In our house, Sunday morning is synonymous with waffles. It is a tradition that my husband brought into my life and that I have wholeheartedly embraced. Wile we generally stick to a classic Belgian waffle, we mixed it up this week with a tasty recipe from my local hero Alton Brown.

Oat Waffles
from Alton Brown

5.5 ounces old fashioned rolled oats
4 ounces all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar (or brown sugar for extra flavor)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 ounces melted unsalted butter
2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature

Heat a medium skillet and add the oats. Toast over medium heat, stirring or tossing occasionally, until the oats are very fragrant (about 3 minutes). Cool the oats completely and toss into your food processor. Process for 3 minutes, until the oats resemble the texture of whole wheat flour.

Preheat your waffle iron according to the appliance directions.

In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients (oat flour, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon). In a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter into the eggs, and then whisk in the buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Let the batter rest for at least five minutes.

Cook the waffles according to your waffle iron’s directions. Waffles should be golden brown and pull away from the iron easily. Serve with butter and real maple syrup.

Hello, dear readers! I’m happy to announce that I am back from a brief blogging hiatus! I’m just bursting with new recipes to share with you all, starting with this delicious treat for a chilly fall morning. My freezer is full of ripe bananas that I’ve stashed away for a rainy baking day. I was perusing this banana bread recipe and decided to tweak it into some delicious Cinnamon-Pecan Banana Muffins. Fall is in the air, and I just love a deliciously spiced muffin to pair with my morning coffee at this time of year. So welcome back to VV, and I hope you will stick around for some more of my vintage-inspired recipes.

Cinnamon-Pecan Banana Muffins

Muffins:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
4 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Topping:
1 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Prepare a muffin tin with liners and preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until fully incorporated.

In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with a fork and stir in the milk and vanilla. Add to the creamed mixture, stirring until combined. Next, add the dry ingredients and stir just until the flour is moistened. Do not over-stir or your muffins will be tough!

Fill the prepared muffin cups with batter about 3/4 of the way full.

In a separate bowl, combine the ingredients for the topping. Sprinkle the each muffin generously with the topping.

Bake the muffins for about 25 minutes, or until the tops bounce back when lightly touched. Serve warm.

Yield 12-16 muffins.

You should know by now, dear readers, that I am of Irish blood and that I love to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day! While a hearty loaf of brown Irish Soda Bread usually graces our table on this festive day, this year, I decided to branch out and make a spotted dog. After comparing many sources, I decided to base my version on a recipe whose source was right in the heart of Ireland.

This bread turned out to be everything I had imagined: a deliciously crunchy crust, a delicately most and tender interior, with the perfect balance of richness and simplicity. The addition of the whiskey-soaked raisins didn’t hurt a bit either…. Slice this while it’s still a bit warm, and serve it topped with a generous dollop of Irish butter!

Spotted Dog – a fun version of Irish Soda Bread
adapted from The Rustic Kitchen

3/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup Irish whiskey (or apple juice if you prefer)
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 egg

Place your raisins in a small bowl or zip-lock bag and add the whiskey. Soak for at least one hour, or up to overnight.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Use a wooden spoon to form a well in the middle of the dry ingredients.

In a small bowl, mix together the buttermilk, the egg, and the melted butter. Add all but a couple of tablespoons of the wet mixture into the well of the dry ingredients. (Reserve the final 2 tablespoons for later!) Use the wooden spoon to stir the mixture together just until it forms a shaggy dough. Add the raisins. Using floured hands and a sprinkle as necessary, gently knead them into the ball until the dough is smooth.

Form the dough into a round disk about six or seven inches in diameter. Use a knife to cut a cross on top of the dough, about an inch deep. Transfer the loaf to the prepared baking sheet. Brush the surface with the 2 tablespoons of reserved liquid. Bake in the center of your oven for about 25 minutes. When it’s done, the loaf will be golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Serve warm with generous amounts of Irish butter. Enjoy!

One of the best, and most unexpected, parts of maintaining this blog is my interaction with all of you, dear readers. Back when I started VV, I never expected to gain such a wide readership! I thought maybe my mom and a few other family members and friends would enjoy my work here.

I love getting emails with questions, suggestions, and recipes from my readers. I am still methodically attempting to respond to each and every email that I get (bear with me!) because I am always touched, amazed, and intrigued by the input that I get from you all. My favorite emails are those from readers who want to share their own cherished family recipes with me. I had the chance to try one of these recipes out tonight, and it was such a hit!

Shredded apples are rolled inside a thin biscuit-like dough and sliced into individual rolls. Then the entire pan of rolls is baked in a syrup scented with cinnamon and nutmeg. The result is a surprisingly light-and-flaky roll with delicious apple filling, and the edges are mouth-wateringly caramelized – a perfect match for vanilla ice cream!

Luscious Apple Rolls
from VV reader Elizabeth C.

2 cups sugar (less if you are using sweet apples)
2 cups water
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
½ cup milk
2 ½ cups shredded cooking apples

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, and grease well a 13×9 inch pan.

Combine the sugar, water, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a saucepan and stir well.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the butter, and set aside.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.  Use two forks or a pastry blender to cut the shortening into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.  Add the milk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly 4 or 5 times.

Roll the dough into a 12×9 inch rectangle.  Spread the apples evenly over the dough, and roll up like a jelly roll, beginning and ending with the longer side.  Cut into 12 (1-inch) slices, and place the slices into the prepared pan.

Pour the sugar syrup around slices (the syrup will be absorbed in baking).  Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until golden brown.  If desired, serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Warning – this bread is totally addictive. It is just mildly sweet, perfectly spiced, dense, moist, and nutty. We could not stop eating it this morning! My husband and I easily took care of half the loaf for breakfast. I hope you will try it, but don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Apple Pecan Bread

adapted from the lately deceased but much-loved blog, Good Things Catered

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pinch fresh ground nutmeg
1 pinch cardamom (optional)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups apples peeled, cored, and diced
1 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees, and grease a regular loaf pan.

In medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a large electric mixer bowl, combine the oil and sugar and beat well. Add the eggs and beat to combine. Add in the vanilla. Turn your mixer to low and carefully add the dry ingredients, beating just until combined. Fold in the apples and pecans. The resulting batter will be thick and sticky – barely enough to hold all of the apples and pecans together!

Spread the batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 60-75 minutes. Cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving if desired.

Dear readers, I was eating some beautiful strawberries the other day. They were sliced into beautiful heart-shaped pieces, and it made me think of my oldest friend, who is awaiting a heart transplant. She and I grew up next door to one another, romping and playing together since we were in diapers. She is just barely 29 years old, and is in need of a new heart. Her life depends on the generosity of some yet-to-be determined individual who decided to become an organ donor.

When we were growing up, our moms would take us to this wonderful breakfast place in Atlanta called the Original House of Pancakes. Our moms’ favorite item on the menu was the famous strawberry waffle. Up until recently when my friend’s mom moved away to be with her as she awaits her transplant, our moms  were still in the pattern of meeting every Thursday morning to eat a strawberry waffle at the OHOP and to share news of our families.

This morning, my husband and I had strawberry waffles for breakfast at home, and I thought of my dear friend, waiting for her new heart.

Have a heart? Then I hope you will consider becoming an organ donor today. The lives of my friend and many others depend on our caring and generosity today.

Click on the heart to learn more about organ donation.

Strawberry Waffles for Two

1 cup strawberries, sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
2 waffles, made from your favorite recipe or a mix
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Whipped cream

In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and the sugar. Toss gently to combine

Make your waffles so that they will be nice and warm when served.

Sprinkle the waffles with the powdered sugar. Top with a dollop of whipped cream. Spoon over the strawberries and any juice. Serve immediately.

In my family, Easter weekend brings with it many culinary traditions:  Easter brunch, sliced, ham, deviled eggs, desserts infused with the flavors of spring . . . But one of those traditions was in danger of coming to an end this year.

Since before I was born, my family has frequented a small, independent bakery in Atlanta for fresh bread, colorful thumbprint cookies, and – an Easter tradition – hot cross buns.  Sadly, our precious little bakery closed a few months ago, as the owner decided it was time to retire.

And so the challenge was laid before me:  homemade hot cross buns!  So I hit the books and started paging through some my my vintage cookbooks.  When I reached my mom’s 1973 edition of Better Homes and Gardens’ Homemade Bread Cook Book, I found one of those wonderful little newspaper clippings that get forgotten, lodged inside of forgotten cookbooks.  The clipping came from the March 27, 1983 issue of Atlanta Weekly.  Glancing over the recipe, I knew this one was The One.

The article before the recipe perfectly describes these delicious sweet rolls, for those of you who may not be familiar with them.  “Hot cross buns, traditionally eaten on Good Friday morning, are symbolic of the Easter season.  Basically a spiced roll with currants or raisins, the bun are etched on top in the shape of a cross . . . [Then] a thick sugar glaze is decoratively spread on the bun.”

After making these buns from scratch, I am convinced that my family will be just fine, despite the loss of our precious local bakery. They were the best hot cross buns we’ve ever had! And so a new Easter tradition is born.

Hot Cross Buns
adapted from Atlanta Weekly, March 27, 1983

1/2 cup milk
2 envelopes (-5 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon ginger
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup raisins or currants

4 tablespoons of milk
4 tablespoons of sugar

Using a microwave or the stove, warm the 1/2 cup of milk until lukewarm to the touch. Stir in the yeast and the teaspoon of sugar, and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, bronw sugar, and spices. Make a small well in the center and add the (now foamy) yeast mixture, the butter, the egg, and the 1/3 cup of milk. Stir until a firm dough forms. Add the raisins or currants, kneading the dough until it reaches a rubbery texture (about 6-8 minutes).

Lightly oil a bowl for the dough to rise in.  Cover the bowl and let it stand for about 2 hours in a warm, draft-free place so that the dough doubles in bulk.

Gently punch down the dough.  Divide it into 10-12 equal portions.  Roll each segment of dough between your hands to form the shape of a bun, and place them on two well-greased baking sheets.  Cover and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours, until they have doubled in bulk.  Finally, use a knife to cut the shape of a cross into the top of each bun.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  While the buns are baking, boil the milk and sugar together in a small saucepan until the mixture bubbles and forms a thin glaze.  Remove the buns from the oven and brush them while they are still hot with 2-3 coatings of the glaze.

Mom really wanted her goose "Ursula" to be in this picture!

Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
One ha’ penny, two ha’ penny,
Hot cross buns!
If you have no daughters,
Give them to your sons
One ha’ penny,
Two ha’ penny,
Hot Cross Buns!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, dear readers!!

Is this recipe Irish?  Not really.  Is it hearty, warming, delicious, and cozy?  Yes.  Good enough for me!!!

These Apple-Oat-Walnut-Flaxseed Muffins are moist and tender, fluffy but chock full of good-for-you goodness!  They freeze well for a quick breakfast on the go.  And they’re packed with 5 grams of fiber per muffin!  So feel free to have seconds!

Apple-Oat-Walnut-Flaxseed Muffins

adapted from a recipe on the package for Bob’s Red Mill Flaxseed Meal

1 1/2 cups 100% whole wheat flour
1 cup quick oats
1 cup flaxseed meal
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup diced apple (McIntosh is best!)
1 1/2 cups natural, unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 cups dried apple slices, diced
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup 1% milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten.
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 and line 18 muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, flaxseed meal, brown sugar, soda, powder, cinnamon, and salt.  Add the diced apple, the applesauce, the dried apple pieces, the walnuts, the milk, the eggs, and the vanilla.  Stir just until combined.

Scoop into prepared muffin pan, filling the cups almost to the top.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the center of the muffin is done.  Enjoy!!

I think you can tell from the photograph where this delicious treat gets its name!

This creamy and delicious salad was a favorite in my family when I was growing up.  My mom first found it in The Congressional Club Cook Book (8th Edition, 1970) and it has been a tradition in our house ever since.  We usually have this around Christmas time, ,but I think that it makes a gloriously green addition to any St. Patrick’s Day or Easter table, too!

Sea Foam Salad

1 14-ounce can of pears, with their juice
1 3-ounce box of lime Jell-O
6 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1 cup whipping cream

Place a strainer over a bowl and drain the pears. You should have about 1 cup of pear juice – if you fall short, just add water until you have 1 cup of liquid. Heat the pear juice in the microwave for about 1 minute. Dissolve the Jell-O in the hot pear juice. Let set until slightly thickened.

Meanwhile, mash the pears with a fork and mix in the cream cheese.

When the Jell-O has thickened slightly, whip it with an electric mixer until frothy. In a separate bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Fold all the ingredients together until fully incorporated.

Chill the mixture in one large mold or in several smaller molds. Chill overnight or until set. Turn out of molds, and garnish with cherries or greenery.

I’ve made this nice cozy breakfast bread several times this season.  A slice of this bread is absolutely perfect with a cup of coffee or tea on a chilly morning.  It is packed full of tart apples, juicy cranberries, and toasty walnuts – with barely enough spiced batter to hold it all together!

Apple-Cranberry Bread
adapted from AllRecipes.com

3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup spiced rum or apple juice
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom (substitute with cinnamon if you don’t have this)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups of apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
3/4 cup walnuts

In  a small bowl, cover the cranberries with the spiced rum.  Cover and allow to sit for at least 1 hour (overnight is best).  Drain and discard the liquid.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a large loaf pan (or 4 mini loaf pans).  Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, and oil.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt.  Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, stirring just until combined.

Gently fold in the drained cranberries, the apples, and the walnuts.  Spread the batter into the prepared loaf pan(s).  Bake for 55-60 minutes for one large loaf; 40-45 minutes for four smaller loaves.