There are thousands of cooking blogs -- each week, we bring you highlights from the best. This week, we've got holiday breakfasts on the brain.

Waffleizer

"Will it waffle?" Most people wouldn't lose sleep over this question, but Dan Shumski, a digital news editor at The Chicago Tribune, was consumed by it. "I went to bed with the idea for Waffleizer ten times before I realized that it wasn't going to go away the next morning," he explains in an early post.

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To help answer his burning question, Dan invited himself and his waffle iron into the kitchens of friends, fellow food bloggers, and restaurant chefs. The first recipe he tackled was a waffleburger, complete with waffled bun, waffled beef and waffled cheese. "Because you could just waffle some hamburger meat, slap it between two buns from a bag and call it a day," he writes. "But then you might as well just cook your hamburger in a frying pan like a normal person. And that's not why we're here."

 

Dan went on to waffle things like s'mores (s'moreffles), croque madame (the waffled sunny side up egg is especially impressive), falafel (say it with us: fawaffle!), soft pretzels, pizza, doughnuts, macaroni and cheese, even squid salad. That's right. Waffled squid salad, a post he introduces by explaining what an unholy mess the squid made of his waffle iron and how he had to sacrifice a batch of waffles to lift the nasty bits he couldn't scrape out. "The waffles were nothing you'd want to eat," he writes, "but by the time they were done cooking, they had absorbed every bit of squid that was clinging to my waffle iron." Useful advice, even if your burnt bits are more run-of the-mill berries or chocolate, rather than bibimbap or brandade.

Unlike most blogs, this one had a planned end from the outset. "Nothing lasts forever," says Dan. "Answering the question 31 times would not improve the blog." The self-imposed limit to Dan's posts leaves us wishing for more, and lends the project a sense of real purpose -- and what a purpose! Finally we have new ideas (and recipes!) for putting our favorite single-purpose appliance to better use. If you, like us, are anxious to see what Dan will do next, go here and he'll let you know.

  Macaroni & Cheese

 

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13 Comments

luvcookbooks December 12, 2010
waffleized latkes sound fantastic, mrs. larkin. could you waffleize a scone??
 
Punk K. December 9, 2010
this gives new meaning to fun with food
 
monkeymom December 9, 2010
Ever since I had one of the liege style waffles fresh off the iron at Blue Bottle Coffee I have been longing for the recipe, which I'm sure will make me even fatter. So thank you and curse you!
 
Loves F. December 8, 2010
OMG! This is amazing! Love it SO MUCH!
 
MrsWheelbarrow December 8, 2010
Love every single idea and photo. Playing with one's food never looked so inviting.
 
lapadia December 8, 2010
Agree 100% with MrsWheelbarrow, couldn't say it any better!
 
mcs3000 December 8, 2010
HA, love it. Bookmarked his blog. Will be fun to see what's next.
 
fiveandspice December 8, 2010
I got such a kick out of this blog over the summer, glad to see it featured! I think my personal favorite was the waffled pizza - though the croque madame was quite the show stopper.
 
AmyKlegs December 8, 2010
"Will it Waffle?" reminds me of Letterman's bit "Will it Float?" What a great idea!
 
theveggie December 8, 2010
This has to be the best idea I've seen here. I would love to see a more detailed post about his waffle adventures, but I'll check out the links. This was a nice teaser. I'm inspired.
 
AntoniaJames December 8, 2010
Totally fun. I've been "wafflizing" French toast (didn't realize that was the correct verb for it) since I bought my first waffle iron as a young bride. Just love new ways to make any appliance more multi-purpose. ;o)
 
lastnightsdinner December 8, 2010
I love it.
 
mrslarkin December 8, 2010
This is genius! And here I thought I was being really cutting-edge when I waffleized a latke the other night.....