Friday Morning Breakfast :: Uncle Mark's Waffles

The arrival of Spring has been delayed yet again with yet another batch of snow. Yick! So to combat the cold weather blues and cabin fever combo I have recently contracted, I whipped up, literally, a batch of my favorite kind of waffles. These waffles make up the best kind of good weekend juju imaginable. 

When that waffle iron gets hot and sizzles some of this wafting waffle steam into the air I am suddenly back at my Aunt and Uncles house. It is the day before Easter morning. There are a truck load of cousins scattered around and bellyaching laughter filling the house. There are eggs to be painted, jokes to be played, and fun to be had. Grandparents lounging on the couches with the morning paper. Parents hogging the hot showers. The summer in the sun, winter in the shade weather that Spring always promises. Those memories sounded like the best kind of medicine for a morning like today. So, I was makin' waffles. 

I am not really sure if this is a secret recipe, or not. Honestly, I am not even sure if this is a family recipe or just something stolen from a big, red, Betty Crocker cookbook. All I know is every night spent at my Aunt and Uncle's resulted in a double batch of these waffles on Saturday morning. They have come to be known as my Uncle Mark's specialty. He will often combine them with his foamy, buttery-smooth syrup and orange julius. I tell you, those breakfasts simply cannot be beat. 

The secret to these waffles is whipping the egg whites until they are firm and then gently folding them into the batter. There still have to be little white clouds of egg whites when you pour the batter on the iron. Then, when these are finished cooking, the outside is just crispy enough and the inside is soft and light as air. These are the kind of waffles you can put anything on: peanut butter, jam, powdered sugar, or a kamikaze combination of the lot. I would wolf down five or six of these babies before I knew what hit me. They are light. They are delicious. They are just what I needed on this freaking frigid day. Bonus! If you make a whole batch for just one and a half people, then you can freeze the rest and save them for another morning when you just might need some Spring cheering up.

Special thanks to my Grandmother who copied down the recipe for me and gave it to me when I got married. Her handwritten recipe cards are some of my most treasured kitchen possessions. If you can make out the instructions and ingredients from the photo, great! If not, shoot me an email and I will share ;)

See? I am telling you. All about the egg whites.