I’m beyond thrilled to share that on March 16, I’ll be launching a new show on @Netflix called Waffles + Mochi! I'm excited for families and children everywhere to join us on our adventures as we discover, cook, and eat delicious food from all over the world. pic.twitter.com/dedUWMp9SY
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) February 9, 2021
Per the Washington Post:
… In addition to executive producing “Waffles + Mochi,” which debuts March 16, she’ll play the proprietor of a “whimsical supermarket” that employs the titular puppets, who are best friends and aspiring chefs. (One is an adorably small orb formed like the Japanese rice cake and the other a creature whose ears are shaped like the griddled breakfast treat.) “I’m excited for families and children everywhere to join us on our adventures as we discover, cook, and eat delicious food from all over the world,” she wrote in a tweet on Tuesday.
Netflix described the 10-episode series as “the culinary adventure of a lifetime” in which the characters hop aboard a magical shopping cart to seek out ingredients all over the world. “Whether they’re picking potatoes in the Andes of Peru, sampling spices in Italy, or making miso in Japan, these curious explorers uncover the wonder of food and discover every meal is a chance to make new friends,” the streaming service says….
“Waffles + Miso,” whose previous title was “Listen to Your Vegetables & Eat Your Parents,” is a lighthearted entry into the catalogue the Obamas are developing with Netflix…
I guess the original title didn’t test well with, er, parents. On the other hand, I’m tickled that mochi is now sufficiently widely known to be used in an American-produced kids’ show… and that waffles (waffu) are now global!
dmsilev
Kind of a pity they changed the name; would have been a great troll of the Fox and Q set.
jl
Waffles? I’ll subscribe to Netflix then.
Waffles + Mochi? I’ll take a look and decide.
Why did they change the name? I don’t subscribe to WaPo.
Original name = more audience capture with target age groups?
cain
That’s awesome! I would totally watch this.
ETA goddam it, I was so close.
dr. bloor
@dmsilev:
The eternal curse of being a grown-up is passing on deeply gratifying shit-stirring for the sake of the Big Picture.
Alison Rose
I don’t have kids, I don’t cook, and I eat like 8 different foods, but I’ll probably still watch this because it sounds hella cute and because MICHELLE.
Although it does make me sad that I couldn’t stand mochi when I tried it years ago. A texture thing, I think. Alas, because it looks so good and the name is so cute.
Mary G
Super cute cat video, kind of about eating (scroll down to 193):
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Good for her! I was planning on signing up for Netflix to see the new Sonic the Hedgehog series, “Sonic Prime”
Roger Moore
Mochi hit the big time in the US with the invention of mochi ice cream.
Mary G
Never mind. Trying to figure out how to embed one in a series of picture tweets instead of all of them.
Don K
I honestly tried mochi on my first New Years in Tokyo after seeing it made at the Meiji shrine. I think it’s one of those foods (like, erm, scrapple) that you won’t “get” unless you grew up with it. It’s the only thing I’ve ever eaten guaranteed to pull more fillings from your teeth than caramel.
I got a “Gaijin Good Sport” award for trying (and enjoying) more unusual foods (jellyfish salad or dancing octopus anyone?) than the average American in Asia, but mochi was a bridge too far for me.
Mary G
Duck video for TaMara:
Mary G
Dog wants to cuddle:
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Mary G:
That reminds me of a duck video I wanted to share with TaMara:
Cute Duckling drinking cold water first time
Brachiator
Looks like fun for people who like that kind of thing.
In other food news, I guess I missed National Pizza Day yesterday.
Also, related to Waffles and stuff, the company came up with new box and logo for Aunt Jemima Waffles etc.
It is now labeled Pearl Milling Company products, a callback to one of the original companies behind the products.
I swear when I first saw the box I thought it was from the Pearl Mining Company.
Ken
@dmsilev: That forever FLOTUS is hosting it will be enough of a troll. We may see a counter-reaction that ends with Republicans refusing to eat anything but cold boiled potatoes.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: Mochi’s yummy.
mrmoshpotato
Mmmmmm waffles!
mrmoshpotato
@Ken:
Those monstrous bastards!
WaterGirl
@Mary G: loved the mission impossible kitty climbing the rope! the treat one was cute, too.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Ken:
Fixed that for ya
gwangung
I can take or leave mochi…..but mochi ice cream? Yummmmmmm.
Redshift
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Nah, Goya beans are still too ethnic for them. They may buy a case when their orange god whips up outrage about them, but they would never subsist on food from Those People.
NotMax
@Don K
Got natto?
;)
Benw
@Mary G: those are some kick ass vids!
trollhattan
Mochi can be used for good and for evil. It’s all in the preparation. I sometimes tease gluten avoiders about whether they have to also cut out mochi. “You can really taste the gluten.”
Mochizuki was a pretty common Japanese surname among kids I knew growing up.
CarolPW
@Mary G: Worked for me, and then I went back and looked at a bunch more. Thanks!
Arclite
Best. First Lady. Ever.
PsiFighter37
Saw some people bitching on Twitter about this in the context of how insensitive it was. All I gotta say is…Rose Twitter will find a reason to bitch about anything, period.
jonas
For some reason when I saw the title “Waffles and Mochi” and imagined the accompanying theme song, I kept thinking of the cute little jingle from the animated series Over the Garden Wall, “Potatoes and Molasses.”
Oh, Potatoes and Molasses!
If you want some, oh just ask us
They’re warm and soft like puppies and socks
Filled with cream and candy rocks…
OldDave
Did someone say natto?
jonas
@PsiFighter37: “Insensitive?” What, as in having a “mochi” character is cultural appropriation or something? Or hosting a show about food is disrespectful to people who don’t have enough to eat?
Forget it, I don’t want to know…
Jeffro
Totally!
I wonder what Ms. 10-year-resume’-gap is up to tonight? Probably NOT getting ready to launch a great kids’ TV show, I’m guessing…
PsiFighter37
@jonas: No, that there are more serious things going on and HOW DARE SHE, etc.
She has no fucks left to give about any of that, and props to her. She and Barack have earned their time off.
Amir Khalid
RIP Larry Flynt. Whatever we may think of him, his publications helped some of us find, um, release.
jl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: ” Mochi’s yummy. ”
Yes. I like mochi. How does it go with waffles?
jl
@jonas: “Insensitive?”
I’m curious but not willing to put much effort into figuring out what the problem is.
High level vegans can probably find a big problem with the bee character. Eating honey exploits the bees, a vegan told me, and is shameful and bad.
jl
WIZARD OF OZ-VEGAN SLAP!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9bbxNV7QY8
WaterGirl
Just got an email message from the University, where in the time of COVID they have taken to having a “theme” for every month to help pull everyone together.
Here’s the one for February. I cannot believe that not a single person involved in that program didn’t catch that this is probably not what they are going for. It made me laugh, anyway.
Mary G
@Amir Khalid: He also won a very important First Amendment case
ETA: Against Jerry Falwell, also too.
SiubhanDuinne
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
The last time I went to the grocery store, I needed to buy pimientos (I love them in tuna salad; don’t judge me), and — as I have done a thousand times — grabbed the most familiar-looking brand from the shelf and tossed it in the cart. Brand happened to be Goya, which I didn’t notice until I was three aisles away. Was so horrified at myself that I retraced my steps, put it back, and replaced it with a brand I’ve never heard of before (Lindsay, for the record).
The Pale Scot
Wow. Listening to FM Martinique. The Anime vid audio synched flawlessly with the stream.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
If ever there were a case to be made for the “Phrasing!” rejoinder…
dmsilev
@WaterGirl: There’s a private K-12 school near me that’s a polytechnic, and they have banners up with the somewhat …unfortunate motto ‘We Are Poly’.
Mike in NC
From Michelle Obama to Melania Trump to Jill Biden. I feel a case of whiplash coming on.
dr. bloor
@WaterGirl:
“Staying in bed” has always been the optimal solution for February. They’re just suggesting an enjoyable way to pass the time.
Amir Khalid
@WaterGirl:
That’s a thing we can all do for ourselves. (He said innocently.)
Origuy
@WaterGirl: For some of us, every month since last March has been Self Love Month.
ETA: TMI?
WaterGirl
@dmsilev: oops!
SiubhanDuinne
@OldDave:
I read all of the Steve, Don’t Eat It columns. Weeping with mirth, while stomach lurches with disgust.
df
@WaterGirl: I’m going to avoid all of the obvious jokes in favor of these:
Alright, that’s all I got for now.
Peale
I’m really glad that this show is coming out now and not while Trump was still president. I would just weep during every episode thinking about how far we’d fallen.
OldDave
@SiubhanDuinne: You’re welcome. ;-)
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: I was just going on the title when I posted this, but I just opened the email message and I see a link to the “self love” video they have made for us.
No wonder conservatives are so upset about these liberal universities! :-)
Peale
@WaterGirl: I blame Benjamin Spock for this. No body would be thinking self-love was appropriate if we had spanked them more as children.
karen marie
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m part way through, screaming with laughter.
Ohio Mom
Larry Flynt got his start here in Cincinnati.
Another Cincinnatian, Charles Keating, was instrumental in getting Flynt thrown in jail — yep, Charles Keating of the Savings and Loan crisis. Somehow, cheating people out of their life savings was okay in a way pictures of naked adults wasn’t.
jl
@WaterGirl: ” I see a link to the “self love” video they have made for us. ”
Can you share it, or is it not appropriate for an almost top 10,000 family blog?
Spanky
@WaterGirl:
A how-to tutorial?
Amir Khalid
@Ohio Mom:
Larry Flynt also helped so many people love themselves. ?
WaterGirl
@jl: @Spanky:
I have no idea. I was afraid to click it! But here are the images that were on the “self love” page.
Ohio Mom
Watergirl:
Weird that both figures are female, don’t men deserve to love themselves too?
I like “put your phone down.” That’s very modern.
Amir Khalid
The BBC reports that Bruce Springsteen was arrested on a drunk-driving charge in November, and is due in court soon.
Ohio Mom
Amir Khalid: And because of the DWI, Jeep pulled its commercial starring Springsteen.
What’s a 71 year old doing out driving drunk in a National Park?
O. Felix Culpa
@Ohio Mom: I’m ok with that commercial going away. It was cheesy and not worthy of Springsteen or us.
Ohio Mom
O. Felix Culpa:
That commercial gave me the willies. I thought the visuals were creepy. And I am not in the mood to be unified with Trumpers.
Just imagine the discussions at Jeep’s HQ: “Who didn’t vet Springsteen’s driving record?! “
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: I’d just skip the waffles.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mary G: There’s a statue of John Wayne in front of his building on Wilshire.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Amir Khalid: It might also provide, eh, release.
Amir Khalid
@Ohio Mom:
Bruce has had a long history with bouts of depression, as he says in his memoir, and that may have something to do with it.
Mary G
@Ohio Mom:
@Amir Khalid:
Hometown paper says not so fast:
Brachiator
@Ohio Mom:
Too bad. I never got a chance to see it.
Amir Khalid
@Brachiator:
It’s more a nonpartisan PSA about national unity than it is a commercial. There’s a brief shot of Bruce at the wheel of a Jeep, but he doesn’t mention Jeep at all.
Comrade Colette
@Amir Khalid:
Fixt.
Amir Khalid
@Comrade Colette:
I don’t understand your fix. Springsteen is not a white supremacist and has never advocated it.
rikyrah
@Mary G:
It’s the pause and then the ” yeah, sure”
Makes me?????
J R in WV
@Amir Khalid: With a BAC of .25 the legal limit sounds like he ran into a cop who was happy to have any chance to bust someone famous. I would hope Bruce pleads not guilty based upon his BAC and is acquitted immediately!
What a bum rap!
Il Distratto
@Ohio Mom: BAC = 0.02. One drink. One quarter the NJ legal limit.