Sometimes I feel like I eat like a queen. I am totally spoiled by my amazing boyfriend/cook. Zak always makes every meal elaborate. While I would make eggs and toast for breakfast, he whips up some homemade eggs benedict. While I would purchase bread or at the most throw all the ingredients into the bread maker, he does everything by hand and enjoys making a 2-day bread recipe from Julia Child.

He loves to cook and doesn't mind if I never offer to help! This makes me feel like an awful girlfriend and quite lazy. Although, now that I only cake decorate one day a week, it doesn't feel like such a chore to be in the kitchen and I've been doing my part.

For breakfast, the other day, we were in the mood for some waffles with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. I helped a decent amount by making the whipped cream, cutting the strawberries, and folding in the egg whites (being that I have made plenty of cakes, I felt it was my duty to show Zak how to properly fold in egg whites... hee hee...). We shared dish washing duties of course!

Now, on to the results (Pardon the cruddy photo editing, it was a glum morning here and my camera sure caught all the gray of the day!):

Would you like the recipe? The whipping cream I eyeballed because I make it so much at work without measuring, but here's a recipe that I think is accurate:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

(yields 2 cups)

In a chilled bowl combine heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla. Beat until soft peaks form.

1-3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 egg yolks

1-3/4 cups milk

1/2 cup cooking oil

2 egg whites

(recipe says it makes 3-4 waffles, but our waffle iron is small and we ended up with 8... which was more than enough, but they're great toasted and eaten later!)

In a mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl beat egg yolks slightly. Beat in milk and oil. Add egg yolk mixture to flour all at once. Stir just till combined but still lumpy.

In a small bowl beat egg whites till stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Gently fold beaten egg whites into flour and egg yolk mixture, leaving few fluffs of egg white. Do not overmix.

Pour 1 to 1-1/4 cups batter onto grids of a preheated, lightly greased waffle baker. Close lid quickly; do not open during baking. When done, use fork to lift waffle off grid. Repeat with remaining batter.

from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book