Michelle Obama's "Waffles and Mochi" Looks Adorable and Delicious
The new Netflix puppet series from Higher Ground productions promises "food adventures all around the world."
On Tuesday morning Michelle Obama and Netflix announced a new show called Waffles + Mochi starring the former first lady and a cast of felt puppets.
Aimed at preschool-aged children — and at adults who refuse to be ruled by shame — the show is set to premiere on March 16th and will follow Mochi and Waffles, puppets from "the land of frozen foods" who dream of becoming chefs. With Michelle Obama as their guide, Mochi, Waffles, and the Netflix audience will be introduced to interesting food from around the world while learning how to prepare some healthy snacks at home.
It's strange to think that much of the target audience may not have even been alive during the Obama administration. But those of us who are old enough to remember an era before American politics became a subsidiary of Donald Trump's ego may recall the various health and nutrition initiatives Michelle Obama promoted.
From her White House vegetable garden to her Chefs Move! to Schools campaign and the MyPlate update to outdated nutritional guidelines, she sought to fight America's epidemic of childhood obesity by introducing kids to healthier habits at a young age.
Predictably, what seemed like obviously positive steps toward addressing a major national health crisis were met with outrage from Right-wing pundits who posed the situation as the government attacking your freedom — why does that sound familiar? They labeled the efforts as "nanny state" overreach and attacked Michelle Obama's appearance as somehow disqualifying her from the conversation — presumably because she didn't match the frighteningly-malnourished look that an (allegedly) abusive former-therapist like Keith Ablow prefers.
But it turns out that Michelle Obama's interest in promoting better nutritional habits and sharing a love of healthy eating with the next generation was not just an effort to enrage her political opponents and impose a vision of totalitarian government control over your kitchen.
Even as a private citizen she wants to control your children...by encouraging them to make healthy dietary choices and explore international cuisine. What a monster!
The handful of images released as part of the Waffles + Mochi announcement shows Michelle Obama interacting with her puppet co-stars in a garden and a kitchen, but their adventures will reportedly extend much further. Throughout the series Mochi (a tiny living ball of chewy Japanese rice cake) and Waffles (who appears to be some sort of freezer yeti who has fused with a toaster waffle), along with a host of other puppets and the former first lady, will be "picking potatoes in the Andes of Peru, sampling spices in Italy, or making Miso in Japan."
Made in conjunction with Michelle and Barack Obama's production company, Higher Ground — which previously produced the documentaries American Factory, Crip Camp, and Becoming — there's no word yet on how many episodes of Waffles + Mochi we can expect, or whether former president Barack Obama will be joining in on any of the adventures. Perhaps President Obama's former VP — AKA President Joe Biden — will even have time to make an appearance (preferably after he's finished sending out those $2000 checks he promised).
In any case the first-look images make it clear that the series will be both adorable and delicious, and it will no doubt contain lots of useful tips and healthy recipes for children and adult children alike. So...better eat all the junk food you can while there's still time.
And if you can't wait until March for your Michelle Obama, plus puppet entertainment, you can always revisit her appearance on Sesame Street, when she planted a garden with Elmo and Big Bird. And if this whole topic is just making you hungry, here's a recipe for mochi waffles.