I always heed Cath’s call.

Whenever she asks if I want to participate in a book event, I’m there.

Especially when the author of the book is someone like Deborah Madison. Some people are born to write cookbooks and Deborah is one of those people.

Her latest cookbook, Seasonal Fruit Desserts: From Orchard, Farm, and Market, is another example of Madison’s ability.

The hardest part for me was getting over the unfairness of not being able to try so many of the tempting berry recipes because we are nowhere near berry season here.

The book covers all fruits, but I have pretty much had my fill of apples. Thankfully, though, Ontario rhubarb has begun to make its appearance this spring so I didn’t feel too badly.

What to say about the book?

It’s beautiful. It’s imaginative. It has depth.

I am relatively new to rhubarb but I love it. The recipe for Baked Rhubarb with Vanilla, Orange, and Clove immediately caught my eye so I couldn’t resist.

I cannot explain how happy I was as the gentle perfume of baking sugar, rhubarb and vanilla filled the kitchen.

I was even happier when I enjoyed the baked rhubarb alongside some five-grain cereal for breakfast.

The rhubarb will keep me happy until the berries arrive.

The book will make me happy every time.

Ciao!

I love my mommy.

Even though I am fully grown, I still call her mommy.

She’s the best mommy a Cream Puff could have.

Happy Mother’s Day, mommy!

And a Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. Hope it’s so sweet!

Ciao!

The Best French Toast
Serves 3 (or 2 very hungry people)

Note: This is my base recipe for french toast. You can amend the recipe based on what flavours you want to produce. You can add all sorts of extracts to the base, you can add liquor to the base, you can add flavoured sugars to the base, you can double the base or triple it easily and you can even make the base savoury for a french toast dinner. If you prefer an eggier french toast, add an egg and reduce the amount of dairly by a quarter cup. For the bread, I like to use thick slices of brioche or a good quality sandwich bread. You can keep the French Toast warm while you cook all the bread by placing it in a 200 degree F. oven in an oven-proof dish.

The Base:

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup half-and-half cream
1/2 cup whole milk
a pinch of salt

To the base, for the recipe pictured here, I added:

3 tablespoons vanlla sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon

6 slices thickly sliced brioche or sandwich bread
Melted butter (to grease the griddle or sauté pan)

Combine the beaten egg, cream, milk and salt in a wide shallow bowl. Add whatever additions you like to the base (in my case I added vanilla sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon).

Either heat a griddle or a large sauté pan and grease the bottom with a bit of melted butter. Regulate the heat accordingly so you don’t burn your French Toast (I generally keep it at medium-low once the pan has heated up nicely).

Dip one slice of bread in the egg and cream mixture. Don’t dip for too long (I like to dip about 5 seconds per side). Carefully place the bread in the griddle or pan and cook on each side for three to four minutes. The bread will be golden when you flip it. Transfer the slice to a plate and keep it in a warm oven while you cook the rest.

Once you’ve cooked all the French Toast slices, serve with whatever garnishes you like including: powdered sugar, strawberries, cream, maple syrup and butter.

Enjoy!

And on the fifth day of the 12 days of cookbooks I give you The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco and Mindy Fox.

Honestly, 2009 is a year where you could probably buy four or five baking books for the baker in your life. That’s how many high calibre baking books have been published this year (if not more) and DeMasco and Fox’s book certainly ranks among those.

When they say good things come in small packages, they aren’t kidding. While not a huge book, this cookbook is a passionate testament to baking as an art form. Except that you don’t have to be a brilliantly talented artist to do this. Anyone can bake and this book is accessible to everyone, from the beginner to the more seasoned baker.

I feel like I’ve written this about a million times this year but had I had the time, I probably would have tried at least half the recipes in the book (I fully intend on trying many more over the holidays). Everything is so enticing from the scone recipes, to the brioche recipes, to the doughnut recipes, to the tart recipes and so on and so on.

I managed to make the Chocolate Chip Scones, which have instantly become my very favourite scones ever. Made with heavy cream, they are the standard by which I shall judge all scones from now on.

While I did not take a picture of the next dessert I tried, I loved it so much that I ended up eating almost all of it myself, something I rarely do. It’s called Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Panna Cotta and I’ve decided I’m going to spend the holidays holed up in my house eating batch after batch of it.

Try and stop me.

Beautiful photographs. Great recipes. And one of my most favourite features: many of the recipes include suggestions on other recipes in the book that compliment what you’ve made, so you can pair up recipes. Great idea!

Okay. That’s enough. Put this book in someone’s Christmas stocking. I’m off to eat more panna cotta.

Ciao!

Obviously, December is all about the holidays.

But in the Cream Puff household, it’s also about breakfast.

Because we all tend to be off from work for a good part of the month (I take holidays and my brother is home since the factory usually closes for two weeks), it means lots of lazy mornings where we can all indulge in some long and slow breakfasts.

The stars of the show are usually pancakes, waffles or french toast. If it’s up to me, it would pancakes almost every time.

Much like chocolate chip cookies and granola, as far as I’m concerned, there’s no such thing as the “best recipe ever”. There’s always another recipe on the horizon waiting to be tried.

This time around it’s a recipe for Classic Buttermilk Pancakes from Issue 102 of Fine Cooking.

Wow. These were good.

I have a few other buttermilk pancake recipes, which are also very good, but these somehow were just a bit fluffier. I followed the instructions precisely, especially the part about letting the batter rest for a bit. I think this is absolutely key when making pancakes or waffles. Letting the batter rest allows it to thicken as the flour absorbs the liquid and swells. This gives you a pancake that rises more and that is far more fluffy and light.

So I’m going to stop now because my mouth is watering and there’s no way that I can make pancakes right now.

I ate them all up with lots of maple syrup and salted butter.

As always, I’m joined by a few people who have decided to attack that magazine pile. That’s what Magazine Mondays is all about!

Here’s who joined me this week:

Candy Girl made a Tangerine Beef with Scallions from the November 2009 issue of Food Network Magazine.

Di from Di’s Kitchen Notebook used a recipe for Streusel-Topped Chocolate-Cranberry Bread from the December 2009 issue of Bon Appétit as inspiration for a danish braid.

Poppy of Poppyseeds and Tiger Lilies made Chicken & Fontina Quesadillas from a 2008 issue of Food & Wine.

Janie of Panini Girl made Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies from the December issue of Sunset magazine.

And with something a little different, Wandering Coyote of ReTorte features her lastest article in Bread & Molasses magazine complete with Cheese Ball recipe!!!

Have a great week, everyone!

Ciao!

I owe someone.

Quite awhile ago, Mr. Nazca sent me a certain little book in the mail and by doing so, threw down the figurative gauntlet. My challenge, assuming that I would choose to accept it, was to read said book and at the very least attempt a recipe.

The book in question: Nanny Ogg’s Cookbook: A useful and improving Almanack of Information including Astonishing Recipes from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.

I’m serious.

Apparently Nanny Ogg is the one that everyone goes to for advice. Having never heard of Nanny Ogg before this book, I was quite surprised to learn that I can, in fact, consult her for all sorts of friendly tips including, but not limited to, ettiquette with scarecrows; how to properly offer an umbrella and how to behave at a ball. Nanny Ogg also offers marriage advice, which isn’t useful to me at the moment, but should I ever be married I know that I can count on Nanny Ogg’s to instruct me in the proper way to argue with my husband.

Very useful.

There’s a section on “Etiquette in the Bedroom”, but it seems the most important bits are obscured by printed notes that must have been overlooked during the printing process. Unfortunately the notes cover up the parts where Nanny Ogg’s explains how to … ah … handle things.

Not so useful.

Anyway, the best part of the book is clearly the recipe section. Who wouldn’t want to try Mrs Colon’s Genyooin Klatchian Curry or Nobby Mum’s Distressed Pudding?

My personal favourite, and the recipe that I shall hold dearest, is the one for Bread and Water. Luckily I have the ingredients for that on hand pretty much all of the time.

When it came time to decide what to make in order to impress Mr. Nazca, I seriously considered Knuckle Sandwich, but instead settled for Nanny Ogg’s Perfectly Innocent Porridge. The recipe includes one for Completely Innoffensive Honey Mixture Which Shouldn’t Make Anyone’s Wife Laugh, unfortunately, that recipe calls for rose petals and edible gold leaf which are, sadly, in short supply these days.

Nanny Ogg’s porridge was quite delicious, though. I topped it off with vanilla sugar, butter and blueberries. I’m assuming Nanny Ogg’s would approve.

I must say I was wonderfully entertained by this book. I just hope the reprint clears up that Etiquette in the Bedroom section …

Mr. Nazca, consider our debt settled. For now.

Ciao!

A Recipe for Porridge based loosely on what Nanny Ogg says …

Serves 2 people.

1 cup porridge oats
1 cup whole milk (you can also use water but that’s so boring)
optional toppings: butter, brown sugar, vanilla sugar, fresh fruit, nuts …

Combine the oats and the milk in a small pot and let come to a boil.

Reduce heat and let simmer for about 5 minutes, until the oats are cooked through.

Serve immediately with the toppings of your choice.

I’d like to thank everyone for all of the wonderfully kind comments I received to my last post about how I’ve been experiencing a bit of a lull in the kitchen department recently.

Trust bloggers to always cheer you up!

As a way out of the doldrums, I’ve decided to keep things simple and to just go with what I want.

And at this time of year, I want berries!

An abundance of blueberries and strawberries at my weekly trip to the farmer’s market had me really inspired for the first time in a long time. I came home and as luck would have it, I had a loaf of brioche left from a recent trip to Rahier. Immediately, I remembered this recipe, which I’d bookmared in the May 2008 issue of Food & Wine.

This was so easy to make and so incredibly delicious. It restored a little bit more of my faith.

As you know, this is Magazine Mondays, which means I’m happy to share links from other bloggers who have tackled their magazine pile. Here’s the list of brave souls:

Allie of Zucchero Dolce made a Coffee Cheesecake with Nutella Swirl on a Brownie Base. Swoon!

Margaret of Tea and Scones was a busy bee as she made Watermelon Sorbet and Swedish Meatballs with Buttered Noodles from Martha Stewart Living. Wow! Last week she made Basic Yellow Butter Cupcakes also from Martha Stewart Living.

Tamy of 3 Sides of Crazy made Shredded Vegetable Chicken Egg Rolls with Blackberry Pineapple Dipping Sauce and Spicy Gingersnaps!

Janie of Panini Girl made Blueberry Corn Muffins from Country Living to celebrate summer.

Sharon of fiberdoodles is participating in her first Magazine Mondays with a Georgia Peach Barbecued Chicken recipe!

Thanks to everyone for sharing their magazine recipe adventures!

Have a great week, everyone!

Ciao!

My Magazine Mondays submission is the luscious Berry-Brioche Bread Pudding from the May 2008 issue of Food & Wine.

I specifically waited until Saturday to put this post up because to me, Sunday is the king of brunch days.

Thanks to my dear friend Cath of A Blithe Palate and Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness, I’ve had the chance to review Gale Gand’s Brunch! as part of a cookbook spotlight that they’re co-hosting.

I’m lucky enough to own a copy of Gale’s book Chocolate and Vanilla (read the review I did here), which I love and have used many times.

I’m a big fan of Gale’s, although I’m not as familiar with her as I am with other cookbook authors. But most of the people that I know that are familiar with Gale, seem to enjoy the same things that I like about her books. To begin with, they’re very open. What I mean by that is that from the first page there’s a very clear sense that I can easily try each and every recipe in the book. And brunch, above all things, should be easy and straightforward. That’s why we call it brunch and not a formal dinner!

There’s also a lightness to her recipes that I enjoy. Do not fear. There’s butter aplenty (as there should be in all brunches). What I mean is that the recipes are imbued with a sense of starting your day off in a comforting, happy way … another important ingredient in a successful brunch!

At the end of the day (or should I say the beginning), it’s easy to imagine waking up on a Sunday morning and trying any one of the recipes in this book. As it turns out, I tried three, all of which were wonderful.

Because I’ve never met a buttermilk pancake recipe that I haven’t wanted to try, I tried the Buttermilk Pancakes and they were simple, quick and just delicious (pictured above).

And because I’ve never met a granola recipe that I haven’t wanted to try, I made the Cranberry-Almond Granola (with some macadamia nuts thrown in). Wonderful!

And finally, the Quick Pear Streusel Coffee Cake called to me because I had some pears that were languishing in the fruit basket. Now I should tell you that pears are not high on my list of favoured fruits but this quick and most cake actually made me like them. That’s good enough for me!

If you’re into brunch (and who isn’t), I cannot recommend this book more highly! I’m off to plan tomorrow’s brunch …

Ciao!

In the last instalment of my little series about the joy of having rediscovered breakfast, I bring you a breakfast item that is perhaps more nourishing to the soul than the body, but nourishing nevertheless.

When people talk about “good” food or “healhy” food, I always start to squirm because I believe that something can be classified as “good for you” or “healty for you” and make you absolutely sick.

Case-in-point, I have always heard it said that All-Bran Buds are very good for you and that may, in fact, be the case. Unfortunately, All-Bran Buds disgust me beyond belief. I don’t know if it’s the texture or the taste or a combination of both, but I would positively never eat again if I had to eat those for breakfast every morning (with apologies to the good people at Kellogg’s). So yes, I might be having a “healthy breakfast”, but what is the benefit to me if said breakfast leaves me unhappy and dissatisfied?

Honestly, I don’t see much merit in that.

I left this particular post to the last for my series because while the subject of this breakfast might hold very little bodily nourishment, it is manna to my soul.

What you see pictured above is what in Italian we call, Ciambellone. I’m not posting a link because depending on where you find yourself in Italy, ciambellone can refer to many different things. When we would go to Italy and we’d visit my paternal grandparents, my grandmother would serve ciambellone for breakfast. A cross between a bread and a dry cake, we would have large slices of ciambellone in the morning with our milk and coffee.

How many childhood breakfasts began this way? The foundation of every Italian child’s breakfast had to be a mug of hot milk with a few drops of espresso. As you got older, the espresso content increased so that the milk to espresso ratio was relatively equal. But as a child, a few drops of espresso, enough to colour the milk, already made you feel like you were almost grownup.

And so onto this foundation, my grandmother would lay the ciambellone. In this age of refined, sugary sweets, I’m not sure how many children would actually like ciambellone. Since we were not exposed to store-bought cookies as children, homemade cookies and cakes were the pinnacle for us.

While I love my fancy cakes and while I am the first in line for the incredible confections of a pastry chef, this home baking of my childhood resonates so deeply.

And to this day, my favourite breakfast (next to pancakes), is a mug of steaming, frothy milk and espresso with the dry, flavourful cookies my maternal grandmother used to make expressly for dunking. And while ciambellone is not something we baked (the one my paternal grandmother served us in Italy was always bought from the bread store), the very idea of it just makes me feel whole and happy.

I cracked open the great Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
and made some minor adaptations to her recipe for this beautiful bread/cake.

I enjoyed making this so much that I kneaded it by hand. The added elbow grease just made the end result that much more desirable. My changes are subtle but even if you own the cookbook and follow the original recipe, you will not be disappointed unless you’re expecting a moist cake. This is a cake for dunking. Period.

I’m not sure what the nutritional value is, however, that is not the point. This makes your stomach and your heart happy, and surely there can be nothing healthier than that.

Ciao!

Ciambellone
Adapted from Marchella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

Note: The cake will keep for a week as long as it’s tightly wrapped in plastic wrap or sealed in an airtight container. I think it tastes better the older it gets and it’s more enjoyable to dunk it!

1 stick butter (8 tbsp.), unsalted
4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 1/2 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
zest from one medium orange (finely grated)
1 tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup whole milk, lukewarm
2 extra large eggs (you can use large but you may need some extra water)
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup warm water

Line a baking sheet with parchment and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan and let cool slightly (for about 5 minutes).

Heat the milk and set aside.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt and zest in a bowl and whisk together, set aside.

Add the melted butter and the milk and mix until you have a slightly wet mixture. It will still look dry.

Separate one of the eggs (set aside the yolk). Put the other egg and the egg white from the separated egg into the flour mixture. Remove a bit of the set aside yolk and place it in a small bowl (you will use this as an egg wash). Put the remaining egg yolk in the mixture.

Begin gathering the mixture together. If it’s still dry and doesn’t come together, start adding water. I find I always have to add water for this to come together. I usually add about a quarter of a cup of warm water. What you’re looking for is a dough that comes together and has the consistency of a lumpy dough. It will not be smooth.

Once it’s come together enough that you can roll it into a rope, do so. You can make the rope as long or as short as you like. I usually make mine about 10 to 12 inches. The length and thickness of the rope is up to you. Mine tends to be a couple of inches thick at least. Bring the rope together in a ring and seal the connected ends carefully.

Brush the ring with the leftover egg yolk and place in the oven. In my oven, I bake this for 40 minutes so that it’s nice and golden but the original recipe indicates that you should bake it for 35 minutes.

Enjoy!

While I love my Italian heritage, I am first and foremost a proud Canadian girl.

And as such I am addicted to hockey.

My grandparents and parents, all of whom came to Canada in the 1950s and 1960s, very quickly became fans of the game and of course my aunts and uncles followed suit as they grew up in a nation that idolizes the sport.

Just say 1972, even to young children, and everyone knows that you’re referencing the great hockey battle between Canada and the former Soviet Union.

I love hockey. I love the speed, the action, the camaraderie, the artistry and yes … the fighting! I love watching men’s and women’s hockey and will happily go and watch the children of friends and coworkers as they take part in the sport.

On a very basic level, I believe hockey allows Canadians to gather at their local arena and just be Canadian. It’s a way to enjoy our cold climate and a way for our children to participate in an active lifestyle.

On a more profound level, in a country as enormous as Canada where a relatively small population is spread out from coast to coast, I believe that hockey has been one of the few common threads in the tapestry of our nation. It doesn’t matter if you grew up in British Columbia or in Prince Edward Island, we all play hockey.

While Canadians are generally known for being “nice” and mild-mannered, hockey seems to be one of the few issues that galvanizes us. I love the fact that I’m Canadian and that we have peaceful values but it always amazes me how territorial we become about hockey. And it further amazes me how territorial I’ve become about hockey!!!

Closer to home, I am, of course, a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. Actually, make that LONG-SUFFERING, GREATLY PAINED, FRUSTRATED, ANGRY, TIRED, IRRITATED, BEATEN-DOWN Leafs fan.

The other Leafs fans out there will know exactly what I mean.

But even though I am a LONG-SUFFERING, GREATLY PAINED, FRUSTRATED, ANGRY, TIRED, IRRITATED and BEATEN-DOWN Leafs fan, I’m still a Leafs fan and I still love hockey. If I am home on a Saturday night, and it’s hockey season, then I will be watching Hockey Night in Canada along with millions of other Canadians.

So today is Hockey Day in Canada, 2009 and all over this country, communities have planned events to celebrate. The day-long celebration is broadcast on the CBC and always ends up having you crying with all the sweet stories about kids playing hockey. The show also highlights a lot of Canadian professional hockey players who seem to be very generous with their time and efforts towards making the day as special as possible.

The centrepiece of this celebration is the NHL schedule that has the six Canadian teams matched up against each other throughout the day (this year: Montreal vs. Ottawa, Vancouver vs. Toronto, Calgary vs. Edmonton).

While HDIC is largely a television event, it’s amazing how it has come to be embraced at the community level. Canada is driven by its communities. While those of us that live in large cities like Toronto or Montreal often like to pride ourselves on being the centre of it all, the fact is that hockey is community-driven. This is why I love the fact that so much of HDIC is about kids playing hockey, especially in small towns or communities. There’s not much that’s more beautiful or fun to watch than a bunch of kids playing hockey on a cold winter’s day.

I wanted to make something special to celebrate HDIC, 2009 and all week I was trying to find some really amazing dessert or sweet that I could whip up. But I’m in a really busy period right now and all I kept coming back to was “make something with maple syrup”. So then I whittled that down to “maple syrup”. I whipped up a batch of my favourite waffles and drenched them in the very best maple syrup (which everyone knows comes from Canada!!!)!

For the final word on the glory of hockey and what it means to Canadians, I give you an excerpt from David Adams Richards’ bittersweet and beautiful book Hockey Dreams: Memories of a Man Who Couldn’t Play:

Hockey is played in the cold, and a generation of movies from Hollywood that have influenced our outlook about ourselves has shown us that cold weather is something abnormal.

However we are the coldest country on earth. And everyone except the children want to deny it. Thousands of us froze our hands, our feet and our ears every day just walking to school. And where we went after school was to a cold rink to put on frozen skates to play hockey on ice.

So our hockey is evidence, to outsiders, of our coldness, and with our coldness, our abnormal lack of sophistication, etiquette and probably humour. As I say, a thousand movies have been made to reinforce the stereotypes we use against ourselves.

Hockey becomes a kind of verification for outsiders and for ourselves, of how Canadians hate to be labelled in the first place, “Ottawa: colder than Moscow and without the night life,” the joke goes.

Contempt for ourselves is the axiom upon which so much of our country’s asses sit. Except the children. Except the children like Stafford Foley.

The children frolic in the cold like little white bears. Know what the game means. There is a time in every child’s life when he or she wants us to regain the game, to be recognized by everyone as the greatest hockey nation in the world.

Happy Hockey Day in Canada, everyone! Go out there and be like a little white bear!

Ciao!

Note: If you love hockey then you should read Ken Dryden’s The Game, which, along with Hockey Dreams, is in my estimation one of the greatest Canadian books.

Note** (Warning … Toronto Maple Leafs and Mats Sundin rant ahead): Today marks the return of Mats Sundin to Toronto in the uniform of some other team. Whatever. As far as I’m concerned he’ll always be a Toronto Maple Leaf regardless of where he goes or plays. Much has been made about his return and what the reaction will be. Based on the circumstances under which he left the team, the feeling is that there are many in Toronto who resent Mr. Sundin for not waiving his no-trade clause and for not returning to Toronto. Like I said before, whatever. I’m not going to go into all the gory details of the 2008 trade deadline and what Mats said or didn’t say and how each one of his words should be dissected and how he took F-O-R-E-V-E-R to decide to come back and play. Whatever. For thirteen years, he was an amazing Toronto Maple Leaf. Amazing. He delivered, he never did anything to embarrass us or our city, he was exciting to watch and he provided some genuinely thrilling hockey moments. For a team that has waited 40 plus years for a Stanley Cup, we should be grateful for the moments of hockey pleasure that we enjoyed thanks to Mats. And now he’s gone and as has been repeatedly noted by the media, he had every right to leave and owes Toronto nothing. Very true. But here’s what the media always forgets to mention. Toronto doesn’t owe him anything either. The fulfillment of the contract goes both ways. He fulfilled his contracts to us 110%. If every player fulfilled their contracts to the degree that Mats Sundin does, the NHL would be a truly awesome place. But … newsflash … the Toronto Maple Leafs also fulfilled their contract to him. And as fans we fulfilled our contract to him. SO NOBODY OWES ANYBODY ANYTHING HERE. I personally hope that he is cheered tonight not because “we owe him anything” but because it would be a nice gesture of appreciation for his 13 years of service. That’s it. Yes, Mats Sundin was a great Toronto Maple Leaf and yes, Mats Sundin is a great hockey player, but he ain’t no Wayne Gretzky or Rocket Richard. And there’s my two cents.

Note ***: For those of you that have been patiently waiting for the waffle recipe, here it is. I have a 4-pocket Belgian waffle maker and this recipe yields two 4-pocket servings. So in essence I end up with 8 2-inch waffles. And now I shall never do math again.

My Favourite Waffles
From The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion.

2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 tbsp. coconut extract (you can use any extract you like or leave it out altogether)
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted (melt a little extra butter to use on your waffle iron)
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. sugar

You can use a mixer for this but you can also do it by hand with a whisk: whisk together the eggs, milk and extract until very foamy. If you can do it for a couple of minutes by hand, you’re a winner … otherwise use your mixer.

With a rubber spatula, mix in the melted butter trying not to deflate the egg/milk mixture too much.

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar and then add to the egg/milk/butter mixture all at once. Again mix it in gently with the rubber spatula.

Let the batter sit for 30 minutes. Just before the 30 minutes is up, heat your waffle iron.

This recipe makes two servings of four 2-inch waffles in my waffle iron. So I use half the batter for one set and the other half of the batter for the second set. Based on the yield of your waffle iron, use the according amount of batter.

Cook the waffles to your specification (we like them somewhat golden but not too hard or crispy).

Serve with lots of butter, maple syrup and fruit.

Enjoy!

I had intended January to be a month of breakfasts. As I explained in my first post in this series, after many years of ignoring the most important meal of the day, I was looking forward to sharing my newfound love for breaking the fast, so to speak.

And then January disappeared.

So I’ve decided to continue my little series into February in the hopes that we can all enjoy some special breakfasts!

Had I not wanted to continue the title for these series, I would have instead called this post, “Oatmeal, How Do I Love Thee, Let me Count the Ways!” To be frank, I cannot imagine my fall/winter without bubbling pots of oatmeal.

Oatmeal, of course, is the product of cooked oats. Whole oats (often called groats) are one of the most beneficial whole grains known to humans. Among numerous benefits, oats are packed full of fibre, provide calcium and are an excellent source of protein.

Okay. Now that the health information is out of the way, let’s get to the real reasons why oats are a true blessing.

To begin with, that bubbling pot of oatmeal that I referenced above would probably fall into my top five list of favourite things to eat. It is comfort with a capital C-O-M-F-O-R-T. I have been known to eat oatmeal not only for breakfast, but for lunch and yes, occasionally, for dinner. Said pot of oatmeal can be made at the beginning of the week and sustain you throughout the next five to seven days. One spoonful of warm oatmeal (with a touch of cinnamon and brown sugar, thank you very much), is akin to a hug to start the day.

The next reason to love oats is that with oats, you can make oatmeal cookies. I believe that on this point, no explanation is required.

Oats are also to be loved because when ground, you get oat flour that you can use to make bread, cookies and all sorts of other wonderful things.

I assure you that I am not on the payroll of any major oat company (not that I wouldn’t mind it). Rather, I just want everyone to know that Cream Puff loves her oats and by extension, her oatmeal.

My favourite brands of oats are the usual suspects: Quaker Oats, McCann’s Irish Oatmeal (for steel-cut oats) and when it’s on sale, Oats from Bob’s Red Mill.

To showcase my love of oatmeal for breakfast, I was going to prepare my standard oatmeal but as luck would have it, I have recently become enamoured of baked oatmeal.

Baked oatmeal uses all the same ingredients and add-ins that stove-top oatmeal does the difference being that baked oatmeal tends to have a slightly different texture. Depending on what you add, it can be airier and at times slightly cake-like. Baked oatmeal, in general, is also not as liquidy as stove-top oatmeal.

Awhile back I found a terrific recipe for Baked Oatmeal with Apples that I fell in love with. You can make this on a Sunday night and enjoy it for breakfast every day of the week. You can add all sorts of things to the recipe and of course you can use any fruit you like including pears, bananas and berries.

As you look towards next week and as you plan your meals, I hope you’ll consider this an option for breakfast!

Ciao!

Baked Oatmeal with Apples, Bananas and Walnuts
Based on this recipe from Kickpleat of Everybody Loves Sandwiches.

1 cup whole rolled oats
1 tsp. cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. maple syrup
1 tbsp. grated orange zest
2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1-1/4 cups milk (use any type you like)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9-inch pie plate (you can use any baking dish you like) with butter.

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

Pour into the pie plate and place on a baking sheet in case of spills.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed (but don’t cook it for too long or it will dry out too much).

Remove from the oven and let cool. Serve warm with yogurt and honey.

Enjoy!