Saturday Playdate - Kokocooks

Welcome to another fun Saturday Playdate! Today we're playing with Suzanne from Kokocooks. I "met" Suzanne through a local newlywed message board a few years ago, and then we met in person while we were both pregnant with our sons. She is a fabulous cook, and writes about it all on her blog. I wish I knew where she lives, because she is always tweeting and updating her Facebook status about what she is cooking, and I would really like to invite myself over for dinner one of these days!

I asked Suzanne to come over and share a recipe with us today, and she did just that. Your whole family will love what she has in store for us below!

When you're done here, please stop by Kokocooks and give Suzanne some comment love. You will probably want to follow her too, so you can find more delicious recipes! Let her know you stopped by from the Playdate!

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Hello! I have had the good fortune to hang out with LeeAnn in person. She is beautiful, funny, and down-to-earth. Our sons are a mere few days apart in age, and we gave birth in the same hospital. Of course, we didn't realize this until later, or I'm sure we would've visited during our stays.


A few things about me:

1) I love to cook. I love to eat even more. I started my blog a few years ago. We love all different cuisines, especially Asian and Mexican. I also bake a lot.



2) I have three jobs, not including blogging. I'm a public school music teacher, a freelance musician, and a private teacher. School teaching is pretty predictable, but freelancing is anything but. It's virtually impossible to have regular meal times. It also means that sometimes I'm making cupcakes at 11:00 at night. Luckily, everyone in the house is pretty laid back about things like that.


3) I'm a perfectionist. As my love of blogging grew, so did my desire for fabulous food pictures. I upgraded to a dSLR, and have invested in a few decent lenses. Here is a picture of a nutella milkshake from the early blogging days.


Here is a picture of another nutella milkshake (same recipe), taken two years later.


Hopefully, I keep improving.

4) I often get asked, "How do you have time to keep up a cooking blog?" Honestly, motivation comes in waves. Sometimes I'll have a backlog of recipes to write about, and sometimes I'm lazy and make pasta three nights in a row. And sometimes, I make a dish that tastes fabulous, but the pictures turn out horrendous, so I don't blog about it (see #3). For example, I took pictures of this blueberry lemonade three different times before getting a few shots that I liked.


Onto the recipe....Banana Bread Waffles. This is a great way to use up those speckled bananas that have been lying on the kitchen counter a few days. These waffles are a breeze to make. Mix the batter and let it chill overnight, add the bananas and sour cream the next morning, and bake in the waffle iron. They are easy enough to make on a weekday morning, and special enough for a weekend breakfast. I make a double batch, and freeze them for later - they taste so much better than store bought frozen waffles!

Thanks for reading, and thanks to LeeAnn for having me over for a play date!

Banana Bread Waffles

adapted from Seven Spoons

4 Tbs butter, melted
1 c plus 2 Tbs milk, warmed a little
1 tsp vanilla
2 c all-purpose flour
1 Tbs packed light brown sugar
1 ½ tsp yeast
½ tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten lightly
3 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1-1 ¼ c)
3 Tbs sour cream or Greek yogurt

In a small bowl, whisk together the butter, milk, and vanilla. Mixture should be warm but not hot. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, yeast, and salt. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Stir in the beaten eggs. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, and up to 24 hours.

Thirty minutes before you want to make the waffles, take the batter out of the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature. The batter should be doubled in size.

When ready to make the waffles, stir in the mashed bananas and sour cream. Use a light hand to thoroughly combine. Heat waffle iron and bake according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

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Thanks for stopping by for our Playdate! I hope you had fun! If you would like to come over for a Playdate, let me know in a comment or an email.