"Oh, boy!" Waffles

I love the cookbook my mom made for me before I went off to college; it contains all of my favorite dishes from my childhood as well as few bonus ones. I like thumbing through the pages and reminiscing about the evenings around the dinner table. We'd begin each dinner meal by praying, "Come, Lord Jesus, be our Guest, and let these gifts to us be blessed." It was such a simple prayer that was easy for two small girls to memorize--two girls who were responsible for praying for the food each night. I didn't realize until adulthood the significance of those words and of the awesome responsibility that we were given to say them. I love the cookbook, too, because it contains funny little quips that my mom says, and since I can't see or talk to her every day, I can just read the cookbook and hear her saying them and then cackling afterward. We picked on my mom for cackling--not laughing. I wish we wouldn't have because, well, now I find myself cackling! Ahh!

At any rate, I knew that I wanted to bless my husband with these waffles on a Saturday morning, so I woke up extra early to make sure they were ready when he got up. Such a blissful memory...except that I was out of eggs and didn't have the waffles ready in time before he had to leave for work. Alas, I carted them to the office so he could enjoy them a bit late. He still enjoyed them. I also requested that he say, "Oh, boy!" because every time I eat these waffles, I feel compelled to do the same--not just because that's their name, but because they really are delicious! When it comes to waffles, I love the task of making sure the right amount of butter lands in the little squares, and then shortly thereafter watching the hot maple syrup drip over and fill up those buttery little squares to the brim. It's really the simple things in life that thrill me. I suppose that even the idea of a waffle maker is a bit entertaining, but I digress. Please enjoy these childhood favorites, and don't forget to say, "Oh, boy!" aloud!

"Oh, boy!" Waffles
Source: Mom
Yield: about 16 waffles, depending on your size of waffle iron (I used a Belgian waffle maker).

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
2 beaten eggs
2 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Sift together the first four ingredients in a large bowl; set aside. Beat the eggs in another bowl with a fork. Add the milk, oil, and vanilla to the eggs and whisk together well. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and beat together with the whisk until just moistened. Don't overbeat otherwise the waffles will be rubbery and tough. Bake in a preheated waffle iron. Serve immediately with butter and maple syrup, butter and light or dark corn syrup, butter and powdered sugar and strawberry preserves, or any other fun toppings you'd like!