As promised – here is the recipe for the crunchy banana muffins.  If it looks like a whole lot of flour, sugar, and butter… well, it’s because this recipe makes a boatload of muffins….  30 anyway, and that’s a bunch from one recipe. Enjoy!

Banana Crunch Muffins

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup melted butter, cooled
2 bananas, mashed
1 banana, chopped
1 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 30 muffin cups with paper liners. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs, milk, vanilla, melted butter and mashed bananas.

In a third bowl mix together the cereal, walnuts, and coconut.

Stir the butter and egg mixture into the dry mixture until just combined.

Then fold only 2 cups of the cereal mixture (reserve the remaining cup of the cereal mixture) and the chopped banana into the batter.

Spoon into the prepared muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full. Sprinkle the tops of each with the reserved cereal mixture.

Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, switching the pans on the racks halfway through.

Makes 30

Before Laura’s dish, here is a final description of the last recipe not yet included in the “four days of  le brunch”.  It’s all about Tram’s Banana Crunch Muffins.  You see, long story short, Tram got crunched for time and her hubby, Steve, couldn’t make it, so she brought her friend (and my friend too!) Matt. Matt is not only our friend, but also the producer of Tram’s afternoon show EVB Live, and the former producer of the old Valley Dish. Matt made the muffins, but since he doesn’t really like full-on banana flavor in his muffins, he made banana-pineapple muffins… yes that’s the short version! Matt’s muffins were a huge hit. But since I don’t have Matt’s recipe to share, I will share my “Crunch” recipe tomorrow.

Laura’s Overnight Breakfast Sausage Casserole

2 pounds ground sage pork sausage
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped green chilies
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
12 eggs, beaten
3 cups half-and-half
12 slices white bread, toasted and cut into cubes
1 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

Crumble sausage into a medium skillet. Cook over medium heat until evenly brown; drain.

In a medium bowl, mix together green onions, green chilies, mustard, salt, pepper, eggs, and half-and-half.  Add the sausage, bread cubes, and cheese, and stir to coat evenly.  Pour into two greased 11x7x2-inch baking dishes. Cover with foil and chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours, or overnight.

Remove the dish from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking to come to room temperature. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake, covered, for 30 to 45 minutes. Uncover, and reduce temperature to 325 degrees. Bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes, or until set.

Serves 16

The best thing about the four brunch recipes my friends made is that they can all be fully or partially made ahead. Anne’s “overnight” French toast obviously fits the bill. Or if your family enjoys “breakfast for dinner” – throw this together before you head out the door in the morning, take it out when you walk in the door, then pop it in the oven and you’ll have dinner (and dessert all-in-one; it’s pretty dang sweet!) on the table with almost no effort after a long hard day.

So another guest who made a dish that won’t be featured in the four days of brunch recipes, is Amy’s Smoked Salmon Platter with Dill Sour Cream. It was one of the “no-cook” recipes and was basically thinly sliced smoked salmon artistically laid out on a platter with minced shallots and capers sprinkled on top and sour cream with fresh chopped dill mixed in – served with bagel chips or sliced baguette on the side.  So easy, SO good, and oh so pretty!

Once again, I didn’t get a photo of Amy’s dish or even of Amy for that matter, but I did get a nice shot of her hilariously humorous husband, Scott (and Bubo – Sloane’s pooch).

Anne’s Overnight Peach-Blueberry French Toast

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons water
29-ounce can sliced peaches, drained and rinsed
1 small bag frozen blueberries
12 (3/4 inch thick) slices day-old Challa bread
5 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
A couple pinches of ground cinnamon

In a saucepan, stir together the brown sugar, butter, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Pour the brown sugar mixture into a 13x9x2-inch baking dish, and tilt the dish to cover the entire bottom. Place peaches and blueberries over the brown sugar mixture, then top with slices of French bread. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla. Slowly pour over the bread slices to coat evenly. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Remove the dish from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in preheated oven, or until the bread is golden brown. Spoon out portions to serve.

Serves 8

A few of the other guests brought recipes that have already been featured here on the blog… for instance, Peggy made THIS great salad that I wrote about back in September 2009.  And Peggy’s fabulous sister, Terrie, made a beautiful platter of roasted asparagus that was generously topped with crumbled goat cheese, crispy bacon, and lemon.  Regretfully, I didn’t get a picture of either Terrie’s asparagus or Peggy’s salad, (you can go to the link above to see the salad).  But thankfully I did snap a lovely picture of gorgeous Peggy!

Sloane’s Savory Bread Pudding with Mushrooms and Parmesan

1-pound loaf crusty country-style white bread
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 large garlic clove, peeled and minced
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1 pound assorted fresh mushrooms (such as crimini, button, portobello, and/or shiitake), thinly sliced
1  1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1  1/2 cups thinly sliced celery
1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
3  1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
8 large eggs
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish.

Cut bottom crust and short ends off bread and discard. Cut remaining bread with crust into 1-inch cubes (about 10 cups loosely packed). Place cubes in very large bowl. Add oil, thyme, and garlic; toss to coat.

Spread cubes out on large rimmed baking sheet. (do not wash the bowl) Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until golden and slightly crunchy, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Return toasted bread cubes to same bowl.

Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, celery, and bell pepper. Sauté until vegetables are soft and their juices have evaporated, about 15 minutes. Add sautéed vegetables to the bread in the bowl, stir in the parsley.

Whisk cream, eggs, salt, and pepper in another large bowl. Mix custard into bread and vegetables. Transfer to prepared dish. Sprinkle cheese over. (May be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Remove the dish from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking to come to room temperature. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake uncovered until eggs are set and top is golden, about 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting.

Serves 12

Here is the first of four brunch dishes that I’d like to share with you from our New Year’s Eve Brunch. Since I wasn’t the one cooking any of these, there will only be the one picture… no preparation photos. And in some cases, as with this one, I even forgot to take the picture myself and had to ask the creator of the dish to email me the photo taken from the leftovers they brought back home – thanks for this one, Mary!  Oh, one more thing – This is my 800th Post! Wow 800!

Mary’s Sausage and Egg Casserole with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Mozzarella

1 pound Italian sweet sausage, casings removed
1/2 cup chopped shallots
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, divided
5 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 cup half and half
1 cup whipping cream
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish.

Sauté sausage in a medium skillet over medium heat until brown and cooked through, breaking up with a spatula into small pieces, about 10 minutes. Add shallots and garlic and sauté 3 minutes. Add sun-dried tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of the parsley; stir 1 minute. Spread sausage mixture in prepared dish. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Whisk eggs, egg yolks, half and half, whipping cream, 1  1/2 cups of the cheese, and salt in a large bowl to blend well. Pour egg mixture over sausage mixture in dish.

Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese and 2 tablespoons parsley over. Bake until top of casserole is golden brown and knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 8

“Set Up The Ultimate Bloody Mary Bar”  What the heck? Who knew I was so on trend?  I had just done that very thing two days before!  So I immediately opened the magazine to page 60 and saw this -

This is the “ultimate” Bloody Mary bar? I don’t think so! They have a few good ideas, some of which I had already used on my Bloody Mary bar – like beef jerky, peperoncini, garlic stuffed olives, and pickled veggies. But come on, 8 snazzy items does not make an ultimate anything! Heads up Bon Appétit… the next time you want something done ultimately, give me a call.

This is how you set up an ULTIMATE Bloody Mary Bar -

First you make a Bloody Mary base. My recipe is below. I also offered 4 purchased Bloody Mary mixes, for more choice and variety.

Next, you put out as many vodkas as you have in your liquor cabinet… umm, yeah, I had six bottles plus my homemade infused Jalapeño Vodka and my homemade infused Veggie Vodka…. so quite a bit of vodka there! :-0

Now you may be thinking that the vodka is the fun part – but NO – “the upgrades” as Bon Appétit called them, this is the fun part!

Let’s see – we have citrus horseradish and cranberry horseradish (both purchased at the Downtown Phoenix Market from Grate Roots) in the front little glasses. Pickled garlic, garlic stuffed olives, kosher spears, Queen Creek Parmesan stuffed olives, Kalamata olives, Feta stuffed olives, and Homemade Red Onions – all arranged in the Christmas tree-shaped platter.  On the right- in the 4-section server – balsamic onions, artichoke hearts, marinated mushrooms, and crispy pickled sugar snap peas. Oh, and of course, the required celery stalks!

The back row of glasses hold pickled carrot sticks, Slim Jims and beef jerky, pickled asparagus spears and pickled white asparagus.  In the double Santa tray – homemade pickled green tomatoes, peperoncini, and Guindila peppers.

I didn’t get a very good picture, but I also had out the required “spice”.  A little bottle of habanero hot sauce, Sriracha sauce, pickapeppa sauce, Tabasco, Cholula sauce, Worcestershire sauce, bitters, and celery salt.

Plenty of glasses and ice. And don’t forget stir sticks, little forks or tongs for picking up all those upgrades, and picks or wooden spears for piling it all on and then plopping in the glasses!

Not everyone wants Bloody Mary’s, so I also served your basic OJ Mimosas and Mango Mimosas – both with Prosecco. Plus a coffee, hot cocoa, and hot cider bar.

Plus of little wine.

Plenty of bottled water…  All this equals happy guests!

Linda’s Bloody Mary Base

3 cups tomato juice
3 cups V-8 vegetable juice
1  1/3 cups freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup pickled jalapeno juice
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher and chill for at least 6 hours before serving.

Makes about 8 cups

My barrage of Christmas recipes has come to an end, time to let you know what we did for our New Year’s Eve Brunch.

I decided to host the brunch after my friends, Laura and Mary, and I were reminiscing about a fun annual Christmas cocktail party I used to host. I don’t recall why I stopped, but I’m sure it had something to do with feeling too overwhelmed and then it fell by the wayside in the following years, until it was forgotten. By the time I thought about hosting the cocktail party this year, it was too late, so I switched it to the NYE Brunch.

What made the original party unique, was that I would send out recipes to all the potential guests and they would choose a recipe (first come – first serve), make it, and bring it to the party. The concept is great because, as the host, you still have complete control over what is served and how it is set up. And as a pot-luck guest, you don’t have to “think” of what to bring.  And since you get all the recipes for every dish in advance, you don’t have to rely on someone to send you the recipe for that thing you just loved and want to make in the future. Plus, since everyone contributes, everyone feels completely invested and proud of how the party turns out.

For me, the #1 host benefit is that the RSVP’s come in, fast and furious! I sent out the email invitation with all the recipes attached at 3:00 PM on December 12th and everyone who could make it had responded by 6:00 PM the next day!  Here is what my email looked like -

Here’s how it works – Attached is a document with 10 recipes, the first two are no-cook for those of you who prefer it that way :-)  There are a couple baked items for you bakers and several main dishes. All can be done (or nearly done) ahead. I’ll have the ovens fired up if you need to finish or reheat something.

So pick a recipe and when you email me back to RSVP – be sure to REPLY ALL, so that everyone knows that the dish you have chosen is no longer in the mix. Obviously, the sooner you Reply, the better chance you get to make what you want to make. (this is bloody brilliant – I should market it as a way to get people to RSVP!!!)

If you can’t make it, we’ll miss you, but now you have 10 new recipes to add to your recipe box – my Christmas gift to you. xoxo

As the host, I didn’t plan on making a dish for the buffet. Instead I set up the drink stations and set out a few sweets, all purchased at Trader Joe’s.  But at the last minute, I remembered I had two layers of carrot cake (my seriously amazing carrot cake!) in the freezer, so I ended up frosting and decorating that and setting it out with the sweets.

The top photo shows all that was left of it after I sent home “doggie bags” with anyone who couldn’t eat another bite after the scrumptious brunch buffet. (Yes, the color is correct, I purposely made the carrots red instead of orange!)

Tomorrow I will share with you my elaborate Bloody Mary Bar and then throughout the next week – dishes that all my fabulous friends made for the brunch!

… is kinda like red and green, which makes this very pretty appetizer or brunch pizza perfect for Christmas.

Naan can be found on the bread aisle at most grocery stores, at Trader Joe’s, or at Costco. And smoked mozzarella with other specialty cheeses. But if you can’t find the mozzarella, substitute smoked Gouda.

Smoked Salmon Pizza

4 Naan bread rounds
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Salt
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 lemon, zested and divided
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons fresh minced dill
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded smoked mozzarella cheese
8 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon
1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 tablespoon capers; rinsed, drained, and spread on a paper towel to dry
1/4 cup small dill sprigs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place the Naan on a baking sheet and brush the rounds with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Sprinkle each with salt and place in the oven for 10 minutes, until the bread is just slightly crisp.

In a mixing bowl combine the remaining olive oil,  cream cheese, garlic, half the lemon zest, lemon juice, minced dill, and the black pepper; mix well.

Spoon one-quarter of the cream cheese mixture evenly over each of the Naan rounds.  Sprinkle the smoked mozzarella over each round. Arrange salmon and red onion on top.

Return to oven and bake 5 minutes or until edges of the crust are crisp and the cheese is melted. Remove from oven and sprinkle with the remaining lemon zest, then top with capers and dill sprigs.

Slice each round into 4 wedges.

Makes 16 slices

I am completely “committing to the chai” with this French toast. It goes without saying that this is delicious served with the Vanilla Chai Tea Hot Toddy for a perfect fall brunch. Enjoy!

Chai French Toast with Hot Chai Syrup and Cold Chai Yogurt

1/2 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon Trader Joe’s Spicy Chai Latte mix
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 teaspoon Trader Joe’s Spicy Chai Latte mix
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
1/2 cup warm tap water
3/4 scoop Trader Joe’s Spicy Chai Latte mix
French country white bread loaf, sliced 3/4-inch thick (6 slices)
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter

Pour the syrup into a small saucepan, place over low heat and whisk in the chai mix until completely dissolved and combined. Keep warm.

Place the yogurt in a small bowl; whisk in the chai mix until completely dissolved and combined. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Whisk the eggs with the vanilla paste in a shallow bowl. Measure the water in a 1-cup glass measuring cup and whisk in the chai latte mix until the powder is completely dissolved.  Briskly whisk into the eggs until combined.

Place baking sheet in oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Dip the bread slices into the egg mixture until they are completely saturated. Add 3 or 4 bread slices to skillet and saute until cooked through and brown, about 3 minutes per side. Place on baking sheet in oven to keep warm. Repeat cooking with remaining 2 tablespoons butter and  bread slices.

Cut the French toast slices in half and place 3 halves on each dinner plate. Drizzle with syrup, dollop with yogurt, and serve immediately.

Serves 4

These are some super good pancakes, so airy and fluffy. Sour cream is the secret. And they are the perfect vehicle for the delicious rhubarb-strawberry compote recipe I gave you yesterday. Make any morning extra special by whipping up a batch of these!

Sour Cream Pancakes

1 cup flour
1  1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons butter, melted
For the Skillet
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Rhubarb-Strawberry Compote
Maple syrup, if desired

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

In another medium-sized bowl, whisk eggs, sour cream and water until well blended; add melted butter, whisking until combined.

Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients all at once, stirring gently just until batter is moistened and no large lumps remain. Take care not to over stir.

Heat a skillet and melt 1 tablespoon of butter with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.  Pour in approximately 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Batter will spread to make approximately 5-inch circles. Cook until tops of pancakes are evenly bubbled and appear slightly dry rather than wet.

When set, flip pancakes using a large spatula and cook on second side until evenly browned.

Serve topped with a pat of butter and a couple spoonfuls of rhubarb-strawberry compote.

Drizzle with maple syrup, if desired.

Makes about 8 pancakes

I love to go on vacation but what I love even more, is coming home.  Isn’t everyone like that?  Dave and I had another lovely week up in the North Woods of  Wisconsin with our BFF’s Jeff and Jen and their 3 boys; Travis, Blake, and Jack. They (as in the 6 of them, not me) love swimming in the lake, boating, fishing, water skiing, tanning, hiking in the woods, and being outdoors.  I love staying inside their gorgeous log-cabin home, and relaxing. They can have all that sun, water, nature and mosquitoes!  Even though I do everything in my power to avoid those blood-sucking devils, they find me.  Oh well, it’s worth it to live in the beauty of the pines and be with the people I love.  Another thing I love is making meals with Jen. She’s a great cook and she and I are totally in tune with each other in the kitchen.  Can’t wait until next year…

While we were out of town, we missed a big happening in “the Valley of the Sun” – and I’m not talking about the All-Star game (although we did unfortunately miss that too).  We missed the “now famous haboob” that occurred here on July 5th!  I have two links for you to watch it – as I did – from the comfort of my laptop.  Here is the first video and here is another view.  Amazing!  And here is a picture of a damp paper towel that I used to wipe off the center island kitchen counter … mind you, my house was completely and professionally cleaned by Gabby, my “twice-a-month house cleaner” earlier that very same day – July 5th!  And no other living creature has been in the house since.  This is a small sampling of the dirt that came in through our closed and locked windows and doors when the massive wall of dirt rolled over our defenseless little house!

Disgusting!   On to better and more appetizing things…

Cheese Blintzes

Filling
3 cups cottage cheese, divided
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon flour, if needed
Blintz Batter
6 large eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
Fruit Topping
4 cups frozen blueberries, thawed
1/4 cup apricot preserves

Begin Filling:  Place 1 cup of the cottage cheese in a cheesecloth-lined strainer placed over a bowl and allow to drain for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile begin making the blintz batter.

Blintz Batter:  In a blender mix together the eggs, water, milk, baking powder, flour, sugar, and the 2 tablespoons melted butter and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

In an 8-inch skillet, preferable non-stick, melt a thin slice of the butter over moderately high heat.  Pour in enough batter to just coat the bottom of skillet, swirling, and cook, undisturbed; until top is set and bottom in golden (do not turn over). Transfer blintz to paper towels in one layer, golden side down.  Make more blintzes with remaining butter and batter.

Finish Filling:  In a food processor, blend the drained and undrained cottage cheeses, cream cheese, sugar, and cinnamon until smooth. If necessary, add flour to thicken filling.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.   Put 3 tablespoons filling in center of each wrapper and fold opposite sides of wrapper over filling until sides barely touch. Fold in ends to completely enclose filling, forming packets, and arrange, seams sides down, on baking sheet. Make more blintzes with remaining filling and wrappers. Bake blintzes, covered loosely with foil, until heated through, 5 to 10 minutes.

Fruit Topping:  Place blueberries and apricot preserves in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir occasionally for 8 minutes, then remove from heat and spoon over warmed blintzes and serve immediately.

Makes 10 blintzes

Yesterday it was red velvet waffles, today we have banana waffles. The red velvet just about hopped out of the waffle iron themselves, the banana waffles stick a little bit because of the fresh banana in the batter, so be patient while getting them out of the iron. Just pry them a bit with a fork and they will come out in one piece. And if you waffle iron doesn’t have a light to indicate that the waffle is cooked through and ready to remove, just wait until the steam stops, that is another way (the old fashioned way) to let you know it is ready.

Banana Waffles

1 cup flour
1/4 cup turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, separated
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup mashed banana (about 1 1/2 bananas)
1/3 cup melted butter, cooled

Topping
Banana slices
Chopped toasted walnuts or pecans
Warm maple syrup

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

Combine egg yolk, milk, bananas, and melted butter in a mixing bowl.  Gently stir in the dry ingredients, do not overmix.

Using an electric hand mixer in a small bowl, beat the egg white until stiff  but not dry.  Use a rubber spatula to gently fold egg white into the batter until just combined.

Pour a heaping 1/3 cup of the batter evenly onto the waffle iron, close and cook until steam no longer is rising from the iron or the indicator light goes off and the waffle is cooked through.

Transfer to a baking sheet and place in a low oven to keep warm until all waffles are cooked.

Serve waffles topped with banana slices, nuts, and warm maple syrup.

Makes about eight 6-inch diameter waffles

Happy Birthday to my handsome, talented, kind, caring, loving, and wonderful son, Connor! I am so proud to be your mom and I absolutely adore you! (this sweet picture was taken last month at my Dad’s 80th birthday party by Sloane’s friend, professional photographer Robert Westerman.)

I woke up early to make Connor his birthday breakfast and thought, “My baby is no longer a teenager, I feel so old!”  But then I realized that I really don’t feel old at all, that is just something people say and then for some stupid reason you automatically say to yourself.  What I actually feel is happy and proud to have raised two cute and innocent little children into such amazing adults – that doesn’t make me feel old – it makes me feel privileged and lucky.

Instead of the traditional homemade birthday dinner of his choice, Connor requested a birthday breakfast, specifically, waffles.  So I made two waffle varieties and served them with bacon, melon, and juice. Waffle #1 is red velvet, the recipe is below…  #2, banana waffles, will be posted tomorrow.

Before we get to the recipe, I want to share some “waffle tips” with you. This applies to waffles of all flavors, not just red velvet and banana.

Tip #1: Do NOT overbeat the batter! It makes for tough waffles. Only stir the batter enough to thoroughly moisten the dry ingredients, little lumps are OK, they will cook away.

Tip #2:  The consistency of the batter should be similar to gravy, thick but still pourable.

Tip #3:  It may seem obvious, but always fully preheat your waffle iron. The batter will not rise if the iron is not fully ready. Most waffle irons have lights to indicate when the iron is hot and ready to use.

Tip #4: It doesn’t matter if your recipe calls for it or not, always separate your eggs. Beating the eggs whites to stiff (but not dry) peaks and then gently folding them into the batter at the end, is what guarantees a light and delicious waffle. Be sure to make this extra little effort!

Tip #5:  The ingredient list should always include a bit of oil or melted butter to help the waffle develop an outer crust, if you have a recipe that doesn’t include either, even adding as little as 1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable or canola oil will do the trick.

Tip #6: Unless you are making a savory waffle, be sure to include at least a pinch of sugar and a dab of vanilla extract in the batter.  OK, you may want to leave out the vanilla for savory, but keep the sugar. They add that “extra special something” that makes the difference.

Red Velvet Waffles

1 1/2 cups cake flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Warm maple syrup

Whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, and baking powder into a large bowl.

In another bowl whisk together the egg yolks, food coloring, vinegar, vanilla, melted butter, and buttermilk.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined, do not overmix, the batter should have small lumps.

Beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry, and fold them into the batter with a spatula until just combined, again, do not overmix.

Preheat waffle iron and oil lightly.

Pour a heaping 1/3 cup of the batter evenly onto the waffle iron, close and cook until steam no longer is rising from the iron or the indicator light goes off and the waffle is cooked through.

Transfer to a baking sheet and place in a low 200 degree oven to keep warm until all the waffles are made.

Meanwhile, beat the cream and powdered sugar together to soft peaks, refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve waffles topped with cold whipped cream and warm maple syrup.

Makes about eight 6-inch diameter waffles