Birthday Weekend (No. 2)

On Sunday morning, I woke up to the cutest surprise birthday brunch.  My parents had set the whole thing up, invited over family and a few of our closest family friends, and my mom decorated the dining room beautifully.  We made savory waffles with parmesan and parsley, and sweet ones with cinnamon and berries, and my grandma made chicken-mushroom-wine pies wrapped in filo, and a fantastic napoleon cake.  And there was carrot cake, too.  It was delish!

{Stepford-husband face}

{grandma's cake}

{Emily, whose wedding my mom and I will be photographing this summer!}

 

(In case that made you hungry, too....)

Savory Parmesan-Parsley Waffles (recipe from William Sonoma Kitchen) 

Ingredients:

4 eggs, separated

2 cups milk

2/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1/3 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 1/2 Tbs. minced fresh chives

1/2 tsp. minced fresh rosemary

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/4 tsp. salt

Poached eggs and bacon for serving

Directions:

Preheat a waffle maker on medium-high heat according to the manufacturer's instructions. Preheat an oven to 200°F.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, milk, butter, cheese, parsley, chives and rosemary. Over a sheet of waxed paper, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the yolk mixture and whisk until smooth.

In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold one-third of the whites into the batter, then carefully fold in the remaining whites.

Pour 1/2 cup of the batter into each well of the waffle maker. Close the lid and cook according to the manufacturer's instructions until the waffles are golden brown and crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer the waffles to a wire rack set on a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while you cook the remaining waffles.

Serve the waffles warm with poached eggs and bacon.   Serves 4 to 6.