Pumpkin Waffles with Cider Butter Syrup

Pumpkin Waffles with Cider Butter Syrup

  Today I said goodbye to fall, for my last pumpkin hoorah of the season, and putting my new waffle iron to use. These waffles are full of all of falls flavors, including the cider syrup they are topped with. The perfect   way to bid goodbye to November and hello to December and all of its peppermint mocha goodness. Dear December, i love you, but spiced fall flavors are my favorite. These literally only took me 10 minutes to whip and get on the plate, 1 bowl, 1 saucepan, and 1 waffle iron also mean very little dishes. Who likes to start there morning washing dishes anyway?

 Waffles

1 cup plus 2 tbs Flour

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 tsp Baking Powder

 1/2 tsp. Salt

1 beaten egg

1 cup buttermilk

2 tbs melted butter

 Mix all ingredients together until well mixed. Do not overmix, a few lumps are ok. Heat Waffle iron and spray with non-stick spray.

Syrup

1/2 cup Sugar

1 tbs Corn Starch

1 tbs Corn Syrup

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 cup Apple Cider

4 tbs Butter

Put a saucepan on med-high heat, add the sugar, corn starch, and cinnamon, whisk until combined. Add the cider and whisk until thick and bubbly, take off the heat and stir in the butter until melted and combined. Top the waffles with the warm syrup and if your feeling spunky, maybe some fresh cinnamon whipped cream, as you can see from the photos, i must have been feeling spunky. May i also add, these are the 1st food photos i have taken with my new Nikon D7000 DSLR camera. Not bad for my first tr,y, I'm sure they will improve more with time, but I'm pretty tickled about these for the time being!

Jalapeño Corn Fritters

 My dad's birthday was last week, so on Saturday, naturally, we celebrated. Tons of snacks and party appetizers, of course homemade by me. I don't mind, I love entertaining, and having people over. Last year I made cornbread stuffed jalapeños, they were good. So good that for these I deconstructed them and made them into something better. 

3 cups sweet whole kernel corn

1/3 cup chopped fresh jalapeños 

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cups flour

2 eggs

2 tbs sugar

Splash of milk

Salt 

Pepper

Cayenne pepper 

Garlic powder 

 Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and fold together until combined. Season with a pinch, or a little more if you like the heat, of the dried spices.  Heat an iron skillet on med-high heat with about a 1/4 inch layer of vegtable oil. Drop the fritter dough in small drops and let cook on one side for about a minute, until it can be flipped without falling apart. Cook on opposite side until golden brown. I let mine drain on a paper towel, then slapped them in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes to cook thoroughly and keep warm while making a sauce. I used my favorite Cilantro Crema sauce and added a little kick, here is the link to the recipe for the sauce. 

http://www.lifeneedssprinkles.blogspot.com/2013/08/citrus-chicken-tacos-with-cilantro-crema.html?m=1

 For the kick I added a jalapeño to the food processor to turn up the heat a little bit. These fritters were gone in a matter of minutes, a big hit. I also think they could be made ahead of time, be kept frozen, then pop them in to oven before serving to warm and crisp them up. 

Parmesan Pepper Pasta

 One weekend day, it's noon and we are starving for lunch, not wanting to leave the house to go out for lunch, or shopping to restock our very empty fridge, and pantry. Anthony says "I'll take care of it" He whips up this dreamy pasta with bannana pepper rings, it was good. So good I think I made it for lunch twice the next week. I amped it up a bit and added fresh parmesan, and a blackened chicken breast, and BAM it's a quick, cheap, easy, delicious meal. Although I fully credit this meal to Anthony it was his inspiration that lead me to this pasta dish. 

Fettuccini noodles (or whatever you have on hand will work) 

Chicken Breasts ( I pan seared mine with salt, pepper, garlic and paprika) 

3 tbs butter

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder 

1/4 cup chopped banana pepper rings

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

 Cook the noodles until right past al dente in salted water. Strain and return to  the pot with all the ingredients. I added more banana rings and cheese. Toss until butter is melted and everything is combined. Top a few slices of chicken and...dinner is served, or lunch, or a snack, or breakfast. This stuff is so good, and it's so cheap and easy anyone could do it. Anthony lived off of something similar through his college days. Enjoy!