Hi. Hi! Picture me waving excitedly as I actually can log into this site again after two weeks — not to bore you with the details, but it has been a month of thinking this blog was lost forever, but maybe not, but wait it’s not still working, should I just start a new one/but what about all that years’ worth of content? leading to tonight when miraculously someone at my hosting company sorted out all their issues and things seem to be, cross fingers, in working order again. I guess you never know what you have until it’s (almost) gone; while I don’t post here nearly as frequently as I once did, I’m definitely not ready to say good-bye just yet. There are too many recipes to post, too many photos of New Zealand to share (if this goes alright I’ll be back soon with those). It feels so good to be here again, my little online home. I celebrated with a bowl of roasted vegetables. And tomorrow I’ll celebrate further by making waffles.
The Foreign Service life has gifted me, along with a more sturdy constitution, some pretty wonderful friends. You tend to bond quickly with Americans/other expats in countries that could be described as “challenging” (ahem, Saudi Arabia) and fall into fast, close relationships. This is lovely in the moment but when you or your friend leaves country it can also be a bit heartbreaking. I was so lucky that my best friend in Morocco and her family were assigned to Riyadh; likewise, some good friends of ours from Saudi have just landed in Sydney for a few years. The girls were great friends when we left over a year ago, and I am hoping our soon-to-be reunion will be a happy one for them. I’m definitely planning to sweeten it with homemade waffles.
This is my new favorite waffle recipe, adapted from a few online recipes, and beautiful in its simplicity. Whole grain flour, coconut oil, Greek yogurt … wholesome, basic ingredients without any fuss that cook into a fluffy, breakfast-worthy waffle. I’ve done a few substitutions here and there, like swapping half the coconut oil for applesauce and using spelt flour in place of the whole wheat flour but the waffles turn out just beautifully every time. The little one and the littler one (show above) love them, always the best endorsement I can receive.
Hope to be back soon.
Makes about 8 waffles.
2 cups whole wheat flour or spelt flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of cinnamon
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 egg
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and the pinch of cinnamon.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the yogurt, egg, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and milk.
Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk to combine. Use batter
immediately.
Place about 3 tablespoons of batter in the center of the waffle iron and cook until done.
Yes to blog return! Years of columns, recipes, photos and chronicles of your life. It’s a new day! Welcome back!
So happy to see the blog again! Love you all!
Yay for waffles, as often as possible! But my heart lurched thinking you’d faced the chance your whole site was lost! In a strange way I can measure my own changing life through the stories you tell here, remembering where I sat as we connected over our unexpected Wheatland link or when I read about a particular cake or as I answered questions about growing for a CSA! Of course the loss would be a thousand times more terrible for you! So so glad all is safe.