Mention “waffle,” and the No. 1 word that comes to mind is “delicious.”

“I love waffles! They’re my favorite breakfast food,” said Heather Winn, Extension educator for Cherokee County Oklahoma State University Extension Service.

Waffles have been around for a long time. The first American mention of them is shortly after the Pilgrims arrived in 1620, presumably bringing a waffle iron along on the Mayflower. Thomas Jefferson had a waffle iron and enjoyed them.

Colonists served waffles with sweet toppings for breakfast or as a dessert, or with a savory topping such as a meat stew.

Tahlequah doesn’t have a Waffle House, or any other restaurant specializing in the delectable breakfast treat, but they sometimes do crop up on menus. For many people, waffles are a family tradition, especially for a Sunday breakfast or a Sunday night supper.

The only time my father ever entered the kitchen, except to raid the refrigerator, was to prepare waffles for Sunday breakfast. He did this almost every week, using Bisquick, eggs and milk to mix up a batter. He then cooked it in our big old square waffle iron. There usually was enough left over so my dog Brownie got his own small waffle, although minus the butter and syrup.

And one thing my father insisted on was Griffin’s waffle syrup. At that time, you couldn’t get it in the grocery store in Springfield, Mo., so he “bootlegged” his treasured bottles of Griffin’s when we made trips to Pryor to visit Uncle Claude and Aunt Ruth.

Winn also has fond family memories of waffles – in her case, those served up by her mother-in-law. When her mother-in-law’s old waffle iron went kaput, Winn and her husband searched in vain for some time to find a similar one.

They found many Belgian waffle irons, but they didn’t produce quite what they wanted. So she found one online, from J.C. Penney, and bought two – one for her mother-in-law, one for them. So the family tradition continues.

She said the waffle itself is fairly healthy, providing a serving in the bread, cereal and grain group on the food pyramid. A whole grain or mixed grain waffle can be even healthier.

“Whenever you add all the sweet things on top of them, they tend to get higher on the food pyramid,” Winn said.

She recommends topping them with fresh fruit. In the spring, a mixture of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries provides a gourmet touch. At this time of year, peaches could be a good fresh topping.

When Winn’s youngest son had a gluten intolerance, she substituted rice flour or potato flour for wheat flour.

That took some work and experimenting.

“When you change the flour, you have to change the recipe because sometimes they can be tough,” she said.