This morning when I woke up, I decided I was in the mood to make waffles. I didn't have any buttermilk, but I'd been wanting to use another recipe of mine that doesn't have buttermilk. This recipe is a little more labor intensive; rather than mixing dry ingredients, wet ingredients, and then combining the two, you have to separate the eggs, mix dry ingredients, mix wet ingredients, combine, then whip the egg whites until you have stiff peaks and fold this gently into the batter. It's not really labor intensive, really, it's just not as simple as my typical go-to recipe. I like this recipe too because it has a different texture than the buttermilk waffles I make.
I first multiplied everything in the ingredient list by 2/3rds because you can't halve a recipe where you have to separate three eggs. Then I whisked the dry ingredients together and measured out the correct amount of milk in a measuring cup. I beat the egg yolks into the milk and poured this into the dry ingredients and stirred it up. Then it was time to beat the egg whites. I got out my hand mixer and almost started beating the egg whites when I realized that this was the perfect chance to use the immersion blender that Timmy got me for Christmas!! So I put away the hand mixer, got out the immersion blender, and attached its little blade. I stuck this into the egg whites and whirred and whirred but all I got was a little pile of bubbles. I stopped to think about it for a while, and I realized that a flat blade isn't really incorporating air like a pair of beaters do. So I take off the flat blade attachment and start putting the immersion blender away in order to use the hand mixer when I noticed that my immersion blender also has a whisk attachment! So I put that on, and whisked away until I obtained the stiff egg whites I wanted! I folded them into the batter, brought out my spectacular waffle maker, and heated it up.
When the waffle maker was pre-warmed, I poured in a half cup of batter, and went to set it to the right temperature. My temperature gauge has been determined to cause problems lately, and it didn't feel like it was engaging correctly. I tried my best and walked off and came back a few minutes to a excessively crisp waffle. The green light still wasn't on so the waffle maker wasn't identifying that the waffle was overdone. Rather than being spotty like before, I consistently had problems. Eventually I just started timing it and removing the waffles when they were done even though the waffler didn't think they were finished. The waffles still came out well, but I was sad that my waffler doesn't work well anymore.
I turned on my computer and discovered that my dad was online to chat! I told him that my waffler, which he bought me around this time last year, had finally decided to retire. He said that he had bought it from Williams-Sonoma and it had been an exclusive product. Thus, they should stand by their product and replace it. He called Williams-Sonoma to confirm, and they said to take the waffler into my local store with the order number for a replacement. Time was of key because I had almost had the waffler for a complete year, so I decided to go into Williams-Sonoma right away to get it replaced. Timmy and I took the dog for a walk first, and then I bungee-d the waffler to my bike. We set off and whizzed down the hill to the Williams-Sonoma store in Emeryville. When we announced that we wanted a replacement, the first cashier was a little dumbfounded because they no longer carried the product. She called her manager, who seemed much more competent, and after an initial flustered period, he realized that he could call in the order number and the Williams-Sonoma headquarters would be able to deal with it and send either a replacement or a card with the monetary amount on it. I decided to go for a replacement because I really fell in love with this waffler. One thing it really has going for it is that once you know how to use it, you NEVER make a mess. I really hate square waffle makers because when you put the batter in the middle and close it, the batter never spreads to reach the corners, and yet it runs out the sides and makes a big mess. I don't understand why square waffle makers even exist. The villaware waffler I had was circular, and one half cup of batter works perfectly. You can easily control exactly how you want the waffle to come out, and it never disappoints. So I figured I'd give it another chance. If it gives out in a year again, I will explore other options. Yet I will never convert to a square waffler.
So now I will have a replacement by January 18th, and I will be back to happy waffling again!
I first multiplied everything in the ingredient list by 2/3rds because you can't halve a recipe where you have to separate three eggs. Then I whisked the dry ingredients together and measured out the correct amount of milk in a measuring cup. I beat the egg yolks into the milk and poured this into the dry ingredients and stirred it up. Then it was time to beat the egg whites. I got out my hand mixer and almost started beating the egg whites when I realized that this was the perfect chance to use the immersion blender that Timmy got me for Christmas!! So I put away the hand mixer, got out the immersion blender, and attached its little blade. I stuck this into the egg whites and whirred and whirred but all I got was a little pile of bubbles. I stopped to think about it for a while, and I realized that a flat blade isn't really incorporating air like a pair of beaters do. So I take off the flat blade attachment and start putting the immersion blender away in order to use the hand mixer when I noticed that my immersion blender also has a whisk attachment! So I put that on, and whisked away until I obtained the stiff egg whites I wanted! I folded them into the batter, brought out my spectacular waffle maker, and heated it up.
When the waffle maker was pre-warmed, I poured in a half cup of batter, and went to set it to the right temperature. My temperature gauge has been determined to cause problems lately, and it didn't feel like it was engaging correctly. I tried my best and walked off and came back a few minutes to a excessively crisp waffle. The green light still wasn't on so the waffle maker wasn't identifying that the waffle was overdone. Rather than being spotty like before, I consistently had problems. Eventually I just started timing it and removing the waffles when they were done even though the waffler didn't think they were finished. The waffles still came out well, but I was sad that my waffler doesn't work well anymore.
I turned on my computer and discovered that my dad was online to chat! I told him that my waffler, which he bought me around this time last year, had finally decided to retire. He said that he had bought it from Williams-Sonoma and it had been an exclusive product. Thus, they should stand by their product and replace it. He called Williams-Sonoma to confirm, and they said to take the waffler into my local store with the order number for a replacement. Time was of key because I had almost had the waffler for a complete year, so I decided to go into Williams-Sonoma right away to get it replaced. Timmy and I took the dog for a walk first, and then I bungee-d the waffler to my bike. We set off and whizzed down the hill to the Williams-Sonoma store in Emeryville. When we announced that we wanted a replacement, the first cashier was a little dumbfounded because they no longer carried the product. She called her manager, who seemed much more competent, and after an initial flustered period, he realized that he could call in the order number and the Williams-Sonoma headquarters would be able to deal with it and send either a replacement or a card with the monetary amount on it. I decided to go for a replacement because I really fell in love with this waffler. One thing it really has going for it is that once you know how to use it, you NEVER make a mess. I really hate square waffle makers because when you put the batter in the middle and close it, the batter never spreads to reach the corners, and yet it runs out the sides and makes a big mess. I don't understand why square waffle makers even exist. The villaware waffler I had was circular, and one half cup of batter works perfectly. You can easily control exactly how you want the waffle to come out, and it never disappoints. So I figured I'd give it another chance. If it gives out in a year again, I will explore other options. Yet I will never convert to a square waffler.
So now I will have a replacement by January 18th, and I will be back to happy waffling again!
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