Goodwill Hunting and Waffles…..it’s what’s for dinner.

Today hubby and I had a nice relaxing, but full day.  We got up this morning and went to the gym and later in the morning I went to church where I had an activity with the ladies ministry.  When I got home Hubby and I decided to do some Goodwill hunting.  We like to scavenge the local Goodwills and Salvation Armies for interesting home and kitchen items.  I like to find dishes and Hubby seems to have a fixation with anything that is cast iron.  It is also a great way to “change up” your food pictures at a minimal cost.  You can find all kinds of intersting dishes and items to present your food on.  Here is a collage of my finds today.  My favorite find was a set of 4 glasses that will be great to serve a layered dessert in.  I got all of these items for a grand total of $20.00, considering there are 3 cast iron skillets in the find, I think it was a pretty awesome stinking steal.

When we got home I cleaned up a bit and prept the pasta dough for lunch tommorrow.  (I will be posting step-by-step photos of this)  Then we had to figure out what to make for dinner.  Yes, I could have made the pasta but it was already late and I still had to let the dough rest and roll it out, so we decided on something a little quicker.  Hubby asked if I wanted breakfast for dinner and I thought that was an excellent idea.  We got into the kitchen together and whipped up some waffles, yummy Honey Yogurt Pecan Waffles.  I found the recipe on Annie’s Eats who got it from William and Sonoma.

Honey Yogurt Pecan Waffles

 

Honey Yogurt Pecan Waffles
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup old-fashioned oats (I used instant)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cups milk
3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/3 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

 

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spray baking pan with butter non-stick spray.  Spread pecans evenly on baking pan, spray with butter non-stick spray. Toast in oven for about 5 mins.  Keep and eye on them you don’t want them to burn.  Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Melt the butter; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, oats, pecans, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, yogurt, honey, eggs, and vanilla until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Gently fold in the melted butter.

Preheat and lightly grease a waffle iron. Pour batter into the wells of the waffle iron and bake until the waffle is golden and set. Place in an oven preheated to 200 degrees F to keep the finished waffles warm while you use the rest of the batter. Serve with maple syrup or honey and top with fresh fruit.

A Find at the Goodwill

Kodak Retina IIa

On Saturday afternoon Hubby and I went out on our usual  Saturday afternoon run to the produce stand and the supermarket.  We decided to pop into the Goodwill across for the produce market just to see if we find anything interesting.  I am more of a skimmer, not one to really rummage through things.  Hubby on the other hand will dig, he considers it a bit of a treasure hunt and this visit he found something.  In a small basket on the back of a shelf, filled with cheap plastic 35 mm point-and-shoots, he found a Kodak Retina IIa.  Being of the automatic/digital age I found this to be very cool. 

When we got home I of course had to “play” with my new find.  I figured out that the aperture, shutter speed and focus are all set by rings on the lens. The camera seems to be in working condition, except that the shutter mechinisum is hit or miss. The lens has a close focus of 2.5 feet and the shutter 1 to 1/500th, plus B  I also jumped online and found a manuel for the camera.  I also did a little research and discovered that this particular camera was manufactured in Germany between 1951 and 1954.  At the time it retailed for $170.00!  That was alot of money back then.  On ebay a camera like the one I found is averaging $50, I bought mine at the Goodwill for $4!  I found it also on ebay in mint condition with the case and manual for about $200.

I am super excited about this find, I hope to take some pictures with it in the future and post them.  Right now I am looking for a repair shop to clean & lube it for me and see if they can get the shutter mechnisum to work properly.