Leftovers again!

One of the good things about picking up packages of treats at Gourmet Heaven is that you can usually stretch them out over a couple of days if necessary. And today that was necessary. Another day with no volunteer but it didn't matter because there were plenty of wafers left from the day before.  It was mostly the little thin ones, however, as the larger ones seemed to be preferred the day before. As you can tell from the picture, once you put the square ones out you can't really tell them apart so we just let people guess what flavor they were. We also liked the fact that the package seal had a picture of the Stephansdom - the Cathedral of Vienna. It's not what you usually see on a package of cookies but you get the idea that these are made in Vienna. The Stephansdom has some great catacombs stuffed with the neatly stacked bones of victims of the medieval plague. They are definitely worth a visit. 

The conversation lately has been trending to the World Cup and soccer fans are starting to get the itch.  Our compatriot from South Africa was actually invited to watch the opening game at the South African Embassy in Washington, DC. Well la-dee-da! She'll be hobnobbing with the elite whilst the rest of the crew watch on a computer screen.

Wafers and Biscuits

Again no volunteer!  So another save-the-cake-hour trip to Gourmet Heaven found that they feature a new product line.  Wafer cookies "Waffeln" from Manner Wien or Manner of Vienna!  As you can see we tried several versions including Viennese Coffee (Wiener Kaffee), Nougat, Cacaocreme, and Schoko Caramel. The latter were a different shape and considerably more substantial than the others. The other three types were indeed very light and crisp if not a wee bit on the sweet side. These wafer type cookies are actually pretty interesting. How do they get these things to be so light and not fall apart when they are filled? Practice, I suppose.

We noticed that two of the package had a quality guarantee and purity disclaimer - no artificial colors, no preservatives - and two didn't. Does that mean the others are not as pure?  You couldn't really tell the difference so we suspect this was pure marketing.

Our selection was augmented by a donation of lemon flavored biscotti that didn't really fit into the theme but it helped with the title i.e. biscotti translated to biscuits.

The subject of Helen Thomas came up something along the lines of what was she thinking. This prompted remembrances and recollections of individuals' trips to Israel. We learned that one of our attendees escaped being a suicide bomb victim by about 25 minutes.  He was at a certain location in Tel Aviv and was walking with a friend. They heard a noise and followed the sounds of the disturbance back to where a bombing had taken place. This turned out to be right where they were sitting 25 minutes earlier. It was a very close call! No one else had such a remarkable incident take place although another visitor did pick up a lot of hitchhiking soldiers with guns. This led to a feeling of protection so he decided to go wherever including the West Bank and other restricted areas.

Anyway Ms. Thomas's ludicrous comments inspired our latest Cackle Poll so check it out!

Coldstone Ice Cream Cake

Summer is on the way.  The appearance of an ice cream cake is usually a harbinger thereof.  We've gone the Carvel and Ben and Jerry's route but this was the first Coldstone Creamery Ice Cream Cake.  The volunteer decided it would be a nice treat given the recent hot weather.  It actually was also the second appearance in less than a month of the red velvet cake!  Instead of being only ice cream, this cake consisted of a two layers of red velvet cake interspersed with strawberry cheesecake ice cream. (Why anyone needs cheesecake mixed in with their ice cream is beyond us.)

But that being said it was good and certainly refreshing. In addition to the cake and ice cream mix, it had some strawberries and was decorated with what were described as chocolate curls. They managed to get some interesting colors into those curls because they don't look very chocolatey.

Providence real estate and Providence traffic were discussed. Apparently judging by a tax bill of over $5000 on a condo assessed for about $289,000, Providence has pretty high property taxes. That's worse than Boston. Add to this a condo fee and you can understand why so many newly built condos are sitting empty here in the Renaissance City with its Venetian-style canals. (The National Trust for Historic Preservation actually wrote that but Venice has nothing to worry about.)

Providence's "Little Dig", also known as the Iway, came up as having caused a real issue of traffic in the downtown.  Ramps onto I-195 and I-95 were eliminated forcing everyone to use the same route to get onto the highways. Where there was modest traffic there is now a routine traffic jam and a two mile trip to the east side can take 40 minutes. Progress!  Our favorite modification is the new light replacing the South Main Street exit from I-195.  There are tandem lights not in synch that are about 30 feet apart.  There is about enough room for three cars to get through one before they have to stop at the next light. Throw in a left turn signal and you're guaranteed that traffic is barely moving around this  "improvement".   Here's to commuting with the train!

Brandied Beans

Now, doesn't that sound delicious - brandied beans!  There has been considerable talk in the lab about beans. Indeed some of the research has focused on the healthful effects of various beans. The multiple types of beans found worldwide have also been catalogued for a better understanding of how beneficial and important beans are to local diets by our research students.  But in this case brandied beans has nothing to do with the leguminous ones. These are bean-shaped chocolates that are filled with Weinbrand or German cognac. Hence the name Weinbrand (Brandy) Bohnen (Beans). Fooled you, didn't we?

Frutti di Bosco, Blueberry Pie and Schlag

How about a nice piece of pie?  (Extra credit to anyone who knows what movie that line comes from?)  Since there was no one signed up and some of us were underway we trooped over to the Eastside Marketplace to fill in the gap in the schedule. We went with the pies because we knew that we had replenished our supply of schlag better known as whipped cream.  We opted for two pies - classic blueberry and fruits of the forest which sounds much better in Italian - Frutti di Bosco!  The latter usually consists of mainly berries - what else do you find in the woods - but this particular one also included apples and raisins. We won't hold it against them.  The blueberry pie was classic and both were enhanced with a great spritz of whipped cream. The German word for whipped cream is Schlagsahne shortened to Schlag. In Germany or especially Vienna, Austria, anytime someone asks you for something "mit Schlag" expect to see that creamy white dollop of "beaten cream".  

Hong Kong style Japanese Chiffon Cake

We've seen this before too!  Our Cakemaster from Hong Kong was duly impressed with Mrs. Masa's chiffon cake. As a budding pastry chef he decided to give it a go. I believe there were a few attempts but today he decided the result was presentable and worth sharing.  We applaud the effort but closer inspection shows that the outcome was not as perfect as that of Mrs. Masa. With a little more practice, though, the kinks will get worked out.  It tasted the same as the prototype and as previously described it is a good, light, moist cake ideal when you want a sweet treat that is anything but heavy.  We're thinking though that the next time it should be served with fruit and/or whipped cream.  Stay tuned!

The recipe for this cake will be posted forthwith!

Happy Birthday Princess

ost is long overdue.

We were celebrating the birthday of our very own Princess Mark. The topic of discussion of the day has long eluded me, but I certainly remember the marvelous fresh fruit tart from the famous Pastiche Fine Desserts that we all enjoyed very much. Instead of babbling on about some crazy ideas concerning the benefits of soy-based diet and the necessity to displace the residents of South Dakota, let's just enjoy the pictures.

And Happy Birthday Princess!