Do you like waffles?

Yeah we like waffles! We were already excited to discover that the diner around the corner would make a waffle big enough for us to share for $4.  But then the more enthusiasm we got for waffles, the more we needed to make them at home so that we  can eat them and watch Degrassi.  But this presented a problem.

I love our kitchen, but its pretty small. I would say at maximum capacity it fits two small ladies, a chihuahua and a big burly man.  Anything else and its a clown car.  We like to cook (alot!) so we’ve become very adept at moving appliances around, as we have very little in the way of counter space and not nearly enough cabinet space.  It is probably good that this is true, as it prevents me from being the crazy lady with all the kitchen appliances. If we are going to introduce a new toy into the kitchen it needs to be small and its needs to be essential.

Enter our new waffler!

Our waffler (for real that’s what it’s called) has made us so joyously happy. It calls for parties (Saturday) and the invention of new kinds of waffles. We made pumpkin ones for our inaugural use of the machine.  All that were missing were the flax seeds.

Pumpkin waffles

Ingredients

* 2 eggs
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* 1 3/4 cups soy milk
* 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
* 1 tablespoon sugar (whatever you have around)
* 4 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your waffler and spray it with cooking spray. In a bowl (obviously), mix the wet ingredients first and then add the dry. We learned that if you accidentally add too much vanilla extract it does not matter in the slightest. Pour it in the waffle maker and try to contain your excitement for just a few minutes. Probably about 4 minutes, but on the waffler a green light goes on to say its done. This made like 6 servings. By the way, pancake syrup is not allowed. Go buy yourself a jug of real maple syrup. You won’t be sorry.

So bad its good: TV commercials from the UK

When I lived in the UK, I watched alot of tv. What else is new? The same programs as at home, but with an announcer with a different accent. Having done alot of traveling and meeting people from all over, I firmly believe that the international language is not love. Its Joey, Ross Chandler, Homer, Bart and Lisa. I also love countdown shows about the shocking moments of football, rugby and cricket(and maybe one day I”ll be able to follow a cricket game), and naked people on at like 9pm and the equivalent of basic cable. But of course what I love the most is commercials. Scientific fact: jingles stopped in american television commercials in 1995. We now have lots of snarky commercials that are sometimes funny. I miss the days when the tv sang to me about chocolate being scrumptious when it crunches, or that we should kiss a little longer. There are plenty of singing adverts in the UK. They will still sing you about the joys of making your own french fries at home:

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Sunday Brunch Recipe

You will need:

• eggs

• Whatever’s leftover from Indian take out on Friday (our’s was from Seva which is at 30-07 34th St

in Astoria.  We had leftover chana saag.)

• 2 pieces of bread (preferably sprouted grain hippie bread.  white bread is bad for you.  Please don’t eat it.)

• toaster oven

• optional: chihuahua under foot

Step 1:

Toast your bread

Step 2:

Make a sunny side up egg.  Ask a grown up person for help if necessary.

Step 3:

Drink some coffee and think about whether you will go to the gym today or watch Degrassi.

Step 4:

When your toast is ready, spread your Indian food on your toast.  Caution: Don’t trip over the chihuahua under your foot!

Step 5:

Put egg on top of toast and Indian food.  Make a sandwich.

Step 6:

Eat this.  Smile and thank your roommate for inventing a new breakfast.  Digest and go to the gym.

What I ate for $5.50 in Chinatown this week.

3 fried scallion cakes, 6 chive veg dumblings, and noodle soup for $5.50 at Sweet Spring Restaurant.

Semi- random things I thought about while I ate this:

• Sometimes at work I hear people complaining about New York City and how much more they could have if they didn’t live here. They could have a huge backyard and lots of space. Inevitably they ask, “why oh why do they live in NY?”  I have always been very clear why I”m here. I am here for the food. This is one of the most delicious cities in the world. In addition (and I”ve been told that this is very specific to New York compared to other major cities), is you could have an amazing meal here for $100 a person almost as easily as you could have an amazing one for $5.50. This is of course so long as you know where to look.

• I grew up eating Chinese food. Some of my earliest memories involve egg rolls.

• Just in case you were unaware, in terms of non-chinatown American Chinese food Staten Island’s is fantabulous.

• The way to juge American Chinese food is always by the fried rice. Fried rice should never be yellow. It must be brown and preferably not have square carrots and peas.

Sweet Spring Restaurant is located at 25A Catherine Street.

Blood Oranges and other important snacks

We are making a very slow crawl into the beginning of spring and the end (FINALLY) of winter.  You may find you need a little something special to keep you going.  Might I suggest that you stop reading this (STOP NOW!) and go find some blood oranges.

You actually do need to hurry because the blood orange season is ending pretty soon.  But really, when you bite into a blood orange its like a burst of magic in your mouth.  When you open your eyes there are chihuahuas, smiles and rainbows everywhere.*

If you saw TONY this week, you’ll know that Astoria on 30th avenue was mentioned as being one of the New Yorkiest blocks in NY.  That’s cool, but they missed alot of awesome places, which luckily you can read about here on the blog and of course at Joey in Astoria.  They mentioned Tereizzi bakery, which is pretty cool.  But right now we are pretty obsessed with the almond horseshoes from Frank’s bakery . You’ll want to hurry and eat that.  Passover starts Weds evening.

vintage plate from Aunt Janet not included

*Not true.