Happy (belated) National Waffle Day! Toss out your oven, and waffle!
August 26, 2019 7:32 AM Subscribe
I'm sorry, I've let all you (in the U.S.) down -- National Waffle Day was Saturday, complete with free waffles (iHeart), though there may be some left-over freebies on Monday and Tuesday. But this isn't just to say "sorry I'm late," but to celebrate a possibly neglected kitchen tool. You probably have a waffle maker (or waffle iron) tucked away somewhere in your kitchen, neglected and sad in the darkness of a far cabinet. I say, pull it out and put on the counter with pride! I Replaced My Oven With a Waffle Maker, and You Should Too (Scott Gilbertson for Wired, Aug. 24, 2019), which highlights MetaFilter's own Daniel Shumski, aka veggieboy, and specifically his book, Will it Waffle? (MeFi Projects) as the gem it is.
As a teen, my mom and I lived more or less alone but had a wide circle (a motley crew?) of friends, fellow volunteers in various endeavours, schoolmates, work mates, etc. We instituted waffle brunches, furnished with the finest waffle makers local garage sales could provide. At one point we had 5. Also at that point we had a memorable brunch in which the ancient wiring inside one of them caused a fire at the wall and blew the fuses in the whole house.
Nobody was hurt. We did discover that the insulating material for many vintage waffle irons is asbestos, and we retired several examples from service.
Waffle brunch should include 3 or 4 different varieties: buttermilk (the gold standard,) orange, and sour cream were my favourites. Niche waffles, made by special request, often included blue corn (which was so dense a person could only eat one,) and peanut butter. Toppings: whipped cream, fruit, rivers of maple syrup, "goop" (molasses and butter melted together,) and sometimes ice cream.
My current waffle iron is a prized possession.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:50 AM on August 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
Nobody was hurt. We did discover that the insulating material for many vintage waffle irons is asbestos, and we retired several examples from service.
Waffle brunch should include 3 or 4 different varieties: buttermilk (the gold standard,) orange, and sour cream were my favourites. Niche waffles, made by special request, often included blue corn (which was so dense a person could only eat one,) and peanut butter. Toppings: whipped cream, fruit, rivers of maple syrup, "goop" (molasses and butter melted together,) and sometimes ice cream.
My current waffle iron is a prized possession.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:50 AM on August 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
The only thing I cook for overnight guests when they come is yeast-raised waffles. I have zero skills in the kitchen but I've made these like 100 times and have them down to a science.
posted by potrzebie at 8:26 AM on August 26, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by potrzebie at 8:26 AM on August 26, 2019 [8 favorites]
Those Smitten Kitchen overnight yeast-raised waffles are magical. Seriously: I have literally never made them for someone without them asking for the recipe. Absolutely transcendent. We do a huge brunch as our one party every year and those are the focal point, and they are also the star of Christmas morning.
posted by charmedimsure at 8:50 AM on August 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by charmedimsure at 8:50 AM on August 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
can't believe I missed (and did not celebrate!) National Waffle Day. I didn't even know my personal religion had its own day!!
posted by supermedusa at 9:26 AM on August 26, 2019
posted by supermedusa at 9:26 AM on August 26, 2019
My wife has a recipe she calls "turtle cookies". Basically it's a chocolate cookie that is darker than death, baked in the waffle iron for about a minute and then slathered with cream cheese frosting. She made these one Christmas a few years back. Her sister had one, then two, then took the entire container while screaming "I fucking hate you".
posted by Ber at 9:27 AM on August 26, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Ber at 9:27 AM on August 26, 2019 [4 favorites]
our waffle iron does not reside in a dark corner. also I highly recommend sliced figs on your waffles (with butter of course) its really quite delish!
posted by supermedusa at 9:28 AM on August 26, 2019
posted by supermedusa at 9:28 AM on August 26, 2019
We also have the habit of calling square waffles "protestant" and round ones "catholic" - where could this have originated? I am jewish. But round waffles are infinitely to be preferred.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 9:30 AM on August 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Lawn Beaver at 9:30 AM on August 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
Catholic hosts (aka communion wafers, 'little crackers,' etc.) are usually round, so, uh, maybe?
(And, I recently learned, they're made with something that looks like a waffle iron--but don't take my word for it, watch this nun's YouTube video.)
posted by box at 9:44 AM on August 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
(And, I recently learned, they're made with something that looks like a waffle iron--but don't take my word for it, watch this nun's YouTube video.)
posted by box at 9:44 AM on August 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
My wife has a recipe she calls "turtle cookies". Basically it's a chocolate cookie that is darker than death, baked in the waffle iron for about a minute and then slathered with cream cheese frosting.
I would hereby like to add the phrase "recipe tax" to the mefi lexicon, for use when folks have the gall to just simply drop phrases like this.
posted by mosst at 10:54 AM on August 26, 2019 [12 favorites]
I would hereby like to add the phrase "recipe tax" to the mefi lexicon, for use when folks have the gall to just simply drop phrases like this.
posted by mosst at 10:54 AM on August 26, 2019 [12 favorites]
We also have the habit of calling square waffles "protestant" and round ones "catholic"
Well, the Kelloggs company, makers of ubiquitous round Eggos, was founded by a rather fundie Protestant, which makes it one of Eggo Waffles' Stranger Things...
I can't believe I'm the first in this thread to mine that particular pop cultural vein
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:28 PM on August 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
Well, the Kelloggs company, makers of ubiquitous round Eggos, was founded by a rather fundie Protestant, which makes it one of Eggo Waffles' Stranger Things...
I can't believe I'm the first in this thread to mine that particular pop cultural vein
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:28 PM on August 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
I should have known this would happen. My apologies. I should note Mrs Ber never uses squares of chocolate. She substitutes 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa and 1 tablespoon butter, margarine or oil for every 1-ounce unsweetened baking chocolate. Timing is touchy and critical, don't over bake. Weight gain is a distinct possibility.
) Beat well 4 eggs, 1 ½ c sugar, 2 t vanilla, ½ t salt. Add 4 sq chocolate, melted, 1 c softened butter, 2 c flour. Close and bake in waffle iron 1 – 1 ½ min. Remove with 2 forks. Frost: 3oz cream cheese, 1T milk, 1 t vanilla, 2 ½ c confectioners.
posted by Ber at 1:39 PM on August 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
) Beat well 4 eggs, 1 ½ c sugar, 2 t vanilla, ½ t salt. Add 4 sq chocolate, melted, 1 c softened butter, 2 c flour. Close and bake in waffle iron 1 – 1 ½ min. Remove with 2 forks. Frost: 3oz cream cheese, 1T milk, 1 t vanilla, 2 ½ c confectioners.
posted by Ber at 1:39 PM on August 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
Ber, is that a regular waffle iron or a Belgian waffle iron? And is it like one big waffle sized cookie or do you drop smaller drops onto the iron?
posted by Weeping_angel at 7:07 PM on August 26, 2019
posted by Weeping_angel at 7:07 PM on August 26, 2019
This is important because I currently have all of those things.
posted by Weeping_angel at 7:09 PM on August 26, 2019
posted by Weeping_angel at 7:09 PM on August 26, 2019
NOT a Belgian - regular. I am guessing but each drop should be enough to form a medium size cookie when the waffle iron comes together - no larger than say a couple tablespoons. It won't take much experimentation to find the optimum. We did one cookie per square in the waffle iron.
posted by Ber at 7:48 PM on August 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Ber at 7:48 PM on August 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
As a Keto follower I was missing waffles, but thanks to a fairly new craze, Chaffles have been born. Made with cheese and eggs, and or with some almond flour or other ingredients, they're a god-send for those of us missing real waffles. And since I make the square ones I can use them like bread to make burgers/sandwiches etc. Really good stuff!
posted by WhyamIhereagain at 7:08 AM on August 27, 2019
posted by WhyamIhereagain at 7:08 AM on August 27, 2019
I have a sandwich grill which I use the heck out of so I'm also surprised I never consider using a waffle maker for other things. Going to try cornbread waffles in the next couple days.
I must have been 12 years old before I learned that an Ice Cream Sandwich (which apparently is a different thing in every country you go to) wasn't a pair of thin rectangular waffles (probably made on something like this GE model) sandwiching cheap vanilla ice milk.
posted by Mitheral at 9:49 PM on August 27, 2019
I must have been 12 years old before I learned that an Ice Cream Sandwich (which apparently is a different thing in every country you go to) wasn't a pair of thin rectangular waffles (probably made on something like this GE model) sandwiching cheap vanilla ice milk.
posted by Mitheral at 9:49 PM on August 27, 2019
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posted by SansPoint at 7:34 AM on August 26, 2019 [2 favorites]