Apple Sauce Waffles

A wonderful way to start off the day is the aroma of cinnamon spreading throughout the house.  Yesterday I made the cinnamon syrup so it was ready to go for this morning.  The syrup freezes well so you can have it with pancakes or waffles at a later time.

Apple Sauce Waffles

1 3/4  cups flour

 2 1/4  tsp baking powder
2 1/2  tsp sugar

1/2  tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 large eggs, separated
1 1/4  cups milk
1/2  cup apple sauce

Whisk all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add in milk, egg yolks and
 apple sauce.  Beat egg whites until light and fluffy.  Gently fold
in egg whites.  Bake in waffle maker per manufacturers instructions.

Cinnamon Syrup

1 cup light corn syrup
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon
1 dash nutmeg
1 cup evaporated milk

In a large saucepan, mix together corn syrup, sugar, water and spices. Bring to a boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in evaporated milk.  

Sweet & Salty Chocolate Snack Mix

Chocolate covered pretzels, raisins, M&M's and Golden Grahams...it's crunchy, sweet and salty and all in one bite.  We have a gas station chain in the region that serves (and delivers) pretty good pizza.  One night, I decided to throw in an extra dessert on my order.  It was this snack mix...well, not quite this mix.  I added in raisins since I'm a chocolate covered raisin fan.  There's said they have graham crackers in the mix but I opted for Golden Grahams as an easy solution.  

Sweet & Salty Chocolate Snack Mix

Cover a jelly roll pan (10 x 15) with non-stick aluminum foil.

Sprinkle the following over the pan evenly (I probably used a little more than a half cup of each)
Broken pretzels
Golden Grahams cereal
Raisins (or Craisins would be good)
M&M's

In a medium saucepan (or microwave save bowl), melt together 1 package chocolate almond bark and 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Spread evenly over the snack mix in the pan.  Allow to cool and then refrigerate for 1 hour.  Lift up aluminum foil so the mixture is out of the pan.  Place down on a flat surface and cut into small pieces.  Store in an airtight container.

Parmesan Hasselback Potatoes

I was looking for an easy side for meatloaf and decided to finally trying to make Hasselback potatoes.  It was much easier than I expected and it certainly made the meatloaf look much better.  I think I'll try making these on the grill next time.

 

Parmesan Hasselback Potatoes

4 russet potatoes – washed and dried

¼ cup butter melted

Salt& freshly ground pepper

 

Place 2 wood spoons on the long side of each potato so you cannot slice down to the bottom.  Slice each potato in ¼” slices.  Fan out and add butter, salt and pepper into the crevasses.  Place into a nonstick foil lined pan and bake for 1 hour at 350°.  Brush additional butter onto potatoes 2-3 times while baking.  Five minutes before the potatoes are done, sprinkle ¼ cup Parmesan cheese over and allow to bake to a golden color.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with a little more cheese and a bit of parsley.