Cornmeal Waffles with Sausage Gravy

I learned a few things this morning. 1. My cockatiels don’t like my penguin egg timer. I sat the egg timer on the cage while I cleaned the food and water dishes causing a flurry of feathers as my tiely boys tried to protect their tiely girl by pecking it and trying to push it off the cage. I can’t even begin to describe the chaos that resulted when the egg timer of death actually went off. Strangely enough, the parakeets, gerbil and rats were completely unaffected by the egg timer of death.

2. Audrey, the lovely blogger at Lady Melady, has the best damned waffle recipes in the universe on her blog. Okay, maybe that is a slight exaggeration but not by much. I have been adapting her waffle recipes for small batches ever since I bought a waffle iron last summer and there hasn’t been a bad one in the bunch I have tried. The first time I made cornmeal waffles with sausage gravy I made a full batch to share with my friend, Joseph, at work. I ate two waffles for lunch. Joe ate 9 waffles and almost a quart of gravy for lunch. Listen to Joseph, these waffles are that good. If you don’t have as big an appetite as Joseph, the waffles and gravy reheat well.

• Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
2 1/2 TBS canola oil
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 lb country sausage
1 1/2 TBS butter
2 TBS flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Preheat your waffle iron. In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; mix well. In another medium bowl, combine egg, oil and milk. Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients and mix well. Stir in Craisins.

While waffles are baking, cook the sausage in a nonstick skillet on medium high until browned in places. Use a fork to break the sausage into smaller pieces. Drain any fat in the pan. Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in the skillet then stir in 2 tablespoons of flour. Cook and stir the flour for several minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Add 1 1/2 cups milk to the skillet and stir until it starts to thicken. Add garlic powder, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium low and let cook, stirring occasionally, until waffles are ready. Serve waffles covered with sausage gravy.