I am finally getting around to making another recipe from my Great-Grandmother’s Old Recipe Box. In the box I found 3 different homemade waffles recipes. Hmmm… which one to choose?? Decisions, decisions.
I really really wanted to make this one.
But I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what “ZO” is. Or maybe it’s “go.” Zuchinni oil? Zebra ointment? Was it some kind of name brand product they had back then? If you DO know what that is…you seriously need to stop what you are doing and leave a comment on this post. I am desperate here…It’s killing me that I don’t know what it is.
This was the second waffle recipe in the box – Sour Milk Waffles.
Ummm… and just who has sour milk hanging around? It’s you homesteaders with a dairy cow or goat, that’s who. You all should try that one out and let me know how it tastes. And let me know if you get diarrhea too. Hee hee.
I decided to go with the Sweet Milk Homemade Waffles recipe.
The problem? I didn’t have pastry flour.
So I googled and found that to make 2 cups of pastry flour you take 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour + add in 2/3 cup of cake flour.
Ah man! I didn’t have cake flour either. Dang. So I Googled again…
To make cake flour: add 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch to a 1 cup measuring cup, then fill the rest of the cup with flour.
I realized this was possible after all.
So I made the cake flour, sifted & mixed it together, then measured out 2/3 cup. Next I added 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour to my mixing bowl. Now we have our 2 cups of Pastry flour. Whew..that was a lot of work!
And I may have made a huge mess of the flour too. That’s just the kind of cook I am. Things like flour just seem to explode around me.
Next it said to sift the dry ingredients. So I busted out my antique sifter and had a blast. I just love using my old antique tools. It’s fun.
Poured the milk into the bowl.
Then separated the yolks from the whites and added in the yolks to the dry ingredients.
It said next to fold in the egg whites beaten stiff.
So I took out my other cool old hand mixer/ egg beater, which works so incredibly well for getting the eggs stiff. I have used it many times before and I honestly think that it’s faster than my kitchen aid for mixing eggs.
To know if your eggs are beaten enough you should have some nice stiff peaks when you remove the beaters.
Fold the beaten egg whites gently into the batter, then add in the melted real butter. Now the batter is ready.
I crossed my fingers and scooped about a cup’s worth of batter and added it to my hot waffle maker.
Cooked till they were done, and.. the homemade waffles recipe turned out BEAUTIFUL! Plus the taste was out of this world. I am not kidding.
Deeee-lish.
Add in some butter and syrup..and it’s heaven.
I will now have the super power to “WOW” all my kids friends in the morning after they have sleepovers… muhahahaha…. Hope you enjoy it too!
Sweet Milk Homemade Waffles Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups Pastry Flour
- 3 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1 1/4 cup Milk
- 2 Eggs Yokes & Whites separated
- 2 tbsp Melted Butter
Instructions
- Mix and sift dry ingredients. Add milk gradually and add egg yoke, well beaten. Fold in whites of eggs beaten stiff. Then add in melted butter.
- Pour batter into heated waffle maker and cook till golden.
Nutrition
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About Karrie
Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good. Read more...
Comments & Reviews
Cynthia McDaniel says
No real sure what”Zo” is but maybe it’s oleo, my grandmother used to put oleo instead of butter/margarine in her recipes. Some waffle recipes ask for melted butter.
Denise says
Azo was short for Azodicarbonamide. It’s a food additive that is used to stabilize the product (in the U.S., particularly flour. (It has been banned in Europe, as in powder form, can cause respiratory distress/ie: asthma.) “Toxicological studies of the reactions of azodicarbonamide show that it is rapidly converted in dough to biurea, which is a stable compound not decomposed upon cooking.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azodicarbonamide. That seems to make sense to me, since the production of oil years ago was generally from rendered lard rather than the processed oil we find on the supermarket shelves these days!
jennifer says
I saw a similar recipe online that used cornstarch. Maybe Argo cornstarch??
Diane says
In reading the recipe it says mix dry ingredients together. The cereal would be a dry ingredient so it may not be that.
Kristen says
Also, ZO was a cereal from way way way back!! It was a wheat & barley cereal, similar to cream of wheat so that’s probably what she added. HTH!
Karrie says
Kristen…I think you might be right!!!!!! WOW! http://www.mrbreakfast.com/cereal_detail.asp?id=1360
Very interesting…off to research more.
Bethany says
My Nanny (Grandma) said that this is what it is. (:
Colette says
I SAW A GO AS A MEASURE OF BRANDY.
Jessica says
Buttermilk is the liquid that is left after you make butter from cream.
Melissa says
OK Karrie – I was looking at her writing and – can you find another example of a capital Y that she has written? I think maybe it is Yo for Yogurt!
Karrie says
I found a card with the recipe Yeast rolls and the “y” was normal/different so I don’t think that’s it. Darn..still don’t know.
Melissa says
Please let us know if you figure out what “Zo” is… It’s killin’ me 🙂 What was her heritage, could it be something shortened to translate? I know calligraphy and she has excellent penmenship, Only a few cap letters does she cheat on, but this does look like a classical Z to me.
At first I thought it could be but… I don’t think it is Ground Oats… Most g-mas at the time would put G.O. then for that type of shortening of a name (IMO).
Agree with others, Sour Milk can be easily mimicked with sour cream (I would probably cut with milk to water it down). I have a few waffle recipes that call for sour cream, delish 🙂
Random – you didn’t happen to go to Western Washington U did you? You look so familiar to me!
Keep up the most excellent blog – love from SoCal
Karrie says
Hi Melissa, I agree with you on this one… I think she would have spelled out the whole word on that one. Nope, didn’t go to WWU… sorry. I think there maybe a look a like out there of me.. 🙂
Karrie says
Oh and she was born & raised in Salt Lake City, Utah..so no other languages.
Cathy says
Hi Karrie! There is a similar recipe at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/08jackie-kennedy-waffle
no mention of “ZO” though. I have an inquiry in for you to the King Arthur
Flour company as they have been around for approx. 200 years and maybe
they will know. Can you give me a reference as to how “ZO” is listed in the
recipe…as a ____ quantity ingredient, or how it is referenced in the recipe
instructions…ie-“add ZO” or ??? Sounds like you already have the story on
the “sour milk”, adding vinegar or lemon juice or sub. buttermilk, how things are written can be so confusing. I will let you know if I come up with anything interesting for you.
Karrie says
Thanks Cathy, let me know if they say anything back to ya!! I am still stumped.
Tanya says
There are lots of cake recipes that use sour milk-its like adding the flavor similar to sour cream. You can easily make your own with vinegar added to milk. I think its 1 T vinegar to 1 cup milk (I wouldn’t use lemon juice because of the lemon after taste). My favorite chocolate sheet cake recipe uses sour milk-I even lick the batter and have never gotten sick. Like other posters have said you can use sour milk and buttermilk interchangeable in recipes (buttermilk does seem to be thicker so it might change the consistency a little bit). Not sure about the zo or go? I like what someone said about ground oats-that could make a yummy nutty waffle.
Chris says
Karrie, I say G O = ground oats! That’s also why you find it written right after “flour” in the original recipe.
Stephanie says
Perhaps the mystery ingredient is some type of oil? The directions list it after the dry ingredients are mixed and I have a few pancake and waffle recipes that call for oil…
Jessica says
I was thinking it might be an oil too…I also found online that Zinc Olmadine is referred to as zo, but I think it is something for chemistry! Ya…probably not what is listed in this recipe…
Marie B. says
Could it be green onion for a savory waffle? I’ve seen green onion/bacon/cheddar waffles and green onion pancakes. It’s a long shot for a vintage recipe, but I’m not sure what else might work for a half cup measurement. Good luck figuring it out!
Janna says
Is it possible Zo was the same of a sour dough starter?
Tania says
Those look so delicious!!! I love grandma’s old recipes, they are always the best! I certainly don’t know what “zo” is either but I do know how to make sour milk… it doesn’t mean milk that’s gone bad! You mix one tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to each cup of whole milk (or 2%). Let is sit for 15 minutes… that’ it!!
Tania
Karrie says
Oh…ha ha ha!! Whoops! So is that like buttermilk then maybe? I remember to make buttermilk you do the same thing, adding vinegar.
Kristen says
How cool that you have all those family heirloom recipes! Just a heads up though, sour milk is the same as buttermilk! Lol! You can also make your own sour milk by adding lemon juice to your milk and letting it sit for a couple minutes. I bet you would like the sour milk waffles if you retitled them Buttermilk Waffles!! HTH
Karrie says
OH!!! So funny! That is so good to know, ya learn somethin’ new everyday.
Jennifer says
That’s what I do when a recipe calls for sour milk, just add lemon juice to sweet milk, works great!
Regina says
You can also use 1 TBL of vinegar and then fill the rest up with milk to make 1 cup. Also let it sit in a glass measuring cup for about 5 minutes to give it time to “sour”.
Amanda says
Growing up we always used sour milk in biscuits, pancakes and waffles. No we weren’t dairy farmers, just had frugal parents! Never got sick. I think it is similar to using buttermilk.
Amanda says
To the best of my knowledge, a zo is a hybrid cow. It is bred by crossing a yak with a common cow. Hmmm… I’m not sure that is what is referred to in the recipe, 🙂 but hey, ya learn something new every day. 🙂
Karrie says
I wish I knew…it’s just so strange.
Sharon W. says
The item you can’t decipher might possibly be Azo yeast. Back in the day it might have been used in cooking. Just a thought.
Karrie says
Hmmm…. that could be! I wonder….
jennifer says
I believe that Zo is powder cheddar cheese
Vickie says
Zo was a cereal made between 1928-1930
Dawn says
Hi, my grandma has similar handwriting, I think that’s a q. I think it’s an abbreviation for quacker oats. They were often in her waffles when she still cooked.