A Norwegian Saturday Morning Tradition

"Plated" Vafler., originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

At least in my grandmothers house they were.

Before I write about the should-be famous Norwegian waffles let me apologize for my absence. My blogging is a very important part of my life and I adore it with all my heart. It's a little escape from the chaos that is life sometimes. But lately, life has been full of transitions. Some of my personal relationships have shifted, we are preparing for a new roommate for the first time in three years, which was unexpected, school has been a time sucker like I still can't believe. I could probably write a two page list of how greatly life has changed for me in the last few months and continues to, but there is really no point for that. I find that I am still adjusting to the constant change that my life has been for a while. I don't like change, not one bit, but I also forget how promising, exciting and inspiring change can be. There has been a great lack of it in my life both at home and in the workplace for years now, the sudden change in both has been a bit of a shock for me.
But here I am, ready for spring, ready for the sun to warm my skin and the (slightly) warm breeze to filter through my kitchen windows as I cook and clean. Most importantly ready to focus on my love, this little blog of mine. So, I declare my return. I will make it a goal of mine to post here, at the very least, once a week. I'm ready, thrilled and excited to be back to it!

So, onto the infamous (in my little circle) Norwegian "vafler" or waffle. Growing up, as I've mentioned countless times before, I spent a good portion of my childhood at my grandmas little yellow house in Seattle. I spent the night there often, and most mornings, when she got up at the crack of dawn my lovely grandmother would get up and make
a.) waffles
b.) pancakes
However, these were not your traditional waffles or pancakes, they were 100% Norwegian baby! Norwegian pancakes are basically a sweet crepe. And Norwegian waffles, well they are simply superior in taste. The batter was a little thinner than a normal waffle batter but the ingredients were very similar. The recipe I am going to post is not my grandmothers recipe, because no matter how hard I try they just don't taste like hers did. Probably because she'd been making them since she was a little girl on the farm in Vistdal and really didn't have a recipe. The recipe I have, scribbled in my 8 year old chicken scratch, is not exact, she kind of just whipped it together. Now, as a baker and a home cook I can completely understand this, though it baffled me as a young child. When you have recipes you've made over and over you simply have no use for a recipe anymore.

I tried and tried so hard to recreate the waffles of my childhood, and it broke my heart time and time again that I couldn't. I wanted so desperately to recreate the smell, the taste, the warmth and the comfort of her kitchen and her kindness. Her recipe just wasn't working for me, so I set off on a mission to find a NORWEGIAN waffle recipe that would do this for me. And one day, in a little old book, I found one. Norwegian Sour Cream Vafler. I know for a fact that she never once used sour cream nor did she whip egg whites and fold them into the batter, her recipe was no nonsense. But I could tell the moment the batter began to sizzle in my waffle maker and the sweet aroma filled the kitchen that I had done it, while not her recipe, they taste as identical as I think I might ever get. My first bite was like heaven, it had been only a few years since her death, but for a girl used to waffles from heaven on a regular basis I was transcendent. It brought tears to my eyes.

So I want to share the recipe with you, these waffles are so light and airy, with the perfect hint of sweetness. They're good hot, warm and even cold (with a little Gjetost). My grandma liked waffles with maple syrup, or a little sour cream and fresh raspberry jam. These waffles are amazing either way, they'd probably be really wonderful with a little citrus rind tossed in, but I haven't brought myself to experiment, I simply let the taste and smells bring me back to her.

So enjoy, squeeze some oj, make a strong pot of black tea and enjoy breakfast heaven on a plate!

Recipe: Norwegian Vafler

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 - 1/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you prefer them)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup water
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs, separated

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients, except egg whites, until you have a smooth batter.
2. Let rest 25 minutes.
3. Beat egg whites until they form peaks
4. Gently fold them into the batter.
5. Bake in a waffle iron. (Lightly butter surface before first waffle only.)

Please enjoy!
And Merry Spring Everyone!