I honestly can't think of anything that says fall quite like the richness of maple. Everywhere I look, people are preparing for fall and are excited about crisp apples, cornfields, harvest time, and bundling up to enjoy the cooler weather. That led me to examine two of my husband's favorite things; which are waffles and a good bourbon. I decided to combine the two into a lovely breakfast while adding the hearty cornmeal to the mix. Since my little one loves the color blue, I decided to use blue cornmeal, and she thought that was amazing! 

Above you will see a well-loved waffle iron. This belonged to my Great-Grandmother who along with my mother was an amazing inspiration to me growing up and installing a passion to love entertaining and creating food. While my great-grandmother past away almost 15 years ago, I still think of her often. In fact, my husband who loves waffles so much, breaks this bad boy out weekly. It always brings a smile to my face because I get to take that quick moment and reflect on grandma. I know she would be so happy to see the joy it brings not only my sweetie, but our little one as well. Not too mention, they really don't make things like they use too! 

I knew that this dish would need a good balance of sweet to the earthy tones of the cornmeal waffle. I also wanted to utilize another wonderful fall fruit- the Asian Pear. Such a delicate and lightly sweet flavor, that balances the soft waffle with a hearty crunch. I also wanted to add a kick up the normal maple syrup and therefore added butter and some bourbon. The combination was amazing, almost too good to limit only to breakfast.

Ingredients: 

Maple Bourbon-

1 1/4 C Maple Syrup (the real stuff)
1/4 C Salted Butter
1 T Bourbon (I used W.L. Weller) 

Bring the syrup and butter to a slow boil and then once boiling whisk in the bourbon. Serve warm 

Blue Cornmeal Waffles-

2 C Blue Cornmeal
2 C Flour (I used Cup4Cup to make it GF)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt 
6 T sugar
6 Eggs (I used farm fresh from my local neighbor)
1/4 C melted butter
1/4 C vegetable oil
3 C buttermilk

Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Set aside. Then in a separate mixing bowl combine all wet ingredients and whisk until combined. Fold wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until absorbed. Do not overmix. Follow your recommended setting for your waffle iron, and cook until lightly brown.

Serve with diced Asian Pear for garnish and a wonderful accompaniment. 

First of all, I can't tell you how excited I am to be back writing recipes and creating wonderful memories. I was fortunate enough to go and visit my sister in Norway last month, and I can barely put into words how amazing this time was. Not only was the landscape breathtaking, but the time to spend with my family in such an amazing country was priceless. I also had another fortunate experience, and that was getting to celebrate my daughters third birthday. In celebration of the big day, I whipped up a recipe for ice cream which included the one ingredient at the urging of my daughter--- Strawberry. We were able to go and pick wild strawberries out near my sister's home. However, our bounty was soon devoured by our little ones, so we had to make due with buying strawberries at the store. (This in no way impacted how amazing this ice cream tasted).

It was so much fun working with my sister! Especially since she is also an amazing writer and photographer. I encourage you to check out her blog Northwildkitchen. Currently she is a finalist for the 2016 Saveur Awards for best new voice. This recipe was also featured in theNORWEGIANAMERICAN. 

I hope you enjoy it. Normally I am not a huge lemon fan in my ice cream, however, the lemon really made the strawberry taste pop. The buttermilk added an amazing richness! So as summer begins to wind down, grab your ice cream maker and whip up this delightful treat.
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Ingredients:
Ice Cream

• 1 1/4 cup (3 dl) heavy cream
• 1/3 tsp lemon zest  (if you prefer a more lemony flavor, add  3/4 tsp)
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 4 egg yolks (we used fresh eggs from the hens out back)
• 1 1/4 cup (3 dl)  buttermilk (if you do not have access to buttermilk, you can add 1/2T and 1 tsp of fresh lemon juice to whole milk)

Roasted Strawberries 

• 2 cups (400g) fresh strawberries, diced
• 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
• 2 Tbs fresh lemon juice

​Preheat the oven to 375°F /190°C. In a glass roasting dish, place strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice and mix until evenly coated. Then place the pan in the oven and roast for roughly 10-12 minutes. After it is done roasting you will want to puree the mixture. (You will have leftovers that can be used as well for a topping on waffles, pancakes, or even this ice cream).
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan add the cream, lemon zest, sugar, and salt and bring to a low simmer so that all the sugar is melted. Reduce to a low temperature and cover the saucepan with a lid. Cook the mixture for roughly 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the mixture from the heat, and in a small bowl add the egg yolks. Slowly whisk in 1/4 cup of the cream mixture to temper the eggs (the last thing you want is cooked egg yolk ice cream). Once the eggs are brought to temperature, slowly whisk the egg mixture back into the pan, and place back on medium heat. You will want to cook the mixture until it starts to thicken slightly, or coats the spoon. This process should take about 10 minutes. Make sure to stir occasionally.
Once the mixture has slightly thickened, remove from heat and add the buttermilk. After you have mixed in the buttermilk, place a strainer over a bowl and pour the mixture through. This will remove any lumps that may have occurred, or any cooked egg. In the bowl, add 1/2 cup of the strawberry puree. Mix well and then cover bowl.
Chill overnight, and then follow your ice cream machine directions on making the finished product. We added diced fresh strawberries (3/4 cup) right before the ice cream was finished to give it some texture.