"We've gained weight! NO MORE DESSERTS!" were the words coming from A's lips that brought horror to my ears.
Now that the Christmas party is over and we are diving into the new year, A has decided that I shall be banned from baking desserts (with the exception of my monthly daring bakers challenges... I managed to get a pass for those). Fine. We have gained some weight. We should probably start the diet now. But no more desserts??? Can't I just make them? I don't have to eat them.
To be honest, I don't really love eating them anyway. I am sure that many bakers would agree when I claim that I like baking for the joy of seeing what I can create and the pleasure of watching others enjoy what I have created. I don't bake so that I can eat sweets every weekend. Quite the contrary - if you knew how many times I asked A if I could just throw my latest creation away so that we wouldn't have the sugary calories tempting us on the counter.
Let's see how long this ban on sweets lasts. I have already managed to get around it for this weekend as we have guests arriving from out of town. (A said I could still bake for guests, just not for us!). Next weekend is the antiques fair, and he has asked me to prepare macarons for all of the generous dealers who have set aside tickets at the front door. So I guess the moratorium starts in February?
Having out of town guests for us means a tremendous amount of advanced planning on our part - whether it is one guest or four (I should add that this is something we love doing!). I spend the weeks before pouring over recipes and restaurant reviews and concocting an itinerary around home cooked meals from a carefully selected menu, as well as a number of meals out at our favorite restaurants. As New York has no shortage of excellent restaurants, A and I usually lean heavily on brunches at home that will keep stomachs satisfied until dinner so that we can avoid expensive NYC snacks during the day.
So the menu for this weekend includes 3 brunches, and of course some sort of welcome cake to nibble on arrival. In addition to some of my go-to brunch items (quiche, scones, etc), I decided this was the perfect excuse to try a recipe I had been eying for awhile - yeasted banana bread waffles served with a fresh fruit salad. Waffles are sweet, but not dessert, right?
I originally found the recipe that I used on Seven Spoons. It caught my eye for two reasons - first, it was a recipe that could be prepped the day before, and second, it offered a new twist on an old favorite. The scent of spiced banana bread wafting through the air was enough to make this recipe worth it. The waffles themselves were delicious. Light, fluffy and not too sweet.
Finally, for our guest's wife who was left back in LA, a batch of gingered orange macarons packed for the plane.
Recipes after the jump!
