...and in the morning, i'm making waffles!

If something is out of reach you want it more right? Waffles. I've been hankering after waffles since January. We were in Whistler, word was the best place for waffles, the Crystal Hut. Catch the chair, ski down, eat waffles; except I wasn't skiing, so no waffles for me. Mr B and the kids confirmed the waffles were indeed great.

Clearly I complained a lot and for my birthday in March was given a waffle maker! I've made loads of waffles since, trying to recreate the fabulous waffles from Kitchen by Mike; another thing off limits since they shut their doors last Friday. I'm not quite there with the waffle recipe, I may be chasing the impossible, but this recipe, minus the choc chips, by Emma Knowles at the Gourmet Traveller is the closest I've found.

The syrupy bitter oranges though, totally nailed those. Simple poached orange slices in sugar syrup, their skin almost translucent, the prettiest thing i've eaten in ages. Just add some crème fraîche to offset the sweetness and grab a fork.  In Australia crème fraîche is easy to find, but for that something extra special look out for Meander Valley or Pepe Saya, both are deliciously thick and tangy.

syrupy bitter orange slices

Oranges poached in their skins are bitter. If that's not your thing try removing the skin and all traces of white pith, cut the oranges in half or thirds horizontally and follow the poaching steps below. I'd imagine they would poach quickly, I'd give them 10 minutes and leave them to cool in the syrup. 

3 unwaxed oranges
500g caster sugar
500ml water
a sterile 1 litre jar

• there are so many ways to sterilise a glass jar, I followed these instructions
• wash your oranges well and carefully cut into 2-3mm slices
• tip the sugar and water into a large pan, stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves
• increase the heat and bring the syrup to a gentle simmer, add the orange slices, continue the gentle simmer until the orange skin is almost translucent and can be easily pierced with the tip of a sharp knife; mine took 40 mins, you may need to top up your pan with water as you go, to keep the orange slices covered
• I let the oranges cool in the syrup then transferred them to the sterilised jar, pouring the syrup over the top. If you're more daring and prefer the hot bottling method, go for it, I'm super wary of hot sugar, am literally scarred...
• cover your jar with its lid and store in the fridge until they're gone; they'd no doubt be fine in a cupboard but I'm overly paranoid, so let's go with in the fridge for a couple of weeks ;)