Basic Buttermilk Waffles & Maple Syrup

After many, many weekends away, Shaun and I woke up on Saturday with nothing to do and nowhere to go. While I do make a mean scrambled egg, I decided to test my skills on a new recipe for this lazy Saturday.

Enter your basic buttermilk waffles. You'd be very surprised to know how challenging it is to find a simple, straightforward recipe for this classic dish. For the classics, there are few that I would consult. Betty Crocker, my mom, my grandmother's scraps-of-paper-recently-turned-recipe-book, The Joy of Cooking...and in this case, Alton Brown. With his signature obsessive recipe making of the mad scientist variety, it seems as though he knows that he's talking about.

Basic Buttermilk Waffles & Maple Syrup
*Adapted from Alton Brown
1 C all-purpose flour
1 C whole-wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp sugar
3 eggs, beaten
2 oz butter, melted
2 C buttermilk* (and if you don't have any, find out how to make your own, below)
Vegetable spray, for waffle iron
Maple syrup (the real, Vermont kind)

Preheat your waffle iron. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and melted butter. Add the buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until combined, but do not overmix. You'll have a few lumps in your batter. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Spray the hot waffle iron with vegetable spray and add the batter. Do not overload the batter, or you'll end up with a giant mess, like I did.

Since my waffle iron makes one lonely waffle at a time, I kept them warm on a sheet pan in a warm oven set to 200 degrees.

*Make your own buttermilk: If you wake up with the urge to make hearty buttermilk waffles, but don't have that one elusive ingredient, try making it yourself. Mix 1 cup of milk with 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice. Let sit for about 10 minutes while it curdles and then use in recipe. I doubled mine and put it together in a large measuring cup for easy access.

And while we were at it, we decided to have breakfast on the terrace, the latest place to get a makeover at the Humiston house.

So there you have it. A basic and easy waffle recipe that can easily be jazzed up with some blueberries, strawberries or even some nutella and powdered sugar thrown on top. Since my strawberries that I'd been saving all week turned out to be covered in mold, we went au naturale. So what do you think? Do you do waffles for breakfast? Have you ever made your own? From a mix? Or are you a fan of the Eggo?

Yellowstone Microbrews

As I mentioned earlier this week, Shaun and I spent the last week traveling through Wyoming and Montana on a Yellowstone Park adventure with the Humiston side of the family. Breathtaking views, wildlife at every turn, and whitewater rafting dominated our week in Yellowstone, and if you have the means, I highly recommend making the trip.

But when you're distracted by views like this...

and this...

well let's just say that food isn't exactly at the forefront of one's mind...even for me. I know, how can that even be possible? But let's just say that there were a lot of car snacks.

It was, however, the land of the microbrews. Whether lagers or pale ales, the great states of Wyoming and Montana were not without their locally brewed favorites. One of our favorites was Moose Drool Brown Ale. Since I'm immediately wooed by a quirky name and had made it my mission to see this elusive animal during the trip, this was a must try and became one of our favorites of the week.

On our first night in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, we dined at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, serving up burgers and beer. With a bison and elk burger in our tummies, we also sampled the local brew, appropriately deemed Million Dollar Cowboy Bar Beer.

And since I just had to be different, I ordered the Snake River Pale Ale, named for the local Snake River. While I always enjoy a taste test, I also realized that pale ales are just not for me as their spiciness overpowers the simple beer flavor.

Once we got into Gardiner, Montana, we picked up a Grand Teton Blonde Ale. And yes, that is a naked lady on the label. But it was the first organic beer I've ever tried!

And how could I pass up a lunchtime regional brew like Rainier, mountain freshly brewed and on special for a mere $1.

All of this is not to say that I didn't indulge in some local fare, just a little bit. With barbecue grub at every turn, could you blame me? My favorite dinner consisted of tender beef brisket, sweet potato fries and sweet baked beans. It was enough to do a body good...and sleepy.

Aside from microbrews, barbecue and some car snacks including cashews, granola bars and craisins, the food was plentiful but took a back seat. In addition to the amazing natural views, we were constantly being followed around by furry creatures like this...

and this...

Seeing them roam free was enough to make even a major carnivore like myself contemplate vegetarianism.

So there you have it. A little round up of our favorite microbrews in and around Yellowstone Park as well as some gratuitous footage from the trip since, hey, it's some pretty decent eye candy, isn't it? And speaking of gratuitous, check out this last one of Shaun and me by the Yellowstone River in Montana.

Not too shabby, huh? But what I really want to know is, have you traveled this summer? Have you sampled the local eats? It's always my mission to get a feel for what the locals frequently dine on!

*For some more microbrew fun, check out my Antigua roundup!

Dutch Pancakes at Linda's Pancakes

During our recent family trip to Aruba (where we celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary), indulgent foods were not in short supply, whether surf and turf at Madame Janette's or decadent, buttercreamy red velvet cake at Moka's. Oh and did I mention the gooey, cheesy bagel sandwiches at Dushi Bagel? Well today I'm adding another to the list. Its Linda's Pancakes, an outdoor eatery off of Palm Beach serving up pancakes of the Dutch variety. And since it's no secret that I'm a serious sucker for a good pancake, imagine my excitement over a full dinner plate sized super thin pancake that wasn't quite a crepe yet not quite the thick, fluffy American-style concoction that we've all come to know and love. Color me intrigued. With a multitude of options and one looking better than the next, I opted for a sweet and savory combination of brie, honey and walnuts atop a giant flapjack.

I know, brie? on a pancake? And the answer is yes, a million times yes! The creamy, salty nature of the brie drizzled with sweet honey and a bit of crunch with walnuts baked right into the pancake made this one dish that I was happy to try...and subsequently devour.

But if cheese and syrup just aren't your thing (did I mention that in addition to the honey I felt it compeltely necessary to add sugary sweet pancake syrup on top?), there were a boatload of other option, both sweet, savory and everything in between. Take, for example, this pineapple pancake served with a hefty coating of powdered sugar and a shot of rum. It's the island life after all!

If rum and breakfast just scream ick, Linda's also offers traditional, plain jane pancakes or dressed up fruit pancakes like this pineapple and strawberry covered version.

And while the brie-honey-walnut version was divine, I have to take a moment for Kim's bacon and apple pancake. While it looks simple, the apple slices and bacon pieces were baked right into the pancake itself, taking that whole sweet and savory thing to a new level. Oh, and I should tell you that I've never had a better helping of bacon as the crispy yet perfectly greasy version that was being stored inside.

So there it is...yet another breakfast option on my favorite island. I swear I don't eat like this when not vacationing...