It Made Me So Happy
Classic German Cooking is out now!
I am back at home in Berlin after my little book tour. Ohh, I loved it so much. I worried a lot about it before I left. Lost sleep over it, if I’m honest, because I am prone to catastrophizing thoughts before travel, no matter how excited I am about the trip. I worried about leaving my children, my safe little home, about flying and whether the trip would end up being too much for me, with all its various legs and overnights and complicating factors. But as these things usually go, the worrying turned out to be for nought. The trip was grand. It made me so happy.
I ended up being gone for almost two weeks. That alone was restorative, despite all the different beds and cities and sweaty schlepping of carry-on luggage. Also restorative: the sunny weather, the changing leaves, just being back “home.” Things did feel a little tense - everyone was worried about the election. But I got to spend time with friends. I saw breathtaking art. I cried in a museum. I took myself out to nice meals and quickie ones. I rode Amtrak’s Hiawatha Line and Empire Line. I ate a transcendent apple fritter on the L in Chicago. I munched on Snack Fix given to me by a kind and generous reader on the New Jersey Transit.
To everyone who made the effort to come out to one of my events, thank you. You can’t imagine how gratifying it was to see your beautiful faces. I loved meeting everyone and signing books and chatting and putting faces to names. This truly is the best part of writing a cookbook1, getting to connect. Big thanks also to my lovely conversation partners Deb, Tim and Olga. It was so much fun to spend time with you. I only wish we lived closer!
In the wake of the election, my gut feeling has simply been that now, more than ever, connection is how we are going to get through this. Traveling through the US, what I felt most deeply is how sad and unacceptable it is that people have become so divided from their neighbors and loved ones. The only solution is to reach out and connect. Make your communities feel closer. There’s very little we can control, and sometimes history rolls right over you like a steamroller, no matter which side you’re on, and there’s not much you can do but hold your breath. What you can control is the way you show up in the world, the relationships you build, the way you connect with other people. I am finding some solace in that. And ultimately, I tell myself, what matters most is how we are raising our boys.
On Saturday night, Bruno glimpsed my somewhat forlorn stovetop waffle iron lying quietly in the drawer under the stove. Could we make waffles for breakfast the next morning? Yes, yes, we could. I used an old recipe from The Wednesday Chef that requires no advance planning. It’s a very simple batter, the only “specialty” ingredients being buttermilk, which you can substitute with whole milk and vinegar, and a bit of wheat germ (you can leave it out, but I really like it here). The waffles are crisp on the outside and eggy and rich on the inside. It took one round to get the waffle iron to work properly, but then we were off to the races.
On Sundays, I almost always make pancakes rather than waffles, because of the waffle iron problem - it does feel like more work than just plopping batter in a pan. But I think waffles are superior to pancakes, not only in texture, but also in flavor. These particular waffles are, as I used to call them, lamination-worthy. So I have decided that I will be making the effort going forward. Sunday morning waffles for my family, a new ritual. Making that decision feels good.
You know what else feels good, or great, actually? That I can go back to recipes I loved so much a long ago and find that they are still really delicious. (It’s always fun to come across my own writing from that time of my life, too. Huh, I think to myself, there you are.) I get a similar thrill every time I open a cookbook I’ve written. I mean, it’s just so cool to need a recipe for Gulasch, say, or potato pancakes, and find that I have the perfect recipe right there.
So now that Classic German Cooking is out in the world and showing up in homes and kitchens across the world, I would love to answer any questions you might have about it. Feel free to leave a question below - about anything! I’ll answer as they come in.
And thanks for being here, everyone. I love you.
Buttermilk-Brown Sugar Waffles
Makes 4 to 5 Belgian waffles
Note: If you don’t have buttermilk, replace it with the same quantity of milk mixed with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. If you don’t have wheat germ, just replace it with the same amount of flour.
2 eggs
400 ml/1 3/4 cups buttermilk
113 grams/8 tablespoons unsalted, butter, melted
190 grams/1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
20 grams/1/4 cup wheat germ
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Nonstick cooking spray or oil
1. Whisk eggs, buttermilk and melted butter in a large bowl. In another bowl, stir dry ingredients together, then add to egg mixture and whisk just until smooth.
2. Heat a waffle iron and oil lightly or spray with nonstick spray (even nonstick waffle irons require this step). Ladle batter onto iron, close, and cook until golden brown. Repeat with the remaining batter, oiling the iron between rounds, if necessary. Serve immediately.
Besides cooking from it!!!!
Hi Luisa! Thank you for another keepsake worthy cookbook! This is the first and only time I’ve ever preordered a book but I love your baking book so much (soooo much) that I needed to have your new one asap. I read them cover to cover and wanted to make it last as long as possible but ended up devouring it in two or three nights in bed under layers of quilts and duvets. The very first recipe (Zwei Eier) is like a little poem and was worth the price of the book and then some. I’ll read absolutely anything you write. Thank you. Very much.
I live in western NY (Finger Lakes) and wanted to drive out to Vassar to see you but I’ve been away so much lately. I know that anxiety you spoke of, about leaving home.
So, congratulations and thank you, again.
Thank you for this book, this recipe, and this: "What you can control is the way you show up in the world, the relationships you build, the way you connect with other people. I am finding some solace in that. And ultimately, I tell myself, what matters most is how we are raising our boys." YES! Thank you for this.