Strawberry Waffles

You can't see it, but there are about a dozen chopped strawberries in this plate of waffles. If you don't believe me, well, look really closely and you'll see some dark red bits. The recipe I based this on was the "Oh Boy" Waffles from my grandma's copy of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook from 1951. I strongly recommend spraying your waffle iron with nonstick spray before each waffle is poured. The oil in the spray helps a lot with crispy edges. The ones in the photo, for example, were made with no cooking spray, and you can tell they're not very stiff if you really look close. But don't do that, kthx.

Strawberry Waffles

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 to 1 cup chopped strawberries

Heat your waffle iron.
In a medium bowl, sift the flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside. In a small bowl with a wooden spoon or whisk, combine eggs, milk, vegetable oil and sugar. When the waffle iron is hot, add the wet ingredients to the dry and beat until smooth. Pour about 1/3 cup (up to 1/2 cup, depending on the size of your waffle iron) at a time onto the center of the waffle iron. Bake until lightly browned. Serve warm.

Home Fries

Home fries are a Sunday brunch favorite at my house. Perhaps it's because they're savory and filling and heavy enough to satisfy the serious hunger of such late breakfasting, or perhaps it's because they do such a good job of stamping out symptoms of a hangover (paired with coffee, of course). It always feels like this dish is taking forever while I'm making, but it's really only about 30 minutes from prep to finish. I blame the aforementioned hangover.

If you happen to be making bacon for the same meal, you can make that in the same pan before you start the potatoes and they'll be extra crispy and flavorful, though certainly less healthy. Of course, I'm not the kind of girl who lets a thing like that get in the way of a perfectly delicious breakfast.

Home Fries
serves 3 to 4, prep time 30 mins

1/2 of a small onion, chopped or diced
1 tbsp butter
1 to 2 tbsp olive oil
3 potatoes, cut into roughly-1/2" chunks
1/3 cup water
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp mustard powder (optional but yummy!)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
salt to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste

In a skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter and olive oil and throw in the onions. Sautée for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and clear. While the onions are cooking, microwave the potatoes on a plate for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Add the potatoes, water and seasoning to the skillet, stirring well to evenly coat the potatoes in spices.
Continue to stir the potatoes occasionally as you sautée another several minutes until the potatoes are brown and crispy, adding a little oil along the way if the mix looks too dry.

French Toast

This is my mom's recipe. She never measured it, and honestly I don't either, but just for you I actually measured when I made myself this hefty stack of French toast for brunch today.

Serves 2, takes about 10 minutes. You can double or quadruple this recipe with no trouble. If you start to run out of the eggy mixture before you're out of bread, add a little milk and whisk it in.

French Toast
6 slices of wheat bread (or white)
3 eggs
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 pinches of salt
2 tbsp butter for the skillet

1. Heat your skillet while you whisk together all ingredients except the butter.
2. Add about 1/4 of the butter to the skillet. It should sizzle and foam up a little. If it doesn't, wait another minute or two before cooking, and add more butter.
3. Dip a piece of bread in the egg mixture, covering both sides. Hold by a corner and let drip a little, then carefully place in the skillet leaving room for another piece. Dip and place another slice in the skillet.
4. After 2 or 3 minutes, lift up one corner with a spatula. If it is browned, flip both pieces of bread over and let cook for the same amount of time. You may want to add a little more butter when you flip them, I always do.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you've cooked them all.
6. Top with maple syrup, chopped nuts, sliced bananas, butter, powdered sugar, brown sugar, whatever you want. It's also really good without any toppings.