A Taste of Europe

The Most Beautiful Square In Europe

The Boys Stuffing Their Faces

Tasty

I've really been wanting to travel lately. Anyone that knows us knows that we have a major weakness for traveling. There are some great deals right now for travel all over the world but right now we have neither the means nor the time to take advantage of any of them. I know, I know, this breaks all of your hearts and you feel so bad for us. We have been spoiled brats the last few years and have been able to take advantage of many discounted travel options. Unfortunately this time when the travel bug has bitten, we don't really have a way to scratch it.So today I decided to relive a little bit of our travels through our kitchen.

A few years ago when we were in Belgium, I had the tastiest waffles ever. Most Americans are very familiar with Belgian waffles and when we first got to Brussells and stopped into a little restaurant and had a delicious, fluffy, crispy, Belgian waffle covered with whipped cream, fruit and chocolate syrup, it was very good and exactly what I expected a Belgian waffle to be.

Later on in the day, I noticed a different kind of waffle being sold on the street. They were much smaller than the waffle we had had earlier but they looked pretty good and we decided to give them a try. They were like no waffle I had ever tasted before. We ate the first one and a few hours later couldn't resist buying another. I don't know if any of you have had this type of waffle that I'm talking about but it is something special. Really, it's only a cousin to the more famous Belgian waffles that we know. They are very dense and sweet, almost with a caramel glaze over them. The second one we had was even dipped in Belgian chocolate, which in and of itself is heavenly and quite superior to any chocolate I know of made in America.

I've thought of these waffles many times throughout the years and wondered what it was that made them so special. In the last few days as I have dreamed about vacationing in some remote part of the world, I've been thinking about these waffles and decided maybe I could find out how to make them in our own home. I did a little research on the internet and even called my friend, Roger, who lived in Brussles for awhile, to see if I could find out about these waffles. And thanks to wonderful, modern technology I was able to find several recipes http://www.recipezaar.com/Liege-Waffles-Belgian-Pearl-Sugar-Waffles-158977.

These waffles are indeed belgian waffles but they come from a city in eastern Belgium known as Liege, thus they are called Liege Waffles. The recipe is quite labor intensive and to truly make it right it calls for something called Pearl sugar, which I could not find anywhere but I was able to use a substitute. It took me all morning between culturing the yeast and letting the dough rise and crushing and mixing in the special sugar but I finally turned out my first batch of Liege waffles. They were only about half as good as the originals but still very tasty. I still wish that I could hop on a plane to some exotic destination but it was fun to bring a little taste of our former vacation back home.

(If anyone knows where I can get some kangaroo meat, I'd like to relive a little of Australia. The tail is very tasty. Also, ginger beer and bitters is great. I won't even get into those fantastic pastries in Austria. Many of you know that story. Mmmmm!)

-Lynn