36. Branch Out, Try the Waffle Iron!

I can't believe that it is weigh in day again.  Time goes by so fast that is disconcerting.  One more reminder that life is truly fleeting.

We weren't expecting the amount of rain that we got yesterday and last night.  Bob was glad that he had picked up his tools yesterday that were scattered over his outside work bench.  The work on the house is all going to be so nice, but it is so hard to find things.  Both out buildings and the canvas garage are full.  I had to have help crawling over things to find the box that had the kitchen spices in it.  I tried to keep a minimum in the house, but didn't think to include the chili powder.  Naturally, the box was clear in the back of the shop on a table behind the freezer.  But, I couldn't finish the chili without chili powder and we are too far from town to just run to the market.  That's about the only disadvantage with the drive.  The chili was really good and worth the climb.  

I made my usual cornbread in the waffle iron, but the first two kind of exploded in the iron.  Not actually exploded but split apart with half on the top and half on the bottom when I opened it.  I can't be sure what happened to them.  I might have put too much water in the mix.  I added an egg and the next ones were just fine.  It's chemistry and obviously I missed something.  But all is well that ends well and it did.  I'll give you the recipe anyway because this was the first time it didn't meet up to expectations.  I love it because it gets really crispy and warms up quick in the toaster oven the next day.  It was my dear father-in-law, Cotton's, favorite way to have cornbread.  Maybe because in Texas the summer was so hot that cornbread was out of the question unless it was in the waffle iron.  The oven just made the house too hot.  What ever the reason, I have to agree with him.  It beats the cake like version hands down.  It takes a little more tending to, but yummy!

Hot Water Corn Bread

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup unbleached flour
1 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal   I like the coarser cornmeal
1/2 teasp. salt
1 T. baking powder
2 T. packed brown sugar - I usually add a little more
1 1/2 cups of boiling water mixed with 2 T. oil

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl and add the liquids.  If you want to bake the mixture
you can oil a 8 x 8 pan (even better in a hot, oiled  iron skillet-hot enough that the

mix sizzles when you pour it in)  Then bake at 375 until it is nicely browned.  The cast iron

skillet makes the bottom and sides crispy.

The tricky part is that sometimes you have to add more water to the batter for the waffle iron.
That could be where I goofed up yesterday.  I could have been heavy handed with the hot
water.  I should only add about a1/2 cup of hot water at a time over and above the initial
1 1/2 cups.

Please feel free to try your own favorite recipe in the waffle iron.  You may have to practice
with the liquids in your recipe, too.  Maybe it's just a southern thing, maybe just good memories,
but satisfying all the same.  I like this recipe for another reason.  You'll notice that it doesn't have

milk or eggs.  I almost always have the ingredients on hand.  White sugar can be substituted for

brown sugar, too.  The brown sugar just gives it a caramel flavor. 

I'm pretty sure that I will crest twenty-five pounds today.  It has taken forever, but I feel like I have made life long changes.  For me, that's what it will take for me to keep it off.  Besides the fact that I have given Weight Watchers a small fortune for the pleasure of weighing me.  The meetings are really informative and inspirational.  One young couple has lost 80 pounds between them.  A.J.'s boyfriend, Todd, is usually the only male face in the crowd.  It's heart-warming to watch them.  He loves the W.W. website and uses the free app that you can download on your phone.  It's cute to watch them together with their whole lives ahead of them.  I wish them well.  

Bob just came in from sitting in the hot tub.  He is sooo happy to be able to soak again.  It really helps his bones.  Now a days that's the ticket, keeping those bones from hurting.  He has a physical therapy appointment on Thursday, but I don't think he will need much.  He is already really gotten back most of his range of motion.  Only because he hates physical therapy and the crack of my whip.