Jen’s Thinkpad

Strawberry pistachio cake, originally uploaded by Jen Chan.

Strawberry pistachio cake

Fresh berries were tasty. Good. om nom nom.

// Thomas Haas Unit 128, 998 Harbourside Drive, North Vancouver

Thomas speaks, originally uploaded by Jen Chan.

Thomas Keller is ostensibly the most lauded chef in North America. The French Laundry, Per Se, Bouchon... all Michelin Starred. He was in town to promote his book Ad Hoc At Home and I got some good shots and clips of the event. It's most definitely about Keller and less about his book. The book itself is a simpler take on his recipes, but still maintaining his crazy-high standards of cooking. Though it features tips and basics, this is still not quite for the beginner cook.

More Thomas Keller talks in Toronto with video clips. Toronto Reference Library. November 30, 2009

Pumpkin caramel cake, originally uploaded by Jen Chan.

That's some cream-cheese frosting sandwiched between two pumpkin-spice cakes with a pool of caramel on top.

REALLY GOOD. WANT TO EAT AGAIN. please.

// The Flaky Tart 711 Mount Pleasant Road, Toronto | Pie shells are crusty in a good way at Flaky Tart (on foodpr0n.com).

Yeah, posting about food. Surprise! Log time no post though. But I'm also playing with the posting feature too. Maybe it'll revive my vox/LJ accounts... er... maybe. From a recent trip to Vancouver:

Spicy Miso Ramen with Organic Chicken, originally uploaded by Jen Chan.

I enjoy spicy noodles, so I ordered this (along with a soft egg) to see how it would fare. I quite liked the noodles, more than the soup (taste/texture was good). I had almost felt like I should have ordered the Extra BBQ Pork Ramen. Still, really quite yummy, especially on that cold afternoon!

// Motomachi 740 Denman Street, Vancouver

DiGi Charat Cosplayers, originally uploaded by eswiftfire.

Cutest thing evar. Looking at Digi Charat stuff on flickr brought this up. Hilarious.

Mashing the WIN button., originally uploaded by Jen Chan.

For you gamers out there, there is the joke of "Mashing your win button" when we speak of some accomplishment. So I made one for a friend of mine, using the the Easy button from Staples. With some sand paper, a little spray paint and blessedly warm weather for December, I managed to complete this project in a few hours over a week. Mostly, it was letting the spray paint dry and applying enough coats.

The bonus is that when you mash it, the button goes "It's so easy!" We have some thoughts of trying to hack into the electronics so we can record our own voice clips, though I don't think that'll happen at this time. We're lazy that way.

So now I have a ton of spray paint left over, (which, sadly, cost more than the button itself...). Maybe I'll make a couple more for friends. And make a better WIN stencil. And use spray glue for a better seal on the stencil. And really take it apart to spray paint.

Obviously, I have a better idea how to make this for Win Button 2.0. I just have to get unlazy about it.

Check the project out step by step.

So yes, it's been eons since I've posted. I'm alive, but it's crazy busy. I'm moving, I'm launching, I'm eating. Not necessarily in that order. I hope you guys have had a nice holiday and that the new year brings you much warm fuzzies.

So, on to the food porn

Mushrooms at the Market
In Owen Sound, we took a walk at the market and the offerings were tasty....

Japanese French in Canada
La Bamboche, a Japanese bakery chain, has a store in Toronto of all places. To my delight, of course. Here we see a chestnut truffle, (background), and a matcha truffle. Matcha was better, but the cakes there were pretty good! More photos from La Bamboche.

Just Jules
Anyone remember La Tournayere on the Beaches? Well, when they left to return to France, I was very sad. So imagine my joy when I discovered at least one of them returned!! Jules Patisserie opened last year and they heavenly croissants are just south of Celestin. This was a cake that we did not get... ;;_;; More Jules photos.

Toiling in the kitchen with Jen
So I was house sitting for about three weeks and one of my freestyle cooking attempts was this vanilla duck with asian pear on cabbage. Turned out pretty decent!

Kaiseki to you!
Kaiseki is a formal mode of Japanese dining that doesn't actually feature a lot of sushi/sashimi. This is a shot of a dish from one of two places in Toronto that formally serves Kaiseki, Kaseki Sakura. Super fun meal with a great gaggle of friends.

Wii and PS3 impressions at my NOW Magazine blog. Which is semi secret ish for now, but feel free to share. It's just not public, per se.

Fried chili turnip cake. Finally found a place that does it right!


A nice find: Orange caramel creampuff. The orange peel embeded within the carmalized sugar was just so.. ohhhh! Crunchy but soft and squishy - making one tasty cream puff!

Yummy wine poached pears for dessert later on with some homemade ice cream.

Couldn't resist buying this Caramel Apple while walking a street festival. Covered in peanuts.

Swar, swar, how I love thee. Even the guys behind the counter grinned at my glee while ordering these! The crispiness of the buttery pastry, drenched in the delicious honey/sugar syrup... Each bite mingles on the tongue in a mini taste of heaven.

Figs, procuitto, camberzola, walnuts and honey. SO TASTY. Must replicate at home some time.

Smelled and tasted so good! I love heirloom tomatoes! I also love their colours and shapes. So great visually and taste-wise! Used in a Chunky Salsa Salad

Quite a bit in the last while, but there you are! And September isn't even over yet! O_o