One of my first cookbooks was given to me by one of my best friends as a wedding gift. We went to Anthropolgie together and she let me pick out my presents! She got me a beautiful spoon rest, some ice cream bowls, and The Illustrated Kitchen Bible. Every time I use any of these items I always think back to that day. Shopping with a best friend is always good therapy.

These are also the only things I own from that fabulous store! It’s one of my favorite places to go in and window shop as I can never justify the spending that kind of money. But let me tell you, if I ever won the lottery my kitchen collection would be transformed! And probably my closet, too!

The Illustrated Kitchen Bible is an incredible collection of over 1000 recipes! As you can imagine based on the title of the cookbook, every recipe has an accompanying photograph. I think my favorite thing about the book is that the back and inside covers contain crucial bits of culinary information such as measurement conversions, meat internal temperatures, and how to store things in the freezer.

I found it most surprising that there’s only one waffle recipe in the entire book! Though it does provide notes on how to alter it for buttermilk and adding some spice. (A fair number of recipes include variations to the base recipe.)

Classic Waffles

Ingredients:

• 1 C plus 2 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 1/4 C milk
• 5 tbsp melted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Steps:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and baking powder.
2. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks and whisk in the milk, butter, and vanilla.
3. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until combined.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the waffle batter.
5. Pour batter into a hot waffle iron and cook until golden.

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