Wonderful Waffles

I adapted this recipe from one that I received with my power bill -- you never know where you're going to find a good recipe!  I hope you've discovered Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Oats.  They are wonderful!  They work great in this recipe, and are a delicious hot breakfast cereal all by themselves.  They give these waffles a chewy texture, which is quite delightful. 

Wonderful Waffles

1-1/2 Cups gluten-free Four Flour Bean Mix
1 Cup gluten-free rolled oats
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon

Stir together in a large bowl.  Set aside.

2 eggs, separated
1-1/2 Cups milk
1/3 Cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp brown sugar

In a medium bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form;  set aside.  In another medium bowl beat egg yolks slightly; stir in milk, oil, vanilla and brown sugar.  Add egg yolk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moistened.  Gently fold in egg whites.

Pour about 1/2 Cup batter onto grids of a preheated, lightly greased waffle baker (if it has a non-stick surface, it doesn't need to be greased).  Close lid.  Bake according to manufacturer's instructions.  When done, use a fork to lift waffle off grid.  Repeat with remaining batter. 

Makes 7 (6-1/2-inch) waffles.

I love sliced up bananas and light syrup on waffles, but use whatever you love best.

Valentine's Day Breakfast Cake/Valentine's Day Special Breakfast

There was a reason I decided on Valentine's Day Breakfast Cake as the item for the sweet course at the Sweetheart Tea-- I knew my daughters would immediately remember our Valentine's Day breakfasts when they were children as soon as they saw it.  Years ago when I was newly married, a neighbor down the street from my parent's house, Wanda Johnson (who had eight children), told me about their tradition of a special breakfast on Valentine's Day, and gave me this recipe.  I loved the idea and immediately implemented it.  Every Valentine's Day, no matter which day of the week it fell on, we had a special breakfast.  Even though I worked full-time outside the home while my kids were growing up, it was still possible to do this because the Breakfast Cake (their favorite part of the breakfast, of course) could be made the night before and refrigerated.  The next morning, I would just pop it in the oven to bake while I was preparing the other parts of breakfast, and it would fill the house with the most amazing aroma.  That was one morning that no one had to be coaxed out of bed!  It turned out to be one of our favorite family traditions.  Here's the menu:

Valentine's Day Special Breakfast

Fresh orange slices (twisty oranges, as the kids called them -- see picture)
Bacon or sausage (it's fun to make heart-shaped patties out of bulk sausage)
Scrambled eggs (if anyone wants my husband's delicious scrambled eggs recipe, leave me a comment)
Valentine's Day Breakfast Cake
Milk or juice

Valentine's Day Breakfast Cake

2-1/4 Cups GF Rice Powder Mix
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 Cup sugar
2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 Cup shortening
1-1/3 Cups milk
2 eggs

Whisk together dry ingredients.  Cut in shortening.  Beat milk and egg together and add to flour/shortening mixture.  Stir together.  Pour into greased 9 x 13 pan.  Sprinkle topping over batter.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, if desired.  To bake, remove plastic wrap and put in preheated 400 oven.  Cook for 25 minutes.  Let cool briefly.  Serve.  (For the non-GF version, just substitute 2-1/2 Cups regular flour in the batter and 1/2 Cup in the topping and eliminate the xanthan gum.)

Topping:

1/3 Cup brown or white rice flour
3/4 Cup granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Whisk together.  Cut in:

6 Tbsp butter.  Sprinkle over top of cake batter.

This is easy to do and a fun tradition.  I hope you'll try it!

Chicken Salad Sandwich Filling/Sweetheart Tea

Last weekend I threw a Sweetheart Tea for all the women in my family (there were 17 of us!).  Originally it was supposed to be one year after our Teddy Bear Tea, which would have put it last November, but on calling around to my daughters, they all agreed that November/December was too busy, and why not schedule it for January/February when the weather is terrible and you're just dying for a party to go to to break up the monotony of winter.  I thought that sounded like a good idea, so we had it last Saturday, Feb. 5th, which was a little early for Valentine's Day (hence the theme) but I also wanted to work in a celebration of my mom's 93rd birthday on Feb. 4th.  Everyone was supposed to wear a Valentine shirt or Valentine colors, bring a card for my mom, and could bring their favorite doll if they wished.  My mom brought her only doll from her childhood (it's 81 years old) and told us about it.  I decorated with dolls from my childhood

and several of the granddaughters brought their dolls.  Here's Lauren showing us her doll:

For the menu, we had mini croissant chicken salad sandwichs (no gluten intolerance in this group) and Pasta Chicken Fruit Salad for the savory course, mini Poppy Seed Muffins and Applesauce Spice Raisin Muffins, and Orange-Cranberry Scones cut in heart shapes (recipe coming soon) for the scone course, and Valentine's Day Breakfast Cake (also coming soon) for the sweet course.  Here's a picture of the table with the above dishes on it:

I got the recipe for the sandwich filling from my daughter-in-law Julie (who also supplied the recipe for the previous post).  It would look and taste great on any of the GF breads sliced thin, lightly toasted, crusts cut off and cut into small squares or triangles (or hearts for a Sweetheart Tea :), especially the Soft White Bread. 

Chicken Salad Sandwich Filling

3 Cups cubed cooked chicken

1-1/2 Cups grapes, sliced in half

1/2 Cup sliced almonds or roughly chopped cashews

4-5 diced green onions

2 stalks celery, diced

8 fresh basil leaves, minced (if you can't find fresh basil leaves, substitute 1 tsp dried basil)

3-4 - 1 Cup mayonnaise

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Havarti cheese

lettuce

Mix the mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, pepper and basil together until well mixed.  Combine chicken, grapes, nuts, onions and celery.  Fold in mayonnaise mixture.  Refrigerate.  When making sandwiches, top filling with a thin slice of Havarti cheese and a lettuce leaf.  Serve immediately.

I decided to serve all the courses at once this year because at the Teddy Bear Tea I did each course separately, and everyone was too full by the time we got to the sweet course.  Here's everyone filling up their plates:

and our group shot:

A good time was had by all!