Martha Stewart: Hey, wake up! It's Martha for breakfast

FOR DECADES, doctors have told us how important it is to start every day with a hearty and healthy breakfast. When I was growing up, most American children were required to eat eggs or cereal and drink a glass of juice or finish half of a grapefruit before we could leave the kitchen table to get on with our day.

Sometimes the breakfast selection would vary, and a stack of pancakes or a waffle was offered, with or without a side of crisp, perfectly cooked bacon, a small slab of scrapple or a sausage link or two. Mom and Dad were firm believers in the "good breakfast" rule.

I happen to love a good, full breakfast. Not every day - because I certainly do not need carbs and fat and sugar too often - but once a week or so, when I have friends or family over.

We might start with a homemade cappuccino. I installed a phenomenal machine in my kitchen so I can make two or four at a time, foaming milk to a silken froth and creating drinks that would make my favorite barista in New York City proud.

Here are the recipes for a couple of my favorite breakfast foods. Please try the homemade granola; the maple syrup gives the nuts and oats an amazing flavor. The recipe for Donn's waffles, which originated in the kitchen of winemakers Donn and Molly Chappellet, in California's Napa Valley, produces the lightest, crunchiest waffles I have ever eaten.

Another reason I love entertaining at breakfast? You still have the whole day to enjoy the other things you love to do together.

For more delicious breakfast recipes and ideas, visit www.marthastewart.com.

MAPLE GRANOLA

3 cups rolled oats

1 cup dried unsweetened coconut

chips

1 cup pecans or walnuts, quartered

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

cup sesame seeds

1 teaspoon coarse salt

3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 cup golden raisins

Preheat oven to 300 F. Mix together oats, coconut, nuts, syrup, oil, sugar, sesame seeds, salt and nutmeg. Spread granola in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, stirring every 10 minutes, for 40 minutes. Add raisins, and bake until granola is toasted, about 10 minutes more. Let cool completely. Makes 7 cups.

Source: Adapted from a recipe by Nekisia Davis, of Early Bird Foods.

MAKE AHEAD: Maple granola can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

DONN'S WAFFLES

1 1/2 cups whole milk

2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 jumbo eggs, separated, plus 1 jumbo egg white

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons coarse cornmeal

1 teaspoon baking soda

5 tablespoons salted butter, melted

Vegetable oil cooking spray, for

waffle iron

1. Preheat a waffle iron on the highest setting. Stir together milk and vinegar; let stand for 5 minutes to thicken. Mix together yolks, flour, sour cream, cornmeal and baking soda. Stir in milk-vinegar mixture. Stir butter into batter (do not over-mix).

2. Beat whites with a mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Stir half into batter. Gently fold in remaining whites with a rubber spatula.

3. Coat waffle iron with cooking spray. Pour 1 cup batter into waffle iron (it should be three-quarters full). Close lid, and cook until waffle is golden and crisp, about 6 minutes.

4. Remove waffle from iron. Quickly toss between your hands to release steam and help retain crispness, and serve. Repeat with remaining batter. Makes 6 waffles.

NOTE: The egg whites cause the waffles to puff up and then fall quickly, so serve each piece as it finishes cooking. Jumbo eggs work best, but you can substitute 2 large yolks and 4 large whites.

Questions should be addressed to Ask Martha, care of Letters Department, Martha Stewart Living, 601 West 26th Street, 9th floor, New York, N.Y. 10001. Questions may also be sent by e-mail to: mslletters@marthastewart.com. Please include your name, address and daytime telephone number.