Weekends are for Waffles

This is one of my favorite recipes to make on a lazy Saturday or Sunday morning.  The great thing about this recipe, besides the wonderful taste, is that it's pretty versatile, like most of the recipes from this cookbook.  I've made it as waffles or pancakes, with whole wheat or white flour, with blueberries or strawberries, etc.  Any leftovers are good as new later in the week if you reheat them in the toaster.

Berry Good Waffles
From: Going Wild in the Kitchen by Leslie Cerrier
Grade: A!  Very easy to make and always delicious!

I often cut this recipe in half since there's only 2 of us - makes about 3 waffles.

2 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour (the original recipe calls for whole wheat pastry flour, but I don't use that because someone in our house won't touch the stuff...)
1 tsp baking powder (the original recipe calls for 2 tbsp - you only need this much leavening power if you're using only whole wheat flour, or if you want to have some really crazy looking pancakes...)
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk (original calls for apple juice)
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla (original calls for 4 tbsp vanilla, but like I've said before, I'm not made of money and 1 tsp does just fine)
1 cup blueberries (frozen works as well as fresh)
1 tbsp honey

I love this cookbook because the instructions for most recipes are the same as this one - mix everything in a bowl.  So easy!  Then just spoon onto your griddle, pan, whatever (I use nonstick spray for every batch) and cook to desired doneness.  Best with maple syrup, of course!  If you're using strawberries or any other berry you like, just make sure the pieces are as small as blueberries, or else you'll have trouble keeping the waffles/pancakes together.

Dinner for the in-laws

I had fun putting together this menu, and everything was made with things already in the house, since I had no car to go to the store anyway.

Appetizer: Rutabaga, broccoli and cheddar cheese knishes
     Grade: B- (very time consuming to prepare, and the flavor is not that remarkable)

Salad: Chopped spinach with apples, oranges, and raspberry vinaigrette
     Grade: B+ (very easy to prepare and quite tasty, but the dressing has a short shelf life) 

Side: Mashed potato and rutabaga casserole with carmelized onions
     Grade: A! (not much more work than making regular mashed potatoes, but much tastier!)

Main Dish: Sauteed pork tenderloin and pears in mustard-port sauce
     Grade: B+ (not too hard to prepare, but the flavor was a little dull) 

Desert: Blueberry pie
     Grade: A! (very easy to make - not your usual pie crust - and absolutely delicious!)



Appetizer: Rutabaga, broccoli and cheddar cheese knishes
Adapted from: 1001 Jewish Recipes, by Faye Levy
Caution: This is a very time consuming dish to make!

Dough:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks butter
~5 tbsp ice water

Mix flour and salt in a food processor. Add butter (cut into ~1/2 inch pieces) and process so mixtures becomes crumbly.