More Ketchup, Please

The Best Buttermilk Waffles, Courtesy of a 7-Year-Old

Plus, why Clara Dorman deserves her own show.

August 29, 2019

Welcome to More Ketchup, Please, our newest series that’s spilling the beans on all the different ways we cook for, and with, our kids. We've got some great guests stopping by to get schooled by their little ones on how to perfect family favorites. The more (cooks) the merrier? We think so.


Clara Pauline Dorman has never really left the kitchen. And she’s only 7. As a toddler, she sat across her mom (and co-founder of Food52), Merrill Stubbs, while she stirred things on the stove. Or played with the wooden spoons. These days, she invents family food traditions.

Merrill tells the story best here of her 6-year-old daughter, Clara, who came home from school one day bursting with excitement, saying, "Mom, I thought of a food invention and we should make it this weekend: macaroni and cheese waffles!"

Two years and some attempts later, the iteration that has found the most favor has eliminated the macaroni but doubled down on the butter and added on buttermilk. Now these waffles are made every weekend, and enjoyed sweet, savory, or somewhere in between.

Join The Conversation

Top Comment:
“Luckily i have four more years to teach him 😁 Clara is so endearing -funny & charming and very skilled in the kitchen! Well done mama! Also - can’t wait to try these waffles. ”
— Justine S.
Comment

“The great thing about these is that we make a big batch with plenty of spares,” says Clara.

“It’s really not about the food, it’s the tradition,” adds Merrill, “it’s a way for us to eat together and have fun together—at home we just eat it with our hands.”

Between cracking three eggs clean, dipping-and-sweeping, sniffing (and sometimes listening to!) her ingredients, and schooling her mom, Clara also makes some non-standard issue (for a 7-year-old) observations. Like “Baking powder is just like fairy dust” and “Make sure you’re on the same page as your helper in the kitchen.”

But perhaps the most important of all: “Whoever makes the waffles eats the waffles.”

We’re now officially open for requests to order in more episodes of the Clara Dorman Show.

Have a recipe you love making with your kids? Share it with us in the comments!

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • linda
    linda
  • Justine Simonson
    Justine Simonson
  • cakeshopok
    cakeshopok
  • Tiffany Johnson
    Tiffany Johnson
  • sclozano
    sclozano
Arati Menon

Written by: Arati Menon

Arati grew up hanging off the petticoat-tails of three generations of Indian matriarchs who used food to speak their language of love—and she finds herself instinctually following suit. Life has taken her all across the world, but she carries with her a menagerie of inherited home and kitchen objects that serve as her anchor. Formerly at GQ and Architectural Digest, she's now based in Brooklyn.

8 Comments

linda March 31, 2020
Yikes! Clara is seven already!!!
Perfect video for today.
She needs her own show......
 
Justine S. October 9, 2019
This is so timely after letting my three year old help cut veggies this evening! I said, “this is what I want to achieve” while I watched. Luckily i have four more years to teach him 😁 Clara is so endearing -funny & charming and very skilled in the kitchen! Well done mama! Also - can’t wait to try these waffles.
 
cakeshopok September 9, 2019
Clara is darling. I loved cooking with my granddaughters when they were younger.
 
Tiffany J. August 29, 2019
Loved this video. Clara is adorable, funny and those waffles look so good! Shout out for the waffle maker👍🏾
 
Arati M. August 29, 2019
Clara is a star. Glad you enjoyed watching it.
 
Merrill S. September 8, 2019
Thanks for the kind words, Tiffany!
 
sclozano August 29, 2019
This video made my day and I can't wait to get home and cook with my daughter.
 
Arati M. August 29, 2019
Ah, that's the very idea. Enjoy that...and let us know what you end up making together (there are no wrong answers!)