Pots and Pins

Raised Waffles...

I just have to get through one more week before I can go back to my normal schedule.  One more week before the Madness ends!  Of course I'm talking about college basketball and with every game (there have been at least 2 million in the last month) there is not only the game itself but the recap...the one on TV and the one the mister provides.  I don't mind the recap on TV as it usually lasts about 30 seconds and there are always some good clips to watch but the mister's recap tends to go on a bit longer and without any visuals I'm left listening to him tell me every about every single shot that should have gone in and why it didn't and if the kid had only gotten the rebound and if the coach wasn't such an idiot and if the right team had been there in the first place...if, if, if.  My ears bleed!

  

Now what does college hoops have to do with waffles?  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  Except that one particularly long game day I managed to escape from the Madness long enough to whip up a batch of waffle batter which was extremely important to my well-being.  If my evening was going to be ruined with one game after another followed by the mister's regurgitated version, I could at least look forward to a happy morning - one filled with hot crispy-on-the-outside waffles, syrup filled squares and melted butter dripping over the sides...now that is something to look forward to!

 

 

 

 

Did you pick up on the fact that this waffle batter is made the night before?  That's right, because this batter isn't your ordinary run-of-the-mill waffle batter - it's made with yeast so it has to have time to rise.  Once the batter is made it's covered with plastic wrap and left to sit on the counter overnight and in the morning you're ready to make waffles.  So easy even a caveman can do it, but don't let him, he will overfill the waffle maker and you'll have one heckova mess to clean up!

Talking about recipes one day, my Fashionista friend asked me if I had her mom's waffle recipe...she said it was amazing and I would love it!  She also said it was a very, very old recipe.  When I got home I pulled out my copy of Marion Cunningham's Lost Recipes and looked to see if she had a Raised Waffle recipe - sure enough!  And it was the same as Mrs. Millward's!  This is what Marion Cunningham wrote: 

"This recipe comes from the 1896 Fannie Farmer Cookbook.  The Raised Waffle recipe alone could have sold a million copies.  Don't make the mistake of thinking this is just another waffle, it isn't.  It has won more accolades than any recipe I know, and it deserves them all."

High praise indeed!  Mrs. Cunningham, Mrs. Millward and the Fashionista all have excellent taste when it comes to taste...these are by far the best waffles you will ever eat - make them soon, maybe even for Easter! They're worthy of breakfast on a high holy day, like the Final Four Championships, too!!

Raised Waffles - From the Fashionista, Mrs. Millward, Lost Recipes by Marion Cunningham and the 1896 Fannie Farmer Cookbook

1/2 cup warm water

1 package active dry yeast

2 cups milk, warmed

1 stick butter (8 tablespoons) melted (if you want to really kick these up a notch brown the butter first!)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Use a rather large mixing bowl - the batter will rise to double it's original volume.  Put the water in the mixing bowl and sprinkle in the yeast.  Let stand for 5 minutes to dissolve.  Add the milk, melted butter, salt, sugar, and flour to the yeast mixture and beat until smooth and well blended.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand overnight at room temperature.  Just before cooking the waffles, beat in the eggs, add the baking soda and stir until well mixed.  The batter will be very thin.  Pour about 1/2 to 3/4 cup batter into a very hot waffle iron (or however much your iron holds).  Bake the waffles until they are golden and crisp.  This batter will keep well for several days in the refrigerator.  You can freeze any left over waffles, wrap them between sheets of waxed paper and then put in a plastic bag, they will keep for two months.  Makes about twelve 6-inch waffles.

Loaded Egg Salad...

The mister got a speeding ticket in January - he was stopped for going 36 mph in a 30 zone.  Luckily I was in the car with him and was able to keep him from saying anything antagonistic to the cop. He smiled and was pleasant and took his ticket without so much as one foul word.  Miracle right there!  I tell you this because it was, in my opinion, out of character for the mister to be so agreeable over a piddly 6 mph especially since he was going downhill!  So the mister modeled ticket behavior for me - which should have come in handy last week when I was pulled over for going 39 mph in a 25 zone. I was driving downhill on a very steep slope and I would like to state, for the record, right here, because the copper who pulled me over wasn't the least bit interested in my defense...it was all GRAVITY!!!  I do not have a lead foot - I've never had a speeding ticket in my life and when I told that to the copper he said, "Not until today!" and then he laughed. Irritating.  I wish I could say when I was pulled over that I acted with perfect deportment, like the mister did, but looking back I might have uttered the word entrapment (he claimed he was parked on the side of the road and I just blew right by him...) and I might have inquired about him having better things to do like catching actual criminals (to which he said, "I just did, you broke the law Ma'am."  Yes, he Ma'amed me.  Irritating.)  I also pointed out that it was not my fault that car manufacturers put the heaviest part of the car in the front, thereby making it practically impossible for any car not to be basically PULLED down a hill.  He said, "Good one," and laughed again.  Irritating.  I bit my tongue and held back on the donut comment as he handed me my ticket, told me to slow it down, turned and walked away.  Then I saw the amount...$154 and I couldn't help myself, "Are you kidding me?!?!?  Juan Valdez gets a raise, coffee prices soar and that justifies you giving me a ticket for $154?!?!?!"  The cop walked slowly back to my window and said, "Did you say something?"  I just smiled, and like the guilty speeding coward that I am, I told him to have a nice day.  Irritating.

If you are sharp as a tack then you will remember that I do not eat eggs -  not scrambled, fried, over-easy, hard-boiled or soft and I do not eat egg salad - yuck.  The mister loves egg salad and since egg season/Easter is almost here, I thought I would share my egg salad recipe with you - it's a great way to use up all of those left-over Easter eggs.  

This egg salad is loaded with so many wonderful flavors that the eggy taste is almost lost - which is the only reason I would eat this egg salad (if it were the last bit of edible food on Earth.)  I can tell you the mister and the boy and my egg-salad-loving neighbors down the street LOVE this...so while I can't personally attest to it's wonderfulness - others can.  My egg-phobia should not keep you from making and eating this - it's got everything you'll love - bacon, cheese, tomatoes, celery and the surprise of green olives stuffed with pimiento!  It's crunchy and creamy and that's why this is reportedly so good!

Loaded Egg Salad - Pots and Pins

12 bacon slices

8 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup finely chopped celery

¼ cup chopped pimiento-stuffed green olives

1 medium tomato, finely chopped

¼ cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 to 1/2 cup mayonnaise (depending on how creamy you like your egg salad)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

12 slices white sandwich bread, toasted and buttered (butter is optional)

12 red leaf lettuce leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Saute bacon in heavy large skillet over medium heat until brown and crisp, remove to paper toweling to drain/cool.  Combine chopped eggs, celery, olives and tomato in bowl.  Mix in mayonnaise (start with 1/4 cup and add more if desired) and mustard.  Season with salt and pepper.  Crumble bacon and add to egg mixture.  Gently fold in cheese.  Place buttered toast slices on work surface.  Divide egg salad among 6 toast slices.  Place lettuce leaves atop egg salad on each.  Cover with remaining toast slices.  Cut sandwiches diagonally in half.  Makes 6 sandwiches.

Irish Freckle Bread...

Did I tell you I gave the mister a DNA kit for Christmas?  I ordered it from Ancestry.com.  The mister is always blathering on about how he's 1/4 Scottish, 1/4 Irish, 1/4 Cherokee, and 1/4 Mystery Meat.  It was $100, well worth it to find out if the mister is indeed William Wallace's great-great-great-great-great-great-etc.-son.   I personally think he is as the resemblance to the real William Wallace, not the Mel Gibson version, is striking!  Or maybe we'll find out the mister is related to Arthur Guinness?  If so, the Guinness family would be proud of his support all these years!  If the mister is indeed 1/4 Cherokee then that opens all kind of opportunities for his Golden Years...he could go live on the reservation, get a job in one of the casinos and spend every lunch hour dining at the buffet - bland food as far as the eye can see!  We are still waiting for his results to come back - but one thing is certain, with his ancestry - Irish, Scottish and Cherokee - I should probably get him in for a liver check soon!

 

 

Since St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow, I thought I would remind you to wear green and you have 24 hours to build a Leprechaun Trap, that is, if you want to try to catch a Leprechaun - like duh, who wouldn't?!?  You also have time to make something festive for tomorrow, like this Irish Freckle Bread.  This bread gets it's name from the currants, raisins and dates that freckle the bread - lending it a sweetness that makes it perfect for an afternoon snack or for breakfast with a cup of your favorite morning mocktail. 

 

 

 

 

This is a quick bread, meaning the dough doesn't need to rise.  But it does take some time to make, the fruit needs to soak in hot tea for about an hour and then the bread itself takes an hour to bake...but don't let that scare you away - your home will smell wonderful and you'll have a wee bit of Ireland to enjoy!

This recipe is from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion cookbook.  It's a really moist and tender bread and even though it's made with whole wheat flour you won't notice it much, the sweetness from the fruit is the star of this bread.  Oh, if you want to make it even more Irish...substitute Irish Whiskey for an equal amount of the tea!!  Faith and Begorrah!!

Irish Freckle Bread - Adapted from Kind Arthur Flour Baker's Companion (aka Tea Brack)

1 cup brewed hot tea; Irish breakfast tea is recommended but I used Rooibos Herbal Tea

1 cup raisins, packed

1 cup currants, packed

1 cup chopped dates

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

2 1/2 tablespoons coarse sparkling white sugar

Pour the hot tea over the dried fruits in a medium-sized bowl.  Set the mixture aside to cool to lukewarm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly grease an 8-inch round cake pan.  In a medium bowl, stir together the brown sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.  Add the dried fruit, and any remaining liquid.  Stir till thoroughly combined.  The batter will be thick and stiff and it will look like it won't come together but just keep stirring.  Spread the mixture into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle the top evenly with the coarse sparkling sugar.  Bake the bread for 60 to 70 minutes, till a cake tester inserted in the center comes out moist, but without clinging crumbs.  Remove bread from the oven and turn it out onto a rack to cool.  Serves 8. 

If you need any other suggestions for St. Paddy's Day, click on my link for St. Patrick's Day below left - you will find all kinds of great recipes to help you celebrate being Irish - even if you're a wannabe!

 

Quilt Group Friday...

We woke to another sunny day in Seattle...a person could get used to this!  Day after day of seeing a big yellow light in the sky surrounded by blue in February and March, well, it's unheard of around here!!   No clouds, no gray skies, no rain!!!  This past weekend we spent more time outdoors than we did in and loved every sun-drenched minute.  Days like this are hard on a quilter though...who wants to stay indoors and sew when the sun is out?!?  So I won't be staying indoors today...I'm going to go out into the sunshine and drive to my favorite fabric shop!  While I'm still inside, let me show you the quilts who made an appearance at our last meeting!

Our year long group project has finally come to an end!  Each month one of us got to have the group make blocks for us.  Ardith requested red, white and blue stars of any shape and size...she got quite the mixture!  We put her blocks out on a table to see how they looked - pretty darn great!

Kareena showed us her scrap-buster crayon strips - she had two of the strips done but this pic doesn't show how long they are - and they are long!  When this top is done it will have every color in the crayon box...cute, cute, cute!

Helen showed us this top a while back but she didn't have the borders on then...we all agreed, gray is a really good background color.  Just look at all of those triangles!   This is another great scrap-buster quilt.

Stephanie made this adorable baby quilt - love the stripped small border - it really sets off the blocks! 

Janet made this Christmas quilt pictured above.   Janet didn't think she was a real quilter...hahaha...there are many ways a quilt-maker turns into a quilter and Janet is a Real Quilter!  In case you're wondering what makes a person a Real Quilter, I've written down my Top Ten ways...

A real Quilter is someone who:

Makes more than one quilt a year

Has a stash and doesn't need a comb for it

Makes holiday quilts (because she has made quilts for herself and all of her loved ones and needs an excuse to keep on quilting!)

Has several quilts in the works at one time

Knows that a sandwich is not food

Knows that Warm and Natural is not a medical reference

Can strip and stipple without getting arrested

Understands that size does matter...1/4-inch cannot be rounded up

Uses a rotary cutter more than a whisk

Buys fabric she doesn't need

Now that you've been educated, let's continue with the show!

Lori finally finished her masterpiece!!!  I say finally because while Lori said this quilt took a very long time, in another universe this quilt would have taken a century!  That is not a printed fabric border - that's all very fine hand-applique...Lori is a Real Quilter!!

Lori also brought this very cute kitty quilt she made for her newest grandbaby.  The quilting on this little quilt is wonderful, too!

Denise made both of these - I love the runner!  Wouldn't an entire quilt made with just little squares be cool?  Might have to attempt that!  Denise paper-pieced the wall-hanging - all of those points are perfect - Denise is the paper-piecing Queen!!

This might just be the most amazing thing I've seen...Jenny is making this - these are the blocks she has finished so far and there will be 50 in all.  Jenny purchased State Flower Fabric so each Grandmother's Flower Garden block is made with fabric representing one of our 50 states.  In the center of the block Jenny has hand-embroidered the two-letter initials for the state and then she has hand-stitched around each block in a contrasting color.  Gray and creamy white background really set off the flowers...this is going to be so fabulous!!!  Way to go Jenny!!

That's it!  Short and sweet this month because the weather has been too nice to stay inside and quilt! 

 

Mayonnaise...Garlic Aioli...

The boy and his bride came for dinner Sunday night which is always fun and interesting, especially when it comes to what to serve.  The bride doesn't eat beef, only chicken.  I had some breaded chicken cutlets ready to go and homemade bread so I decided to make chicken sandwiches with Parmesan cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and mayo.  Except I had no mayo.  I always have mayo.  I searched the refrigerator, even prompting a quick cleaning out of all the science experiments lurking on the bottom shelf.  No mayo.  Then I searched the pantry - which again included a quick cleaning and tossing of old bread, half opened packages of stale cookies and cereal boxes that were put away with nothing in them (the mister's handiwork.)  No mayo.

 

Next I opened the door to the cave (the closet under the stairs) and entered.  Every manner of thing resides in this closet, including a six-pack of unopened glass Coca-Cola bottles dated 1968, two pairs of mini-binoculars, doll body parts (don't ask), serving plates, platters, trays and canned food.  But no mayo.  I opened and entered the cave three different times in an attempt to find a jar of mayo because I always have mayo.  No mayo.  I did find a pair of ice skates I thought I'd given away and my jar of thumbtacks and a full bag of Callebaut semi-sweet chocolate!  Score!

  

 

 

 

 

Even though I always have mayo, I could not find any...so I had to make my own.  Which, when I think about it, was the right choice all the way around.  Homemade mayo is easy and quick to make and it tastes SO much better than the jar stuff.  Especially if it's doctored up a bit with minced garlic or capers or olives or jalapeno or just about whatever you can think of!  More on that in a minute...one egg yolk, combined with lemon juice, white wine vinegar, a little salt, canola oil and about 6 minutes, is all it takes to make a great tasting mayo.

Adding in minced garlic really brings up the flavor -and changes the name from mayonnaise to garlic aioli!  That's right, just by adding garlic you've got aioli sauce.  Talk about presto-chango!  We were talking about that, right?  Because making your own mayo or garlic aioli, changes whatever you're putting it on from routine to yummy.  Mayo is fine, garlic mayo or aioli is finer.  Presto-chango!  (FYI:  Aioli purists would use olive oil instead of canola.)

This morning as the mister was going out the door to Global Headquarters, I asked him if he noticed the mayo on his sandwich last night, he said he did and he thought it was good.  So I told him I made it, since we were out of mayo.  He immediately stopped, set down his bag of tricks (briefcase) and opened the door to the cave.  I laughed and told him I had already looked THREE times and we didn't have mayo.  Two seconds later he pulled out a jar of mayo from the bottom shelf.  That man is a freak of nature!!  He said he remembered seeing it when it was in the cave looking for a light-bulb.  He smirked.  I smirked more.  I always have mayo.  Guess it's time to clean out the cave.

Homemade Mayonnaise - Garlic Aioli - Adapted from Epicurious

1 large egg yolk

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

3/4 cup canola oil, divided

for aioli:  1 clove garlic, minced, black pepper to taste, optional

Combine egg yolk, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. Whisk until blended and bright yellow, about 30 seconds.

Very, very slowly add 1/4 cup of the oil to the yolk mixture, stream it in as slowly as possible, whisking constantly, taking about 4 minutes to do so.  This step is important so the oil doesn't separate from the egg but emulsifies.  Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup oil in very slow thin stream, whisking constantly, until mayonnaise is thick (mayonnaise will be lighter in color). Cover and chill. Can be made up to 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.  Makes about 3/4 cup. 

To make aioli, add 1 minced garlic clove to the egg mixture.