I consider myself a morning person, but I’m not an early morning person. Breakfast during the week is quick, usually cereal with skim milk, and eaten in the den as I check my email before grabbing my purse and heading off to work.
Since breakfast is rushed Monday through Friday, we have a tradition that every Saturday and Sunday, Andrew makes us steamy lattes. He’s impressively good at it now, foaming milk as well as any barista, and giving us a coffee shop experience inside our own living room.
While he did his magic at the espresso machine, I mixed this batter together and squeezed the orange juice. I couldn’t believe how refreshing the fresh orange juice was. The last time I tasted orange juice that pure was at The Brown Pelican, a now-closed restaurant on Santa Barbara’s Hendry’s Beach. The orange juice was $5.00 (you paid for the view), and the juice I squeezed tasted just like it, reminding me of our $45 breakfast overlooking the ocean, just days before the restaurant closed its doors. We lingered over our lattes while the waffle machine heated up, reminisced, and then sat down at the table for one of the best weekend breakfasts we’d had in a long time.
SATURDAY MORNING WAFFLES
I like adding vanilla to my waffles, and mix everything in one bowl for easy clean up.
Recipe adapted from Everyday Food
Makes about 5 waffles (1/2 cup of batter each)
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Maple syrup and butter, as desired, for serving
Directions
Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.
In a large bowl, whisk milk and eggs together. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Stir gently to combine; do not overmix. Gently whisk in melted butter.
Following manufacturer's instructions, cook waffles until deep brown and crisp. (For a standard waffle iron, pour a generous 1/2 cup of batter into center, spreading to within 1/2 inch of edges, and close; waffle will cook in 2 to 3 minutes.) Serve warm, with maple syrup and butter, as desired.
