Bistrot Bistro.... you are on my black list!

So recently while celebrating a friend's birthday, a group of 12 of use went out to a bistro on 4th ave for dinner....the table wasn't quite ready for us when we got there... ok fine.. .we were a big party.. no big deal..... but here's the kicker.. and maybe I'm in the wrong.... we brought a cake from true confections to the restaurant and wanted them to keep it in the fridge for us and then let us eat it ate the restaurant.... BUT they wanted to charge us $2 per person... ie $2 per slice... the owner said that it was a presentation fee.... quote "if you buy flowers at a grocery store, and then bring it to a florist to arrange they would charge you" .... am I in the wrong here...... I was so surprised and I even asked to cut the cake myself at the table.. and "present it" on plates myself.. but said no,.. still $2 per slice..... so yeah... kinda pissed..

its only unfortunate b/c no matter how good the food was (it was ok) I'm not going back....

Taro Bread Semi-Disaster

Peel and chop into small cubes, 1lb of taro.

Take some of the challah dough you made yesterday out of the fridge, let it unchill.

Boil the taro.
Drain the taro.
Mash the taro, add 1/4 c of cooking oil, and cook on low heat for 10 minutes.
Add 6 tbsp of sugar (I used brown sugar, to cover up the gross grey-colour that my taro turned out to be...how do the bakeries make it so nice and purple?), then cook the paste for a couple more minutes.
Try and get the lumps out of your taro paste. I used a strainer.
Roll out the challah dough, then slop the taro paste on top.

Spread the taro paste on the dough. Roll that sucker up, pinching the seam and ends, tucking the edges under the loaf.


NOW HERE IS WHERE I SHOULD HAVE cut the loaf into smaller loaves or buns, cinnamon-bun-style, so that it would have baked faster and more evenly. As it was, I didn't, and just brushed on an egg-wash, and stuck it into a 350 degree F oven, for about 35 minutes.








I don't know if I have the fortitude to try this again so that it works better. If I ever do, I'll know to make smaller loaves, since this one was too big to cook the inside well - I had to chop it up after the 35 minutes, into three chunks, and then I stuck it back in for about 20 minutes, so then the outside got a bit darker than I wanted it.

Still tasted good though, when I managed to get it all baked-through.

Moomin the Baptist, and other baked goods

Now that we have a Moomin-shaped cake-pan, how can we ever go back to making normal-shaped cakes???!!!???

Potato Bread

I decided to use up the potatoes that've been growing in my cupboard for the past month and make potato bread - this bread is much less time-consuming than the paska bread, and I like the flavour better. A downside: It may be that I added too much flour (I made a mistake halfing the recipe), but the crust was a bit tough and chewy, instead of crispy.

Green Tea Madelines & Bread Pudding

I was inspired by Meagan to try green tea madelines. First of all, I don't have a madeline pan. Secondly, I don't have unsalted butter. Therefore, the madelines look/taste like satly puddles. That did not deter me from eating them though. I can taste the matcha green tea.

I've had the bread pudding recipe for ages and never attempted it until now. Not for you raisin haters though. The bread pudding turned out better than the green tea madelines. Probably because I didn't have to use butter. It looks burnt, but I swear it isn't, that's the cinnamon on top. I did burn the first 3 pieces of bread though. My toaster dial got stuck and didn't count down so it kept on toasting until I smelled something burning. Yeahhhh, good old toaster from Walmart !

Holiday Treats