The Final Votes on Waffle Week

After dinner last night we tried to recap all of the different savory and sweet waffles we had made, and voted for favorites.

Bill: loved the Sourdough best for just the waffle itself, but thought all of the Thai waffle combos (savory and sweet) were the most interesting.
Alyssa: loved the curry waffle plain with butter, and also the Thai ensemble (including dessert) for an entire meal.
Rachel: preferred the Italian calzone waffle for savory and the plain waffle with strawberries, chocolate sauce and whipped cream for dessert
Kirsten: Oh, do I really have to choose? There was not a waffle we made that I wouldn't love to have again (and may as we finish left overs). But, I guess my choice today is the whole tex-mex deal and the cornmeal waffle best, and I'd vote for Rachel for the strawberries and chocolate.

Guess what Rachel really wanted for breakfast this morning? Yep- waffles!

I think it is certain we will repeat most of these recipes again, and there were several other ideas that we didn't even get to, like sweet potato waffle, both savory and sweet. Do we have to wait a whole year to do this again? Maybe we'll have to institute a new waffle of the month club for this year. Now if I could just lend a small portion of this enthusiasm to a "Salad Week!".

On the 7th and Final Day of Waffle Week

On the 7th and Final Day of Waffle Week, we went all out! Buttermilk Waffles with Sausage Gravy and side of Cinnamon Apple Compote for brunch this morning, and tonight -Thai Green Curry with Chicken served over a slightly sweet waffle made with lime juice, coconut milk, and cilantro, and for dessert, added in chopped Banana, and topped it with Caramel Sauce made from sweetened condensed milk. As strange as it all sounds, it was pretty amazing.

For brunch we went for "Old Faithful", or our family traditional. I went ahead and made the batter, using the Buttermilk recipe in Breakfast in Bed- by Jesse Cool
1 c flour
1/4 tsp bkg soda
3/4 tsp bkg pwdr
1 1/2 T sugar
pinch of salt
2 eggs separated- whites whipped and folded in at the end
1 c. buttermilk
3 T butter, melted ( I used oil)

For the Sausage Gravy- I fry up and brown a tube of sausage (using part regular and part "hot" is great as well), draining grease if need be. Add several T of flour and stir in, and brown a bit more. Add milk to make a good gravy- probably 3 c. or so. Skim milk does not work the best. I actually had most of the base for the gravy in the freezer and only had to add extra milk. It may not look the prettiest, but it sure tastes great!

For the apples, I peel and slice a whole pan full of apples, add a bit of lemon juice, a bit of apple juice, and eventually several shakes of cinnamon, and a small amount of brown sugar to taste. I cook on low until soft. They are yummy on a waffle by themselves with maple syrup, or served along with the gravy.

Our Thai Waffle night was primarily my husband's endeavor. He found a recipe on-line for Bangkok Savory Waffles by Jeffery Alford adn Naomi Duguid at www.leitesculiaria.com that of course we adapted some a bit. The original recipe was as follows:
Bangkok Waffles
1/4 cup rice flour or rice starch
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup canned coconut milk, plus a little more if needed
1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup tiniest dried shrimp (We omitted- ewww- yuck!)
Peanut oil or vegetable oil for frying
20 to 30 coriander leaves

These were originally intended as a rather chewy, crepe/pancake to dip in a thin sauce. After making a baby one in the skillet on the stove, Bill decided he wanted a bit more traditional waffle, with the same sweet, tangy flavor. So, once again we pulled out the box of Krusteaz and I added "some"- "What? Why didn't you measaure it?" he said. But I think it was about 1/2 c. Then I added 1 T or so more of lime juice, some more coconut milk to make a thick batter, and finally, beat the egg white and folded it in. By themselves, the waffles were flavorful, slightly sweet, with a bit of tang from the lime and would have needed quite a bit more cilantro for it to have had more than visual impact. Rachel says they were just "odd". The rest of us thought they were terrific with the curry Bill had made and I'm eager to try them as crepes with the dipping sauce from the original recipe.

Chicken in Green Curry Sauce:
Once again, we were trying for something a bit easier. Bill started with browning onion, added red pepper to it, then chunks of chicken breast. He poured in a jar of Trader Joes Green Curry Sauce that a friend had given us once upon a time ago and doctored it with extra broth, lime juice, coconut milk, and a touch of heavy cream, and finally, fresh cilantro. Ok, having a good jar of green paste would have been easier, but we didn't have one!

We served the curry on top of the waffle, and all but Rachel thought it fabulous, which was expected. The waffles were such an intriguing taste, that I decided to try my friend's suggestion. She had told me at the beginning of this adventure that her daughter's favorite breakfast in Thailand was banana pancakes with sweetened condensed milk on top. I'm not a huge banana fan, nor is anyone in the family. But, gotta try it, and this was the perfect time. We first tried some left over plain buttermilk batter waffle with banana on top, with a caramel made from sweetened condensed milk (left over in the fridge). DELICIOUS! Then we made a waffle from the Thai batter, and put the banana inside- chopped small- again topped with caramel. EVEN BETTER! Four non-banana lovers thought it was great!

Caramel
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk.
Heat on stove in heavy pan on low heat, stirring almost constantly, till it comes to a boil and is a pudding consistency. Remove from heat. Add addional water or milk as needed to thin.

So, we sadly brought our waffle week to a close, after having a terrific week filled with great food and lots of fun!
Bon Appetit if you try any!

On the 6th Day of Waffle Week....

I made for all my family- a "Swiss waffle", with ham and gruyere. It pretty much looks like a waffle and eggs, but, I'm sure someone else could spruce up the plate a bit.

Ever since living in Paris and working as an au pair once upon a very long time ago, I have loved both making and eating crepes. There are umpteen different things you can put in a crepe and they all taste delicious. However, I think one of my favorite savory crepes remains simply ham and good gruyere cheese melted inside it. If you've never tried gruyere, you might think it's just a different name for Swiss cheese. It's not! First of all, there are no holes in it. Second- it tastes completely different and oh so wonderful. Its a subtle, nutty, rich flavor, particularly when melted. We've tried a few gruyere's made in America, including Trader Joes, but so far they're all terrible and there is no comparison. Anyway, I thought it was a no-brainer to include it in a waffle.

Despite being Saturday, it was a busy day at the races, (after a lazy morning in bed and in p.j.'s for everyone) that included karate, making fresh salsa, black bean salsa with cornbread crostini, and guacamole for a command party for my husband's work this evening, and it was a priority to make it to a 3:00 pm showing of the movie "The Muppets" on base today. So, we settled for a very quick lunch waffle today. The whipped egg white buttermilk version would have been better, but I pulled out my trusty Tupperware of Krusteaz mix, added
1 tsp of dried mustard,
6 slices of Boars head ham chopped up-(by Rachel), and
2 good handfuls of finely grated gruyere.
Once again we used the Belgian waffle maker, and served scrambled eggs with more gruyere melted on them, on the side. If you liked fried eggs, I"m sure they'd be terrific on top, with a bit of the yolk to mix in with it, etc. However, I've been convinced for 40+ years that I don't like fried eggs (have never tried one to my knowledge), so I hate to change that opinion now! It was no surprise to all of us that they were DELICIOUS! We liked them best with butter, and just a bit underdone, to keep a softer texture. Alyssa wanted a bit less ham in hopes that she could taste the gruyere better.

Would I make them again? Yes and no. I think the joys of the subtlety of gruyere is a bit lost in all the bread of the waffle, as compared to a crepe. So, for my money, I think I'd try a good sharp cheddar, and save the gruyere for my crepes and Bill's French onion soup. The photo doesn't look the best with the cheese melted on top of the egg, but it sure tastes good!

By the way, The Muppets was a great movie! I wish we still had some quality family entertainment on TV like The Muppet Show, and I might let my children watch something.

On The 5th Day of Waffle Week-

Viva the Wa-Zone,
as it was named by Rachel Ray. Who knew that having a waffle week was so popular? It turns out that Rachel Ray did so last year. Evidently great minds think alike. : ) My Rachel wanted to have a waffle pizza, so we decided to try one of Rachel's Rays recipes- a calzone cooked in the waffle iron. So, my Rachel and I made pizza dough and we mixed up the cheese filling (ricotta, garlic, provolone, basil, parsley, salt and pepper, and parmesan). I rolled out small circles of dough (my first one was WAY too big!) and a fistful of dough worked out to be about the right amount. I rolled it thin, smeared the cheese mixture in, sprinkled it with mozzarella cheese (we didn't have fresh- but since we're no longer in Naples, it's hard to get excited about American mozzarella), put a bit of pepperoni in Bill's, and a bit of fresh spinach in mine, folded them in half and then sealed the edges with a bit of water, as instructed. We were a bit leary of getting the dough completly done without burning it, so I also turned the oven on. We also thought it might be nice to eat all at once for a change as well. So, as each one was nicely browned, we through it in the oven to finish cooking the thicker edges of dough, while starting the next. Bill hadn't read the directions to not "squish" the iron, so we had a bit of overflow of cheese to contend with.

Earlier I had made a standard Neopolitan style tomato sauce/marinara: Brown several cloves of garlic in a good glug of extra virgin olive oil, add a jar of Italian tomato sauce (POMI works well) and a can of plum tomatoes, a BIG pinch of salt, and at the end throw in some basil. This was fabulous for dipping them in.

Rachel's first words were "Mmmmhhhhhhmmmmm!" So the waffle calzone was a hit with everyone. Alyssa thought it was all a bit too crispy, but that could be due to baking afterwards for too long. We won't know until making a traditional calzone if we prefer the waffle version, or one simply baked in the oven. My hunch is we'll prefer the latter, which would make it much easier to have a better ratio of cheese filling to dough (we didn't have enough cheese inside these). But, this gave me a push to make something different instead of just homemade pizza, and Rachel tried something new, which is always a bonus.

FIRST FAILURE!
I also decided to try Rachel Ray's brownie waffle. It suggests making a brownie mix (I used a Ghiradelli mix) using extra oil and egg, and no water, baking for 10 minutes, letting cool a bit in the iron, and then serving warm. It started to smell like it was burning by minute 4 or so, so I peeked, and it of course separated in two. So I let it keep cooking, and it truly smelled burned by minute 8, when I turned the iron off. As the waffle cooled, it turned hard as a rock and I have a bit of a mess to clean out of the iron. I've cooked the remainder in the oven, which in the end is much more practical, as it would have been a very long process in the waffle iron to cook all the batter. We have raspberries and fresh whipped cream to put on top, and I'm hoping that the lack of water in it won't have changed it too much. But, how bad can brownies be, provided they're not burned? !

Ok, they were ok, but that's it. The serving suggestion of whipped cream with berries soaked in Grand Marnier (plain for the kids), was definitely not my favorite. I like Marnier, but evidently not on my brownies. It would have been much better with some ice cream, though the raspberries were nice. As Alyssa said, the whipped cream needs something more delicate. Or maybe it's that the brownie needs something more substantial. And I have to say that I'm a bit of a brownie snob, and even Ghiradelli doesn't compare to homemade, so I think we can bag these up for school lunches.

The funny thing is I've just found the other blog about waffle week, (hence my having to name this "Wacky Waffle Week", which consists of one short entry, stating that Rachel Ray is a liar about creating fabulous waffles with calzones and brownies. Too funny! Evidently I should have done a bit more homework first.

On the Fourth Day of Waffle Week.....

There's "Naanthing" like Chicken Curry with Curry Waffles!

OK, the picture may not look great, but once again we were all pleasantly surprised (except Rachel) that it tasted quite good, and any criticism was aimed more at my curry then the waffle, or eating the two together. Tonight we had a mild Indian style Chicken curry (used Patak's jar of mild curry paste), along with well cooked onion and red pepper, following the directions on the jar, but used tomato paste, not canned tomatoes. We also added both fat free half and half, some Wondra to thicken it a bit, and some heavy cream and a few raw potatoes thrown in toward the end to help with being too salty. We happened to have left over grilled chicken that Bill had marinated in plain yogurt, lemon juice and garlic, which I re-heated, but kept seperate from the sauce in case it was a bust. Bill is our family's "curry chef", but since he was still at work, I had to give it a try. He has many more tricks up his sleeve to make it easier and less time consuming! And of course, we had peas for our veggies, since it's one that everyone will eat, and they go well with curry.

I also made the waffle itself be a curry waffle. I used a basic waffle recipe-
1 3/4 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 Tbls sugar
3 eggs, separated- with whites beaten till soft peaks
1 1/2 c. milk ( I used buttermilk in hopes in might add to the flavor)
7-8 Tbs butter, melted and cooled slightly ( I used vegetabel oil)

Mix all gently just till blended, fold in egg whites. Then, among the optional ingredients, my "Breakfast in Bed" book suggested adding 2 Tbls curry powder, 2 Tbls chopped parsley, and 2 Tbls grated onion (add before folding in whites). I used sauteed shallots (Bill won't touch anything that has any onion that's not really well cooked, and no longer crunchy!) and only 1 Tbls curry. My batter was very thick, but still cooked ok.

The waffle itself was great, and still quite mild, so 2 Tlbs curry probably would have been fine. It was great to eat plain with butter, but was also terrific with the curry. Was it better then rice?? Maybe!- and again it is some magical combination of the crispy/crunchy with the soft bready part that is very tasty. All the cooking magazines this month seem to be focusing on "comfort foods" . Since I consider waffles among my top comfort foods, it stands to reason that all these truly yummy meals served with waffles are turning out well.

For our traditional Sunday morning waffles, I usually just pull out the bag of Krusteaz mix, add a bit of flax seed and wheat germ, and call it good. And if we're out of mix, pull out my Better Homes cookbook page 88. But I must confess it's been YEARS since I have separated my eggs and whipped the whites. That just seems like a lot of work! However, since this was our second waffle this week with whipped egg whites, I'm deciding it might be worth the trouble more often. Their light texture is wonderful.

Alyssa started before the meal with a headache so bad she was in tears. With a bit of ibuprofen and a big glass of water, a few minutes to lay down, followed by eating a bit, she finished with a third helping of waffle, the final bit with just butter, and said how GOOOD it tasted. Music to my ears. Rachel, well, as expected, didn't care for any of it. Luckily I had kept a bit of the batter plain for her, and she enjoyed her chicken plain as well, along with the small NO Thank You serving of curry. She is shades of myself as a child.

So far, I'm still not tired of waffles, and can happily report that I've never met a waffle I didn't like!

On the Third Day of Waffle Week I Made for my True Loves....

A Caramel Apple Waffle with ice cream

Tonight was a busy night, as the girls had their first ski lesson (in two years since our Garmish adventure). I picked them up from school at 3:00, raced to RI to join 150 other children for controlled chaos and fun in the snow. Hopefully they'll learn a bit, in addition to being tired, cold and starving when they finished. We're not quite used to the busy "sports" pace that so many families lead all of the time. We ate at both McD's and Wendy's drive thru's, and raced home, arriving at 7:30. So, we had to be content with dessert waffles tonight that could be made quickly.

I again made a half batch of Krusteaz mix, adding 1 finely chopped Granny Smith apple and 1/2- 3/4 tsp cinamon, a sprinkle of nutmeg, a bit of ground flax just for grins, and a little extra brown sugar. The waffles cooked well, but the iron needed to be oiled well each time due to the brown sugar. Unfortunately I had forgotten to buy some Haagen Daz Caramel Dulce de Lece ice cream as planned, but had a bit of vanilla soy ice cream that wasn't too freezer burned! I had a bit of leftover caramel cream cheese frosting from making cinnamon rolls over the holidays hanging out in the fridge. It melted well and was terrific drizzled over the top. The Granny Smith apple was quite tart, so the caramel to go along was nice. I thought mine was the best with a generous sprinkling of toasted pecan added to the top.

How did my three true loves find the waffles? They all lined up for seconds and made it to bed only 30 minutes late! We would all happily eat this one again.

On the Second Day of Waffle Week I made for my True Love,

On the Second Day of Waffle Week I made for my true love....
A Southwestern Waffle with grilled Pork Tenderloin, Black Bean and Roasted Vegetable Salsa, with Lime Cream and Guacamole.

This morning I spent way too much time checking out recipes on the internet and then prepping things for the meal tonight. I did not make it through most of my TO DO list, which included trying to finish up Christmas cards and get them in the mail. Obviously I have a very warped sense of priorities, which explains a few of the piles around our home and some of the dust bunnies lurking here and there. At least I no longer have young toddlers that might try to eat them, just teen age kittens who might chase the dust bunnies all around!

Tonight's culinary extravaganza was not as big a hit as last night, but all in all, was still quite good, and challenged my family's tastes a bit. Last month a friend had made tenderloin with black beans and sweet potato that I thought sounded wonderful, and I had been wanting to try, as it's only recently that my honey has discovered sweet potatos aren't all bad. I thought this would be the perfect occasion. I was off to a rough start to please anyone when I told my husband about the menu and requested grilling support, and he asked "I thought this was a Tex -mex dish, what happened to tex-mex toppings?", and Alyssa saw me mix the sweet potato in together with onion, peppers and beans, and burst into tears, wanting to know why I had ruined it all!

The waffle itself was delicious. It came from grouprecipes.com
Tex -Mex Waffle

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1-1/3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mild chili powder (I used only 1/2 tsp. in deference to Rachel)
1-2/3 cups milk
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped green chilies ( I used canned)
How to make it

Preheat the waffle maker.
In large bowl combine flour, cornmeal, cheese, baking powder, sugar, salt and chili powder.
Add milk, eggs, vegetable oil and chilies and mix just until moistened.
Bake in preheated waffle maker according to manufacturer's instructions.
Serve with your favorite salsa, sour cream and additional grated cheese.

Pork Tenderloin
I made a rub with
1 tsp chili powder
shake of chipolte chili
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
and rubbed it into a 1 1/4 lb tenderloin, along with a little olive oil. Bill later told me that rubs generally go on for no more than an hour, or the salt dries out the meat. Oops- mine went on at noon. He eventually seared the meat on the grill and then cooked over indirect heat for about 25 min.

Vegetable Salsa
Bill only likes onion if it's truly well cooked, so I started with a chopped Vidalia onion in olive oil at 400 F first, for 15 min. or so, then added 2 peeled and chopped sweet potatoes, 1 chopped red pepper, and a bit of a yellow one, again tossed in olive oil, with salt, pepper, and a bit of chipolte seasoning. At the end, I threw in some cherry tomatoes as well. Most of the recipes served this in a salad, but since Bill eats no salads, I thought I could get away with a few more veggies if they were all roasted. This all cooked another 30-40 minutes, then I mixed it with 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained well, and put back in the oven to stay warm. I tossed it all with a dressing as follows:

2 tsp lime juice with zest
4 T olive oil
1 T balsamic
salt and pepper
fresh cilantro, chopped

My sweet potatoes never got crisp, but that might be because the oven accidently was turned off for some period of time.

And finally, it was the sides that truly saved the day and pulled it all together. The lime cream came from a PTO mom at a Chili Cook off at school last month.
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. light sour cream
1-3 tsp fresh lime juice or to taste. Refridgerate at least 2 hours.

By some stroke of luck, I had a perfectly ripe avocado, and sliced half up and made the other into a small dish of quick guacamole (salt, a little tomato, garlic, lime, and cilantro).

All the flavors mixed together were wonderful and the lime cream and guac truly made the dish. The waffle itself was once again a delight of crispy and soft at the same time, and quite flavorful. In the end, it was much as I had predicted. Rachel liked the pork, enjoyed her waffle with butter and honey and picked out the green bits, and ate her tiny "No Thank you" serving of veggies amidst great scowls, rating it a minus 50! Bill was suprised that he enjoyed it all, but would have preferred to leave out the sweet potato, and have something more "salsa-like", and despite not liking sour cream, enjoyed the lime cream inspite of himself. Alyssa enjoyed it all, eating seconds with all the works, stating that the lime cream hid the sweet potato enough she couldn't taste it. She licked the cream bowl practically clean. I think much of this would have also been quite tasty wrapped in a warm tortilla.

I'm sure my parents despaired of my ever liking much of anything to eat, as I was seriously a picky eater growing up. Boy have I come a long ways, as I thought it was all delicious! Could it have all been served with cornbread muffins as a side? Of course! But it wouldn't have been as much fun, and in all honesty, it would not have been as tasty. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

Dessert Anyone?

It's best to start out new projects with enthusiasm, so we did indeed make dessert waffles, and made it to bed only 20 minutes late before starting back to school tomorrow. Simple, but "fabuloso!", as the girls said.

Waffles with Strawberries and Chocolate Sauce
I went the quick and easy way and made a small batch of Krusteaz Pancake mix, which I baked in our regular waffle iron that makes them into 4 easily divided quarters. Then we topped each one with freshly sliced strawberries, a generous spoonful of chocolate sauce (warmed whipping cream with Guittard chocolate chips melted into it), topped with a large dollop of fresh whipped cream. Oh so yummy! (And yes, we did each have a second quarter). Our "plating" skills are sadly lacking, but so far our cooking is doing quite well.

On the First Day of Waffle Week.....

January 2nd, 2012
Hello World,
One of my favorite childhood dinners was waffles, served with sausage gravy (cream style) with fried apples on the side. Ok, maybe I learned to truly like it as I got older, as I'm sure as a picky child, I only ate the waffles and maybe the apples, but, I"ve made a bit of progress since then. We'll hope my youngest child does the same. This has become one of my family's favorites as well. We have two daughters- Rachel- 8 and Alyssa-10 years old, and the younger one's palate is a bit challenged once she goes past pizza and pasta.

Our dinner conversation sometime in December "birdwalked" a bit, and we began teasing about eating waffles everyday. The scene was set, we upped the ante, and the idea of our First Annual Waffle Week was born, amidst great teasing and laughing. Much to my husband's dismay, I announced last week that our waffle week would commence on January 2nd, before he could escape to sea. As we've shared our news with others, their reaction has varied between amusement, to "that sounds gross!".

The rules were simple: we have to eat waffles for at least one meal each day for the next week; we cannot serve the exact same waffle more then once; and they cannot all be dessert waffles. Amidst a few groans and eye rolling, the family challenge began. Luckily, both my husband and I enjoy cooking and he accepted the first night's challenge (while still on vacation). Viva the Internet to help out with ideas, along with a breakfast cookbook we received as a wedding gift.

Tonight he made an Italian Sourdough Waffle (starter from Camaldoli, Italy) with herbs, topped with Sauteed Chicken in a Shallot Cream Sauce, served with peas. The results were....... delicious! : )

Italian Sourdough Waffle:
2 c. Sourdough starter
1 c. flour
Mix and proof for 8-12 hours in a warm room
1/2 c. milk,
2 Tbls butter, melted
1 T. sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp dry Italian herbs
2 eggs, separated, with white beaten stiff
Up to 1 c. additional flour, unitl right batter consistency

Mix all with starter, beat egg whites and fold in just before baking. Made 6-7 waffles.


Chicken in Shallot Cream Sauce
1 1/2 lbs chicken, boneless, skinless, cubed in bite sizes
2 large shallots, chopped
2 T butter
1/2 c. chardonnay
1 c. chicken broth
1 T dijon mustard
wondra flour to thicken (we needed a bit more)
1/2 c. whipping cream (can use the fat free half & half)

Preheat oven to 300 F, with bowl, or serving dish in oven to heat up. Brown chicken in small amount of olive oil, 2 min per side (will not be fully cooked) and place in oven. ADd butter to pan, brown shallots about 5 minutes, being careful not to burn. Deglaze with white wine and reduce liquid, add broth mixed with 1 T Wondra and dijon, bring to boil, add cream and reduce heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour sauce over chicken before serving.

We used a Belgian waffle maker, and it might have been best to cook 1-2 waffles before sitting down to the table, but we just split the first one between the girls, and waited patiently for ours. Both my husband and I were shocked when Rachel announced that it was yummy! There are not truly many meals that all four of us think are fabulous, so this truly was a feat. We served the chicken with sauce and the peas all on top of the waffle. It was rich, yummy, and a wonderful blend of flavors. The waffle was a great blend of crispy and soft to soak up all the sauce, and the peas were easier to eat as they stayed in the craters! Each enjoyed a bit of waffle with butter at the end of the meal. Alyssa thought the herbs were a bit stong, and I wanted the sauce a bit thicker and to coat your mouth a bit more (maybe real cream instead of the fake stuff!).

We're hoping to have enough room (and time) for a dessert waffle before bedtime tonight. I may not be on the right road to losing a bit of the Christmas Pudge, but I think we are on the right path for more fun as a family. Our first meal was a complete success and as my honey said, "The only place to go is - down!", so we'll hope for a bit of success tomorrow on my first night.