Green Waffles

Growing up, my mom cooked most of our meals, and she is a fabulous cook- truly inspired my passion for good food. But most Saturday mornings were my dad's time in the kitchen. His specialty was breakfast, especially when my sisters or I had sleepovers. When we had sleepovers, often we would fit three or four of us onto the hide-a-bed from the living room couch and we would reluctantly wake up to the sounds and smells of my dad cooking in the adjoining kitchen. Then he would give us one final startling wake-up call by pretending to fold is into a "taco" in the couch. When we finally got up to eat, we were always delighted to see what color the pancakes or waffles would be, because every time my dad made pancakes or waffles, he would add food coloring to make it fun.

So when my parents invited my husband and I over for dinner the other night, and I realized when I got there that my dad had kicked my mom out of the kitchen and was cooking us up a hearty breakfast for dinner, I naturally asked him what color the waffles would be. For me, my dad's colored waffles are as much of a tradition as how we celebrate Christmas. When my dad served us our spearmint-green waffles, I was excited to initiate my husband into the tradition, and I not-so-secretly hope he'll carry on the tradition for our kids someday.

I don't want you to think my dad is a one-trick pony, though- he also made perfectly crisp sausage and the fluffiest cloud of scrambled eggs you could imagine. My mom has taught me a lot about cooking, but my dad taught me how to scramble eggs. The trick is to add a slurp of milk to the eggs before you beat the everloving tar out of them.

What food traditions did you grow up in? Will you pass them on to your own kids? Let me know in the comments!