One of the items Tra wanted for Christmas was a new waffle maker.  I felt a bit like I was buying her a vacuum cleaner or a toilet bowl brush, but it was what she wanted.  OK.  So, Saturday I got up and took the boys downstairs so Tra could sleep in for a while.  I then decided to break-in the new waffle maker.  I popped open the computer, found a waffle recipe that didn't look to intimidating and off I went.  Flour, sugar, baking powder, eggs, oil, milk, and some other stuff.  Easy enough.  Plug-in the waffle iron.  Lights on.  Mix the goods and pour it in.  We were on our way. 

Well, somehow the first round stuck to the non-stick coating.  Liars.  I figured I would adjust my cooking time and technique and try again.  Luckily, the batter was enough for eight and I had only screwed up four.  The next group came out wonderfully (as you can clearly see in the picture).  A little crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.  Just like a waffle should be.  I will take a line here to say that I think there are some better recipes out there than this one I found at the Krups website, but they were good none the less.

Here is where the trouble starts.  I had to clean the stinking waffle iron.  I remember my mom used to have one that had removable plates.  They were waffle on one side and griddle on the other.  I thought I had searched for that before purchasing this for her, but I must have dreamed that little sequence.  I have since searched and found it on some other models.  I have to start making notes.

Back to the cleaning.  I guess that at most companies, the designers are never forced to try the products they create.  Or at least they don't have to clean them.  The batter got into places that weren't even close to the plates.  But, those little areas had heat.  How does batter actually get baked into the handle?  Seriously.  I wiped and scraped on this thing for 45 minutes and finally put it away with batter/waffle still on the thing.  Tra can deal with that next time.  

Pancakes.  Stick with pancakes.