Making Grandma's Waffles on a Sunny Sunday Morning

My grandma had one sister, a fixture at every meal and cup of tea at my grandparent's house when we would visit, whom we called Auntie.  She never married and lived most of her life in the house she grew up in on what was once a dairy farm in Waterford, CT.  Auntie was famous to my brothers' and I for her love of the beach and her uncanny ability to float sitting up in the Long Island Sound.  She was also famous for her quirky gifts at Christmas time.  One of my uncles as a young boy upon unwrapping Auntie's gift said, "wrong again Auntie," a quote I have heard repeated many times in my life always followed by hearty laughter.  But once in awhile Auntie would hit it out of the park as she did over 25 years ago with the Mickey Mouse Waffle Iron.  Saturday mornings my parents would often make a big breakfast for us, my dad was the official pancake flipper in the family and my mom would occasionally whip out some Mickey Mouse waffles.

Sadly Mickey retired a few years ago, but not before making waffles in three states for many years.  This morning I had a craving for waffles and pulled out Grandma's Cookbook for a recipe I have never made before and to the best of my knowledge never eaten.  Breakfasts at grandma's were more often the fan favorite blueberry muffins or toast and cereal.

As waffle recipes go, it is fiddly--you have to separate eggs!  But Callah and I went all in this morning as we hooked Nick up with some OJ and set him on the couch with a magazine for a much deserved daddy break.

Separate 3 eggs.  Beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside.

Mix Together:
3 egg yolks
2 T sugar
2 cups milk
1/2 cup oil
2 cups flour mixed with
4 teaspoons baking powder

Fold in the egg whites.

I don' t know about you, but something about whipping egg whites gives me a thrill, and folding them into batter is about as satisfying a feeling as writing with a sharp pencil or pulling on a pair of crisp, clean bluejeans.

We added super fruit (!) blueberries, poured batter (about 1/2 cup) on to the waffle iron and let cook for about 3-4 minutes.  Grandma says to serve on warm plates with warm syrup.  They used to line their plates up on the radiator in their dining room.  I popped mine in the warm oven for a few minutes.

Since I was busy ensuring Callah didn't scald herself AND making waffles AND making some delicious veggie sausage AND drinking coffee, I didn't remember to take a picture until I'd already started eating.  They were fluffy and delicious.  It makes an obscene amount of waffles for a humble family of three, so the leftovers are in the freezer ready to cheer us up come a dreary weekday morning.