Scratch pancakes, waffles and chili

I am happy to report that I am marrying a woman (Dec. 3) who not only has a bacon press, but she makes pancakes from scratch.

Karen is smart and fun and involved in the world, and of course that is where it starts. It is also cool, and very distinctive, that she makes pancakes from scratch. She made them last weekend, and they were light and fluffy and floated off the plate up to bite level, even with butter and syrup.

I asked her for her recipe, to share in the blog, and she said flour, sugar, salt, egg, milk, the usual recipe, but there is a secret, she said, and she wouldn’t tell me that. She said all the good cooks would know.

“I make good waffles, too,” she said. She already knows about my preference for waffles not with syrup, but with chili, so she was not too reluctant when I suggested that next weekend she make the waffles, and I’ll bring the chili (Hormel, no beans). And we will have a pecan waffle for dessert.

Talking about chili gave me a dinner inspiration. I took out hamburger to thaw, and I was thinking about just well-done hamburger patties, with onion and garlic, and a green salad. Now I am thinking about the patties, with onion and garlic, but also with green chiles and enchilada sauce, served over rice. We will see what happens.