Forty years ago I dedicated a brand new blade type coffee mill to use as a spice grinder. It will grind virtually any spice or herb except for whole nutmegs and large pieces of cinnamon stick. Depending on how long you run it, it can grind as fine as flour.

When I incorporate bay leaves in a recipe where it would be difficult to retrieve the whole leaf, I grind the required leaves to a fine powder. Before grinding I always break off an stem and break the leaves in 2 or 3 pieces. This works well if you'e grinding a combination of spices or herbs; e.g., whole peppercorns, whole allspice, whole coriander seeds, etc.

To clean the grinder I sometimes grind dry rice, or blow it out with a high pressure blower. It is ot recommended to use any liquid in it.

Yes, there certainly are waffle irons that make the traditional size waffle (with the smaller, shallower squares). Having said that, it appears that most of these are larger square models, many of which have reversible grids. The waffles are usually divided into 4 sections. The only model like this that I have used had reversible grids and I didn't like the way it performed, either as a waffle baker or griddle.

My personal favorite produces a single round waffle and the grids are not reversible nor removable; however, I think they make a superior waffle. I have seen at least 3 different brands that are virtually identical. Mine is made by Proctor-Silex Traditional Morning Baker. It has a signal light to indicate when the iron is at baking temperature and also when the waffle is done. It does not have an adjustable thermostat, but appears not to need one. I have yet to underbake or overbake a waffle with this waffle iron. I believe I only paid around $25.00 for it.

Please Note: This waffle iron is also made in a Belgium waffle model. Please don't confuse the two.

Something you should know, if you don't already, is that a waffle is done when you no longer see steam rising from the waffle iron. If you open the iron to check the waffle and find that you'd like it a little darker, increase the baking tine accordingly.