Waffles...A New Tradition

When my daughter Kristin went into labor 19 years ago, I was in the process of making a blueberry cake. I removed the blueberry cake from the oven, placed it in the refrigerator and went to meet Kristin at the hospital. She gave birth to a beautiful boy, my first grandchild, Nico. When I returned home late that night, I continued with the blueberry cake and surprisingly it was delicious. Since then, I have had a tradition of making a blueberry cake to celebrate  Nico's birthday. Well last year, Nico gently told me he does not like blueberries.  So this year we initiated a new tradition - waffles. You see, when Nico comes to visit, we love making waffles together for breakfast. We enjoy looking through my cookbooks and picking  out the waffle recipe we want to use. We  are never disappointed with the outcome.

I look forward to this new tradition to celebrate my grandson's birthday.

Happy birthday Nico! With love...xo

                                                                    Pumpkin Waffles
                                                                        courtesy of
                                                               Martha Stewart Living 

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground clove
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse salt
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter,  melted and
   cooled; plus more, softened for
   serving
1/2 cup pumpkin purée
Pumpkin seeds
Nonstick cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Set a rack on a rimmed baking sheet and place in oven. Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, spices, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, pumpkin, and melted butter; and flour mixture and mix until just combined.

3. Lightly coat waffle iron with cooking spray. Pour about 1 cup batter into center of iron (amount may vary depending on size of iron), spreading evenly with a spatula. Cook until waffles are golden brown and crisp, 7 to 8 minutes.  Remove from iron and quickly toss back and forth from hand to hand to cool slightly and allow waffles to crisp uo. Transfer to rack in oven; repeat with remaining batter. Serve with butter,  syrup and pumpkin seeds.

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