Norwegian Heart-Shaped Waffles (Vafler)

Since my mom's side of the family hails from the fjords, we try to reconnect with our cultural heritage by introducing traditional Norwegian cuisine into our lives every now and then (thereby pretending we are "worldly"). This morning, I took the liberty of fixing up a classic Scandinavian favorite - heart-shaped waffles. Much smaller than regular waffles, they have a sweeter taste, the texture of a pancake, and are served with coffee, jam, and butter.

To make these, you will need:

2 eggs
5 tablespoons sugar

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

First, heat up your waffle iron. Don't be discouraged if you don't have a heart-shaped mold like mine, a regular American waffle iron will work just as well. Just don't use a Belgian waffle maker, or the batter won't cook right.

Aren't the hearts adorable?

Next, beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl until creamy.

Next, add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix well.

A quick note about the vanilla, however. While most people may be used to using the liquid vanilla, this recipe works best if you can get your hands on some Scandinavian vanilla. The difference is the texture and flavor - Scandinavian vanilla is powdery, like flour, and tastes very similar to powdered sugar.

Once you combine all of your ingredients, let the batter sit for five minutes to thicken.

While you're waiting, slather the iron in a layer of crisco, butter, Pam, or any kind of non-stick cooking aid to let the waffles slide out easily after they're cooked.

Then, pour the batter into the iron, close the lid, and wait for the beep (or the light to go off/come on, depending on what kind of iron yours happens to be. My heart-shaped waffle maker sounds like a smoke alarm going off every time it's finished cooking, so hopefully yours has a more pleasant-sounding alert system).

Once they're done, carefully lift the waffles out with a fork, making sure they don't break apart. They should be golden brown, like the color of perfectly cooked toast.

Resisting the urge to gobble them up immediately, apply more of your non-stick agent to the waffle pan, and keep adding batter and cooking the waffles until there's none left in the bowl. Remember to keep adding the non-stick stuff in-between each round - the saddest thing in the world has to be opening up a waffle iron and watching the fluffy bread rip apart....

Once they're all done, serve them with any kind of jam that you'd like. I used lingonberries and blueberry jam.

Don't forget your cup of coffee!

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Mark's Carts, Part 1

I took my lunch break at Mark's Carts today, a fun collection of gourmet food carts in downtown Ann Arbor. The carts are enclosed in a little courtyard down Washington St. right past Main. My friend Katie was the one who first told me about it, and I kept finding new reasons to not make the trek downtown every time I was tempted to try the food. But today I was determined to try it, and boy am I glad I did. 


Each cart specializes in some type of gourmet food. As soon as you walk in, you're greeted by The Lunch Box, which specializes in good-tasting vegan dishes. 

Right across from it is San Street, a cart that serves up Asian street food.

Right next door sat Debajo Del Sol (Spanish for "under the sun." Good to see 4 years of Spanish has gotten me so far in my translations....) This cart has a lot of interesting stuff on the list, including paella! They also make different Spanish tapas, or small plates, like churros and chorizo corn dogs.

A2 pizza π comes next on the list. They make authentic wood-fired pizzas.

I was skeptical of how wood-fired their pizzas could actually be, considering they're being cooked in a cart. But they actually had a real wood-firing grill right outside the cart that employees kept popping pizzas in and out of.

They had their margherita pizza out for sampling. Don't they look delicious? And just $8 per pizza!

Across the way were two other specialty carts: Cheese Dream, which focuses on gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, and The Beet Box, a creative cart using local natural ingredients.

At the end of the courtyard sits Darcy's Cart, which changes its menu weekly to reflect the harvests of locally-grown food. Today, I saw a lot of people getting the whitefish tacos.

For my lunch, I selected the last cart in the courtyard, Hut-K Chaats (I'm very happy that I don't have to pronounce that, because I'm sure I'd butcher it.) Specializing in "nutrilicious Indian food," their style incorporates fresh, light, and filling indian dishes, most of which are vegan. Why did I select this cart, you might ask? Because it won last year's Le Creuset cook-off!

I ordered the award-winning dish, Shanu Chaat, and, needless to say, it was certainly worthy of its title. I've eaten plenty of Indian food in my lifetime, and this was like nothing I'd ever had before! 

Since most of my Indian food experiences have occurred in local Americanized buffets, my idea of Indian food was rich, filling, and often high in fat (what can I say, I just love butter chicken!). This chickpea dish was fresh, light, filling, and crunchy. I even got to taste a sample of it ahead of time so I knew what I was buying. Needless to say, one bite and I was sold! For $6, this is some of the cheapest and best Indian food I've ever had. Kudos to its creators!

Tragically, I didn't have a stomach large enough to sample food from every cart today. However, I'm sure to be back soon for more!

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