BUTTERMILK WAFFLES FOR TWO

Some people might just think this post is a bunch of fluff. If the result wasn't so delicious and attractive, I might agree with them, but it is both so I don't.

When I bought this darling little personal - sized waffle maker at an estate sale months ago, maybe even a year ago, I never imagined it would produce such a delightful treat for Wayne and me. 

I just thought it would make a smaller waffle that I might cook for my MO grandchildren sometime.  That was more of a dream that I have about my time with my grandkids than reality since I dream more about doing things with them than I actually do.

The other day I saw the little maker when I was looking for something else, of course. Isn't that the way it always is. Anyway, I brought it up to the kitchen and it has sat on my counter for several days waiting for me to inspired.

Yesterday was that day. We woke up to snow on the ground with more coming down...a fine mist of snow. Saturday evening it started sleeting first leaving a thin sheet of ice on everything outside. 

It was supposed to change to snow during the night or at least that was the forecast. I woke up around 3:30 and thought I would check out the window, but there was no snow, just the layer of ice. The next time that I woke up and looked out the window, I saw the snow. (It continued the fine mist of snow the rest of the day as forecasted but I don't think we got the 5 to 12 inches they were calling for. Maybe 5 though. Considering how difficult it is to forecast the weather here in Kansas City, I guess they did pretty good.)

When I got up I decided I wanted something different than my usual Greek yogurt and decided it was time to try out the little personal-sized waffle maker. I was going to use some boxed pancake and waffle mix, but didn't have any. That meant I had to look for a recipe. 

Most of the recipe called for milk, but we haven't started buying milk in a 2 - quart size because it doesn't take up as much room in our refrigerator. (When we replaced our fridge we downsized slightly and so I have less room in it.) I found one that used buttermilk but not quite enough so I just finished the cup with skim milk. It was fine.

When I finished making the little waffles, I remembered  a tradition that our dil Sara brought to the family when she and Jeffrey were married. In our family we have a New Year's Day tradition of eating blacked-eyed-peas to bring us good luck for the year. In Sara's family, they had waffles with cherry pie filling on top. We learned about her tradition one year when we were with them on New Year's Day. Well, I love cherry pie filling so enjoyed my waffle that day. I don't think we have repeated her family tradition again and yesterday wasn't New Year's Day, but since I had some leftover cherry pie filling in the fridge, I topped our little waffles with some on mine and some strawberry pie filling on Wayne's since he loves strawberries, to surprise him.

I cut the recipe in half so if you want more waffles or use a larger waffle maker, just double the recipe. After we finished eating, I went on and made up the rest of the batter and made 5 more waffles. I quick froze them in the freezer. When we want to eat them, we will just pop them in the toaster to heat up. 

PRINT RECIPE.

BUTTERMILK WAFFLES

1      cup flour

1/2  teaspoon salt

1      teaspoon baking powder

1/2  teaspoon baking soda

1      tablespoon sugar

1      large egg.

1      cup buttermilk

1      tablespoon oil

Whisk together the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, and oil.

Pour the wet mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients.

Stir gently just until combined.

Cover the batter and let it rest for 5 minutes while you preheat the waffle iron.

For my personal sized waffle maker, I measured two level scoops of batter or about 3 tablespoons. If you are using a larger waffle iron, you will use more.

Close the lid and bake until the light on the iron signals the waffle is ready.

Remove and keep warm until you are ready to eat.

I made two for each of us and after buttering them, I spooned some pie filling on each.

So pretty and very delicious!

I cooked the rest of the batter, quick froze them, and

then put them in a freezer bag until we are ready to eat the rest. Will pop them in the toaster to warm up. 

Here is  my cute little waffle iron...

COLORFUL SPIRAL PASTA SALAD

 

Can you already believe it is April? I can't. And Easter, 2024 has come and gone.

Our Easter Sunday started early as we planned to go to our 8:00 A.M. service. We chose that service because we planned to go to church with our younger son Patrick and his family at their church at 10. Then we were going to go to our gkids' godparents for a family lunch.

As it turned out we missed going to church with Patrick and fam because they decided to go to the Sunrise service at 7 at their church but I didn't get his text because my phone had updated a few days ago and I didn't go in to exclude family members from the Do Not Disturb setting after bedtime. So we didn't know they had changed their minds in time to go. 

We enjoyed out service and then came back home until time to go meet them for lunch. I had asked Jamie what I could bring and she told me a pasta salad. That was something I haven't made too often so I had to go hunting for a recipe.

I found this recipe in a new cookbook for me called Taste of Home Half Homemade. I thought it looked so attractive in the picture and seemed to be really easy to make. It actually took me longer to cut up the fresh broccoli than it was to mix the ingredients. I have decided it won't be the last time I make it when we are going to a potluck.

PRINT RECIPE.

COLORFUL SPIRAL PASTA  SALAD

1        pkg. (12 oz) tricolor spiral pasta

4        cups fresh broccoli florets

1        dry pint grape tomatoes 

1        can ( 6 oz) pitted ripe olives, drained

1/8     teaspoon salt

1/8     teaspoon pepper

1-1/2  cups Zesty Italian salad dressing  

In a Dutch oven or big soup pot, cook pasta according to package directions,

adding the broccoli during the last 2 minutes of cooking.

Drain and rinse with cold water. 

Transfer to a large bowl.

Add the tomatoes and olives.

Measure the salad dressing and add the salt and pepper to it, stirring with a whisk.

Pour the salad dressing mix over the pasta mixture in the bowl.

Toss to coat. 

Cover and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Store leftovers in a closed storage container in the refrigerator.

If you keep it a day or two, the flavors will be even better.

HAPPY EASTER

PUMPKIN SPICE PANCAKES

 With Thanksgiving over, you might have some leftover pumpkin that you want to use. I love these pancakes so much, I opened a new can just to make them. Since it only uses 1/2 cup of pumpkin, that means I can make them several more times over the next seven days.

I love pumpkin pancakes and have been disappointed at every restaurant this fall that I have ordered them. One restaurant the pancake was so bad, I had to ask them to bring me something else to eat. I just decided I would have to make my own ones if I wanted some delicious pumpkin pancakes. The recipe makes enough pancakes that we can save the batter in the refrigerator and then make some more the next morning. We prefer that method instead of making them all at one time and then just heating them up the next morning.

PRINT RECIPE.

PUMPKIN SPICE PANCAKES

2     cups buttermilk biscuit and pancake

1     egg

1     cup milk

1/2  cup canned pumpkin

1/4  teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Combine the first four ingredients with a spoon in a mixing bowl until most of the lumps are gone. Add the pumpkin pie spice.

Allow the batter to rest a few minutes. (You can heat the griddle or skillet you are going to be using.)

Spoon out batter on hot griddle.

Cook until bubbles form and pancake has browned.

Flip the pancake and cook on the other side until brown. (Oops, one of them stuck to the griddle.)

Butter if you like, sprinkle with powdered sugar, add syrup...whatever you like.

Here is a picture of the pecan pie I made for our Thanksgiving with our younger son and his family

and the turkey that Patrick, our son, smoked. It was so-o-o-o good and moist.

CREAMY PEANUT BUTTER PIE

If you've been following my blog, you know that I have been leading the Cafe Treats at PWUMC since the beginning of year. When I started it, I decided it would be a nut-free zone so no one would have to be concerned about choosing something that might have nuts that they were allergic to. Because the Cafe Treats have taken up most of my cooking time, that means whenever I am searching out for interesting desserts in my cookbooks, I have had to pass up a lot of recipes because they contain peanut butter or nuts of some sort.

Yesterday it was my turn to hostess the Quilters' Canasta group and since I needed a dessert I thought I would take advantage of the allergy-free group and make something with peanut butter. 

Sometimes when I am on the hunt for a dessert for a particular occasion, I have a hard time finding just what I want to make. Monday night when I was looking, I must have found four or five recipes that sounded really good. It was really hard to decide which one I wanted to make, but I finally chose this fabulous Creamy Peanut Butter Pie from Paula Dean Cuts the Fat cookbook. 

My apologies to Paula as I had to use regular cream cheese because I didn't have the Neufchatel that she used in her recipe. I also used a chocolate cut pie crust instead of the graham cracker piecrust because I had it and I thought it would go great with the peanut butter. My whipped topping wasn't completely thawed when I got ready to add it to the peanut butter/cream cheese mixture, so I just waited and later spread the rest on top and then melted some chocolate chips to drizzle across the top. It looked so pretty. All of my friends told me how delicious it was.

PRINT RECIPE.

 

CREAMY PEANUT BUTTER PIE

1       package (8 ounces) low-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), at room temperature

2       tablespoons powdered sugar

1/2    teaspoon vanilla extract

1       cup creamy regular or natural peanut butter, softened

1       container (8 ounces) sugar-free or regular frozen whipped topping, thawed

1       9 - inch  prepared graham cracker piecrust

In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth.

Add the peanut butter and beat, scraping the sides of the bowl,

until thoroughly combined.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the whipped topping in two batches. (I didn't do a very good job of dividing the whipped topping in half so had to work a little harder.)

Spoon the filling into the piecrust and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. (I made mine the day before.) The next morning I spread the extra whipped topping on the top.

Serve cold or at room temperature.

Note: I reserved several spoonfuls of the whipped topping and spread it on top of the cold pie. I didn't quite spread to the edge.

Then I melted about 20 dark chocolate chips with a heaping 1/2 teaspoon of shortening in the microwave and

then drizzled it over the top. With the shortening, it hardened as it cooled but tasted great with the peanut butter and whipped topping.

After everyone left, Wayne and I went to the Platte County Fair. It is the first time we have gone. It is the longest continuing county fair west of the Mississippi River beginning in 1863. I find that so fascinating that during the Civil War, people in the county were getting together for a fair. Anyway, I had the opportunity to wear my first ever pair of cowgirl boots that I bought a couple of years ago but just never got around to wearing them. I didn't get to ride the Ferris Wheel but had to at least take a picture of it. There is a story about a certain young man who ran the Ferris Wheel in a carnival and the beautiful young woman he met and later married and had a daughter that they named Patricia that is very dear to my heart. 

It was a fun evening. I'm sorry it has taken us 15 years to get there.