by Caroline

waffle-strawberry sunshine close-up

I was lucky to become a mom surrounded by a group of neighborhood friends who were also new moms, and before Ben turned one our frequent casual playdates and regular Monday playgroup generated a babysitting co-op that saved my family, at least, from paying for babysitting until Eli was a baby. These days, with the kids all in school, we don’t use the co-op much anymore, but we do a regular sleepover swap with one of the families which we all look forward to every month.

I’ve been realizing lately that part of what the kids love, aside from the big block of playtime with their friends, is the food. Their friends’ house always has a particular Kashi cereal that I can never remember to buy; their mom cooks chard somehow differently than I do (I need to ask her about it!), and Ben and Eli can’t get enough of it. Over here, their friends love my buttermilk waffles. In the morning, we’ve fallen into a good routine of cereal breakfast (which the kids serve themselves independently) followed, a couple hours later, by waffle breakfast. The recipe is nothing revolutionary — straight out of the Joy of Cooking — but it’s delicious and feeds a crowd of hungry, LEGO-building, spy-sneaking children.

Preheat your waffle iron.
Whisk together in a large bowl:
3 1/2 c all-purpose flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Whisk together in another large bowl:
6 eggs
1 1/2 sticks (12 tbsp) melted butter
3 c buttermilk

Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together with a few swift strokes. Spoon 1/2 cup of batter (or whatever is recommended by your waffle iron’s manufacturer) into the hot iron, close the lid and cook until golden brown. Repeat with remaining batter until the children are full. (Leftover waffles make excellent snacks.)