Revised Waffles by the Lake

It is eight-thirty in the morning, an early time for me to be woken up on a weekend, especially at our lake house. As my mom opens the door to my room, she says, “Brittany, it’s time for some waffles!” Excitement rushes over me. Ever since I could eat solid food, waffles have been my favorite. I almost exclusively ate waffles for breakfast between the ages of three and seven. The aroma of batter cooking in the waffle iron combined with the scent of maple syrup made it the perfect thing to wake up to, but when I walk up the stairs on this particular morning, that divine scent never hits me. Confused, I enter the kitchen to see all the ingredients for waffles laid out on the counter.

“Wait, I thought you said waffles were ready,” I grumbled at my mom, upset she woke me up so early when the waffles were not even close to being ready.

“I thought you could make them! You know your grandpa loves it when you make them for the family,” says my mom.

Knowing that turning around, walking back down the stairs, and falling asleep was not an option, I continue into the kitchen to make the batter for the waffles. Although you probably wouldn’t believe mixing up some eggs, flour, milk, and baking soda could be considered troublesome or tedious cooking, on this particular morning, I utterly dreaded having to do this. Maybe it was because I had to wake up “early” on the weekend, or maybe it was because my mom forced me to make them, as opposed to me choosing to do it myself; however, it was something I was not fond of having to do that morning.

I grumpily grab a bowl to mix up all the ingredients, wishing I was asleep like my cousins. After about fifteen minutes, I finish making the batter. At this point, I cannot believe how hungry I am, so I plug in the waffle iron.

“Brit, you know you have to let that sit for twenty minutes before you make them, so they get nice and fluffy, right?” says my mom as she walks by, grabbing more coffee.

“You put in extra vanilla extract, too, right?” says my grandpa, after hearing I was done making the batter. “You know that’s what makes them so great!”

Every “right?” I heard made me want to scream. Every reminder I got made me want to escape back to my room. Every minute I waited made me want to fall back asleep. The twenty minutes eventually pass, and I can finally make the waffles. I pour the impeccable batter into the steaming waffle iron, turn it over, and wait for the light to turn on to indicate it’s ready. When that light flashes on, I turn it over to reveal the perfect waffle.

I head to the table to sit down with my waffle, to make all my not-so-hard work worth it. Just as I set the waffle down on the table, my grandpa says, “Oh! The first waffle’s ready!” He then devours my perfect waffle in less than two minutes.

“That little bit of extra vanilla extract made them perfect,” says my grandpa. “You know how to make them exactly how I like ‘em. Thanks, Brit.”

“I want the next one!” says my aunt.

Unhappily, I make my aunt the next waffle. The following waffles then go to all my cousins, and then the rest of my aunts, uncles, and my parents have some. The more waffles I make, the more annoyed and the hungrier I become. While I love seeing my family enjoy the waffles I worked hard to make, all I want to do is eat one myself.

Making waffles for my family on Saturday mornings at our lake house eventually becomes a tradition. I would wake up at eight-thirty to make the batter, so the waffles could be on the table by nine for family breakfast. I stand by the waffle iron, cooking everyone’s waffles, and I get a big thanks once everyone was done eating and a big hug from my grandpa, which almost makes getting up before ten on the weekend worth it.

By the end, there is just enough batter to make myself a waffle. I grab this final waffle, some syrup, and a glass of milk, walk out to the porch, sit down, and finally eat my waffle, looking out on the lake.

Original Posts: http://bcalkins2020.blogspot.com/2016/09/waffles-by-lake.html  and http://bcalkins2020.blogspot.com/2016/09/waffles-by-lake-draft-2.html