Mooncakes

I love looking at all the beautiful traditional sweets in the Japanese and Chinese bakeries. I have had a long-standing love of Japanese wagashi- which has grown ever since Miss Alice presented me with some delicious lovelies from a NYC shop- but, more recently, my enjoyment of Chinese sweets has increased since being able to enjoy dim sum with my Prince.

All of the sweets were wonderful, and not overly sugary- which is always the problem I have with many a Western dessert... too sweet to eat more than one- and I will say that there is absolutely no shame in having two desserts.

My facination with both mooncakes and wagashi has led me to search through the Internet, as well as my Asian cookbooks, for recipes and how-to's for all those tasty treats that pair ever so well with tea. Luckily, I was able to find some recipes with look as if they will help me in making wonderful mooncakes:

- http://amandalwh.wordpress.com/2008/07/26/snow-skin-lotus-paste-mooncake/
- http://www.moonfestival.org/mooncakes/yancancook.htm

As for wagashi, I will have to search further. For now, for mooncakes, all I need is the proper mold and then... I will be able to make them myself and share with all my friends~

A Night at the Opera

I have to admit that my very first experience at the opera was not what I would call exciting. I was to watch Ceasar. The visuals were wonderful, but when combined with a rather dull storyline, sleeplessness, and the length of the opera itself, I ended up having to part the opera house early.

But I still remained excited that I would find those operas that ignited a spark of excitement within me.

And that is what happened late in September.

As an anniversary present, I was given the chance to see Manon. I was also given the chance to wear the most poofy, elegant ballgown that I've ever worn in my entire life. And I say this mostly because the dress and entire ensemble trumped everything I wore to my high school prom. It was floor-length, made me so poofy that I immediately felt sympathy for all those early Victorian women trying to seat themselves, and red. The skirt was in the pick-up hem style with jewels at every point. And, with it, I wore a bridal petticoat, silver bejeweled shoes, a tiara and a set of jewelry that I fondly refer to as my "Marie Antoinette" set.

I was able to enjoy the opera too~ In fact, I found it to be wonderful! I was excited before even seeing it since it is much like the book Camille, so much so that the book references the story of Manon. It was sad, funny and sweet all at the same time.

The only thing that I can look back and say was sad, was that it was only for one night... Once night where I was able to dress as elegantly as I desired, eat a fantastic feast, and attend a gala ball with my sweetheart. But the memory of it will always be fond, and I will always be forever thankful to my love that she was so kind as to gift me the pleasure of seeing a whole different world than I would have ever been able to experience without her.

Lemons and Limes, Oh My~!

My newest workplace seems to always have recipes that require customers to only use the zest of either lemons or limes. This means there are always clusters of half zested citrus fruit available, and, since none of the other staff or the owner have a use for them, I have been given permission to take them home.

I had been collecting them for almost a month long and pondering what one can do with so many of these little things sitting in their crisper drawer. If sitting too long, they will go bad- which some did indeed turn to the dark side- so I had to think of something to do with them other than always having a slice of them floating in my glasses of water each day.

So, in an effort to make them both functional and space efficient, I thought of the two things lemons and limes are used for: juice and zest. Simple enough. So I spent a good part of an hour last evening zesting and juicing both by hand. (A word of warning to those who may want to try this- after about fifteen minutes of hand juicing, your hands may get all wrinkled, much like when you take a long bath.) I then purchased some very cheap squeeze bottles and placed the juices into those, and left the fresh zest out on two large dinner plates over night. And, upon returning home from work today, I was overjoyed to see that the air did a wonderful job of drying out the zest- now I have something akin to the more expensive "granulated lemon/ lime zest" found in some specialty stores.

I can see this working well for any type of citrus fruit. So if you have a collection of grapefruit or maybe oranges, try this~ You can always make such zests into delicious drinks, quickbreads, or even a delightful curd.

Work You Love v. Work You Hate

Lately, I have stumbled upon a person discovery... The exact idea of what creates the battle between "work you love" and "work you hate". You should think of the definition of the word "work" in this example as the following: some hard task or series of tasks to be completed for an employer for 40 or more hours a week.

It is easiest for me to start with what defines "work you hate".

Work one hates is usually something like this... You do everything you can in attempts to make your employer happy with your performance but you just cannot force yourself to enjoy all of it because it does not provide any steps toward your future goals. This means, it is a job which holds a place in time where you need to be working but cannot find a position in your field of work. This sort of job is fulfilling- mostly mentally. Another type of job with fits into this category is the job you would like to enjoy but cannot because of a cruel and unjust boss.

Onto the next thing... "work you love".

Work you love usually can be figured out with a simple formula:

Nice Boss + Well Explained Training/ Duties + Decent Pay/ Hours + In Your Field = Love

This is the more perfect version of the work one loves. The more difficult love comes from jobs in a field you love that are made more challenging because maybe you're not trained down to every detail and eccentricity of your boss, or that maybe your hours are the best. (Personally, I am in the more imperfect of the situations because I am in a my pastry field, but my job is a little more difficult not because of the tasks I am given but because I am trying to learn all of the protocol and pet peeves of my bosses.)

I have been thinking much about this dichotomy because I recently got a second job and I cannot help but compare it to the other time- some months ago- when I also worked two jobs- when I held one job I hated and one I loved. But, all in all, even these bad experiences teach us something and, in the end, everything is good... even the not so good things and events.

Book: Camille by Alexandre Dumas

As a young girl, I could be found many a time in my school's library. I loved to read and could read through a whole novel in at least a week and a half. But, once I started into the working work I soon forgot the allure of the worlds within books. The closeness one gets to characters, and the feel of a story as it unfolds. This is why I have started reading more- it also gives something to do while on buses all the time on the way to or from jobs.

I started this reading expedition off with Camille by Alexandre Dumas.

Camille is the story of a French courtesan named Marguerite and a man named Armand Duval. It details the story of their tumultuous romance right until the kept woman's eventual death. The book itself is an easy read because the plot is not very complex. Even so, when reading Camille, I found myself liking almost all of the characters and, when Marguerite dies, I felt saddened.

If you enjoy light historical romances involving a man basically worshiping a beautiful woman... then I would definitely recommend reading Camille.

Also, YouTube has many clips from the various video-productions of the novel:
- The death scene from Camille starring Greta Garbo as Marguerite
- Camille trailor
- First of 12 parts of the movie with Greta Garbo
- First of two parts to the 1921 version of Camille

A Holiday and Some Advice

Today, July Fourth, is the date that the United States celebrates its independence. Many people travel to family gatherings to partake in oodles of barbecue, corn-on-the-cob, and other American favourites- like apple pie. Unfortunately, neither the families of myself or the Prince planned any events so we have been at home leisurely napping much of the day away.

But that is not to say that we have not had a little fun today~

We found ourselves purchasing some delicious macaroni and cheese, grilled sweet potatoes, roasted corn, mashed potatoes and spicy barbecue chicken. It was all wonderful and I silently wished my stomach had had the room to fit more.

I do suppose I should also use this entry for an explanation as to why I have posted neither in my baking journal nor this journal for a while... Simply, I have been quite busy lately. My full-time place of employment has made certain scheduling moves so that I was forced to, again, wander into the pastry job market once again.

Though this experience was far better~

Within about five days of applying to five positions on the Internet, I acquired two interviews. Then, from these two, I was immediately hired.

So, my dear readers, happy days~! (Perhaps this may inspire some baking either today or tomorrow~)

Now, on to the "advice" section of this entry...

These days many of us are so consumed with the hussle and bustle of the everyday world that we often times forget the simplest, and more necessary, of needs. The one I am speaking of today is: sleep.

Every princess and lady needs it even if your days are long and difficult. Many of us are no longer children and teens and our bodies require a certain amount of sleep each day to function. And, from my experience, no amount of caffeine from tea or coffee brings our bodies up to speed as it should. Things like coffee, tea, energy drinks... they are not what our bodies need to function. They are like giving a computer a temporary surge of power only to have it drop out after an allotted time.

The charge provided to our bodies from sleep is far greater than caffeine.

So I recommend that every lady should go to sleep at such an hour that she a least acquires six hours of sleep a night. I would say that eight is more preferable but, for the busy working lady, six may be more possible.

Happy fourth of July everyone and please look forward to an account of my June 21st birthday with photos~!

Marie Antoinette and Chocolate

I was recently e-mailed by a Miss McRae requesting information on Marie Antoinette and chocolate. I thought this the best opportunity to write another small food-related essay. This time it is on chocolate during the 18th century. I will first be writing about general chocolate information within the 1700s and then it will be followed up by a paragraph about the French queen as well as some additional information on making your own Marie Antoinette-themed chocolates.

Firstly, when thinking on chocolate within the 18^th century, one must put aside what they view to be common and popular forms in the modern day. Most chocolate today seems to be in the form of molded candies or dipped truffles. But, during the 1700s, chocolate was primarily consumed as a beverage. Yet the chocolate drink that was consumes was not the hot cocoa of today- one should also note that there is a significant difference even today between hot cocoa and hot chocolate, the primary difference being that hot cocoa is made with cocoa powder, lacking the fat of cocoa butter, and hot chocolate is made from melted chocolate bars mixed with cream. Hot chocolate became famous soon after the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI introduced chocolate to Austria when he relocated from Madrid to Vienna. The style and type of drink presented in the following modern recipe is similar to one that would have been drunk in the 18^th century:

* Make a hot chocolate, let cool slightly;
* Add half an egg yolk per cup;
* Whisk over low heat until thickened, being careful not to let it boil;
* Serve hot, topped with a spoonful of whipped cream.

This rich chocolate drink was drunk primarily in chocolate houses and mostly by the rich upper class. The rich were the primary consumers since chocolate was extremely expensive- costing about three times the price of a cup of coffee. Chocolate was one of the many items that helped to make clear the divisions of class during the 18^th century. The division of class could be seen not only in who could afford to consume this chocolate beverage, but in who was preparing it. Maids to the rich were required to labor though the perpetual whipping process that kept it frothy, rich and smooth. Chocolate's social divisions even came into play in something as simple as breakfast. While noblemen dined on it for their morning meal, the classes below had to resort to coffee.

As I mentioned before, many of the chocolates we seen in stores today come in the form of molded confections and bars. Molded chocolates existed within the 18th century, but they were not popular due to the high price tag. In fact, most of these molded chocolates were actually a combination of cocoa paste and sugar that was molded in chocolate houses to make storage easier. But it is Italy that started promoting chocolate as something other than a drink.

18th century Italian cookbooks contained recipes for main dishes, desserts, ices, dragees, marzipans, biscuits, creams and some mousses. Specific recipes even included fried liver dipped in chocolate, polenta with almond and chocolate breadcrumbs, and chocolate soup (made with milk, sugar, chocolate, cinnamon and egg yolks) served over toast.

But this is not to say that chocolates as we know today were not eaten by a figure such as Marie Antoinette.

Queen Marie Antoinette greatly disliked the taste of medicine. So, to solve this problem and since chocolate was considered as a healthful item at the time, the royal family chemist, Sulpice Debauve, created the Pistole de Marie Antoinette- coins of 99% cocoa that were flavoured with almond oil, bitter coffee, vanilla, Orgeat cream, or orange blossom- amongst these flavours it is said that the Queen favored almond milk and orange flower blossom. (These chocolates are still available today, but many of us probably are not willing to pay the $200 price tag.)

So, since I was asked about a Marie Antoinette themed molded chocolate, I think the best option is to buy molds with a Fleur de Lis pattern, like these:
-Square Fleur de Lis mold
OR
-Oval Fleur de Lis mold

Then, using a favourite chocolate candy recipe, infuse the ganache with almond or orange flower blossom.

For a Marie Antoinette-themed chocolate party, one could serve the 18^th century hot chocolate along with things like the molded chocolates above, mini chocolate tarts, and- even though I would not say it is historically accurate- chocolate Parisian macarons.

[Recipe for Viennese-style hot chocolate is from this website.]
[Marie Antoinette chocolate can be purchased from Debauve and Gallais. ]

* Also, for those interested, the disks of chocolates with fruit and nuts embedded within them are called "mendiants". Recipes for these tasty confections can be found here, here. For those who enjoy white chocolate, recipes can be found here and here. But by far the most informative article on these chocolates is the one I have linked from La Tartine Gourmande- which goes into the history of these chocolates and their relation to Christmas.