This week...

...was unexpected days of rest and morning thunderstorms, hot vanilla Chai and homemade Churros, Mexican takeout and spicy Chicken Lime soup, gold finches and backyard birthday parties...

Spoon and Level

Hot, crispy waffles. Glistening with syrup. Is there anything better? 

I dare say not much...

When I changed my diet almost exactly 2 years ago and gave up eggs, dairy, sugar and grains I thought my waffle eating days were at an end.

I am pleased to say I was wrong.

Using the recipe below and borrowing my mom's waffle iron E and I made the most AMAZINGLY delicious waffles yesterday. We finished off 4 in record time and you couldn't even tell they were allergen free. Or low carb.

I did, of course, modify a few things. 

 I used corn-starch free Baking Powder. (You can make your own by combining 1/4 tsp Baking Soda and 1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar for every tsp of Baking Powder you need...) I used a flax "egg" in place of a regular one. (To make a flax "egg" simply mix 1 Tbsp ground flax with 3 Tbsp water and let sit overnight, uncovered, in the fridge. Then add into your recipe as you would a regular egg.) 

And as my granulated sugar, milk and melted butter/oil of choice I used Coconut sugar, Almond milk. and Coconut oil.

To grease the waffle iron I went with my mom's recommendation and used Ghee. Which is basically clarified butter. All the dairy protein is cooked off and you are left with only the pure fat. It worked perfectly.

The last little note I have to include involves the syrup. (You can't rhapsodize about one and not at least mention the other.) While some waffles may just end up being the vehicle for the syrup such was not the case with these. However, that being said, the syrup we use is as equally AMAZING as the waffles. If the recipe had turned out to be one gigantic flop the waffles still would have been happily consumed. For no other reason than a chance to use our Maple syrup.

We buy ours from a family we know. If you think all Maple syrups are created equal you could not be more mistaken. Details like when in Spring the tree sap is collected, how soon after being collected it is boiled down and how long it is boiled down all factor in. And make a huge difference. I can say without exaggeration Skarda Maple Farms syrup is the best syrup I've tasted or cooked/baked with.

Ever. 

I love it!

If you are interested in learning more or maybe even ordering some for yourself next Spring (and then making these waffles to go with it) I've included a link to their website below the recipe link.

http://realsustenance.com/extra-crispy-waffles-2-versions-paleo-or-gluten-free-vegan/

http://www.skardamaplefarms.com/index.html

I turned 30 this year. THIRTY. 3. 0. Not 18. Not 25. I am halfway to 60 and a third of the way to 90. And what have I done?

Well...

I have dated and been proposed to and said yes and planned a wedding and said 'I do' and changed my name and gone on a honeymoon and gone through the end of the "honeymoon". And I have found out that I am still finding out what the reality of living with and committing to your spouse unconditionally really means.

 I made it through pregnancy and 9 months of morning sickness and labor and delivery and nursing and teething and the terrible twos and a screaming, vomit-covered child in the middle of the night. Only to discover that love, real love, always demands more than you ever thought you had to give. Yet somehow, in some mysterious, miraculous way, you are never completely emptied. There is always more. 

I have been bitten in the face by a dog. I have had my nose broken twice. I fractured my spine. I fractured a rib. I got my belly button pierced. I stopped wearing only 1-piece bathing suits. I wrote a book.

I have learned how to crochet and properly roast a chicken, how to hand-till a garden plot and fight fair and be honest about what I need. I have let nature heal my body and I have moved to a city where I didn't know another person and I have bought a house and refinished furniture and cleaned tile grout on my hands and knees with a toothbrush. 

But by far the two most important things these past 30 years have taught me are, number 1, how little I really know about life. And number 2, that this is ok.

These last two weeks...

...were outdoor art festivals and gray rainy days, dinner with friends and iced coffees by the pool, mason jars of sunflowers and apricot roses, sunny morning hikes and long afternoon bike rides, red sumac leaves and tiny blue forget-me-nots, freshly done hair and packing up for a weekend wedding, sun dresses and espadrille high heels, bare feet and flower petals, cupcakes and sunsets over the lake, laughing and dancing, giddy I-dos and the brightest of happily-ever-afters...

This week...

...was coffee shops filled with the light from stained glass windows and dinner out with friends, family visiting from out of town and late nights spent catching fireflies, sleeping in my childhood bedroom and afternoons painting in the shade...

Sunrise over my Cosmo patch...