The Waffle Boys

The taco station and the waffle boys.
Filling for the black bean lasagna


Yet another successful cooking session under our belts. Our group met on Monday to plan our recipes and develop our grocery list for the Wednesday night cooking session. We welcome two new members to the group Steve and Dan, both came to our planning session ready and willing to learn what the group is all about. Little did they know the fun they were going to have, not to mention the wonderful food they would be taking home with them at the end of the evening on Wednesday. We set a menu of, Chicken Biryani(Cooking Light Magazine), Black Bean Lasagna(Cooking Light Magazine), Turkey Taco Filling( Everday Food Magazine), Macaroni and Cheese with a Chipolte Bread Crumb(Epicurious.com), and Banana Cinnamon Buckwheat Waffles(Cooking Light). Waffle is the key word here folks!!!!
Several stations were set up in our work area. One station housed an electric fry pan and the meat and dry ingredients for the taco filling, another station housed the waffle iron and a huge bowl for mixing the waffle batter, a chopping station with the appropriate knives and food processor which always speeds up the process of the prep work, and of course the kitchen area where the stove is. Much thanks to our coordinator Randi who plans out the execution of the activity. This truly is a feat because we don't use a commercial kitchen, just a typical stove. Her effort always makes sure that things are cooked in an order that meals that take longer in the oven go in first, and the stove top is utilized in a way that the frying and simmering work in conjunction with how the meals are completed. Oh and we must not forget the sink station, and what would we have done if we didn't have Carol doing all or most of the dishes that night. I'm sure the woman went home with dish pan hands, so very appreciated. Thanks Carol !!!
Everything ran so smoothly and a lot of fun was had by all. Our kitchen is run using safe kitchen practices, reminders to wash hands, we use a bleach and water mixture to sanitize cooking surfaces and we always wear a hair net. Well truth Carol is the one wearing the hair net, which on this particular night it kept coming loose and at any given time I was pointing out what looked like a nasty hair loss problem on her shoulder or down her back. With a giggle she would respond, collect it and return it to the top of her head. Now as far as the men are concerned the hair net thing isn't always popular, given the fact that three of them have brush cuts. So ball caps and bandannas offer a nice “manly” alternative. We found ourselves at various times throughout the evening referencing our new members and their task at hand. THE WAFFLE BOYS, both Steve and Dan were manning the waffle iron thus the dubbing of our new homey gang!!! They thought it might be a good idea to have T-shirts made up with their new title,I think they will start a trend. *smile*
Joanne was great with her Taco station and very mindful of preparing it in two parts, she made a batch for those of us who like our taco's spicy and filled with Jalapeños, and a batch for those less brave not wanting the hot stuff. Clint and Stuart ensured that all was chopped and prepped for each recipe and I am sure quite thankful we hauled out the food processor when it came to mincing those Jalapeños.
We started at 6 and were finished by about 9:30, that was with all the cooking and clean up and leaving our kitchen spotless as we had found it. Everyone went home with their Tupperware filled with the great meals that were prepared. We learn each time we come out, plenty of useful cooking tips, and introductions to ingredients that some haven't necessarily ever cooked before. One thing is becoming pretty obvious though, with all the prep and cooking that takes place and the wonderful aromas of each prepared meal those WAFFLE BOYS grow pretty hungry. The group was very thankful that we portioned out a taster of each recipe. I think we might have to plan some sort of appetizer for our next cooking session so that we all have something official to munch on as all the hard work is happening.
We ended the evening scheduling our next sessions, June 12 for planning and June 14 for cooking. The following is the list of recipes that were prepared this week. Those in the group will receive their copies for their recipe binder the next time we meet. Enjoy your meals folks!!!

Once again, we'd like to thank our sponsor's. Hansen's Your Independent Grocer for supplying all the groceries AND Hayter's Turkey Products in Dashwood for supplying us with 6 pounds of ground turkey.