Gingerbread Waffles with Buttered Rum Syrup

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world,

and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.        

 

                                                                  -Norman Vincent Peale

Oh Norman, though I love this quote, I chuckled a little thinking, "man, he must have a REALLY good wife". Yes Christmas is beautiful and soft, but unfortunately it doesn't come with a wave of a wand. It comes from the painstaking, list writing, hand wringing, stress inducing insanity of that lovely woman beside you. I don't think a Christmas has passed since I have "grown-up" that I haven't longed to be a kid again and just "show up" to the magic of Christmas.

 

I always intend to simplify things, but back when I was creating our Christmas traditions I didn't really have an idea of what reality would look like with 4 kids, a hubby, a dog, a big-ole house that I still haven't figured out how to keep clean and a part time job that becomes increasingly busy around this time of year. I always plan to cut back on the "unnecessary" things until the kids ask about those things and they suddenly become necessary, and honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. Our traditions create a warm and safe place for our families when the world around them can feel so harsh and uninviting. 

 

So, I suck it up and let other things go during the holidays. I may indulge in an afternoon of candy making with my kids and then bring home take out to help balance the mess in the kitchen. Looking back, I think the thing I let go the most are dinners. I am so grateful that other people are willing to cook for me during the holidays! 

 

This morning I wanted to fill my families bellies with a new memory that will now become a tradition. I also knew that I was short on time, so I took what I had on hand and Gingerbread Waffles were born. 

 

Confession time. I will never be the mom who makes pancakes or waffles from scratch. I may find a recipe that I will try from time to time, but on REAL days that include schedules and deadlines you will see me reaching for my Krusteaz mix every time.

 

So with that in mind, here is a yummy treat to serve your family this Christmas morning that is quick and easy so that you can get back to celebrating with those you love most.

    

 

 Gingerbread Waffles

 

Waffle batter of your choice. Enough to make 6-8 waffles.

1/4 tsp cloves

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 C molasses

 

Prepare waffle batter and stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into prepared waffle iron, the molasses will make the batter a little more sticky, so use the back of a spoon to spread the batter around to the edges. Cook and enjoy.

 

Buttered Rum Syrup

 

1 stick butter
1 C sugar
1/2 C milk 

1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp rum extract

Combine first 3 ingredients in a medium sauce pan. (The syrup will more than double in size when you add the baking soda, so a medium sauce pan is necessary.)

Bring just to a boil over medium heat.

Remove from heat and whisk in remaining ingredients until syrup is light and fluffy.



Why a "cry day" is actually a GOOD idea...

The sorrow which has no vent in tears

may make other organs weep. 

                                                                 -Henry Maudsley 

I remember the day that I started to hate crying. I had been warned by another co-worker that I was being blamed for a "call gone bad". But instead of handling the matter privately, giving me the opportunity to defend myself and let the truth be known, the owner of the company decided that he wanted to make an example out of me because I had been talking to my husband on the other line when things went wrong. He did this by playing the call to my fellow dispatchers and explaining that I was the reason that things had gone terribly, horribly wrong. What he failed to examine was the long standing feud between dispatch and the paramedics which created an environment where neither felt they could properly do their job. Without the feud the paramedics would have repeated the address on their pagers to my partner, something that was expected of the lowly EMT's but not of the paramedics, and they would have gone to the correct Instacare, picked up the RIGHT patient and none of this would have ever happened. Instead my partner simply told them to go to the Instacare, assuming that they had the address on their pagers, and gave them the details of the patient that they were supposed to transport. Long story short they went to the wrong Instacare and because I "took the call" I was being blamed, even though I had entered the correct address and had dispatched the correct paramedic team.

 

As I walked into the meeting I could feel everyones eyes on me. Apparently the word had gotten out that I was the topic of conversation for the day. I had planned what I was going to say, I knew that the truth of the matter needed to be exposed for what it was. I didn't deserve to be the scape goat.

 

But as the call started, all courage, and anger and defiance drained out of my body and all I was left with were tears. I told them to stop the tape, laid down my badge and left the room.

 

The owner followed after me. Again, all I could do was cry. I don't remember our conversation, but I remember feeling how weak and insignificant I was. I couldn't make a single coherent sentence to help in my defense.  I wanted to roar like a lion, but I was running away, scared like a lamb. My tail between my legs, defeated.

 

Crying was now a sign of weakness, it was there to let those around me know that I was an easy target.

 

I have always been sensitive. I cried when a little boy told me that I had chubby legs on my first day of Kindergarten. I cried when my brother was being picked on for being nice to "less popular" kids. I cried when the chimpanzees in the movie "Project-X" were exposed to radiation and died. I cried when I was happy and I cried when I was sad.  

 

I had always just let it all hang out.

 

But now, crying was dirty. Instead of cleaning out built up emotions, I pushed them down and held them in.

 

I still cried, occasionally, but never when I was weak or defeated.

 

Years later I was a NICU nurse. I cried at every delivery I ever attended. My favorite deliveries were those where I could wrap up a healthy baby and hand it over to an excited but scared mom. When the baby needed some more attention from the NICU team the tears were short lived and I quickly got to work doing the things that the baby needed to survive. I could justify these tears, because they were happy tears, but they did become a bit of an inconvenience. Soon I was pushing down the happy tears. 

 

When I first started to connect the dots surrounding my depression anything that even remotely resembled sadness was pushed down to the deepest, darkest parts of my soul. I was on survival mode. If anything stirred up that pot of tears I removed myself from the situation and pushed the sadness down further. Tears were now associated with this dark place in me that stole my zest for life, that left me failing as a wife and mother. If they weren't a part of the equation I felt just a little bit better.

 

What I had forgotten is that those tears are there for a reason. It's as if they hold that emotion and release it into the world. An emotion that is pushed down and held in has a way of festering inside of you, making you uneasy and brittle. 

 

Several months ago I heard a conversation on the radio where the host was talking about her "cry days". The co-host thought she was nuts, he was a guy btw, and asked anyone else out there to call in if they too had "cry days". The reaction was AMAZING and something that I was so grateful to be a witness to. There were other sensitive souls out there, like me, who needed that release of emotions and if they weren't getting it from their daily lives, they would induce that release in the privacy of their own homes. 

 

I had never tried a "cry day" before but thought it might not hurt. I was still a little scared that crying would make me spiral even deeper into a pit of despair, but at the moment I was pretty down and was hoping for a little glimmer of hope.

 

So, I pulled out the iPad and started searching for anything that would help me with some happy tears. I found videos of soldiers reuniting with their unsuspecting families, sappy proposals and videos of people walking for the first time following horrible accidents. It was kind of funny in the beginning. I was acting like I was crying, but nothing was coming out. Maybe my pipes were clogged from all of the years of non-use. By about ten minutes in it happened. I was sobbing like a baby. Not a cute baby mind you. I was crying like a booger filled gorilla making horrible gasping sounds following each new wave of tears. It was really ugly folks, but it was also so incredibly beautiful.

 

I was allowing myself to feel again. The whole time I was afraid of the repercussions of these emotions, but I was also so relieved that the tiniest bit of these emotions were now being released out into the world instead of being bottled up inside of me.

 

Guess what happened next?

Nothing.

I didn't feel weak or insignificant or that I had failed. If anything I felt like I was a little bit more whole. That by letting go of my emotions something else could now take it's place. Something that was light and airy instead of dark and heavy.           

I haven't looked to see if there is any "scientific" backing for my findings, but I do know that it helps me feel better. So I will continue to have my "cry days" and will slowly find my way back to happy.

Eggnog Syrup

Gifts of time and love

are surely the basic ingredients

of a truly merry Christmas. 

                                                                  -Peg Bracken
 

When I think of Christmas, I am immediately transported to the flavors that make up the season. Those treats that are special and unique to this time of year. Growing up that meant: pfeffernusse, a German Christmas cookie that was a sweet gingerbread ball rolled in powdered sugar, it was crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle; stollen, a German Christmas bread that hallmarked the candied fruit made famous in fruit cake, something I still haven't acquired the taste for; and everything pepperminty or eggnoggy.

 

Since breakfast is probably my very most favorite meal to prepare, I knew this holiday season wouldn't be complete without mixing up a new syrup recipe that incorporated some of these flavors. I have long been a sucker for eggnog. It is just one of those treats that I can't pass up this time of year.

 

This syrup recipe has been adapted several times to meet the season and my current craving. It started out as a simple buttermilk syrup recipe with a splash of vanilla and a dash of cinnamon. My friend Holly shared it with me almost 10 years ago, and my life hasn't been the same since. I have used the basic recipe to make coconut syrup, rum syrup, lemon syrup (which is delicious over ginger pancakes) and so many others. If I have a breakfast craving, I know how to satisfy it!

 

This is a great way to share a gift of time and love with your family. Serve up this delicious, quick and easy syrup drizzled over hot, crunchy waffles and breathe in all that the season has to offer.

 

 

 

Eggnog Syrup

1 stick butter
1 C sugar
1/2 C eggnog
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla 
Dash of nutmeg and cloves

Combine first 3 ingredients in a medium sauce pan. (The syrup will more than double in size when you add the baking soda, so a medium sauce pan is necessary.)

Bring just to a boil over medium heat.

Remove from heat and whisk in remaining ingredients until syrup is light and fluffy.