Friday, March 25, 2011

Happy Vaffeldagen

Vaffeldagen is my kind of holiday.

What?! You've never heard of it?

Actually, I hadn't either, but today - March 25 - is International Waffle Day. The holiday originated in Sweden and was known as Varfrudagen (Our Lady's Day). The holiday coincides with the Feast of the Annunciations and the start of spring in Europe.

What does that have to do with waffles? It's all a misunderstanding. In some dialects, Varfrudagen was mispronounced Vaffeldagan. And Vaffeldagan means "the waffle day."

At the County Line, waffle day comes every Sunday. That's our go-to meal after getting home from church.

Jill and Brent got tired of having waffles every Sunday. Jill says that by the time she went to college, she never wanted to see another waffle.

But then again, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Nowadays, if they are home on a Sunday, waffles are on the menu ... by their choice. And by the time Jill was registering for wedding gifts, she wanted a waffle iron of her own.

In Kansas' Little Sweden today, the downtown Lindsborg eateries will celebrate Vaffeldagen with blueberry, strawberry and lingonberry waffles at breakfast, lunch and dinner. As Randy and I begin our 30th anniversary celebration, we plan to partake in the festivities.

If you want to try your own celebration, I have a syrup for you to try. This Cinnamon Cream Syrup is our attempt at recreating the syrup at the Pancake Pantry in Nashville, TN. When Jill was completing her dietetics internship at Vanderbilt, we usually had one meal at the Pancake Pantry during our visits.

I'm not a big maple syrup fan, so the Cinnamon Cream Syrup is a yummy alternative. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Cream Syrup
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 5-oz. can evaporated milk

In a saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, water and cinnamon. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil for astir for 2 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Stir in milk.

Serve over pancakes, waffles or French toast.

De smakar mycket goda! (They taste very good!) Happy Vaffeldagen!

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