...and in the morning, I'm making WAFFLES!

Waffle and Iron
Originally uploaded by kcmckell

My dad is an interesting personality. One of his most fascinating abilities is the knack for finding really cool junk and restoring it to it's former glory. The waffle iron pictured is just one of his many findings. After sanding and cleaning the shnarf out of it he proceeded to season the cast iron by a process of heating, greasing, cooling, wiping and repeating again until the cooking surface was nice and shiny. He then had the brilliant idea of sending it to his wayward daughter in Hawaii (me!).

Clay and I love to make nice hearty breakfasts on weekends, we used to just do pancakes but would have to go out when the craving for waffles hit! However, once the waffle iron arrived it was full speed ahead to the land of waffle making!

Our first time trying the classic cast iron waffle maker was, umm, bumpy. I think we got roughly two half decent waffles out of it and spent at least an hour picking out toasted waffle bits from the iron.

Feeling a little disgruntled and very stubborn we tried the iron again the following weekend with a LOT more success. I've found the key is to keep BOTH sides heated. To start the process (while making the recipe) I turn on two burners to medium heat and gently coat both halves (I'm not sure when my particular iron was made but this version comes apart) with either Pam or butter. Once they are nice and toasty warm I pour on roughly a quarter cup of the waffle batter (I just use a good ol' Joy of Cooking recipe), place the second half on top and gently set it down so that batter doesn't go squirting out all over the place, although I am pretty good at doing that too! Once the batter is in (this is important) Leave it alone! Leave the burner on medium-low and let it sit for 3-4 minutes, then flip so that the other side becomes heated again. Let it sit until the waffle easily comes off of the top half. Once that happens it should be done. The first time we did it this is where I messed up and lost patience.

I've found that when cooking or baking it is best to find yourself that zen state or else there will be mad explosions of flour, sugar and batter to clean up, or just a lot of picking at crispy remnants of waffle in a hot waffle iron. Wee!

Once you have successfully removed the waffle, start the process again. I've found that alternating the side that the waffle iron is on is the best way to keep both halves hot enough to cook! By the end I had a stack of lopsided golden brown waffles and a hungry boyfriend. But as soon as the waffles disappeared at an alarming rate, the hungry boyfriend turned into a happy cuddly boyfriend. And me? After all the flipping and flopping of the waffle iron (and the mini weight work out that comes along with it), I stand resolute that there is nothing better than eating homemade from scratch waffles in the morning!