Waffles are the new cupcake?

Cupcakes are OUT! As an observer of food trends, not completely a participant, I must say to all my cupcake loving and eating friends, sorry, it's passe. I love them, don't get me wrong, but in this trendy world, the cupcake is just out and that's just how it is.

The cupcake is a relic that lingered (a bit too long) from those houseflipping days of ponzi schemes and wild, financial abandon. The air filled, puffy, fluffy sweet frosting was just an edible symbol of the times. It just doesn't feel right to eat a cupcake in front of my unemployed friend. No, it feels rather inappropriate to eat something that screams happy , silly and useless so loudly when she sits there barely able to make payments.

However, waffles...now they are perfect for this occasion. I buy a waffle for me and a waffle for her and there we are, keeping it real. Nothing screams hunkering down like a waffle. It’s breakfast, it’s lunch, it’s dinner and it’s a desert. It is so unassuming, it's sweet (not too sweet) and buttery but it doesn't show it off. It is just as good with butter and syrup as it is dressed up with whipped cream and berries. I can share a down home style waffle with my recession injured friends or take it uptown with air filled, puffy, fluffy whipped cream and still not look a bit smug. It’s an honest, down to earth, practical food.

So will I venture to say eating a cupcake makes you look smug? Um, not really, but you do look a bit too confident. Have a waffle, it sticks to your gut.

Have them with chicken: Lucky J’s on Burnet next to Home Lumber
Have them as dolled up or plain as you want: Waffles on 24th and San Antonio

Hunker down and make some yourself, then call your friends over. It's time for waffles.