12.25.2005

oh, epicurious

[repost from chanlindsay.blogspot.com]

I was commissioned to whip up a dessert for a dinner party of sorts on the 26th - so after much deliberation and clicking through recipes at epicurious.com, I've settled on making a double chocolate torte to impress family friends I haven't seen since last December. It's supposed to turn out something like this (operative words here = "supposed to"):


Of course, it being Christmas and all, everything's closed tomorrow (well, today, technically), and of course, me being a talented procrastinator, I make a mad dash for Loblaws earlier this afternoon before their early 6pm close, only to find that they had no bitter- or semi- sweet baker's chocolate. So off to Price Chopper, where I left in glee - not only did they have the stuff I needed, everything was ridiculously cheap. (250g philly cream cheese = 1.50$!! There's definitely going to be some sort of cheesecake concoction next week, and I think I'm going to expand beyond the tried and true lime almond cheesecake and look for something more festive...) Anyway, I don't end up on the kitchen floor until 10:30(ish), and I realised I needed butter. And that everything was closed. (Where's a dep when you need one?) I finally find a 24hr Rabba that was still open. Which, of course, was fabulous. After all of that effort, this better be the best damn chocolate cake! Tomorrow, it'll be cheesy Christmas songs (I'm still not feeling festive, and we're almost 3 hours into xmas day already, so maybe that'll do the trick?), and me versus the cake, part II: chocolate mouse.

12.01.2005

casa del popolo

[repost from chanlindsay.blogspot.com]

Says the girl behind the bar: “Are you guys from Montreal?”
Me: “Yeah, we study here.”
Girl: “Just to let you know, the prices don’t include tip.”

First of all, Casa del Popolo had no more bocconcini, tofu, or pita. Meaning 4 of the 9 sandwiches that they offered could not be made. And after that snide and presumptuous remark, did she really think that we’d be inclined to tip more? (whatever happened to tipping-on-the-table?) I was almost tempted to ask for change from the 6$ I left, for the 5$ sandwich. Too bad the service was terrible – because the sandwich was stellar (“miel madness”: chèvre, honey, red peppers, lettuce & tomatoes on pumpernickel).