Nothing says love like a heart-shaped buttermilk waffle

Several years ago (2002) when dating the man who is now my husband, I thought it would be very Valentine's Day Fantastic of me to make him heart-shaped waffles for breakfast. I finally found an overpriced heart-shaped waffle maker at Williams-Sonoma. The day finally arrived. He woke up, jumped in the shower and I got up to get working in the kitchen. In his usual morning daze, he asked "What are you doing?" I replied "Surprise! I made you a Valentine's Day breakfast!" He said "I don't eat breakfast this early in the morning." I said "You do today."
Until last night, that waffle maker remained unused. Then I had a craving for waffles. I found the recipe below online, and made waffles for dinner. They were fantastic! As a matter of fact, I am going to reheat the leftover waffle now.
Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1	cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1	tablespoon fine-ground cornmeal (optional)
1/2	teaspoon table salt
1/4	teaspoon baking soda
1	large egg , separated
2	strips unsalted butter , melted
2/3	cup buttermilk
	Pinch cream of tartar

1. Heat the waffle iron according to the manufacturer's instructions.

2. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, cornmeal (if using), salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, butter, and then the buttermilk. Beat the egg white and cream of tartar with a hand-held mixer on high speed until the stiff peaks form, 2-3 minutes. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour the buttermilk mixture into the well, and whisk very gently until the buttermilk mixture is just incorporated (a few lumps should remain). Toward the end of the mixing, fold the whipped egg white into the batter.

3. Following the manufacturer's instructions, spread the appropriate amount of batter onto the waffle iron and cook until golden brown, about 3 1/2 minutes. Repeat with the remaining batter, serving the waffles immediately or holding them in a 200-degree oven (see the note above) until all are cooked.

Pretzel Dogs

I love hot dogs, particularly those served at Fenway Park (GO SOX!). I love them so much, that on a trip to Massachusetts, I stopped at a supermarket to purchase six packages of the beloved hot dogs. They came home in my Red Sox lunch bag, and have lived in my freezer for quite awhile. Having the need to creatively consume aforementioned edible goodness, I searched for a pretzeldog recipe. Shamelessly lifted from Culinary Infatuations blog, which is super and you should visit for more good recipes!

Ingredients: 1/8 cup hot water

1 package active dry yeast

1 1/3 warm water

1/3 cup brown sugar

4+ cups flour

Coarse kosher salt

Baking soda

Butter or shortening (to generously grease cookie sheets)

Directions:

In a large bowl mix together hot water and yeast until the yeast dissolves. Stir in the warm water and brown sugar and stir until the brown sugar dissolves.

Slowly add 4 cups of flour, stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the mixture is smooth and does not stick to the sides of the bowl. Lightly flour counter.

Dip your hands into extra flour. Knead the dough until it is stretchy and smooth. (Push it down and away from you with the palms of your hands, turning the dough as you work) Grease cookie sheets generously with butter or shortening.

Sprinkle greased cookie sheet(s) with kosher salt.

Preheat oven to 475. (It is very important that you grease the cookie sheets very well) Using liquid measuring cup fill a large saucepan at least 1/2 full of water. For each 1 cup of water, add 1 tbls baking soda. Divide the dough into equal sized pieces. Using the following 4 steps shape each dough ball into a pretzel shape...

1). Roll the dough into a rope 14" long and as thick as your thumb. Bend the dough into a U shape. (if you have trouble rolling the dough into a rope slightly wet your hands and try again).
2). Cross one end of the rope over the other one. The ropes should cross about three inches from the tips.
3). Twist the crossed ends, making a full turn. Fold the ends back, towards the middle of the U.
4). Open the ends slightly to form a pretzel shape. Press the ends into the dough firmly.

Bring water into saucepan to a gentle boil (not too many bubbles) Use pancake turner to lower each pretzel into the saucepan. Count slowly to 30. Then lift the pretzel onto the greased and salted cookie sheet (shaking off excess water back into the saucepan).

Repeat until all the pretzels are done. Sprinkle some kosher salt on top of the pretzels and put them in preheated oven. Bake for 8 minutes or until the pretzels are golden.

Use 7" ropes, spiraled them around the dogs, and then boiled them in the soda water concoction. Remove and place on a greased cookie sheet lined with foil, basted with melted butter, and sprinkled with kosher salt. Then bake for 8-10 minutes until golden, and served with mustard.

Funfetti Cookies

Who doesn't love funfetti? FREAKS! Scratch that, even freaks love funfetti! And who doesn't love cookies (people who have had bad cookie experiences, because there is no reason not to love a cookie. It's round, like a happy face, and that is fun!
Anyway, found this recipe online as well, and plan to make it on Thursday for my friend's visit. She is the world's biggest cookie lover, and something so groundbreaking should be served to someone so dedicated to cookies!
Shamelessly lifted from another blog, Melissa's Magic in the Kitchen (also a fantastic food blog that you should check out).

Ingredients

1 box cake mix (I use Funfetti)
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil (I used canola oil - you can probably use less than 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons of instant french vanilla pudding
Canned frosting and sprinkles (you do not have to frost them-but should, because that would be fantastic!)

Directions

Mix together the first four ingredients, drop batter on a lined cookie sheet (tablespoon size) and bake on 350 for 8-10 minutes. Let cookies cool then frost them and add sprinkles.

Italian Meatloaf and Roasted Potatoes

What a delicious dish! It was like eating a big meatball, but gooder. While mashed potatoes are number one in my book, roasted potatoes just appeared to be more appropriate. No complaints from the men I was eating with! In fact, I doubled the recipe and made extras, they will be frozen for later consumption. Woohoo! Very cool part: instead of forming it into one loaf or playing with the loaf pan, you form four miniature meatloafs instead. I actually made six, as I do not require massive amounts of meatloaf.
This recipe was shamelessly lifted from my favorite food blog, Amber's Delectable Delights. She has great recipes for everything, real people food, and that is awesome!
Italian Mini Meatloaf
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 egg, beaten
1 cup spaghetti sauce; divided
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1 tbls Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup panko (or breadcrumbs)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Gently mix 3/4 cup of the spaghetti sauce and remaining ingredients together.
Divide into 4 equal size pieces and form into desired shape. Place onto greased cookie sheet.
Smother each loaf with the remaining spaghetti sauce and top with extra cheese if desired.
Bake for 40-50 minutes or until internal temp is 160.

Roasted Potatoes
*I would lay these out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or at least put them in a dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. They really stick to the dish. Also, I cooked them for almost an hour. But they are great!

Roasted Red Potatoes
(Source: Amber's Delectable Delights )

Ingredients:
4 red potatoes
2 Tbls bread crumbs
1 Tbls olive oil
1 Tbls Parmesan cheese
Your choice of seasonings (I used garlic power, onion powder, and parsley)

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Slice potatoes into wedges and place into medium bowl. Season with all the remaining ingredients and place into preheated oven. Cook for 30-40 minutes or until potatoes are done to your desired crispness.