely.

lemon waffles
2 c all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
2 T brown sugar
1 t salt
1 1/2 c milk
2 eggs
1/4 c melted butter
1 lemon, juiced and zested

1. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, brown sugar and salt.

2. In a measuring cup, beat the eggs and add the milk. Pour into flour mixture and mix lightly. Add the melted butter, lemon juice and lemon rind and lightly mix until combined.

3. Heat waffle iron and spray with vegetable oil. Cook until golden brown. Serve with syrup or be decadent and serve with whipped cream and fresh berries.

pumpkin

When autumn rears it's head, I like to be prepared. A warm sweater and a scarf for the evenings is usually necessary and I try to carry my red & white polka-dot umbrella where ever I go, just in case. This is also a season for treking out to a pumpkin patch, carving jack-o-lanterns and eating hearty, warm meals. What's not to love? Yesterday I had some left over canned pumpkin and decided that this morning I would make some pumpkin waffles for breakfast. Sure, it's decadent eating homemade waffles on a Tuesday morning, but Cornelius has the day off and I work from home, so I couldn't really see a problem! Perhaps if it were the weekend, I'd substitute the vegetable oil in the recipe for melted butter. Guilding the lily just seems to work better on a lazy Sunday morning.

Pumpkin Waffles
1 3/4 c milk
3/4 c canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
6 T oil
2 large eggs, beaten
2 1/4 c ap flour
1/4 c brown sugar
4 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon (I used more and I also threw in a bit of ground ginger & ground cloves)
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt

Place milk, pumpkin, oil and eggs in a bowl and stir to blend. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and whisk until smooth. Let the batter rest 5 minutes before using. Prepare waffles the usual way.