100% Chocolate Cafe

i was reliving my childhood by watching "the god of gamblers" (1989) earlier today and i wanted to look up what type of chocolate chow yun fat was scarfing down in the movie.

i stumbled upon this instead:

http://www.meiji.co.jp/shopping/choco-cafe/56choco/index2.php

they sell 56 varieties of chocolate, with some pretty interesting flavors. for example number 51 is lemon salt, 53 is collagen, 40 is royal milk tea, and 47 is rose. they have some pretty odd flavors too like 35 is cheese and 42 is black pepper, although they sound odd enough o make me wanna try them to taste what it's like.

they come in packaged in these neat color watch looking cardboard boxes any designer would enjoy and appreciate.

from what i can decipher on the Japanese site, the box set of 56 is 14,800 yen (163.4956 U.S. dollars according to google) so i don't think i'll be trying them anytime soon.

there's also a "356 days chocolate" line. i'm really not sure what that is. maybe it's a chocolate club thing where they send you a box of chocolates every month, enough for one chocolate a day.

in closing, i still don't know what kind of chocolate chow yun fat ate in that movie.

trip down to the store

i was in little tokyo earlier tonight because i've been craving some curry house.
it just so happens there's a marukai there, and it would be a shame not to take a visit.

naturally i came out with some candy, and naturally i had to blog about it.

i bought my standard puccho candy, this time green apple and something they call "uha st puccho drink" i don't know what it is but it's darn sour.

then there's "Morinaga Kokuto Caramel"

i really dig the no-trills, classic, minimalistic approach to the box design. the moringaga company has been in business since 1899, and i'm guessing this has been the package's original design. i guess you don't fix something that's not broken. they must be doing something right to be still in business.

the cardboard box has a cardboard slide out tray, and this picture of a japanese woodblock print was on the back. i'm not sure what it says, but inferring from the looks of it, it seems to be a p.s.a/warning for the kids to be aware and stay away from chubby child molesting adults luring kids with the caramel product. see that bottle chubs is hiding behind his back? it's a bottle of chloroform. that sick bastard!

well anyway, i think it's either that or a how-to guide.

holiday funtivity

baking (holiday baking) - what's more fun than creating something from nothing, and putting time and hard work into it? especially when you end up spending more than what you could have just paid for at a shop.

but the satisfaction just makes it taste just that much sweeter.

the closest thing i've got to an oven is a toaster oven. tiff was gracious enough to lend me a hand and her kitchen for my urge to need to bake.

here is a step by step detailed photo chronicle of the process. well not really, these are just pics of when i remembered to snap pictures.

recipe printout - thank you marthastewart.com

and just like martha stewart...

instant peppermint cake (before the peppermint frosting)
oh the timelessness of the written word.

and a break for dishes...
so many many dishes, especially when you don't know what you're doing and experiment.

part 2 - peppermint cookies dipped in white chocolate

tiff had some awesome cookie cutters


but the cookie dough flattened out and the cookies just looked deformed.

chopping and dicing peppermint candies to top the cookies. it looks easier than it looks. chips of candy were flying were which way. it was really hard to control, tiff was much better at this than i was.

and this was the final result. it was supposed to be dipped with white chocolate but we couldn't get the white chocolate, so we ended up melting the leftover semi-sweet chocolate from the peppermint cake frosting recipe.

i think next time i'll stick with one recipe at a time. towards the end of the day it felt like we just wanted to get it done. it was like the drive home after a long vacation with everyone exhausted and no one talking.

i had fun overall and was quite satisfied. i quenched my holiday spirit thirst and the cookies and cake turned out pretty tasty even though we ran into a few problems. nothing ventured nothing gained right? i'll know what not to do next time.

Happy Birthday Jevon - Part II

...this time with more friends and in k-town.

this is just a taste,
for this and the rest of the shenanigans click the following link.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2132171&l=6b0f0&id=60700080

Happy Birthday Jevon

i took jevon to the arroyo chop house for jevon's birthday. he's never been, and so far it's the best steak house i've been to.

birthday boy gets what birthday boy wants - the "james bond martini"
it was not listed in the menu but the bartenders were able whip it up for us. supposedly there are two different recipes, one from the book, and another from the movie, with just a slight difference between the two.

medium rare fillet mignon. so tender it felt as though it crumbled in my mouth.

jevon posing with his james bond martini and his "cowboy porterhouse"
now what's the difference between a porterhouse and the cowboy porter house you wonder?
the cowboy porterhouse is bone-in, and as jevon, the steak connoisseur explained, the meat around the bone is more tender.

hama hama washington oysters - so creamy and sweet, mmm. i wish we had ordered a full dozen. i wish i had some right now. i've only had oysters with lemon but the contrasting colors of the lime and lemon gives the otherwise dull oyster grey dish, an overall eye pleasing color.

Holiday Edition Casper - part 2

nine years in the making

i'm a part-time numismatic nerd