Last year, Waffle Lady wowed us with her spectacular waffles and awesome product design. We were awed with just how well designed and run her family business was--so much so that we gave them our Best of Show Chomple Award last year.
So... what has Waffle Lady been up to this past year? She already makes the best waffle mix on the planet. Especially in this rough economy, has the Waffle Lady just rested on her laurels?
Absolutely not. Waffle Lady has been in the Waffle Lab creating new and amazing ways for you to have a better breakfast every day.
I'll be telling you about all of her new stuff, but you can get it straight from the Waffle Lady herself:
It took me until day 2 of the show to locate my favorite booth. On day 1 I was busy marshaling our full Chomple coverage team around the show. By day 2 I had a serious craving for Waffle Lady waffles. Being a man, I refused to consult the show directory to find them. Wandering the North Hall, however, I smelled the unmistakable scent of Waffle Lady's waffles. Smell-dar took me the rest of the way to the Waffle Family. Waffle Gentleman was out on the floor and not pictured here.
Note the big Q sign... Waffle Lady's products are now certified organic. Personally, I don't really care about whether something is organic or not purely for the sake of being organic. The bigger draw is knowing that actual real ingredients went into my food. Waffle Lady wouldn't let her products be any other way. I'm going to hazard a guess that Waffle Lady products were probably organic all along and they just didn't have the certification. You just can't create this kind of flavor using junk ingredients.
Probably the most famous and buzzworthy sign at the Fancy Food Show. Tons of buzz and many tweets around the "What is a Jumbleberry?" sign and question. The only thing I could glean from all the things I was hearing was that whatever a Jumbleberry was, it was very delicious and that everything should be Jumbleberry flavored.
After laying on my Midwestern blogger charm (lol). Waffle Lady gave up the answer. Back on her ranch in Auburn. California, Waffle Lady would make a pie filling called Jumbleberry for her family. She would combine boysenberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries into the most divine berry pie ever made.
Like her waffles, Waffle Lady wants to share her awesome creations with the world. Meet Waffle Lady's Jumbleberry Syrup. Boysenberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, pure cane sugar, and pectin. THAT'S IT. A full half pound of berries goes into every 12 ounce bottle. Not a trace of high fructose corn syrup.
Many attendees of the show just refer to the Waffle Lady as "Mom". Your mother wouldn't feed you artificial junk, and Waffle Lady definitely won't.
How good is this stuff? Let me tell you what usually happens at a Fancy Food Show. People powerwalk the show: stop by a booth, grab a sample, and start walking off. There are too many exhibitors at the show to take your time moving through. If the sample you got was good, maybe you circle back later. If it's really good, maybe you go back to check out the booth.
The Waffle Lady booth was causing a crazy traffic jam in Aisle 1400. People were taking a few steps away and stopping dead in their tracks. They weren't even turning around right away. Just standing there, slowly chewing and savoring the Jumbleberry flavor. Then they would wander back to the booth.
I don't even like sweets and I'm sitting here with my sample bottle of Jumbleberry eating it off my pinky. I wish I could invest in this stuff. I'm expecting that many companies will be beating a path to Waffle Lady's door asking to license Jumbleberry for all sorts of products. Someone make a Jumbleberry Jerky, please?
Maybe you don't like berries. Traditionalists always go for pure maple syrup. Waffle Lady has you covered. She decided that they needed a maple syrup for their customers, so the Waffle Family took a trip to Vermont to find a sugar farm that met their standards. Luckily for us, they found one.
Now, most serious chefs will tell you that grade B maple syrup is the way to go. While grade A is nice and clear and has the look that consumers want, grade B has intense maple flavor, but looks sort of like muddy molasses.
I don't know where they found their syrup, but their grade A syrup has the clear look that consumers expect, but has the intense maple flavor of grade B.
Also directly in front of the Jumbleberry syrup bottles in the next picture are Jumbleberry smoothies. Nothing but Jumbleberry syrup and plain organic yogurt. I had three samples of these. Remember, I don't like sweets. Or smoothies. Or yogurt, really. Until now.
In addition to last year's assortment, they have two new flavors of waffle mix: Maple Pecan and Cinn-A-Wonderful. The latter is based off of the cinnamon buns that she makes in her restaurant.
I need to mention here that you have to respect the mix and actually follow the directions. This means using actual buttermilk like the box asks you to. "Mom" told me that I'm in serious trouble if she finds out that I'm cutting corners in my kitchen with her mix. I believe her. I don't know what I would do if I got grounded from having Waffle Lady products :(
Also new is Brent's Perfect Brew. Brent is Waffle Lady's husband. I jokingly told her that they should have called it Coffee Gentleman. Brent is a coffee connoisseur and buys the beans from an award-winning grower in Kona, Hawaii. I believe it. The coffee was intensely flavored but with just a fleeting hint of bitterness.
If this waffle thing doesn't work out, the Waffle Family should just get into the procurement business.
Also new to the Waffle Lady lineup are their granola and Daily Oats. The granola is amazing and kept me upright during day 2 of the show as my energy was flagging. One pouch kept me going until the end of day 2 when Actual had to cart me to a cab back to the hotel.
The Daily Oats are the epitome of what I call "cubicle stash". Any desk worker knows that hours can become highly variable and you can end up stranded in your cube for unplanned hours as urgent projects come up. Usually, by this point there are no convenient food sources and your only options are delivery food.
This stuff is way better than the usual stuff I have stashed (read: ramen and uh, ramen). The bottom of the container contains organic oats. In the top there is a baggie that contains the toppings (in this case, raisins, walnuts, and brown sugar). You add water and cook the oats, then top the oatmeal. Instant oatmeals can't compare with Daily Oats, as these are organic whole rolled oats versus the crap in instant oats, and unlike the freeze dried artificial bits in instant oats, Daily Oats come with the same, real toppings you would you add yourself at home.
Really though, it's all about the waffles. Waffle Daughter-In-Law made me a whole chocolate chip waffle all for myself. Just look at this thing. I managed to eat 1/4 of it before other show attendees descended like Waffle Vultures and grabbed the rest. I don't blame them.
Waffle Lady products are available at wafflelady.com.
If you are a retail chain, please stock these products. They won't let you down. This doubly goes for any of you with locations in the Sacramento area. I can order Waffle Lady stuff when I need it, but I deserve instant gratification.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go make some Jumbleberry iced tea.
