Classic Waffles

My Hubbers and I have always had what I feel is a fair relationship about divvying up household chores.  We don't have "his and her" chores.  We just jump in when something needs to be done. He usually mows the lawns and I take care of the flower beds, I do most of the housework, he does our ironing (the man loves to iron!), I cook our meals, he does a lot of dishes. Some days one person does more than the other, but it all works out and our household runs pretty smoothly.

When our children were young he assisted with a lot of the morning chores, such as making breakfast. Now my Hubbers is not a cook. He will tell you that. His meals are pretty basic offerings like scrambled eggs and bacon. His most ambitious breakfast was waffles and our children love waffles.  He always made his waffles with Bisquick. To him, that was homemade.  If we were out of Bisquick it was a major calamity, how would the kids have breakfast that morning?  I would have to step in and rescue them and make homemade waffles! To this day I have to keep Bisquick on hand for when he wants to make waffles!

We had our granddaughter for five days this past week and I made waffles one morning before taking her to school. It reminded me of days gone by with a young child awaiting her breakfast, lunch paraphernalia all around, and backpack and papers scattered everywhere (and I am reminded why we have children when we are young. Yikes, they are a lot of work!) As I was making the waffles, she said "Nana, that's not how Grandma makes waffles".  I asked how Grandma made them and she said "Grandma just puts them in the toaster"!  I guess we all have our favorite way to make waffles!

This waffle recipe is the one I use most often. It comes from a cookbook I have had for over 30 years, The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham. They are crisp, light and buttery and easy to make for those crazy school mornings.

Classic Waffles

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs, room temperature **
1 1/2 cups milk, warmed slightly
1/3 cup vegetable shortening, melted
1/3 cup (2/3 stick) butter, melted

Put the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk the mixture until blended.

In another bowl, beat the eggs well, then stir in the milk.  Combine with the flour mixture until blended.  Add the melted shortening and melted butter and beat until blended.

Pour about 1/2 cup batter into a very hot waffle iron.  Bake the waffles until they are golden and crisp.

Makes 6-8 waffles, depending on size of waffle iron.

**  To quickly warm up eggs I put in a bowl of warm water while I'm gathering my ingredients.