018. waffles are my love language/for good company

One of the reasons I find good food so important is the ability it has to bring people together. I find such comfort in sharing a meal with friends or family and for everyone to be enjoying the food and the company-- it's something very special. Everyone has their special recipe, the thing they know will inspire mmmm's and second helpings, praise and conversation. For me, that recipe is for waffles. Waffles are my love language.

I made a very special waffle this month. If you know me at all, you know how much I love my birthday. I love having one day all to myself (yes, I know I am the only person to ever be born on November 3rd). I love the gifts and the hugs and how everything seems to sparkle just a bit, just for me. You know that episode of HIMYM where Lily wakes up at midnight on her birthday to put on a tiara and go back to sleep? I already have mine picked out for this year. I think I love my birthday because of my mother. Something my mother truly excelled at was birthday mornings. She was so good at making you feel special on your birthday. A week before she'd find out what kind of cake you wanted-- schwarzwälder kirschtorte for my sisters, strawberry tart for me. On my birthday, I'd wake up early before school and go downstairs where the dining room table wore the prettiest tablecloth and was covered in our best dishes. There would be the birthday chair, the most beautiful cake, and a glittering heap of perfectly wrapped gifts. We'd hug and eat and open gifts and then I'd be off to school, feeling like the most special kid in the world. It was special. She made it so, so special. I've tried to adopt her birthday customs. J's birthday was earlier this month and I woke up and made a yummy breakfast which I brought him in bed. He's not much of a cake person but he is very much a bacon and eggs person so I made waffles. I made waffles with cheese and bacon in the batter and eggs on top, stuck a little candle in it and set it next to some fresh-squeezed orange juice and a small heap of gifts.

I think it made him feel special and that's all I wanted. A special morning for a special man on a very special day.

Waffles are more than just breakfast to me. I'm not sure when it happened since I was never especially crazy about them before but in the past few years, it's happened. The glory of batter and hot iron, of lemon zest or chocolate chips or shredded cheddar. The elegance of pure maple syrup and fresh blueberries. I just love it. Last month we were poking around our local kitchen goods store and found a Belgian waffle maker on sale and bought in right away. We had a small, American-style waffle maker but it was never quite satisfying enough. With this new one, everything changed.
The other thing that probably sparked my wafflevolution was the discovery of a very good recipe. Before I found it, I would just google a recipe, pick the easiest and go with that. And it was never anything special. It was always a little too dry or blah or too sweet or not sweet enough. I found my recipe in one of my favorite, yet simplest, baking books; High Altitude Baking, v. 2. Fort Collins sits at 5,000 feet above sea level and some recipes require a little tweaking. But not this one.

A good friend Heather moved in next door last summer with her sweet daughter Juliet and we started having Saturday waffle breakfast parties. We had a particularly wonderful one yesterday. We invited Sarah and Blue and Heather and Juliet and we made a truly yummy breakfast that needed an extra table and 4 kinds of fruit. I squeezed about 16 oranges into juice and we drank two bottle of champagne. Heather made eggs and bacon and I made the waffles and we had more toppings than I could count.

not shown here: all the waffles and most of the toppings. ha.

When I'm having a good time, I forget to take pictures. That's what happened here. I have one of the table pre-waffles and I have one of our happy smiles. But I don't think I need a photo to tell you how good these waffles are. I hope you trust me by now.

Happy Sunday.
Make some waffles.
Share them with the people you love.

Waffles

adapted from High Altitude Baking, 2nd Edition by Patricia Kendall

I've made these on both a Beligan and an American-style waffle iron. Both work well, though the Belgian is infinitely yummier, for some reason. Another beautiful thing about these waffles is how simple they are to alter. I've made them with 1 tsp of lemon zest and then covered them in powdered sugar. I've added shredded cheddar and bacon to the batter and reduced the sugar to 1 tbsp, omit the vanilla. I've added 1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips. The options are endless. This recipe is for bare-bones waffles, ready to be dressed in your finest toppings. Some of our favorites include: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, nutella, whipped cream, pure maple syrup, lingonberry jam, raspberry jam... basically any jam. My favorite combination is Smucker's low sugar strawberry jam and Nutella or fresh blueberries, the lightest drizzle of maple syrup and topped with whipped cream from the can. 

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup whole milk
2 tbsp canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat waffle iron.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl, whisk together well.

In a seperate bowl combine egg, milk, canola oil, and vanilla. Whisk well.

Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until smooth.

Add batter to center of waffle iron and cook until golden. 

Serve immediately or keep warm in an oven set to 150-200 degrees placed directly on the oven racks. 

Happy Sunday.

One of our Saturday waffle breakfasts pre-Christmas and pre-Belgian waffle iron. (Heather, Juliet, and my sister Anna)

017. on trusting myself/on too much lemon

So far this year I have learned:
-that teaching full-time is hard but also wonderful.
-that having J home and not touring is hard but also wonderful.
-that I get unnecessarily, inexplicably crazy excited about going to Office Max.
-that I should always go with my first instinct.
-and, maybe most importantly, that there's no such thing as too much lemon.

I started the year on a shiny golden cloud. I had so much to look forward to and so many good changes were coming up. On January 5th I began teaching preschool full-time which (as stated above) is hard but also super gratifying and wonderful. I am up to my ears in French lessons and craft ideas and Montessori sand symbols and sleeping, snoring toddlers. It's pretty wonderful.
Another big change in my life is that J's band broke up and he is no longer touring half of the year. He's been touring since we first started dating, almost 3 years ago, and I thought it'd be a very scary, tough adjustment to have him home all the time. I am definitely a person who needs alone time-- like, most of the time. I was very worried. But you know what? It's actually pretty great. He gives me space when I need it and I never have to sleep alone so that's really the best thing. 

Since I work a set schedule now and am home by 4 every afternoon and since J is home for dinner most nights, I decided to kick my foodie habit up a notch and turn past just pinning every recipe with the words "goat cheese," "sweet potato," and "quinoa bowl" in the title and to actually start cooking more!  Totally radical idea, I know. But I have! And I went to Office Max and got a binder and some dry erase markers and made myself a recipe binder and a weekly meal plan whiteboard and I was so excited to get to work that I made lots of lattes on my brand new, beloved espresso machine and stayed up way too late ripping every good recipe out my two years worth of Real Simple and bon appetit magazines. I was very, very excited. Which explains why the following was such a crushing disappointment. 

I know everyone makes mistakes. But does anyone else ever screw up rice? I mean seriously? Just me, huh? It's not the first time it's happened, either. I made this vegetable curry dish on Friday night, a simple comforting food good for a snowy evening in. The recipe has directions for stove top rice and I chose to double everything and add extra water and I ended up with a double recipe of horrendously mushy, gluey brown rice. You guys, I was so mad at myself. I immediately pulled out my rice cooker and made another batch and wallowed in my bowl of curry all night. And you know what the worst part is? Before I started I totally said to myself Maybe I should just use my rice cooker, just in case... seriously! I will always trust my first instinct when it comes to rice from now on.

But this post is not about the tragedy of mushy rice. It's not about meal planning or Office Max or teaching school or J not driving me crazy. It's about me letting go of a recipe (something that terrifies me) and doing my own thing and trusting my gut and the final breath of mushy rice coming to a glorious, lemony end in the form of Goat Cheese & Rice Fritters with Smoked Salmon and Lemon Yogurt Sauce. Because goddamn. Because "goddamn!" is the word that came out of J's mouth after the first bite and because I had to take three bites before I could believe I had improvised something SO delicious.

Without further ado, here is my recipe. I based mine off a recipe I found on the pinterest by Always Order Dessert. 

Goat Cheese & Rice Fritters with
Smoked Salmon & Lemon Yogurt Sauce

Serves 4

For the fritters:
4 oz goat cheese
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tiny pinch red pepper flakes (add more if you like, I'm a giant baby)
1 organic lemon, juice and zest
2 cups of hot mushy brown rice (Doesn't have to be mushy but it can be and that's the beauty of this whole damn recipe. Also, I cooked my rice with 1/2 a diced onion and some mustard seed.)
Sea salt & black pepper
4 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups Italian bread crumbs (I use 365 brand because they're delicious)
1/4 cup canola oil (for frying)

For the yogurt sauce:
7 oz plain 2% Greek yogurt (I used Fage)
1 organic lemon, juice and zest
1/2 tsp sea salt

and 

8 oz smoked salmon


The How To:

1. In a large bowl, combine the goat cheese, garlic, thyme, red pepper flakes, and the juice and zest of one lemon. Mush and stir till nice and mixed. 



Add the hot, cooked brown rice and stir to combine so the goat cheese gets all nice and melty and creamy. Let it cool. 

2. While the rice mixture cools, we're going to make that yogurt sauce. It's easy but you have to trust me. Combine the yogurt, lemon juice & zest, and salt. If you taste it you are going to think it's way too lemony. But remember the most important thing I learned this week? There's no such thing as too much lemon. Just trust me. Whisk it smooth and then put it in the fridge to keep cool. 

3. After the rice has cooled, add the beaten eggs and the bread crumbs. Stir the crap out of this. Go to town with a spatula till your wrist gets sore (and it will.) Let it sit for a few minutes while you...

4. Heat the canola oil over medium-high heat. Once it's hot hot hot, take an ice cream scoop (or a big spoon or your hands or whatever) and plop a scoop onto the pan. Let it cook for a few seconds and then smash it gently with a (greased!) spatula. Let the fritters cook for 2-3 minutes (or until the bottom is golden brown) and then flip. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Once golden, place on a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Make the rest of the batter!

you guys, i'm sorry my stove is disgusting.

5. To assemble, place 2-3 fritters on a plate, top with a small slice of smoked salmon and a dollop of your lemon yogurt sauce. Then take a bite. Then be yonce` and goddamn goddamn. You can thank me later. 

Love you.
Marta

(P.S. I wrote most of the post at my new LINNMON / ADILS Ikea desk, sippin latte's, smiling at my new snake plant, aka mother-in-law's tongue, and listening to a rotation of Yann Tiersen and Iggy Azalea's "New Bitch." Yup. Oh, and some Beyonce`, in case you couldn't tell.)

016. cinnamon pear cake/Things That Make Me Feel Better

Does the person you love ever do something so consistently and so unnecessarily that it drives you a little bit crazy? Even if it's something incredibly sweet? Well, J has this habit of calling me every single time he gets off work and is about to drive home. Every single time I answer and tell him that we can just talk when he gets home because the drive home literally take 6 minutes in traffic. What a weird, sweet man I have. 

Last Friday I got some bad work-related news. I wasn't going to be able to teach part-time at the other Montessori school as well as mine due to a "conflict of interest." This meant I had to continue working my current part-time job that I was really beginning to hate. I took it well and told them I understood. I really thought I was okay with it but, as usual, it took a minute so sink in. By the time I drove my 15 minutes home from work, I was on the verge of tears and insanely sensitive and J said something so kind that I laid my head on his shoulder and sobbed for an unnecessary amount of time. He soothed me and comforted me. The way that I work the butter into the flour, rubbing gently, every tiny piece when I make a pie crust, that's the way he soothed my crying. Gently and slowly and by the end of it I was okay and I'd fallen in love with him all over again and I had this incredible urge to bake. Actually, as I flipped through the rolodex I keep tucked away in my head of Things That Make Me Feel Better many options poked out their heads. Did I want to take a mountain drive? Did I want to walk along the creek? Did I want to get under the covers and read Calvin & Hobbes? Did I want to bake? "YES," my mind yelled at me "YOU WANT TO BAKE!"

And so I baked. J comforted me so well and now I needed to self-soothe with butter and flour and vanilla sugar and cinnamon and maybe plums? Or apples? I decided on pears and dug out a recipe I'd saved on Pinterest weeks ago. I was going to make Cinnamon Pear Cake and I was going to feel better. And I really did. And it was okay that J calls me unnecessarily because really, he just loves me, and also because he inspired me to bake this cake. So be thankful. I know I am.

This cinnamon pear cake is insanely good right away or heated up the next day along with a mug of Bhakti chai. Share it with your friends and neighbors or they will get fussy. I added gold sprinkles, left over from my best friends wedding, to add a little pretty to my gloomy day.

Cinnamon Pear Cake

(adapted from Roxana's Home Baking)

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup white granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup milk
1 pear, diced

whipped cream (optional)
cinnamon for dusting (optional)

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease/butter a 9" round baking pan. Set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment on, cream butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together in a separate bowl.

4. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 5. Stir in the vanilla.

6. Add the flour mixture slowly, alternating with the milk.

7. Beat until just combined. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

8. Top with the pear chunks.

9. Place the cake in the oven and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.*

(sorry my stove is disgusting! i promise i cleaned it later that same day...)

10. Let the cake cool completely in the pan (but you might want to run a butter knife along the edges just in case.)

11. Once it's cool, remove it from the pan and cover it with whipped cream, use a knife to tame those peaks and slather it all over.**

12. Dust this baby in cinnamon and gold sprinkles because why not?

13. Eat & share & thank me later.

*The original recipe called for 45 minutes baking time but mine took closer to 60 minutes. Maybe it's my oven or something but it took forever to get a nice golden brown around the edges. So totally worth the wait.

**The original recipe calls for cool whip instead of whipped cream but that stuff freaks me out. I bet this cake would be just as good without any topping or with a thin layer of your favorite jam. (Lingonberry! Whoa!) 

Love,
Marta