Maple Orange Pecan Waffles...

The mister coughed. One little cough. But If you're married to a hypochondriac then you know one little cough is not what it seems...nope, it can be a thing of joy for them...because it could lead to another and another and possibly a full-blown sneeze which would require immediate time on the couch. So the mister coughed...and it was his lucky day because he coughed again...and a minute later, another cough. Since I'm not a hypochondriac I knew it was just a cough so I grabbed my water glass and walked out of the kitchen, headed for the stairs even though he was still coughing. Half-way up the stairs I was hit with a tiny shard of pity so I yelled back to the mister, "Everything okay?" Knowing it was,because I watch doctor shows on TV, I continued on my way. I walked into the bedroom, turned on the TV and experienced a bit of joy that I remembered how to work the remote, since I'm so rarely allowed to touch it. A few minutes later the mister walks into the bedroom and he glares at me, which made me smirk...you give me a glare, you're gonna get a smirk, that's how it works around here. But I couldn't hold my smirk as long as the mister could hold his glare so I started to laugh and that set him off...and he angrily spouted, "I was choking and you left me! I could have used the Heineken Maneuver and you just walked out and left me to choke to death!!"

Me: "You needed the Heineken Maneuver??? The Heineken???"

Mister: "Yes, I was choking!"

Between fits of laughter than outdid his fit of coughing I managed to say, "If you needed a Heineken you could have reached into the fridge and got one yourself."

With that the mister got into bed, shut off the lights and turned off the TV, all to the sounds of me carrying on like a hyena...a good loooooong belly laugh is the best sleeping pill.

We don't have waffles very often but when we do, these have been the ones we love the most. Maple flavoring is added to the batter along with the zest of two oranges, which will brighten every forkful. Then there's the toasted pecans, which add a meatiness to these waffles - I'm telling you straight, these are dang good - so good they made watching the Seahawks lose easier to swallow. Ba-dump-dump!

Our waffle maker makes four large Belgian-style waffles so I only cooked three batches, making a total of 12 large waffles. While the waffles were cooking I made the syrup by adding a bit of orange juice to maple syrup...and right there folks, you've got yourself a 5 danger breakfast!

Putting the waffles onto a baking rack and then into a warm oven keeps them crisp and hot while the rest are cooking. We expected the boy and his bride to come for brunch and to watch the game, but they were no-shows, so I wrapped up the extra waffles between sheets of waxed paper and put them into a Zip-lock plastic freezer bag. The next time we want waffles I'll just take them out frozen and pop them into the toaster and they'll be as crisp and tasty as if they were just made.

• Maple Orange Pecan Waffles - Adapted From Family Time
• 1 1/2 cup pecan pieces, divided, lightly toasted
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 fresh orange zest, grated
• 3 large eggs
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/4 cups Sprite or 7-Up
• Syrup:
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup orange juice

Heat waffle maker. Put pecan pieces into a small skillet on the stove top over medium-high heat. Stir and cook until pecans are lightly toasted and fragrant, about 5 minutes, being careful not to burn. Remove from stove and set aside to cool slightly. In a food processor or blender, combine 1 cup of the toasted pecans (set remaining 1/2 cup aside), flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and process until pecans are finely ground. Transfer pecan mixture to a large bowl. Stir in orange zest. In a small bowl whisk eggs and melted butter. Add egg mixture and Sprite to flour mixture, stirring until just combined. Stir in 1/4 cup of remaining pecan pieces (reserving last 1/4 cup for topping waffles). Cook waffles on a hot waffle iron until browned on both sides. Keep warm and crispy by placing cooked waffles on a wire rack in a 180 degree oven.

Whisk maple syrup and orange juice together and heat in microwave until warm. Serve waffles with Maple Orange Syrup and sprinkle remaining pecan pieces on top. Makes 12 large waffles.