Jude and Ian Waffles

I meant to post this around Valentine's Day. It's not as relevant now as it was then, but I still want to put it out there.

The morning of Valentine's day I woke up extra early and made my husband a Valentine's Day breakfast of magical delight.

(Necessary back story: Right before Christmas break in 2009 we went with a bunch of law school peeps to Stacks in Menlo Park-- a scrumptulescent breakfast place. The current special was bacon waffles. Harry got them and we were both immediately smitten with them. Ever since then I've been searching for a good duplicate recipe. I finally found one on epicurious.com!)

That rainy Valentine's Day morning I made them secretly, while he slept (meaning, I banged around the kitchen with my pots and pans and electric whisk with frequent noisy cabinet squeaks).

They turned out to be everything I wanted them to be and just a little bit more. This commonly happens when bacon is involved.




An extra exciting and (fitting for Valentine's Day) LOVEly factoid is that my sister M's first baby (a boy!) was born that morning at 4:00 am! I got the fateful text as I was setting the table of bacony delectations.

My other sister E gave birth only 10 days prior to a boy. And the two baby cousins will be happy, roly poly chub monsters together and I'm so excited!

Since my newest nephews were on the brain while I was making waffles that will clog your heart and simultaneously make it swoon with delight, I have renamed them. They are Jude and Ian Waffles. Recipe is below.

Jude and Ian Waffles

(also known as Crispy Cornmeal-Bacon Waffles, Bon Appétit | February 2004)
Yield: Makes 6 servings

8 bacon slices
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs, separated
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled
Additional melted butter or nonstick vegetable oil spray
Additional pure maple syrup

1) Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer to paper towels. Crumble bacon.

2) Whisk flour and next 3 ingredients in large bowl to blend. Whisk buttermilk, egg yolks, and 3 tablespoons maple syrup in medium bowl to blend. Beat egg whites until they hold soft peaks.

3)Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients; stir just until blended. Fold in beaten egg whites. Fold in 1/4 cup melted butter and crumbled bacon.

4) Preheat waffle iron (medium heat). Lightly brush waffle iron with melted butter or spray with nonstick spray. Working in batches, spoon batter onto hot waffle iron, spreading evenly over grid. Close waffle iron and cook until waffle is brown, crisp, and set, about 6 minutes, depending on type of waffle iron. Transfer waffles to plates. Serve with maple syrup.

And, for those of you who like to know how many calories you're putting in your mouth:

Per serving:

370 calories
55 carbs
16 grams of fat
14 grams of protein

(this is including 1/4 cup of pure maple syrup drizzled on top of the finished waffles)

Happy Valentine's Day to all, and to all a good tummy full of Jude and Ian Waffles.

Because I was on my death bed when I wanted to post this.

Valentine's day was weeks ago but I did want to post evidence of the love.

In bullet form:

• Calalillies (favorite flower of mine)
• Bridge mix (favorite favorite)
• Fancy dinner at Donato in RWC
• Propping our camera atop our fridge and self-timing it to get documentation of dressing up for the occasion

It was just dreamy.

Only a few short days later I was laid up, hacking, thinking to myself, "If I was a pioneer woman right now, I probably would have 24 hours to live. Or would have died already."

Harry made Thai Beef Soup. It involved a bewitching mixture of star anise, cinnamon sticks, chicken broth, mint, jalapenos, flank steak, bean sprouts, scallions... and heaven.




Aaaand just for giggles, when I was in UT Becca let me steal a bunch of pictures I didn't even know existed. A lot of them were just of our BYU days, which meant a lot of them featured Harry. What better way to post the Valentine's love than a glance at the dating years?

Dating, hanging around Provo

Fundraiser Event for Cystic Fibrosis in Park City

Wedding Dinner

Headbands, remnants of Valentine, & slow dancing

A night or two ago I walked in the door and saw a package from one of my all time favorite people.

I met this girl through her sister (who I also adore with reckless abandon) and have come to think she is the summation of all things darling. And luckily, she married a friend of mine from Irvine, so now she is sealed permanently into my hometown circle with glue of the most super variety.

And the good things don't stop there.

She is an artist (pronounced ar-teeest)! Take a gander at what she made for/sent to me:

Having such a fun and fancy free thing to wear abroad my cranium makes life feel a bit like

You want one on your cranium too? You can get it here.

Were I nominated for an Oscar, I would wear this headband with a fluttery and whimsical gown made of a creamy silk chiffon, and when Ryan Seacrest grabbed me by the arm on the red carpet and said, "Sarah! My you look lovely tonight. Who are you wearing?" I would say, "Oh Ryan, I'm wearing the Sydney Signature Collection. This was designed specifically for me!" To which Ryan would say, "It's so-- it's so stunningly-- beautiful that I... I... I'm speechless." And that would be the last thing he said all night. You're welcome, Oscar viewers.

And then I'd take pictures with this pose all night long.

In other snips of non-related news, Harry left me little one sentence love notes all over the apartment on Valentine's Day ("I love you like a _____ loves _____."). I'm still finding them. In my book, scriptures, the box of dryer sheets, my shoes, everywhere. Today I filled up my mug with an "S" emblazoned on it all the way with scalding hot water before I saw a slip of paper feebly floating inside it bearing the words, "I love you like peanut butter loves jelly" on it. Oh I love that man to bite sized bits.

Merz sent me this today-- a picture from her day of nuptials...

... doing our very best to look like we are serious about slow dancing. Really though. We mean business.

And on an even more unrelated/less related note, it's Sunday night, which means pizza, so...

Peace.

I take my twist with a shout.

Many a belated event to blog about today. Which I'm sure all of you are on tenterhooks about.

Numero Uno.

Many Happy (meh, belated) Returns of the Day, Mum!

Look at this saucy photo I got of her from her oldest bro's wedding. What a dish! I'll claim those genetics anyday, yes ma'am!

If I turn out 49% as wonderful as she is, I'll be one lucky lady. My sister Merzy put it very accurately and eloquently when she said, "People ask me if there is any fault to be found with my Mom. The only fault I can find is that she has the tendency to occasionally burn a pot of broccoli. Beyond that, she really is perfect."

To which I would add, "But even when she burns broccoli, she does it without error."

Happy Birthday Momsy Pie, from one of your kittens.

Numero Dos: Valentine's Day.

A mish-mash surprise of Stake Conference, Chinese food, and the all-too-eager-to-commercialize-off-a-Catholic-holiday-flick, "Valentine's Day" (yes, we joined the herd, and mooed in unison).

It was, altogether, delicious. Harry bought me a gargantuan Diet Coke and shared his nachos with me.

On the actual February 14, we concocted our newest domestic masterpiece: Sichuan Pork with noodles.

An explosion of porkiness. In all connotations.

Then we topped it off with

Homemade Vanilla Pudding with blackberries and a smattering of crumbled graham cracker crust.

All is going fine and dandy in our corner of the US. The one and only real recent fly in the ointment occurred this past Thursday, and it has prompted a letter to spring forth from my keyboard.

Dear Coworker X:

Thursday’s insult was not the first. But I decided afterwards, that if your demeaning and patronizing words are good enough to be spoken aloud while I’m doing YOUR dishes in the kitchen, they are good enough to be posted on the internet. Immortalized, even.

As much as you think I want you to yell at me because of things like the coffee machine not being clean enough or the printer being out of paper (things that you yourself are capable to fixing when the need arises because you DO have functioning limbs and my desk is on the opposite side of the office), I find it a most rotten aspect of this job.

To put a cherry on top of all of these humiliating episodes, on Thursday you cornered me in the midst of my sudsing your sullied flatware, pinched my hip, and said, “Is it getting to you?”

“Is what getting to me?” I replied.

“The food here. I can tell you’ve put on weight. I can see your muffin tops when you sit.”

I don’t think I responded, but the shock was no doubt written all over my face. You continued to say, “You know, there’s a lot of food here, and some people just don’t have any willpower. But look at me. I only eat one piece of chocolate for dessert and I don’t feel like I’m sacrificing.”

I don’t remember saying anything other than, “Okay.”

Before you turned on your heel and left, you did say, “Just thought you ought to know.”

Ooooh. There are many things that you ought to know yourself, Coworker X. After all of the demoralizing things you’ve said to me, and the fact I’ve never ever done anything in retaliation except smile back at you and say, “Sure, thanks for letting me know,” I find it so stymieing that you find it necessary to twist the knife.

Twist and shout indeed.

I have a friend for you to hang out with. I call him/her the Cretin. He/she steals purses and Bibles. I’m sure HE/SHE could benefit from the things you have to say. And they way you choose to say them.

Most sincerely,

SAR

Happy Saturday, one and all!

Happy Valentine's Day Eve Eve Eve

I don't have lots to say to explain why you should drop what you're doing and watch the following video. That is, other than "You should drop what you're doing and watch the following video." If you possess the physical capacity for laughter, this SNL clip will most likely send you into convulsions. In the best sense, naturally.

I almost choked on my Lucky Charms and then almost accidentally kicked Harry with my flailing ankles due to unbridled chortles.

Happy (T minus 3 days to) Valentine's Day.