Dessert By Candy

Brownies & Blondies

It has been a long time since I last baked anything. I'm going to mail a care package to my skating coach in Europe so I decided to include some sweet treats to cheer him up. Blondies and brownies are both sturdy enough to withstand shipping so I gave another two recipes a try from the Martha Stewart's Cookies cookbook. The one on the left is Butterscotch-Cashew Blondies (p. 277) and the one on the right is Chocolate-Ginger Brownies (p. 276).

Due to a lack of ingredients at home, I made some minor changes to the recipe. For the blondies, I replaced the toffee bits with equal amount of butterscotch chips. Alas, the toffee bits would have added such a nice crunch and a deeper layer of butterscotch flavour. This is the third blondies recipe I attempted from this cookbook and it is by far superior. The use of cashew is a nice change from the more popular walnuts or pecans. The buttery taste of the nuts made these blondies a rich treat. The texture is cakey and tender.

I love combining chocolate with sweet spices. These chocolate-ginger brownies has a nice bite from the ground and freshly grated ginger. I skipped out on the grated nutmeg and added 100g of dark chocolate chips to the batter to add some bulk. Only afterward did it occur to me that some chopped crystalized ginger would be a great addition to this recipe. The recipe calls for 8 inch square baking pan but I doubt the batter yields enough. Even with the use of the chocolate chips and a 7 inch pan, the finished brownies are merely an inch tall. This is a dense, almost fudge-like, brownie. I would recommend cutting them in smaller servings.

Western Cuisine As Interpreted

Growing up in Hong Kong in the 80s, a lot of my childhood food memories are associated with western-style cuisine as interpreted by Chinese. The sizzler plate is one particularly memorable item. Typically, it is a steak dinner served on a hot heavy cast-iron plate. The waiter would gingerly place it in front of me with a silver gravy boat at the ready. That is the cue for me to unfold my paper napkin and hold it like a curtain between my face and the food. As the gravy was poured over the steak, everything sizzle along with smoke and aroma which would linger on my clothes long after the meal ended. I love the theatrics and the multi-sensory experience of a sizzler dinner.

Nine times out of ten, restaurants serve sizzler as a set dinner (aka prix-fixe) to make the whole western dining experience complete. There is always a choice of cream or borscht soup (borscht of course) and sometimes a side salad for appetizer. A sweet dinner roll accompanies the soup and it is best when sliced in half with a nice cold slice of butter slowly melting by the warmth of the bread. The fries and blanched mixed vegetables are the best accompaniment to the steak to mop up all the excess gravy. Of course, no meal is complete without coffee/tea and dessert. Dessert is usually a little cup of jello or mango pudding drizzled with evaporated milk.

Now that I am all grown up, the sizzler dinner does seem a little cheesy but it still holds a special place in my heart. It is what I immediately think of when I crave a "steak dinner". Luckily, there are restaurants in Toronto that specialize in this type of Hong Kong-style western cuisine once you venture to Richmond Hill/Markham. My favourite haunt is only five minute drive from my home so I don't even need to make a special trip to satisfy my craving. In recent months, I've drastically decreased my consumption of red meat. One problem is that it is difficult for me to get enough iron from my meals. Since iron plays a very important role in my athletic performance, I've decided to start eating two meals a week with red meat. At $15.99, it is certainly a very affordable way to enjoy a steak dinner with all the trimming!

Magic Blondies

Making blondies into individual portions using a muffin pan appeared to be a rather nice idea. That was the main reason that drew me to this recipe. However, a regular muffin size of this dense treat packed with coconut, chocolate chips, cranberries, and walnuts is just too much. I think a mini muffin size would work much better, not to mention a shorter baking time.

I think the cookie part of this blondies stray a bit to the dry side. The addition of crunchy coconut and walnut highlighted that as well. Without some moist ingredients (I'm thinking majool dates or black mission figs), I feel like there's something missing. I will probably take the idea of shaping blondie/brownie batter using muffin pans but apply it to another recipe instead.

Rocky Ledge Bars

Bar cookies are easy and streamlined solution to holiday baking. Brownies are obviously one very successful example of bar cookies but then there is also its less well-known cousin, blondies. I have yet to figure out exactly what qualifies as a blondie but in most cases, it is a soft chewy bar cookie based on butter and brown sugar. Just like brownies, you can literally throw in the kithen sink to make the cookie as over-the-top as possible. The Rocky Ledge Bars from Martha Stewart's Cookies is one fine example.

Packed with marshmallow, dark chocolate, white chocolate, butterscotch chips, and caramel, this cookie seems more like a candy bar to me. The butterscotch flavour is quite overpowering which does make this cookie special (I like butterscotch). Cost-wise, it is not a cheap cookie to make with all these add-on ingredients. Personally, I think the richness of this cookie means it is best served in smaller portions with a strong cup of coffee. However, with so many chunks of toppings, a very sharp knife is the must-have tool to get very clean cuts. I'm not sure I really like this treat as a cookie though because the cookie really take a backseat to everything else. I think it makes a nice little addition to my holiday baking for the sake of variety.

Banana Walnut Chocolate Cookies

My annual Christmas cookies baking is typically one of the largest baking project I take on every year. During those couple of weeks, my house fills with the fragrance of butter and sugar and spice. However, the planning begins much earlier than that. Throughout the calendar year, I test out different recipes looking for the gems that yield tasty and pretty cookies. By the time November rolls around, I know exactly what I want to make based on earlier experimentation.

Since I purchased Martha Stewart's Cookies, I've been in a baking mood because there are plenty of recipes that entice me. I tried making the Banana Walnut Chocolate Cookies (p. 170) last night. I was intrigued by the recipe's use of mashed banana because instinct told me the cookie dough would be too wet. The use of old-fashioned rolled oats gives this cookie the structure that it needs to offset the moisture in the dough. However, that is also where the problem lies. When I scoop out the balls of dough, the oatmeal could not be evenly distributed in every piece obviously. As a result, the cookies all had different degrees of spread once baked. The cookies tasted moist and full of banana flavour, reminiscent of a cross between banana bread and oatmeal chocolate chips cookies. Unfortunately, the non-uniform appearance makes this recipe a less-than-ideal candidate for Christmas baking. 

Happy Strawberry Shortcake Day!

I have a penchant of declaring arbitrary celebration days (remember March Muffin Madness?). Last week, I wanted a reason to celebrate something so I declared April 29 The Official Dessert By Candy Strawberry Shortcake Day.

Happy Strawberry Shortcake Day Everyone!!

Okay, now that the greeting is out of the way, of course the only way to celebrate is by making and munching some delicious strawberry shortcake. Strawberry shortcake has always been a bit of a deceiving name to me because it is the furthest thing away from "cake". In fact, it's really a tea biscuit filled with macerated strawberries and cream. The basic premise is simple so it opens up lots of opportunities for interpretation.

When I see all those containers of strawberries on sale at the supermarket, how can I resist bringing them home? However, I personally prefer to use a mixture of fresh and individually frozen berries. Nothing compares in flavour when the fruit is picked ripe at the height of the season but that is not always possible. Therefore, frozen berries offer a bit of consistency in terms of quality. A squeeze of lemon juice works wonders to brighten up the flavour. To fancy things up a bit, I added Grand Marnier.

If classic is what you have in mind, chantilly cream is what you're after. It certainly is good but I adore the richness of creme anglaise (i.e. custard sauce). For my version of strawberry shortcake, I made a vanilla creme anglaise and dispensed it using an iSi Pro. The result is the lightness of a loose whipped cream combined with the yumminess of custard.

The biscuit part is the most challenging. Though deceptively simple, there is also nowhere to hide so technique is everything (kinda like my love-hate relationship with pie dough). A tender biscuit requires a very gentle touch. However! If you do end up overworking the dough just a smidge, serving the biscuit warm can somewhat mask the toughness. Oh yeah, and drenching it with cream and syrup doesn't hurt either. I used the butter biscuit recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Bread Bible. It's an interesting recipe because it uses hardboiled egg yolks in the dough. The last time I worked with hardboiled egg yolks was in a linzer cookie dough. I have a long way to go to perfect my biscuit technique, sigh.

Just before serving, sandwich some strawberries and cream between a biscuit sliced in half. With a sprinkling of icing sugar and some fresh strawberries halves to garnish, this is one gorgeous dessert to kick off the beginning of summer!

(psst: serving the shortcakes at 5C plus windchill is a bad idea. Everything hardens except for the cream which loves the cold temperature.)

Easter Greetings

Happy Easter and Happy Birthday to Dessert By Candy! Today I'm celebrating the third anniversary of my blog except that it is a little dorky excuse for a celebration...so I'm celebrating Easter instead.

On this special day, I visited Brick Street Bakery in the Distrillery District for some much-sought-after hot cross buns. If you only know hot cross buns by its supermarket counterpart, you must try one from a good bakery. These hot cross buns are deeply flavourful from both the sweet spices and dried fruit, as well as the bread itself. The top is glazed with a sticky glaze which gives the bun a little caramel flavour. The best part of all was the crunchy cross. Too bad I'll have to wait another year until I can tastes these delicious bread again.

Chocolate boutiques are tremendously fun to visit around Easter time because every chocolatier would fill his shop to the brim with all kinds of whimsical chocolate eggs, bunnies, and chicks. Soma is no exception. I marvelled at the metre tall chocolate egg on the display. For $225, you can call it your own! However, I went for something a little less dramatic. I enjoyed a piece of their limited edition bunny truffle filled with pistachio paste. It was a joy to bite into a truffle with properly tempered snappy dark chocolate shell. The pistachio paste was smooth and rich...like a marzipan but only better. Highly recommended for all you pistachio fans out there!

Have You Had Your Zeppole Yet?

Inspired by Rob's search for doughnut last year, I was determined to seek out zeppole before they disappear after Easter. Coincidentally, I came across a write-up from Toronto Life which heaped praises on this Italian pastry so there was no escape from a visit to an Italian bakery before Easter.

Italian pastry is something which I am rather unfamiliar other than the fact that I adore eating panettone and biscotti but hate making tiramisu. I was dazzled by the selection of specialty Easter bread available at Aida's Pinevalley Bakery in Woodbridge. Aside from zeppole, there were all kinds of enriched sweet bread including Columba Pasquale in dove shape and glazed with chocolate. The ones that really tickle my fancy are the bread embedded with Easter eggs. I know that it is very symbolic yet a tinted hardboiled egg (with shell!) inside fluffy bread makes no sense to my baker's mind. All the more reason why I had to try it myself!

The zeppole tasted great with the luscious pastry cream inside a deep-fried pate-a-choux shell. My favourite part was the subtle sweetness from the amarena cherries. I am very tempted to go back for more before they disappear until next year...though I am looking forward to enjoying hot cross buns from Brick Street Bakery...oh, decisions...

Aida's Pinevalley Bakery
830 Rowntree Dairy Road
Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada

Cute And Not-So-Cute Cookies

After getting my haircut on Saturday, I went for a bit of shopping in downtown Toronto. The West Queen West neighbourhood is one of my usual haunts but obviously I haven't gone into every single shop yet. Babies and pregnancies have been made "fashionable" in the last few years so by the rules of supply and demand, of course there are some pretty cool stores catering to hip moms with money to spend. Not being in that target demographic myself, I rarely ever set foot inside these too-precocious-for-words stores.

I was walking along Queen Street West, comtemplating on getting some fish 'n chips from Chippy's, when my attention was drawn to a window display full of bunny rabbits and cookie cutters. Window shopping is about taking in the beauty of pretty things so I went inside to take a closer look. I quickly found myself surrounded by many cutesy pastel things that can only mean I was inside a [gasp!] kids' store.

However, Polka Dot Kids is not just about being precocious. This store carries a large selection of cookie cutters made by german company Städter (check out their online catalogue). These are not run-of-the-mill cookie cutters. There are polar bears, penguin, squirel, castle, princess, ballet slippers, fork, spoon, knife, sheep, specialty Linzer cookie cutters, etc in sizes big and small. These cookie cutters are well-made in intricate shapes.

The best find of all was a set of customizable cookie stamp also made by the same company. This stamp set comes with a set of alphabets and numbers which I can mix and match to form different words on the mounting sleeve. The stamp can be used on rolled out cookie dough before baking. Can you imagine the possibilities of all the personalized cookies that I can made? I can include cookies with my own "Dessert By Candy" branding in my annual holiday cookie assortment. I can make cookies with my contact information ("Can I have your number?" "Sure! Here, have a cookie."). Oh oh, how about a box of cookies full of insults? I am so amused by all the ideas!

Polka Dot Kids

917 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario

A Good Thing Just Gotten Better

I've been making homemade granola for a few months now.  However, since my neighbourhood supermarket stopped carrying old-fashioned oatmeal, my routine got disrupted. I don't really understand why they only have the quick-cooking and minute oats because these two varieties are generally not great for baking. Well, I don't really enjoy the inconveniece of travelling further to my local bulk store to buy oats but turns out there is a silver lining.

I noticed today that the bulk store carries rye flakes and spelt flakes. They look almost identical to oatmeal except for different shades of brown. I experimented with a blend of oats, rye, and spelt for my granola recipe and I am quite happy with the result. There is no discernable taste difference because the maple flavour is quite overpowering. However, knowing that I get to consume a variety of whole grains in my morning cereal without any extra work? Well, that surely makes me feel a little virtuous. The road to eliminate refined grain products such as white flour and white rice from my diet is not an easy one. I do miss eating fluffy white bread (pain de mie....mmmm) but having delicious granola everyday for breakfast really makes things a little easier.

In Search Of Pastéis De Nata

What would you do if you have a full day of free time and sunny weather beckoning outside? To me it sounds like a perfect day to go around the city in search of good food. Before I return to my very strict weight loss diet, I want to have one last hurrah of an interesting food adventure. With a little planning, I decided to seek out my favourite version of pastéis de nata in Toronto.

You're not mistaken. My first stop did not involve any portuguese custard tarts. Since my route today broungt me over to Dufferin Road, I decided to stop over at one of the few Columbian bakeries in Toronto, Panaderia Colombiana. I first learned about this bakery from an article in Toronto Star and it was a delicious detour. The bakery was buzzling with customers looking for a taste of home. As soon as I walked into the bakery, I took a quick scan of what everyone was eating and proceeded with the tried-and-true pointing technique of ordering. It was quite exciting to discover what we ordered...we had a papas rellenas (potato and meat croquette!), empanada de cambray (pastry filled with guava jam), deep-fried pork served with arepas, and a plain bunuelo. Bro and I are both fans of croquette so fist-size ball of mashed potato with meat was a hit. The bunuelo reminded us of a traditional Cantonese fritter for congee. The deep-fried pork was a little fatty but I enjoyed picking out the lean parts to munch with the arepa. The best of the bunch though was the empanada filled with guava jam. Since coming back from a feast of Cuban pastries in Miami, I discovered my love for guava jam. To my surprise, Bro loves the floral taste of guava too.

Columbus Bakery

2931 Dufferin St. (south of Lawrence Ave.), Toronto
(416) 782-4520

Our first stop for pastéis de nata was Brazil Bakery & Pastry Ltd. My first impression was how resilient the pastry was. I had a hard time tearing it apart. The custard was more gloopy than expected and tasted a little artificial to me. Brazil has many variations of tarts, one of which was an orange curd filling. It was pleasantly citrusy and a good departure from the usual custard filling. Other fillings available include almond, coconut, cherries, etc.

Brazil Bakery & Pastry Ltd.

1566 Dundas Street West (West of Dufferin)
(416) 531-2888

Walking eastward along Dundas Street West brought us to the heart of the Portuguese community in Toronto. Nova Era has a few locations around the city and this particular one has a nice large seating area for customers to enjoy the pastries. The pastry of their pastéis de nata was crispy and shattered with every bite. The custard tasted of fresh eggs and vanilla. It was my over-all favourite today. Bro enjoyed a meat patty with a "crust" made with mashed potato and (what else) deep-fried. I was interested in the cod fritter however...perhaps another day.

Nova Era Bakery

1172 Dundas Street West (West of Ossington), Toronto
(416) 538-7700

Across the street from Nova Era is Caldense Bakery, another Portuguese bakery with a few locations in Toronto. The custard of these tarts was alright with a nice smooth texture but the bottom of the pastry was underbaked. The taste of raw dough was faintly detectable and that is a big no-no in my books for pastries. Bro ordered a tart filled with a transparent golden filling. I thought it was pineapple but it was squash. Who would have guessed? It looked very intriguing with subtle flavour.

Caldense Bakery

1209 Dundas Street West (West Of Ossington), Toronto

My last stop of the day was Venezia Bakery. This bakery has a homey vibe with two motherly ladies patiently explaining to me the different pastries available in the display case. I really want to like this place but unfortunately the pastéis de nata here was also slightly underbaked.

Venezia Bakery Padaria Portuguesa

114 Ossington Avenue (North Of Queen), Toronto
(416) 537-2914

If you have suggestions for awesome pastéis de nata around the greater Toronto area, I would love to learn about them!

Doing What I Do Best

My legs were too dead for a proper workout on Saturday so I took a day off from training. With a whole afternoon of free time, I went to downtown Toronto to do something which I'm very good at: wandering around aimlessly in less than ideal weather and eating stuff along the way. One of my stops was Crepes A Gogo on Yorkville Ave.

As much as I love French food, I do feel a bit weird out for "theme eating" and I must admit that I committed that embarrassment big time. The weather was cold, windy, and humid. I was obviously underdressed for the outdoor but out of pure coincidence, I had a hat in my purse. Of course I made the logical decision to pull on my hat. Well, except the hat in question was a beret. So perhaps you can imagine me blushing in self-consciousness as I walked into this very French creperie, completed with a bicycle parked out front flying a French flag. To make things even more, ahem, interesting, the owner greeted me in French and asked if I wanted to eat in or take-out (en francaise, bien sur). Before I even processed what was going on, I already blurted out my reply in French. I felt like the biggest poser as I sat down at my table...if only I could hide behind the menu!

I ordered the house specialty "Big Ben" crepe and a mug of cafe au lait. I typically would only get the sugar & butter crepe at any creperie because it best showcases the quality of the crepe itself. However, I was intrigued by the salty-sweet combination of mozarella cheese and raspberry jam. It was a very tasty combination in the first few bites though it got too rich for my taste soon. All the crepes at this restaurant are made to order (unlike Cafe Crepe on Queen Street West) and I have to say Crepes A Gogo makes my favourite crepes in Toronto. The crepes are tender and slightly stretchy. I particularly like how it's a little browned on both sides without turning crispy.

As I was about to leave, a girl at another table stood up to put on her jacket and hat. Well guess what, her hat was a beret in bright red! The sight of her jaunty hat instantly made me feel better and I walked out of the restaurant with a full tummy and a smile across my face for more reasons than one.

"Guy Bun"

I went to my local supermarket after work today to pick up a few groceries (as an aside, I'm really considering getting bananas delivered to my house...like they do milk-delivery in the old days). I enjoy walking up and down the aisles just to check out all the different food that I can't or refuse to eat, due to dieting. When I stood at the freezer section, my eyes were drawn to all the assortment of frozen chinese steamed buns and then I saw these...

How can I not cover my mouth and go teeheehee at the Chinglish name of chicken steamed buns? I can just imagine saying "oh, honey, I'm going to pick up some guy bun at the supermarket".

I'm sooooo easily amused.

Happy New Year!

New year day means mochi grilling time at my house. I bought this stove-top grill from a Japanese dollar store a while ago and I got to try it out today. These mochi have a shallow cut along the sides so when they are heated up, they split and puff up very nicely. The grill left such cute grill mark! It was so much fun to watch the mochi turn from pale little rectangular blocks to these puffy caramelized pillows.

I prepared a miso soup to go with the grilled mochi. This miso soup has rounds of daikon (my favourite), chicken breast, shrimp, tamago tofu, pea sprouts, and wakame seaweed. It was so hearty! The best part is of course the slightly smokey flavour of the mochi when soaked in broth.

Now that my belly is filled with hot yummy miso soup, I'm ready to go shovel my driveway. Although we did not have a white Christmas in 2007, we woke up to a world covered in a white blanket of snow in 2008. It's time to show my neighbours who has the most awesomely clean driveway. Happy New Year to all!

Panettone On Sale At Last

I look forward to eating panettone EVERY holiday season but I'm too cheap to buy them at regular price. I've been stalking my neighbourhood grocery store since beginning of December, patiently waiting for these delicious sweet bread to go on sale. On the last day of the year, they finally are! Reduced from their regular price of $15.99, this 1kg loaf is now only $9.44. In a couple of weeks, they will probably go down to under $5....

There are many brands of panettone available in Toronto but Tre Marie is my personal favourite (for commercial panettone anyway). They are made with real butter! The list of ingredients reads like a normal list from a baking recipe. Delish!

If there are any pandoro left, I would love to buy a couple of loaves for making bread pudding. However, for panettone, I usually can't resist just eating them plain out of hand. According to Wikipedia, a good traditional accompaniment is crema di mascarpone and hot cocoa. I can imagine them going very well with the eggy sweet yeasty bread. Argh, why am I dieting????!!!!

Cookie Time, All The Time!

Thank you to everyone who supports my 2007 Holiday Cookies Fundraiser. The cookies are done and a good number of boxes have already arrived at the hands of the recipients! If you did not pre-order but you're still interest in getting a box (oh c'mon, who can resist?), no worries, I have set aside some extras just for you. Give me a shout and we can arrange the details for delivery.

Enough with the introduction...let's see what's in store for this year's assortment! After I finished baking, I realized that I do have quite a few varieties and coincidentally, there's enough to make up the face of a clock. So this year, the theme is "Cookie Time, All The Time". Starting at 1 o'clock in the clockwise direction, here are the cookies:

1 O'Clock: Pierre Herme's Hazelnut Sable

This two-toned butter cookie has a crunchy crumbly texture studded with toasty hazelnuts. The golden top and buttom have a hint of almond which is the secret to the delicate texture.

Baking Notes: Recipe can be found in Chocolate Desserts By Pierre Herme. Although this cookie is labour-intensive, it is one of my favourites so it is a staple in my holiday cookies collection year after year. A good rolling pin and a ruler are essential tools to shape this dough into the perfect shape.

2 O'Clock: Shortbread Sandwich Cookies With Dulce De Leche

I haven't been making sandwich cookies for the holidays for a few years. However, I recently fell in love with dulce de leche and I just can't resist getting all my friends to have a taste too. The buttery shortbread is a good foil for the caramel. This cookie is somewhat a more North American version of alfajores.

Baking Notes: Recipe available here from Martha Stewart. I skipped the green tea powder though to make this a plain shortbread. This dough is very easy to work with. After the cookies are baked, I sandwiched them with a tiny dollop of dulce de leche. The cookies would slide a little until the filling sets.

3 O'Clock: Gingerbread

This is a mild gingerbread that even kids will love. The sweet smell of spices in the kitchen just gets me into the holiday spirits.

Baking Notes: Recipe from Rose's Christmas Cookies. I prefer the soft texture of this gingerbread. The best part? This cookie is sturdy enough to build gingerbread house!

4 O'Clock: Pecan Brownies & Peanut Butter And Jam Squares

Soft fudgy chocolate brownies made with 72% dark chocolate and loaded with sweet pecans. The PB&J square is a more streamlined way to enjoy a peanut butter cookie with a tart raspberry jam.

Baking Notes: Brownie recipe available here. PB&J bar recipe available here.

5 O'Clock: Blueberry Lemon Thins

Blueberries and lemon is one of those flavour combinations that go hand in hand. Since we are still a half year away from blueberry season, this cookie is like a reminder of summer with dried blueberries and zesty lemon.

Baking Notes: Recipe from The Good Cookie. The dried blueberries made this refrigerator cookie log hard to cut. This recipe is good for everyday munching but I don't think the finished product is pretty enough.

6 O'Clock: White Chocolate Chips Fudge Cookies

You can never have enough chocolate cookies, right? This soft fudgy cookies is made with bittersweet chocolate, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa powder, and white chocolate chips for that 4-dimensional chocolatey goodness!

Baking Notes: Recipe available from The Good Cookie. The cracked appearance is with the white chocolate chips peaking out is very appealing. In order to get this perfectly round shape, I made this drop cookie with some slight shaping. First, I used a small ice-cream scoop to portion the dough. Next, I flattened each cookie with the bottom of a drinking glass covered with parchment paper. This additional shaping helps the dough to spread in a more even way.

7 O'Clock: Mint Chocolate Pinwheel

Mint cookies always remind me of girl guide cookies. But having another dark cookie is so boring so why not a swirling mixture of gold and brown?

Baking Notes: Recipe available here. I modified the recipe to use peppermint extract instead of vanilla. Last year my misadventure with pinwheel cookies left me rather dismay. However, Gale Gand's recipe is very easy to work with. Instead of making four 6-inch logs, I made two 12-inch logs to save on some work.

8 O'Clock: Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Hearts

This is essentially the same cookie as the sandwich cookies except that I dipped them in chocolate. The two-toned appearance is so striking, isn't it?

Baking Notes: Making rolled cookies is a bit more time-consuming but the whimsical shapes are inviting to the eyes.

9 O'Clock: Walnut Chocolate Chips Cookies

Cakey and soft chocolate chips cookies are delicious in my books. They are especially good fresh out of the oven! To replicate this taste, you can microwave the cookie for a few seconds just to get the chocolate chips a little melty...mmmm.

Baking Notes: Recipe available here. Omit the ground espresso.

10 O'Clock: Lebkuchen Bar

Don't let this unassuming looking cookie fool you, it is packed full of flavour! The mixture of candied orange peel, pine honey, almond, cardomom, cinnamon, and ginger results in a very mellow flavour. I would enjoy this with a strong cup of steaming Earl Grey tea.

Baking Notes: Recipe from The Good Cookies. I skipped out on the glaze but I think the cookie tastes marvelous as is.

11 O'Clock: Pistachio Cranberries Icebox Cookies

The red of the cranberries and the green of the pistachio are absolutely festive! The sugar edges add sparkles and you have one shortbread cookie with crunch. However, it is the hint of orange and cinnamon that makes me reach for "just one more".

Baking Notes: Recipe available here.

12 O'Clock: Espresso Biscuits With White Chocolate Drizzle

This melt-in-your-mouth cookie has a deep chocolate flavour enhanced with ground espresso. I decided to make it a little fancier with a drizzle of white chocolate. I would enjoy it with a cold glass of milk or a warm latte.

Baking Notes: Recipe available here from Martha Stewart. I made this recipe one batch at a time because my 4.5qt standmixer is not large enough to handle a double-batch. I first scooped out the dough with a small ice-cream scoop (1 1/2 inch diameter) and then shaped each piece of dough into a ball with my hands. Lastly, I flattened each ball using the base of a drinking glass covered with a small square of parchment paper. The parchment paper prevented the dough from sticking.

Beauty on the inside is important but of course a gorgeous appearance never hurts. I chose a hot pink and chocolate brown colour theme in modern clean lines. For a more interesting visual impact, I trimmed the edges with pinking scissors to have a lacy look. As usual, keep the soft cookies and crunchy cookies in separate bags.

Holiday Cookies Fundraiser

The holiday season is upon us and to me, it is now time for holiday baking. One of the reasons I love holiday baking is the fact that I'm making something unique for my friends and family. When I bake, I look forward to see the smiles on the recipients face as they enjoy a little bite of sweetness.

This year, I'm doing something a little different. In support of Toronto Inline Skating Club (TISC), I am hosting a holiday cookies fundraiser. TISC is a non-profit club dedicated to the promotion of inline skating as a way to achieve fitness, make friends, and compete. Since I started training with my club in 2006, I've learned so much about skating and I would like to take this opportunity to give back to the small community of inline speed skating. While I contribute my time and baking skill, all the profits of this fundraiser will be donated to the club for purposes such as equipment purchase, hosting local races, and our day-to-day operation.

Cookie Assortment

A delicious and gorgeous gift idea! The cookie assortment contains 15 pieces of buttery cookies made with high quality ingredients, ready for gift giving. With selections ranging from sophisticated to "what Mom used to make", you'll be sure to find a favourite! Whether you want a special treat for yourself or you're looking for the perfect hostess gift, the cookie assortment is as versatile as it is handsome.

Some sample selection includes:

• chocolate hazelnut sable
• cranberry pistachio shortbread
• white chocolate chips fudge cookies
• walnut chocolate chips cookies
• pecan brownies
• peanut butter and jam squares

Each box of cookie assortment is $15.

Single Selection

Looking for a special dessert for your party or you're just really really craving for a batch of brownies? The following single selection dessert may just be the answer!

Pecan Brownies: 12 pieces of rich chocolatey pecan goodness. $15

Peanut Butter And Jam Squares: 12 pieces of PB&J, with a choice of seedless raspberry, strawberry, or black currant flavour. $15

Espresso Chocolate Chips Walnut Cookies: 24 soft chewy cookies loaded with chocolate chips and toasted walnut pieces with a hint of espresso. $20

Lemon Bundt Cake: Melt-in-your-mouth buttery cake with a hint of lemon. $15

Order Deadline

Please place your order by email to dessertbycandy [at] hotmail [dot] com no later than November 30, 2007.

Order Pickup

Dec 9, 2007 8:30am - 10:30am Scooter's Roller Palace, Mississauga

Dec 9, 2007 3:00pm - 5:00pm Langstaff Community Center, Richmond Hill

Dec 10, 2007 8:00pm - 10:30pm Scooter's Roller Palace, Mississauga

If you know me personally and I see you on a regular basis, we can arrange for an alternative pick up time and location between Dec 8, 2007 to Dec 11, 2007.

Payment

Cash or Electronic Money Transfer. Please email me for details.

All product either contains nuts or came into contact with nuts.

Stock Up On Baking Ingredients

It is that time of year again when I start planning for holiday baking. Even though I'm still finalizing some of my ideas, I need to start stocking up my pantry for baking ingredients already. From experience, I know which ingredients are indispensable and which are likely to be used so when I spot a deal in the store, I stock up. For example, Loblaws is now selling their PC Dark Chocolate 500g bars for $2.99 so I bought three of them. I know what you must be thinking...isn't this made for straight consumption? And how's the quality for baking? Well, I've been using this chocolate for years from ganache to butter cake to cookies to brownies. In terms of value, it really can't be beaten. Even at its regular price of $5.49, it is more affordable than most high quality baking chocolate. Oh heck, it is more affordable than those one ounce size blocks of baking chocolate which I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole! Sure, it does not have a lot of nuance in flavour when compared with brands such as Valhorna and Callebaut. However, for a good old fashion batch of brownies, I think the delicate flavour would be lost anyway. The new packaging clearly stated that this French-made chocolate contains 72% cocoa mass. Not too bad for $2.99!

Butter is also another essential ingredient for baking. My personal favourite is the Lactantia My Country Cultured Unsalted Butter. Where I live, the best price in town can be found in Costco for $4.39 a pound. I still remember how crazy it was a few years ago when EC and I loaded our buggy with 20lb of butter for our holiday cookies! While I was at Costco, I also picked up some nuts and dried apricots. I like the high turnover at the location which I frequent so I can be sure the nuts are fresh. There's nothing like rancid nuts to ruin a batch of cookies.

Pink Cupcake For My Pink DS

My Nintendo DS Lite is the latest addition to my ever expanding family of pink personal electronics gadgets. I think it makes a pretty duo when partnered with a pink cupcake full of pink sprinkles and sparkly sugar. If I am a little girl, I would squeal with delight if I see this on the table the day of my birthday.

A few days ago, I needed one cupcake as part of my Halloween costume. So what did I do? I went and baked two dozens. I used a double batch of Rose Levy Beranbaum's pound cake recipe in vanilla variation (lemon poppyseed variation available here) which always gives me very consistent results. With all these cakes waiting for me to frost, I couldn't really relax the whole weekend. After much procrastination, I finally decided to go the lazy route and frost the cakes with a simple cream cheese icing. Unlike buttercream which is so labour-intensive, this icing is a one-bowl miracle and tastes fantastic. However, it is not stiff enough for piping and not thin enough for glazing. I had to smear it on each cake using good old offset spatula. Not to be overly picky, but there's smearing and then there's picture-perfect smearing. I think I did a pretty good job of making an artisitc swirl that looks homey yet precise at the same time.

Cream Cheese Icing (enough to frost 24 cupcakes)

Ingredients

• 8oz cream cheese, softened
• 4oz icing sugar
• 2 tbsp corn syrup
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt
• pink gel food colouring

Method

1. Put everything in a mixing bowl and beat at medium speed until no lumps remains.
2. Using a toothpick, add a knife tip of food colouring to the icing. It is better to start with little and work your way up. You can always add more colour to deepen the shade. Mix at medium speed until the colour is evenly distributed.

Day 2: Let The Real Eating Begin!

Check out the now completed entry from day 1 of my trip! I've just posted pictures from day 2 which includes visiting Mercat de la Boqueria, Dulcinea, La Sagrada Familia, Oriol Balaguer, Cacao Sampaka, and Abac. I'll update this entry as soon as I have time to write something about it. It's gonna be El Bulli tomorrow! I can't wait.

Seeking Good Eating When I'm Tired

Well, actually, not really. I am not really that tired considering I went through a whole week of interval training and regatta. However, trying to eat well in a strange city after going through 13 hours of traveling (flight and waiting time included) can be a little tough. As luck would have it, our first day in Barcelona is a holiday and many restaurants and stores are closed today. We had a meal of mediocre tapas at a tourist trap stone throw away from the hotel. After that, my eating karma definitey kicked up and I had some delicious horchata, beautiful Catalonia pastries from Bubo, delicious gelato from Cremeria Toscano, and a much more satisfying tapas dinner at Taller de Tapas. Check out my pictorial from today's eating!

Carles Mampel's Catalonia-influenced pastries at Bubo was one of my highlights of the day. Their selection of petit fours is so precious, for lack of a better word. The style of this pastry shop is along the same line as the designer patisseries in Paris (think Pierre Herme) although I would say the level of creativity is not quite up there. Most of the petit fours are made with a financier base. I personally found the guava gelee dome and the mango gelee dome to be the most delicious because the flavour of the fruit really came through. The mango, especially, tasted as if the gelee was made from fresh fruit instead of premade puree.

Next door to Bubo, there's a branch of Cremeria Toscana for gelato. There are practically gelaterias around every blocks, however, as one of the oldest gelaterias in the city, Cremeria Toscana definitely had an edge. I tasted their Plantana con Fruitaso (sp?) flavour. Instead of the taste of overripe bananas, this flavour highlighted the fresh fruity taste of a green-tip banana. The texture of this gelato was also very smooth and creamy. I was a happy girl.

We enjoyed two very different tapas experience in the same day. When we went out for lunch, we were oh-so-tired from a long flight from Toronto to Barcelona via Frankfurt. After checking in to the hotel, we pretty much hopped into the first decent-looking restaurant, El Choquito, outside of the hotel (Hotel 1898 right smack on La Rambla). Well, we knew we were in for a tourist trap experience but when hunger striked, anything would do. We ordered a set menu of tapas and a paella. Let's just say it was a very overpriced meal for very medicore food (really soggy pan con tomate anyone?).

For dinner, we fared much better at Taller de Tapas though how we ended up there was a long journey too. As today is a holiday, many of the stores and restaurants are closed. Thus, looking for a good restaurant that's open is a challenge to say the least. Our original plan was to visit Mesa David for roasted baby lamb upon the recommendation of a friend. Unfortunately, we only discovered that it's closed for the day when we were at the door. Tracing our steps back the opposite direction, we found Taller de Tapas after a few misteps (I'm the the greatest navigator/map reader in the world). The food was much more delicious and I would rather claim that it is my first tapas experience. Ahem, I think we should just forget the fact that I ate at El Choquito at all.

Woohoo! Summer's Here.

Well, in Toronto, the mucky yucky sticky weather is back with a vengence after a long cool spring. Personally, I prefer colder temperature though of course my training (namely inline skating and dragonboat) benefits much from the warm weather. That being said, there are things that I look forward to in summer, one of which is ice-cream. It's not like I don't eat ice-cream all-year-round. However, cooling off under the unrelenting sun with a cold creamy treat certainly enhances the experience that much more.

Only a few weeks ago, EG and I dropped by J-Town for a midday snack. I had a craving for their green tea soft-serve ice-cream but I was disappointed to find out that apparently Bakery Nakamura only have soft-serve ice-cream available in the summer months. Luckily, summer has now officially arrived and I finally got my hands on one of those pale green swirl of creaminess. The taste of green tea is very subtle. In fact, I would not recommend getting the green tea vanilla two-tone swirl because the taste of vanilla would likely overwhelm the green tea flavour.

As I sat on the bench with my ice-cream cone, I vividly recalled my experience with the ice-cream theme park in Namja Town a few years ago in Tokyo. I was totally mesmerized by their selection of soft-serve ice-cream with flavours such as black sesame, peach, muscat grapes, melon, and Hokkaido milk, just to name a few. Vanilla is good but I really do miss the variety sometimes.

Camping Menu

Over the last few years, I've made several attempts to go camping but none of them became reality. It's a little embarrassing to admit, but after living in Canada for close to 20 years, I had my first real camping trip last weekend at last. EG booked a campsite at Rondeau Provincial Park for a week-long inline speed skating training trip. My plan was to join him from Sunday to Tuesday for a few fun days of skating and camping.

Being the discerning eater that I am, of course I refused to waste this opportunity of outdoor eating and cooking on just any convenience food. Fresh fruit is a must for dessert because it's refreshing. I packed some cubed pineapple and watermelon which stayed cold and sweet until the last day in my new cooler. Along with my portable mini gas range and anodized aluminum camping cookware, I practically had a complete outdoor kitchen at my disposal.

It's amazing what we could achieved when we pooled together our resources. With JS's rice cooker, KN made rice to serve with the very tasty bulgogi beef which he pan seared on the little gas range. It was a traditional Korean meal that we enjoyed with spicy kimchi. I must say I was very impressed with KN's cooking skill!

Without the foresight of how cold my first night turned out to be, I was glad that I planned for a hotpot dinner. We enjoyed a selection of thinly-sliced beef ribs, pork jowls, various fish cakes, chinese beef meatballs, oyster mushroom, daikon, baby Shanghai bok choi. It was not a particularly large variety but enough for two people not to get bored. For dipping sauce, I brought my favourite satay barbeque sauce and fried onions. Cooking our dinner around a piping hot pot of broth in the chilly evening alfresco was absolutely amazing. As an added bonus, clean up was a cinch.

For dinner number two, I anticipated that we would have left over sliced meat from the hotpot dinner. Instead of the predictable noodle soup, I thought that a curry would be the perfect answer to use up all those meat. With my connection to Salad King, I brought with me two tubs of their famous Golden Curry sauce completed with assorted sliced vegetables. It was a simple matter of heating up the sauce, meat, and vegetables before a delicious dinner was ready. For the convenience factor alone, this was definitely a brilliant idea.

After this short but fun trip, I think I caught the camping bug at last. I can't wait to go to my next camping trip!

Travelogue April 4, 2007

What a fun day of eating! I've proven to myself today that good eating can be had no matter the circumstances. My morning started off with a traditional Swedish breakfast of liver loaf, cold cut, cheese, tomato, cucumber, etc...a typical smorgasboard. We left Connect Hotel Arlanda early in the morning for a day of sightseeing in Stockholm. The guided tour was fun and informative, giving me some background information on the city.

For me, the best part of the day was the free time in the afternoon. After much thought, I decided to seek out some traditional Swedish pastries and cakes. From talking to the cute and bubbly flight attendent on our way to Stockholm, I already had a good idea of some must-try desserts. I picked up a free copy of local restaurant directory completed with maps before we left the hotel. As luck would have it, the main feature article was on Billströms Konditori & Café, which has been in business since 1943. I admit that I am not particularly good with maps. However, I do have a decent instinct for direction such that I rarely get lost in a strange place. Somehow I managed to convince SL's cousin WL to join me on this little adventure so the two of us started walking to the sweet destination with minimal direction. Just imagine how ecstatic we were when we found the konditori!

My favourite were clearly the kanelknut and the prinsesstårta. The kanelknut is a yeasty bread of cinnamon swirl topped with pearl sugar. Unlike the North American-style of cinnamon bun, kanelknut is not at all sticky and the cinnamon flavour is more subtle. It makes for a great breakfast pastry to accompany a mug of coffee.

The prinsesstårta is everything that I imagined it to be: ethereally light. It is composed of a thin layer of sponge cake, raspberry jam, and whipped cream, all embraced by a thin layer of pale green marzipan. What you see in the picture is a single-slice serving of the cake. The whole cake actually looks a lot more impressive. The first time that I saw the pale green round dome topped with a pale pink marzipan rose, I immediately tried to think of a way to bring it back for SL to enjoy. It was just so cute and adorable in that fairytale kind of way!

On our way back to meet up with the group, WL and I popped in many of the interesting boutiques to check out some Scandinavian fasshion. If I hadn't spent so much on clothes recently, I would definitely get myself a new outfit...

Travelogue April 2-3, 2007

It was a rather uneventful day of traveling. The flight from Toronto to London was full of people with British accents who were eager to go home. As for me, I experienced for the first time what it's like to order a special meal (low calorie) for my flight. It was rather strange to be served before everyone else every time.

As soon as I arrived at Gatwick, I made a beeline to Marks & Spencer. All the prepared food were very enticingly displayed that I had a hard time deciding what to get for lunch (see, novelty can surely affect a person's judgement)! I chose a box of Mini Scotch Eggs (mmm....breaded meatballs with eggs & mayo filling), Giant Couscous Wheatberry Salad With Roasted Butternut Squash (it was alright), Greek-Style Yogurt With Cherry Compote (yum!), and Feast Selection Sandwich. I also saw a really cute 4"-size birthday fruit cake frosted with marzipan. It looked so adorable that I was tempted to get one home...I will definitely make a stop at Marks & Spencer on the last day of my trip to get some goodies.

While I was waiting around in the airport killing time, I saw some funny/scary stuff. There's a juice store with a questionable name which made me chuckle out loud. I mean, really, "Lovejuice" just doesn't evoke a healthy lifestyle image...alright, time to get your minds out of the gutters. I didn't know that Krispy Kreme Donuts have invaded England until I saw people around me toting around boxes of that familiar white and green. On closer investigation, I found out that the Krispy Kreme store was giving away their donuts by the dozen and of course people were quick to sweep them up! Apparently, it was not some promotional schtick. Rather, the store was due for some renovation and they just wanted to get rid of all the donuts so the contractors can do their work. Somehow, the image of all these people walking around with boxes of Krispy Kreme was very scary to me. Think of all the calories!!!!

The Owl Of Minerva

I'm a wimp when it comes to spicy food yet I still crave Korean food once in a while, especially when I'm in the mood for comfort food. A popular type of cooking in Korean cuisine is a hearty soup served with rice. After a hard day of training, I sometimes lose my appetite yet I'm starving to fuel up. For such occasions, a steaming bowl of pork bone soup with potatoes (mildly spicy) or beef bone soup with bean sprouts and vegetables definitely hit the spot. I know that my Mom would probably frown upon it, but I do like to mix spoonfuls of the flavourful broth into rice to moisten it. I really enjoyed both types of soup at The Owl Of Minerva. The pork bone soup was rich thus more suitable for colder weather. The beef bone soup, on the other hand, suits my summer palate. I especially like the blood jello and the bean sprouts in the beef bone soup.

On an interesting note, The Owl Of Minerva is open 24hr. This is particularly useful to know for those times when I get the munchies late at night.

The Owl Of Minerva

5324 Yonge Street, North York, Ontario, Canada

+1 416 221 7275

Junk Food From Afar

Shopping for junk food is always a fun activity when traveling abroad. During my recent trip, I was in such a hurry going from place to place that I really didn't have much time to shop for clothes and shoes. However, I couldnt' possibly let all these precious empty spaces in my suitcase go to waste. As a result, my brilliant plan of filling up my suitcase with junk food was hatched.

My all-time favourite chocolate bar is Jacob Chocolate Orange Biscuits. Unfortunatey, I just couldn't find them anywhere during my brief 24hr stint in London. My original plan was to get at least a dozen of these. Luckily, in their absence, I had lots of room for goodies from Marks & Spencer. Here is a run down of what I ended up getting:

• Nestle BreakAway: this chocolate bar is remarkably similar to Jacob except that it doesn't have the orangey flavour. It is really tasty.
• Marks & Spencer Dark Chocolate Ginger Biscuits: a little light on the ginger flavour but definitely loads of dark chocolate. Not bad at all.
• Marks & Spencer Extremely Chocolatey Orange Biscuits: I was hoping for extremely orangey but instead I got extremely chocolatey. Each piece of biscuit is thickly coated with milk chocolate. My friends like it a lot but I'm diappointed.
• Marks & Spencer Chocolate Refrigerator Cakes: dark rich Belgium chocolate with digestive biscuit pieces, sultanas, and golden syrup. I have yet to try them.
• Marks & Spencer All Butter Flapjack Squares: chewy all butter flapjacks made with oats and golden syrup. I have yet to try them.
• Marks & Spencer Mini Cake: luxury mini fruit cake topped with marzipan, soft icing, and a silver bauble. At first I was going to get one of those mini round birthdays that look so....shelf-stable. However, seeing how bulky they are, I decided to get a petit-four size mini cake instead. I wonder how it tastes?
• Yauatcha Dark Chocolate with Sesame
• Yauatcha White Chocolate with Black Sesame
• Yauatcha Assorted Macarons: the kumquat flavour is the best. Most of the flavours were very bland and too heavy. It centainly doesn't measure up to my favourite macarons from Laduree or Mulot at all but thumbs up for their flavour combinations.
• Minamoto Kitchoan Spring Wagashi: it's a little strange to admit that I shopped at the London, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Hawaii, and New York locations of Minamoto. I always love sakura flavour wagashi and of course spring time is sakura time! I bought a few sakura gelee as well as a strawberry gelee wagashi.
• Konditor & Cook Fruitcake: One of my guilty pleasures is high-quality fruitcake. I just love the rum/brandy-soaked raisins and nuts. The version by Konditor & Cook is delicious without being too rich. The proportion of cake to fruit is just right.
• Konditor & Cook Magic Cake: Such adorable petit fours! The cake base was a very moist citrus-flavour butter cake. I expected this cake to be all looks and no flavour but I was pleasantly surprised to bite into a deliciously well-made cake.

Taste-Off Challenge: Sweet Potato Chips

Friend and I went shopping at T&T Supermarket not too long ago with the purpose to find the best sweet potato chips. Apparently, sweet potato is the latest fashionable flavour and we found many snacks boasting this sweet starchy vegetable. After a long detail comb-through of the aisles, we came up with three different candidates for our taste-off challenge:

From left to right we had representatives from Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Korea. The Vinamit Vietnam sweet potato snack was cut like french fries. Unfortunately, they were a little stale and fried to oblivion. Our teeth had a good workout just chomping on these snacks. The sweetness of the sweet potato was also lost.

I had so much hope for the Calbee sweet potato crisps. Calbee was my childhood favourite for potato chips but these reconstitute crisps simply had too much fillers. It would be best described as a sweet potato flavour crisp at best. When I opened the bag, it smelled delicious. Unfortunately, that was the best thing about this snack.

The last candidate of our taste-off came from Korea via China. The packaging was full of Korean characters so I could only imagine that it was sold in Korea. However, a more detail look at the labels reveal that these chips were made in China. No matter...because these are the clear winner in our taste-off. The chips were obviously thinly sliced sweet potato deep fried to delicious crunchiness. The sweetness of the sweet potato was preserved. That was exactly what we were looking for. After a taste, my friend ran right back to T&T and bought a few more bags of these chips to stock up. They were truly tasty.

Easter Cupcakes

If you like kitschy ideas, these easter cupcakes (more pictures available here and here) will for sure appeal to you. I've been meaning to make cupcakes decorated as tiny birds nests for sometime but one of the key ingredients, Cadbury Mini Eggs, is not available except around Easter. After a few months of anticipation, I finally got my hands on an economy-sized bag and an occasion to bake.

The cupcakes are simple chocolate pound cake topped with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting. I love the tangy taste of cream cheese frosting. Actually, this is one of my favourite frosting because it is so easy to make! It was a blend of cream cheese, white chocolate, butter, and lemon juice...no cooking required. The frosting was covered with lightly toasted shredded sweetened coconut. Of course, the final touch was a few nicely placed Mini Eggs.

My friends SZ, AH, and ARA will be racing in Asia and Europe this summer so it will be some time before we get to skate together again. For their going-away party, I think these birds nests cupcakes are, in a way, very appropriate. They remind me of spring...a new beginning. I wish them all the best in this new adventure and I'm looking forward to hear all about their experience.

A Sad Box Of Chocolate Indeed

Never have I imagined that I would look at a box of absolutely delicious truffles from Teuscher and feel sad. I received this belated Valentine's Day gift not too long ago. What made me really happy was not that it was from Teuscher, rather, it was the fact that he remembered my preference for chocolate from previous conversations. Key to a girl's heart is to pay attention.

I have taken my time to savour these truffles, enjoying at most one piece a day. Unfortunately, it made me very very sad today to realize that I have yet to finish these chocolates. Chocolate can be very bitter when mixed with a cocktail of sadness and disappointment. The taste of these chocolate melting in my mouth used to fill me with joy and contentment. It was a feeling of knowing that someone was thinking of me. However, it is now replaced by a sense that I'm all hollow inside. Food can ilicit such powerful memories and feelings...no wonder Proust and his madeleine have been praised over and over again.

Lunar New Year Celebration

A few skating friends and I decided to have a little celebration for the Lunar New Year with dinner at a hot pot restaurant. To me, hot pot is great comfort food when the mercury dips. Besides, the interactive and communal aspect of this eating style is great fun for a group dinner. Interestingly enough, I'm actually the only hot pot veteran in our group. Some of us never tried hot pot before and some only enjoyed it at home. After asking for recommendations from friends and family, we finally decided on Hot Pot King in Markham. Personally, I'm a little picky about hot pot restaurants. Most of these places are all-you-can-eat so the variety and freshness of ingredients can make or break the experience. However, more importantly, I want the place to be clean!!! I've seen some dubious hot pot restaurants before so cleanliness (or at least the appearance of cleanliness) matters to me.

Hot Pot King fits the above description well. Not only that, the service is excellent for a Chinese restaurant. The self-served sauce and soup base station is a nice touch. My friends and I had a blast trying to create dipping sauces to our own liking. The best part though, was the pot-to-diner ratio. Between our group of 6, we had two pots containing four kinds of broths and a Korean-style grill. This means each of us could easily access some cooking utensil without having to reach far.

Having hot pot dinner with 5 athletic guys is certainly very different than any of my previous hot pot experience. 85% of the food we ordered were protein!!! I was somewhat expecting the meal to progress from protein (meat & seafood & dumplings) to vegetables (leafy greens, turnips, taro, mushrooms) to starches (noodles). However, by the time we got through all the meat and seafood that we ordered, we were already too stuffed for much else. That's not to say we didn't eat much...we just ate a lot of meat!

Creativity was never something that I would typically associate with hot pot dinner but ML taught me something new today. He took an egg from the sauce station and cracked it into a groove of the grill. I didn't expect the egg would come out in one piece but apparently, all the grease and juice from the grilling meat "seasoned" the grill well enough for the egg to cook to perfection. Along with some grilled sausage and poached bean curd, ML created his version of eggs benedict, hot pot style. I bow to his innovative spirit and sense of adventure.

Lunar new year is a time to celebrate with good friends and good food. I must say we had both of them aplenty tonight. Pictures are available here.

Hot Pot King (Google Map)

146 Old Kennedy Road

Markham, Ontario, Canada

+1 905 477 0919

Lost My Voice

I've been fighting a nasty cold in the last few days and it appears that I'm losing the battle. It's been a while since I last gotten sick like this but fortunately, there's no sign of fever. It certainly feels very strange to be weak all over--like all the strength has been drained from my body.

With a massive case of sore throat, I really don't feel like eating much. Luckily, FR suggested that we go for congee and that's exactly what I had for dinner last night after ice practice. I love congee with slices of fish, blood jello, and lots of cilantro...it is truly comfort food to me.

I don't think I respond well to my cold medication though. Regardless of what the packaging say, cold medication makes me drowsy. My drive to work yesterday was a blur and I fell asleep on the couch last night while waiting for my laundry and roasted sweet potato to finish. By the time I woke up at 5 in the morning, I stumbled to sort out my laundry but was puzzled with the smell of cooking in the house. I didn't recall the house smelling like food before I dozed off...and then I realized the sweet potatoes were still roasting in the oven!!! After over 6 hours of roasting, some parts were inedible but miraculously, most of the potatoes survived. I just had two and they actually don't taste half bad.

Now that I'm fully awake, I don't know if I should go back to sleep. This disruptive sleep schedule can't possibly be good for recovering from my cold.