The sun peeks through

I am frequently amazed at my absolute intolerance for humidity.  You'd never guess that I spent most of my life in Florida from the way I react to the sticky, sodden, heavy air.  Depending on the day, it leaves me cranky and listless, or cranky and full-steam ahead.  Yesterday was the former, at least after I finished getting some plants in the ground, and today is the latter.  It might have something to do with the sun peeking through the clouds today.  It was absent yesterday.  First order of business:  waffles!

I love waffles.  Not those overly-sweet Belgian things that you make at hotels (although those are occasionally nice, too), but savory and out-of-the-ordinary waffles.  There are the chocolate waffles I posted about a few months ago, and then there are cheddar-jalapeno, chicken and cheese, bacon and chive, sausage-cheddar-corn...you get the picture. 

Today's are the sausage-cheddar-corn.  They're inspired by a recipe from Everyday with Rachael Ray, which is where I first got the idea to play around with ingredients.  I've tweaked the recipe to make it slightly healthier...but not too much.

Sausage, Cheddar, and Corn Waffles
adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray
makes 10-12 waffles*

1 cup a.p. flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (can use all a.p.)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
4 tbsp butter, melted
2 large eggs
scant 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
1 cup, 1/4-inch diced, fully cooked sausage of your choice (I used a smoke maple sausage from Dakin Farm...because we'd live at that store if we could)
1/2 cup corn (I used fresh, but you could use frozen--thaw and drain well)

1.  Preheat a nonstick waffle iron, following appliance directions.  (I add cooking spray for insurance, since there's cheese in these.)  Preheat oven to 200 degrees, and place a large, rimmed baking sheet inside.

2.  In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper.  In a medium bowl, beat the buttermilk, butter, and eggs.  Pour into the dry ingredients and stir to form a slightly stiff batter.  Stir in the  cheese, sausage, and corn.

3.  Spoon some batter onto the preheated waffle iron, and follow appliance directions for cooking time.  Cook until golden-brown and crisp.  Repeat with remaining batter, keeping prepared waffles warm in the oven.

*This made 11 waffles for me on the size of waffle iron I used.  Each waffle used slightly less than 1/2 cup of batter.