Waffling

Somewhere along the way of our marriage, Sunday morning breakfasts became important. No cereal, no toast, everyone at the table at the same time. Sunday School didn't start until 9:30, so, if I got up early enough, we had plenty of time.

We fell into the habit of having yogurt pancakes. I found the recipe for this ultra-light concoction on the side of a Lucerne milk carton over 30 years ago. It will spoil you for any other pancakes. You will never order them out again. Never. Ordinary pancakes, even buttermilk pancakes, will seem heavy and clumpy and yes, the recipe will follow.

But there's a secret ingredient in yogurt pancakes: plain yogurt. Someone (not mentioning names while I'm looking in the mirror) forgot to buy more. So, was the menu to be eggs and sausage and hash browns as it had been the day before, or something different? Something like waffles?

I use to own a square waffle iron whose plates would flip and it would open up and do double-duty as griddle. Teflon-coated that it was, they always stuck. They took forever to bake. Waffles became a thing of the past.

Then I had to shut down my father's house when he could no longer live by himself. There, tucked away on a shelf, was an appliance I had fond memories of: my mother's waffle iron. It wasn't particularly old, as it was Teflon, but, according to Wikipedia, Teflon coating was used commercially from the 1960s on. Since I remember it from high school, it was probably an early member of the group. It had one purpose only: waffles and was made for Montgomery Wards. I brought it home.

Immediately, there were differences between it and modern countertop appliances. The cord: not only is one prong not larger than the other, it is long. Very long. So long it can drape over several other small appliances until it gets to the outlet. Now you're doing good if your cord is 18 inches long. Whatever has to practically be wedded to the plug. There isn't an on/off switch: plug it in, it warms up and the faceted light glows red. Once it's hot enough, as determined by the lighter-darker scale you've spun, the light goes out. Pour 1/2 cup of batter. You'll regret doing more. Really regret. Like from experience, regret. The light comes back on. When it goes out, 4-5 minutes later, said waffle is done.

I don't make waffles often, as they take time, and I can't rattle the formula off the top of my head. But faced with that or a repeat of the day before, we had waffles. They were delicious and then I baked up the rest of the batter this afternoon so we can toast them during the week. Yeah! Special breakfast carry-over!

But here's the pancake recipe. The original is twice this amount. Your serving numbers will vary depending on the size of your "stack."

Yogurt Pancakes (serves 3 people)

1 c flour
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder

Mix.

Add: 2 T oil
1 c milk
1 egg

Stir well and then add:
1/2 c plain yogurt

Bake on preheated griddle.

Bon appetit!