Killer Waffles

Being a lazy Sunday morning, Jeff is making a batch of blueberry pancakes and I am reading my New York Times. Dogs are around the house somewhere. A great morning.

I love waffles more than pancakes, but they are more cumbersome to prepare; one at a time in a single iron. Sometimes, during cold winter months, I make the effort with a fabulous recipe book I picked up. But to me, waffles are the ultimate eat-out Sunday brunch food. A shout out to Cities 97, I have now found a new destination for the craving. It sells itself as a Coffee Cafe with the motto - Be Woke, Stay Buzzed, but....

Buzz Coffee and Cafe has tapped into the donut craze and brought it into their own, with apparently multitudes of specialty types & 200 spinoffs in toppings. Their Instagram page is drool worthy to be sure. Even gluten free and vegan options  along with vegan meats. They rattle off names like Butter Beer, Candied Pecan & Honey, Chai, Chocolate Potato Chip, Banana Bread, Cranberry Chicken, Chili Dog..... this list goes on and on and really needs to be seen to be believed! How about a Mermaid - a purple waffle w/ sprinkles, whipped cream & Swedish Fish! What 8 year old would not want to try that? Or for adults, the Med Chicken - w/ chicken, spinach & provolone topped with basil and whipped butter!

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Crunch

Two locations are on the outskirts in Plymouth and Burnsville. But this sounds like a road trip worth taking to me. If I went every week for a year it would take me 4 years to make a dent in all 200 varieties. Ponder that.

Vegan Strawberry Brie

Arkansas Black Apple

Here is a story for the Fall Harvest. We are just arriving at apple picking season and I would guess almost each of us will plan an outing somewhere in the area to grab a last gasp at warmth; with a hot cider, some music and maybe even a pumpkin patch.

In Minnesota we are famous for our Honeycrisp variety out of the U of MN. But I wasn't aware that we are truly a pioneer in terms of cross breeding to find something that is hardy to Northern climates as well as a crisp, sweet favorite. I cannot imagine the endless time and effort over the course of many years to yield results. This is not done in a laboratory but in row after row of orchards in both St Paul and the Arboretum. We are notable for the Sweet Tango, Honeygold, Zestar and Haralson among others. That is an impressive fruit basket!

But a variety out of Arkansas caught my eye earlier this year. It is an interesting breed both literally and figuratively. To grab them off the tree, they are a terrible tasting phenomenon. Apparently, the true payoff comes after months of cold storage to let them continue ripening over an extended period. The result supposedly has hints of cherry, cinnamon, vanilla and coriander. Interesting!

This particular crop traces its roots to Bentonville AR going back to 1870. With no horticulture data, it is merely assumed that it was a pollinating accident of a similar colonial Winesap variety. This dates back to the Johnny Appleseed tales of early Americana. The Arkansas Black reached a heyday in the 1920's until a moth infestation and the Great Depression relegated it to a back burner.

Currently, it is still not a hot market item. But with heirloom interest and risk taking in the food industry, it is at least popping up as a curiosity item. I am wondering where the closest vendor would be in MN to give them a taste?