Dinner with Julie

Pumpkin Waffles with Maple Syrup

Lou loudly alerted me to the most wonderful surprise yesterday afternoon – a FedEx package full of maple syrup products from Manon’s sugar shack in Ontario. Two jugs of the pure stuff – which gave me ample opportunity to hold them up chest height and have Mike admire my jugs in a way he hasn’t in a very long time – plus maple butter, apple butter and maple sugar. I’m pretty sure I saw a tear of pure joy run down Mike’s cheek.

And so since this is the last weekend I won’t have a 7:30 am call time (we’re shooting every day until the 18th) until the weekend of the 21st, I thought I’d make waffles in homage to this wonderful syrup and in order to stash some away in the freezer for more streamlined mornings for M & W. I made them pumpkin waffles in an attempt to inject at least some nutritional value – I imagine W is going to be eating an awful lot of grilled cheese and eggs on toast over the next couple weeks. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Myself – I have lofty plans of getting up über early, going to the gym and reviewing our script for the day on the elliptical trainer, then coming home, showering and getting to the set (with coffee) by my 7:30 call time. How long do you think that will last?

Plus tomorrow I’m going to try to make cinnamon buns to bring to celebrate the first day of shooting. You know, get us all off on the right food before we share close quarters for more than two weeks. My plan reminds me of the time I baked cookies for CBC in the morning and was running late so had to bring the whole cookie sheet in the car, with a spatula and plate, and transferred them from sheet to plate at a red light. At least I gave the guy in the truck beside me something to tell everyone at the water cooler that day. I’ve seen people doing their makeup in the car, reading, even working on their laptops. But baking cookies?? (Have I mentioned my absolute lack of time management skills before?)

I will, by the way, answer your weight loss queries tomorrow night too. I know if I get into it now I won’t be up in the morning early enough to pull off my delicately choreographed gym-study-cinnamon bun-shower-work regime. Come to think of it, I suspect late nights on this blog has a lot to do with my shaky time management skills…

Pumpkin Waffles (or Pancakes)

This batter makes great waffles, but can be ladled into a hot skillet to make pancakes as well. If you’d like to use freshly grated ginger instead of powdered, add it to the wet ingredients instead of the dry ingredients.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
pinch allspice
2 cups milk or buttermilk
3 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin purée
¼ cup canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and allspice. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, pumpkin, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk just until blended.

To make waffles: preheat your waffle iron, spray it lightly with nonstick spray or brush it with oil, and cook according to the manufacturers’ directions. (I use a scant ladleful – or about half a cup – per deep Belgian waffle.)

To make pancakes: preheat your skillet over medium heat; spray with nonstick spray or brush with butter or oil, and then wipe it off with a paper towel. (This way you’ll get your first pancake right, rather than the first one being a “tester”.) Ladle on about ¼ cup of batter and cook until a few bubbles start to break through the surface and the edges appear dry. Flip and cook until golden on both sides.

Keep pancakes or waffles warm in a 250°F oven while you finish cooking them. Serve warm topped with blueberries and maple syrup; leftovers can be popped in the toaster for a quick weekday breakfast.

Makes about 10 waffles or 15 pancakes.

February 01 2009 | bread and breakfast | 36 Comments »