December: I'm Dreaming of...

It‘s taken me a while to write this post as I‘ve had a number of things on my mind.  A lot of self reflection actually. Maybe this is the last post of this kind for the year and it‘s the time to reflect... or maybe when I became a mom, I see myself differently.  Becoming a parent tests your character, beliefs, and stamina.  It makes you think about the person you are as you wonder who s/he becomes...

***

I recently made this very sweet, decadent, loaded with dark chocolate and butter loaf cake and it was just...well...okay.  Something between a cake and brownie.  The recipe itself might be good and maybe it was just me...I haven't been baking as much as I'd like and when I do, the results are not too great.  Practice and focus are key, but dedicated time and focus is what I lack right now.  

***

Steeping tea is not a hard thing to do, but I also seem to be very poor at it recently.  Sometimes I pour too early (short steep) making it too light and sometimes I forget about it till it's quite strong and over-brewed.  In some ways, I think it's a reflection of who I am and where I'm at in life.

Too early a pour :: I'm too eager for results that I rush things and produce something with little substance...
Too late of a pour :: I'm not focused, juggling too many things I want to do that I don't pay enough attention to it...and thus forget what's important.

Ahhh, tea and metaphors for life, I'm sure I‘m not the first to say the above.

***

But, I can still dream (because we all need to dream), so this December I'm dreaming of...

light and fluffy cakes (and some simple cookies) made more than once

- a simple chiffon cake, maybe topped with a light as snow whipped cream frosting
- gingerbread cookies...warm spices to warm up these cold days
- a Swiss roll cake  decorated Junko style (I have yet to try a recipe from her book)!  Just because it's sooo cute...this may be my over eager self talking again, but like I said, I can dream...
- watching my favourite movie with a warm tea and the oven on...and not caring if snow is falling heavily or not

Oh, yes...and finish the book The Untold History of Ramen....a very interesting read so far, review to come soon!  

Enjoy the rest of 2014!

CoCo Fresh Tea and Juice - Now Open in Toronto

Another Taiwan bubble tea brand has opened in Toronto; Coco Bubble Tea.  Located in a small plaza north of Finch and Midland (near Keung Kee Restaurant), this past weekend they were just in their "soft opening" stage. The offerings are definitely geared to a North American market with fruit slushes, tea macchiatos, and chocolate flavoured drinks.  Not a bad thing, but different from more common offerings in Taiwan.  Their webtsite shows drinks that are not offered here but I think it would have been good to have some items that would be unique to this brand.

Winter melon, apple, and I think green bean (mung bean) slush would have been good options to include.  I would definitely go for a green bean smoothie as it was common in Taiwan (and supposedly is good for "cooling" the body or reducing acne).  It‘s interesting to note they only have 2 fresh teas.  

I opted for a hot Matcha milk tea as I actually had a cold HK milk tea just before (but I had to try Coco out even if I wasn't thirsty).

Taste: Okay, but it misses a bit on the Matcha flavour.  I wasn‘t asked about my preferred sugar level as I usually will get less or half sugar, but it turned out ok, just a bit sweeter than I‘d like at the end.  I think the real taste test will be on their milk tea and a fruit tea.

Service: Soft opening so can‘t really comment except the service was friendly.

Atmosphere: Clean, spacious. 

Will I return?  Yes, to try other drinks and give a more informed review.  But, they will definitely be competing with Marathon Donuts during the day in the milk tea category as Marathon is known to have award winning HK style milk tea and they are priced lower.  

La Mere Restaurant :: Super Find in Scarborough

La Mere Restaurant
3278 Midland Ave.
Scarborough, ON M1V 0C9
416-297-0297

Every so often I read Yelp reviews and come across a place that I saw a while back but was a bit unsure of trying and then wish I did try it so I could be the one to discover such a great place!  La Mere is one of those restaurants.  In a short time, they've even opened a second location in Richmond Hill at Times Square (Hwy 7 and Leslie).

  

We had tried to go once on a weekend and it was packed!  The tiny restaurant only has tables of four's and two's.  So, definitely go off peak times if you don't want to wait.  I'm not quite sure if this place is considered "Northern Chinese Cuisine" but there are a several dishes that are characteristic of Northern Chinese Food. I'm happy Toronto has more and more Chinese restaurants that showcase the extensive variety of Chinese cuisine.  We ordered a few dishes to sample the range of offerings and all were tasty!

We ordered a cold dish of celery, cloud ears, and bean curd, which was light and crunchy.  Simply dressed with sesame oil and a bit of salt, it started the meal off great.

Cold Appetizer

The pork neck soup came with 3 pieces of pork which were tender and lightly flavoured.  The noodles were  chewy which we liked but became soggy near the end; common for a lot of noodles if you let it sit in the broth too long.  The broth was probably the most disappointing part of the meal.  Not too much on flavour but I'm also glad it wasn't too salty.  The noodle soup offerings are well priced and would be great as a quick lunch.

Pork bone soup with hand pulled noodles

If you like lamb, these were tender and fairly decent.  More spicy than cumin IMO though. Would be great with a beer, especially when served with toothpicks.  My only gripe would be the price is a bit high for the amount you get.  At $13 I expected a little more.

Toothpick Cumin Lamb

Below is the beef pancake that the Chinese name of the restaurant (老媽肉餅) is named after.

Crispy skinned and filled with a ground beef mix that tasted pretty good.  

Definitely a comfort food, oily, crispy, and meaty.

Beef Pancake ("Meat Pie")

Service was okay, nothing extraordinary.  But just an observation, another table had plastic gloves to eat their pork bones with but we weren't given any...maybe we had to ask?

There were definitely a few other things on the menu to try but we'll save that for next time!  Overall, a great find in Scarborough for good, hearty, and (for the most part,) reasonably priced meal.

Drive-Thru Bubble Tea??

Would drive-thru bubble tea be a hit in Toronto?

I recently went to Green Grotto Tea Room at Warden and Steeles to check out their new(ish) location.  They moved to the old Wendy's spot in the same plaza almost a year ago.  And since Wendy's had drive-thru, they kept the window and now have the option to offer drive-thru bubble tea!

I personally think the idea would fly but maybe because I've had moments where I didn't want to park, take the baby out, then line up for a bubble tea.  My personal reasons aside, given the number of people that line-up for bubble tea, I still think it can be a viable option.

In Taipei where you can walk just a bit and hit one or scooter up to a shop, they don't have drive-thrus.  In Toronto, unless you are in specific parts of the city, you're not often walking.  North of the city or Scarborough is where many of those that frequent bubble tea shops reside or hangout.  So, driving is common.

So, again...would drive-thru bubble tea be a hit?  

It definitely got me thinking.  For Green Grotto, I can see it increasing their sales because of higher turnover and sometimes people want something quick.  They would be offering something that no other tea shop can in the GTA.  So, the first of it's kind.  Come to think of it, I think they were also the first Taiwanese bubble tea place in Toronto (since 1993, that's over 20 years!!)

For the consumer there is potential for faster service, you don't have to find parking, and in the winter we don't have to step out of the car.

But, demand is questionable and hiring extra staff is a must.  If the drive-thru is slow because of the variety of offerings or the amount of time it takes to make a drink, this could potentially be irritating to customers.  The other thing is loss of ambience.  Going to a tea room is an experience so would drive-thru be beneficial for the brand image?  Some might argue that if you're already getting take-out, there isn't a difference.  You're just ordering it slightly different.

In some ways, maybe not a full drive-thru is possible right now given the number of unknowns..., so maybe they should do a trial.  (I'd LOVE to see a trial.)

• Drive thru available FRI/SAT/SUN when it's the busiest.
• Condensed drive-thru menu may be needed?  In Taiwan, bubble teas are fast because a lot of what is offered is really simple drinks.  There are usually more varietals of brewed and it just needs to be sweetened and iced.

Well, those are my thoughts anyway.  Let me know what you think!

I asked staff about the drive through and they said potentially next year but no guarantees.  Aside from the drive-thru, I went inside Green Grottos newish (well new for me since it's been 9 months since the last time I visited) digs and it looks great.  Like a college cafe now matured.  Although I loved the atmosphere of their previous place, the new space is a little more modern and grown up but still with a relaxing feel.  Love the tree and bird cages!

Lots more seating and natural light

Several bird cages ^-^

The magazines!  (There's more shelving to the right)

Front area

 New items, drinks and food have been added to the menu.  And their awesome collection of magazines remains!  I'm definitely coming back to try some new items.  Staff are also very friendly and accommodating.

Back patio

November: I'm Dreaming of...

Beef noodle soup from the famous Yong Kang Beef Noodle Restaurant in Taipei

I can't believe it's already November.  It's certainly gotten a lot chillier!  With Thanksgiving and Halloween now over, I always feel like now it's time to plan for Christmas, and plans I definitely have, but...maybe a little break before the craziness of gatherings/baking/shopping begins!

November...I'm dreaming of...

- Hot chocolate, rich and creamy like ones made in Paris...as described here and by David Lebovitz in his book The Sweet Life in Paris.
- Yummy bowls of ramen
- Spicy beef noodle soup...my go to place in Toronto, Beef Noodle Restaurant but the Taiwanese restaurant Mama Bear has been on my radar, the only problem is they're always packed!
- Soupy Xiao Long Baos that are so delicately made (check out Northern Dumpling Kitchen)
- Scarves...scarves...scarves
- And of course...pots of tea!  Hmmmm, maybe many little cups of Alishan Oolong Tea, or a nice roasted tea, or a deep caramel-ly hong shui.

Iced Tea Candy

I found this new tea flavoured candy at T & T Supermarket.  I'm generally not a fan of hard candies, but when it's tea flavoured I'm more interested. So, I gave it a go.

Quick run-down:

• Brand: Bali's Best (also makes coffee candy which I've seen before)
• Hard candy
• Made with tea extracts
• Indonesian tea, from the Java region

The one I purchased was Classic Iced Tea but the other flavours were Green Tea Latte and Citrus Green Tea.  Whole green tea leaves are apparently used to make the green tea candies which was interesting to note and I was tempted to get the green tea latte as that would be the drink I'd choose, but classic iced tea in a candy was a little different.  Indonesian black tea is supposed to be similar to Assam or Ceylon tea rather than Chinese black tea (although I don't think I've had loose leaf Indonesian tea yet), so I expected it to be like the iced tea we know in North America. 

Taste:  Good tea flavour and tastes slightly lemon-y.  More Ceylon tea flavour then citrus.  Some black teas can naturally have more citrus notes to it and it's possible that the tea used has this flavour profile (but I wonder if it can be detected in extracts).  I remember doing a tea tasting using various estate teas and they produced different iced tea flavours without the addition of lemon (i.e. Court Lodge FBOP had citrus notes compared to Kenmare FBOP...and yes, I had to look at my past notes for the names).

Sweetness level is good, not too sweet where you only taste sugar.

But, if you're looking for a strong tea taste, especially if you're used to drinking your tea strong, you won't find the candy as good.

Ingredients: glucose syrup (tapioca), cane sugar, tea extract, natural tea flavor, salt.
I inquired about the tea leaves and it is primarily made from black tea leaves.  They also note on their packaging that they are "all natural".

Price at T&T was $2.99 for 42 pieces.

Overall: This is a pretty good tasting tea candy.  Yes, I'd purchase again and I'd definitely try the other flavours!  

City Food Foraging :: Ginkgo

There was quite a number of clusters, only circled a couple just in case they were hard to see.

I love that sometimes when you walk around the city, there are trees planted that bear fruit AND are free for the taking!  Yesterday, I was out walking to a local supermarket and came across two ladies gathering little orange balls that had fallen from a tree along the sidewalk (well, actually the tree was shook, lol!) and I had a suspicion it was Ginkgo nuts (technically a seed rather than nut).  I was right; the lady showed me the seed inside and said it was used in Chinese medicine.  There was also an unpleasant smell to it which is characteristic of Ginkgo nuts.

I almost stopped to get some myself since they are known to be healthy but I didn't know the first thing about eating them fresh!  Luckily I didn't because after doing some online reading, touching them bare handed might induce a poison ivy like skin rash!  But, if anyone is interested in taking a look, there were about 4-5 trees along Doris Ave. between Elmwood and Spring Garden.  (However, I'm not a botanist or someone that really knows about Ginkgo so, picker beware!)

For sites with some good info about Ginkgo nuts and where to find them elsewhere in Toronto, look here and here.  I also found it interesting that you can request a tree to be planted in your area by the city and the Ginkgo tree is one of them.