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Eating: Coconut Tarts

Growing up, I've had my share of visits to Asian bakeries. From the constantly bustling shops in Old Chinatown on Spadina to the quieter ones in East Chinatown on Gerrard and Broadview, to the many scattered around Toronto, they all sell the same things.

Silky, rich egg tarts with their bright yellow custard centre. Braids of sugary dough sprinkled with raisins. The special small fruit-topped cakes at the front behind the glass wall which beckon with their rainbow assortment. The stacks of boxes full of Mooncakes in time for the Mid-Autumn festival, with exotic fillings of lotus, durian, and red bean. I know each sight and smell by heart, the memories of my childhood forever lingering within the vicinity of these goods.

Here’s one of my favourites, the coconut tart.  A buttery, yellow tart of sweet coconut dotted with a small sliver of a sweet, bright red maraschino cherry.  

Eating: Curry

Just because a dish is not made exactly the way in which it originated doesn't mean that it’s not “real”. Although that may be the most authentic version of the dish, versions derived from that are just as authentic in their own cultures. It’s really interesting to notice the multiple, subtle variations on a single, loosely-defined dish. A good example of this is curry. I like curry but I dislike spicy foods. See the problem? Fortunately for me, the curry dishes I've been exposed to are not at all overwhelming. From my experience, Chinese/Vietnamese curry is usually pretty thin, watery almost. It’s not that spicy, but still flavourful nonetheless, with generous pieces of carrots, potatoes, and some kind of meat – usually chicken, beef, or duck. Coconut milk is often used, which makes it sweeter and richer. It is usually eaten with rice, noodles, or bread.

Wikipedia is always a fun read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry

  

This is how I eat curry most of the time, a small bowl with hunks of toasty warm baguettes. How do you eat curry? 

Musings: The Mystery of the Birthday Oreos

As you might have known or not or known but didn’t care, Oreos turned 100 in the March of last year. To celebrate the centenarian cookie, Nabisco introduced a limited edition flavour of Oreos – the Birthday Cake Oreo.

My first taste of this cookie came during show choir rehearsal. Somebody had brought these in for our ravenous food/water break and I was instantly intrigued. First off, these Oreos were just prettier than normal Oreos. The surface of the cookie was flat, free of its usual ridges, and imprinted with a single birthday candle above “Oreo 100”. Even nicer was the stuff between the two cookies – the frosting. The frosting was dotted with multicolored sprinkles of sweet confetti! I’m a sucker for gimmicks like these. It just makes eating so much more enjoyable.

I actually quite enjoyed the taste of these Birthday Oreos. They are sweeter than regular Oreo with a cake-y enhancement. I also liked the smooth texture of the cookies. I think they tasted better because of the sprinkles but that’s probably just me. Needless to say, I ate like 10 of them.

The reason that this is a mystery is because unbeknownst to me, the first time I would taste these cookies would be my last time (for now). The days following, I searched every Loblaws, Metro, and Shoppers near me, trying to find a box of these. Frustrated, each time I came up empty handed. WHERE ON EARTH WERE THESE COOKIES HIDING? I pictured a shelf in a store far away, stocked to the back with boxes of Birthday Oreos, gleefully mocking me. I know the flavour limited edition but I never imagined that a box of cookies could be so elusive. Sadly, I haven’t been able to locate a box since and have declared this investigation cold.   

Maybe someday we’ll meet again. Until then, regular Oreos will have to do.

Check out this hilarious review of the cookies from the AV Club aka my new favourite site: http://www.avclub.com/articles/birthday-cake-oreos,70223/

Image Source:

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bella/2012/03/the_oreo_turns_100_with_party.php

Eating: Most Fattening Sorbet

As you can probably infer from the title, this post is about my experience with a sorbet. A pineapple flavoured sorbet in a hallowed out mini pineapple. Specifically, a pineapple flavoured sorbet that contains...700 calories?! It’s crazy and it’s possibly true. This is the story of Gooble sorbet. 130 ml of sorbet at 700 calories?  There’s only one word for this - sketchy.

My parents brought this home from the market. At first I was intrigued as I am when presented with any type of frozen dessert. I’ll confess, I have the habit of looking at the nutrition label before I eat something, just out of curiosity and interest for my health. I don’t count calories, I’m just a nutrition label enthusiast. Anyways, I looked at the number of calories and my jaw dropped. Could this be a mistake? That was possible right? If you don’t understand the shock aspect of this, here’s a little comparison. The calories in this little less than half a cup of sorbet is equivalent to the amount of calories in a McDonalds Big Mac. Besides aren’t sorbets marketed as a healthy alternative? 

I couldn’t bear to eat more than a spoonful but it was surprisingly good. The sorbet was creamy and had a strong pineapple flavour. However, my common sense tells me that I shouldn’t be eating more of this sorbet anytime soon...

I conclude that the amount of calories is attributed to the amount of glucose syrup in this. Have you had any weird food experiences lately? 

In the Kitchen: Chocolate Lava Cake

These few weeks, I’ve been on a major chocolate binge. I attribute this to the stress of January but I really do love chocolate, probably a little too much for my own good. These are pictures of the chocolate lava cakes I attempted a while back. Bought some ceramic ramekins on sale, looked up a random recipe on the web, and I was on my way. Chocolate Lava cakes sound and look daunting but it's actually one of the easiest recipes I've ever made. It's essentially an under cooked cake. That's where the lava part of the cake comes into play. The batter is pretty thin compared to regular cake batter because of the large amount of eggs and melted chocolate/butter. Simply pour it into individual ramekins and off it goes into the oven. The only tricky part of the cake is the time. It's really easy to over/under cook it and you want it perfect. If it's under cooked, it becomes a liquid mess. If it's over cooked, it'll be too dry and you'll compromise the lava part. 

You'll want to make this because it's simple yet impressive. Since it's already individually portioned, just dust with powdered sugar and garnish with some fruit and you're set.  

Here's a link to a recipe (not the one I used) that looks decent: 

http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/molten-chocolate-lava-cakes-with--caramel-sauce/recipe.html?dishid=5769

Chocolate is good. Have fun! 

Readings: Blog Inspirations + Misc.

Hey y'all,

This is a jumble of a post. I hope everyone had a good holiday. It's the start of the new year but honestly I won't be able to breath again until January is OVER. 

ISUs
EXAMs
UNIVERSITY APPLICATIONs

Needless to say, I'm a little behind on posting so here's a little something something.

Back when we had to submit a proposal for our Work in Progresses,  I went on a hunt to find the best food blogs for inspiration to my own blog. Combing over award lists, I narrowed it down to my three favourites of the lot.

buttermeupbrooklyn.com

sevenspoons.net

and

lottieanddoof.com

Check them out! (but don't compare them to mine)
Can you spot the things they have common?

On a non-foodie note, does anybody still watch Ugly Betty and The OC? I've been watching reruns of Ugly Betty and it's actually very-well written. And I used to be obessed with The OC during middle school (Looking back, The OC seems pretty heavy for a 12 year old). I think I'll watch them in their entirety after exams. I like tv.  

p.s.

To my Writer's Craft class,

I love you all for coming on to comment because you're all busy and great people but seeing as how I haven't been updating in a while, come back on the weekend for new material (My law ISU will be good and done with after Friday).

Thanks again and keep on eating. You'll need the calories to get through this month. 

Happy?

UPDATE:

LOOK WHAT I FOUND!!!

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