At first glance, I thought it was Jane Fonda on the cover looking straight from her Klute days, but instead it was all about making the age-old art of batik. It is an ancient Javanese method for decorating fabrics and was very popular in the ’70’s. The word itself is Indonesian and means “wax writing.” Basically, the process is to make a design of choice and apply it to fabric with melted wax, then dip into a dye bath. Areas covered by wax do not pick up the dye, and the remaining areas do. It’s quite a process, but I remember seeing batik artists all over San Francisco in the early ’70’s selling their crafts on the streets. The magazine even includes full patterns and instructions on how to make the dress on the cover.
The food in this issue covers picnic ideas for hearty sandwiches; what to pack for a picnic on a bike ride; and a special picnic just for kids to make themselves. If you like picnicking or cooking outdoors, there is a recipe for grilling a duck with currant sauce on a rotisserie, or making fritters over a campfire after clam digging on the beach.
My favorite article was “The Worthy Waffle.” This old-fashioned breakfast stand-by never gets old, especially on weekends any time of the year, but during the summer they are wonderful topped with summer fruits. Hands down, I had to pick the blueberry waffles with a blueberry sauce. When my husband goes up north, he picks wild blueberries and brings them back home where I will make blueberry jam, pie, and now these incredible waffles and sauce.
First make the rich buttermilk waffles, which have blueberries sprinkled on top.
The waffles are topped with a spiced blueberry sauce with a touch of lemon.
These waffles are incredibly delicious! My husband could not get enough of them. You don’t need any butter or syrup with these. The blueberry sauce stands on its own. This recipe is now a staple in my family recipe box, and remind me so much of all the wonderful blueberries we recently had in Finland.
- Blueberry Sauce:
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ cup water
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 pint blueberries
- Buttermilk Waffles:
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup plus 2 Tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
- For blueberry sauce: In a 2-quart saucepan, mix together sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cornstarch. Stir in water and lemon juice. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Set aside about ¾ cup of the blueberries for the waffles and stir in the remaining blueberries into sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside to keep warm while preparing waffles.
- For blueberry waffles: Heat waffle iron. In a bowl, beat eggs, then remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour batter into center of hot waffle iron. Scatter with a few tablespoons of the reserved blueberries for each batch of waffles. Bake until the steaming stops and waffles are a golden color, about 4 minutes. Remove waffles carefully. Serve squares (or rounds) with warm blueberry sauce and serve.
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