cornmeal waffles with blueberry compote

before we went on the garden tour on sunday, we made cornmeal waffles with blueberry compote for breakfast.  what a wonderful way to start a sunday morning!

these waffles were so light and delicate.  the cornmeal and the honey in the waffles gave them such a great flavor.  instead of serving them with maple syrup, we made a simple blueberry compote to put on top of the waffles.  the combination of the cornmeal waffles with the blueberry compote was delicious.  they tasted just like blueberry corn muffins.  yum!

this recipe made a lot of waffles for just two people, so we froze the extra waffles in a ziploc bag.  it's so nice to open up your freezer and to find waffles in there.  all you have to do is put them in the toaster to reheat them when you are ready to eat them again.

cornmeal waffles with blueberry compote
prep time: 10 minutes
cooking time: 4-5 minutes per waffle (depending on your waffle iron)
yields: 4 large servings
adapted from two peas and their pod

waffle ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons salted butter, melted

blueberry compote ingredients:
8 oz. frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

directions:
to make the waffles, preheat your waffle iron according to the manufacturer's instructions.  in a bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and baking soda.  in a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, honey, and vanilla.  add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.  stir in the melted butter.

pour enough batter into the waffle iron to just barely cover the waffle grid (usually about 1/2 cup of batter per waffle).  cook for 4-5 minutes, or until the waffles are golden brown.  once cooked, transfer the waffles to a baking sheet and keep them in a warm oven while you prepare the remaining waffles.  serve hot with warm blueberry compote.

to make the blueberry compote, place the frozen blueberries and the sugar in a saucepan.  cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the blueberries become soft and juicy (about 4-5 minutes).  remove from the heat.

enjoy!

love, laurie

secret gardenscapes tour

on sunday we took a trip to wayne county with my parents for the annual secret gardenscapes tour.  the tour, which is run by the wayne county historical society, took us to nine different locations around the towns of white mills and hawley.

it was really neat to visit the different homes, businesses, and historic locations, and to see the gardens that were on display.  all of the flowers and plants were so beautiful and colorful.

the weather was absolutely perfect for the tour.  it was such a nice way to spend a sunday afternoon.

love, laurie

happy national doughnut day!

today is national doughnut day!  what a great day to celebrate!

did you know that national doughnut day started back in 1938?!  a young doctor was sent to a military base, and on his way there he stopped at a bakery and picked up 8 dozen doughnuts.  the doctor gave a free doughnut to each wounded soldier that he helped at the base.  a lieutenant general that was helped by the doctor decided to make a fund raiser out of it.  the lieutenant general gave every wounded solider and the needy a free doughnut.  the fund raiser was joined with the salvation army and became national doughnut day!

if you're interested in making homemade doughnuts today, here are some great doughnut recipes:
baked mocha cake doughnuts with coffee cream cheese glaze
baked strawberry cake doughnuts with strawberry glaze
baked apple cider doughnuts

also, krispy kreme is giving away free doughnuts all day today too!

have a great weekend!

love, laurie

snapshots of life lately, according to my iphone pictures

{iphone pictures via the instagram app}

honey and oat pancakes

honey and oats are a great combination.  they work together so well in cereals, so why not pancakes?  i found the recipe for these honey and oat pancakes in adrianna adarme's pancakes cookbook and put it on my to-make list of breakfast foods as soon as i saw it.

a few weekends ago, i rolled over in bed on a saturday morning and smelled something delicious coming up the stairs.  i opened my eyes to find that my glorious husband had made a batch of these pancakes and delivered them to me for breakfast in bed.  (i'm telling you, he is amazing!)

we loved these pancakes so much, and we have made them again a few times since then.  the honey gives these pancakes a great flavor and the oats give them a nice crunch.

honey and oat pancakes
prep time: 5 minutes
cooking time: 5 minutes
yields: 2 servings
adapted from pancakes

ingredients:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons honey
1 large egg
1/4 cup old-fashioned oats

directions:
combine the flours, baking powder, and cinnamon in a large bowl.  in a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, honey, and egg.  beat until well combined and the honey has dissolved.  add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined and no lumps remain.  gently fold in the oats.

heat a lightly buttered griddle or frying pan on medium heat.  pour 3 tablespoons of batter onto the griddle for medium pancakes.  cook for 3 minutes, until small bubbles begin to form.  flip the pancakes when they start to bubble, then cook for 2 minutes, until they are golden brown and cooked throughout.  once cooked, transfer the pancakes to a baking sheet and place in a preheated 200 degree F oven to keep warm while you cook the remaining pancake batter.  serve warm with maple syrup or honey.

enjoy!

love, laurie

saturday biking around local state parks

the weather was absolutely gorgeous on saturday, so we took advantage of it and went biking at two local state parks.  there weren't many people at either of the state parks so it was nice and peaceful.  it was almost like we had the trails to ourselves.  we biked over 11 miles, it was awesome!  i'm grateful that ryan and i both share a love of biking.  it's great exercise and it's a fun activity for us to do together.

here's a little video that we filmed while we were biking on saturday . . .

{music by jeremy larson}

love, laurie

around our yard . . .

it has been so nice to see flowers popping up around our yard lately!
such a nice change from the snow that we had in our yard all winter!

love, laurie