Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category

05
Nov
09

A shop that only sells macaroons: Macaron Cafe, NY

Well, they actually do salads, sandwiches and coffees too. But their main thing is macaroons. The first time I came across this place in NYC, I was pretty baffled. As in, is-this-a-sustainable-business-model baffled. Then again, there are people making millions off of selling cupcakes alone.

macaron_14

I love the hat-box packaging on these. Their macaroons aren’t cheap (about $2 a pop) and the specially packaged ones are probably more. But they are larger than your average macaroon. And seriously, what macaroon fan wouldn’t want to get a giant box of these for the holidays?

161 West 36th Street
New York, NY 10018
T/F (212) 564-3525

31
Oct
09

Breyer’s mint chocolate chip yogurt

In my mind, Breyer’s mint chocolate chip is neck and neck with Ben & Jerry’s mint chocolate chunk. It really depends how big you like your chocolate chips. BTW, I just found out the Breyer’s has 1/3 fewer calories without compromising on flavor: http://bit.ly/Jvy0K.

breyer

Anyway, this yogurt is as close as you’re gonna get to the ice cream. It tastes like the ice cream with some added tartness. Also,  I wish the chocolate chips weren’t so soft. But I definitely will buy again. I just hope it’s not really limited edition, as marked on the package.

 

28
Oct
09

Neiman Marcus Christmas Book: The Cupcake Car

Just when you thought there was a recession going on and that conspicuous consumption was out, Neiman Marcus brings you its annual Christmas Book, with their limited-edition Jaguars selling out in record time.

cupcakecar

One of this year's offerings from the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book.

And offers this: a cupcake car. At $25,000 a pop.

Who is buying these? Can I be you?

25
Oct
09

Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Pancake and Waffle Mix

If you haven’t noticed from all the other Trader Joe’s posts on this blog, I’m a sucker for trying their new products. So it’s no surprise that this mix ended up in my cart.

pump2

I tested this by making pancakes, which was easy–just add egg, melted butter and milk. (Soymilk’s fine as a substitute.) The pancakes turned out nice and fluffy with crisped edges. Make sure to butter the pan before putting the batter in to attain crispiness. Flavor-wise I could taste the pumpkin-pie spicing, but not so much the pumpkin. That might be something that could be solved with adding a bit of canned pumpkin to the batter (?) 

pump1

Random fact: when you see maple syrup looking all amazingly thick and gooey in ads, it’s really Karo dark corn syrup. I had to double-dose this stack of pancakes with maple syrup just to get this shot.

***Update: The second time we made these, I added bittersweet Ghiradelli chocolate chips (better than Nestle, I’ve noticed). So good, and the chocolate chips aren’t cloyingly sweet. In fact, they get a bit burnt during the cooking process, but it tastes good like that.***

06
Oct
09

Goodies from the Persian supermarket, Yekta

Yekta Supermarket is a Persian/Middle Eastern deli off Rockville Pike in a nondescript strip mall. We ended up here after a visit to Joe’s Noodles, a few doors down. Yekta is fragrant with Persian flavors: saffron, pistachios, orange flower water, limes, etc. It doesn’t smell like your average ethnic grocery store (with apologies to the Chinese grocery stores of my people).

They manage to cram a lot into a small space. In the deli case are the biggest chunks of fresh feta you’ve ever seen, flanked by rows of flatbreads, inexpensive spices, yogurt drinks and more.

persiantreats

We picked up this cardamom rock candy (left) and almond-honey-pistachio crunch (right). The former has cardamom seeds inside that act like a natural breath mint when you bite into them—almost a cross between mint and cinnamon flavor. Pungent, in a good way.

The almond crunch candy is amazing, with a flavor not unlike the sesame honey candies you’d get from the bulk bins of natural foods stores. The sugars have been caramelized, so you get sweet, smoky goodness paired with a crunch that could result in some serious dental bills.

On a side note, for every ethic supermarket you hit, there always seems to be that one product that reminds you how far the tentacles of British Colonialism have reached. I’ve seen both Caribbean and Chinese supermarkets carry Ribena (blackcurrant juice) products. At Yekta, they sell tins of Quality Street chocolates. Apparently, the sun never sets on the groceries of the British Empire.

Yekta Supermarket, 1488 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD   20852 (301-984-1190)

30
Sep
09

cloudy with a chance of meatballs, my childhood fantasy

This was my favorite childhood book for a pretty obvious reason: it was about a town where it rained food.

Specifically, foods that were rarely found in my house. My Mom cooked Chinese all the time, not the hamburgers and hot dogs my brother and I craved. Once when we begged for McDonald’s, my mom made hamburgers with scallions and shiitakes–something I’d appreciate today, but back then, I was just miffed that they didn’t taste like Big Macs. 

Plus, we rarely had sweets in the house. My Dad’s a diabetic who sleepeats. Desserts would mysteriously disappear. (“Huh? I don’t remember eating that half gallon of Breyer’s.”) So when I imagined a place where it precipitated giant donuts and syrupy pancakes, I was smitten.

cloudychance

I haven’t seen the movie yet, but let’s hope it does the book justice.

25
Sep
09

japanese candy combinations

Why does this green tea (matcha) Kit Kat seem appealing…

green_tea_kit_kat_1

 

while these strawberry-covered Cheetos seem disgusting?

strawberry_cheetos

23
Sep
09

advertising vs. reality: a reminder that reality is harsh

pundo3000

The Germans behind Pundo 3000 have just published a book comparing packaging shots to what the products really look like. Check out their “Advertising Against Reality” video. As you’ll see, even the company that brings us Kinder Eggs is lying! Lying to children!

16
Sep
09

food-to-sweets ratio in my freezer

At the risk of looking like a crazy person, here are the contents of my freezer.

I know what you’re thinking. Is she one of those OCD hoarders, with an apartment knee-deep in trash? Why is everything just crammed in there? Can’t she even place stuff in there upside-right?

freezer

My dysfunctional grocery shopping habits were exposed one day when Mr. X-sXe suggested that I eat what I have before buying anything else. A light bulb went off. It was such an obvious but alien concept.

I’m analyzing the contents of my freezer for two reasons. One is that I was curious what the ratio of desserts to real food would be. The other is that all too often when I open my fridge or freezer, something falls out. Most of the time it’s just annoying, but sometimes it’s also a huge pain in the butt, like when a jar of spaghetti sauce or salad dressing shatters all over the floor.  This has happened three times in the past year and needs to stop. I really should repeat this exercise for my fridge too, but that’s too daunting a task right now. So let’s start with the freezer.

freezer2

Turns out I had more food (non-dessert) items in there than I thought. There were only a couple of things that I had to throw out: the baguette and unidentifiable green sauce. I wasn’t sure how old the Drumstick was, but it was a mistake to dispose of it in my stomach. The ice cream part was full of ice crystals and the cone, completely soggy.

After taking stock of everything in there, I did re-organize a bit, which helped prevent the food avalanches that would happen every time I opened the door. So that’s good. And it looks like there’s almost a 2:1 ratio of food to dessert. Also good. Most important, nothing has ended up broken on the floor for a while. We’ll see how long that lasts.

freezerlistuse

PS: I forgot to include the package of frozen berries. I think that would go in the food column.

13
Sep
09

laduree macaroon-inspired bath products

laduse

Holy crap. Why do you French people taunt me? Christian Louboutin macaroons, and now this (actually these body products came first, but I didn’t learn about them until now). Famous bakery Laduree has an entire body line based on their macaroons. I want to get these bath products just to stare at the macaroon-capped bottles.

Here’s the website, complete with flying animated macaroons.

http://www.laduree.fr/