Hiatus

Busy with tons of other summer activities and research, plus took up a few additional hobbies. Relevant to this blog, I have started Yelping restaurant reviews rather than posting them here. Check them out here:

http://diana-xie.yelp.com/

Also, Tumblr: edamamefigs.tumblr.com

I will periodically update the blog with more chocolate reviews and other goodies, but usually when I go on some sort of buying spree for these things once I travel again.

Thanks for reading!

Jacques Torres Truffles & Ganaches

Jacques Torres Truffles & Ganaches

Jacques Torres Boutique @ Rockefeller (also one @ Chelsea Market)

Do not be suckered by the pretty colors and designs…much lesser than Maison du Chocolate in quality, consistency, smooth/buttery-ness, creativity of flavors. Only a tiny step above Godiva taste. Slightly cheaper per piece if you’re watching your wallet. But it’s much more worth it to save the money for slightly fewer pieces at Maison. Overrated too. http://www.mrchocolate.com/

Taste: 8/10

Photo credits: http://guestofaguest.com/nyc-charity/the-best-items-to-bid-on-at-nyc-prep-school-auctions/

NYC - Dolfin Chocolate Bars

Dolfin Chocolate

Gourmet grocer @ Chelsea Market

•           Lavender
•           Hot Masala (& other spiced bars)
•           Dark Chocolate (any %)
•           Green Tea & Jasmin
•           Earl Grey (the only one recommended)

I lump all the Dolfin chocolate bars into one review, because, simply put the chocolate quality and consistency is terrible for Dolfin’s price range. Nothing stands out about this bar, milk chocolate is far too sweet and cheap tasting. At times gritty. I appreciate the creativity and quality of the ingredients, and given a good quality chocolate medium these would make excellent bars. Unfortunately, the chocolate itself is of poor quality. I only recommend the Earl Grey flavor, which despite the average-ness of the chocolate has a wonderful tea flavor. http://www.dolfin.be/

Taste: 6.5/10 $0.30/tasting square

Sunday Comics - Where Old People Go

http://www.invisiblehairsuit.com/old_people.htm

NYC - Portuguese Kale Soup (Hale & Hearty)

Hale & Hearty – Portuguese Kale Soup

Chelsea Market

The best cup of soup I have ever tasted. Calories were posted (<200 per medium cup), remarkably healthy and tastes deliciously healthy, incredible depth of flavor and heartiness. Perfect ingredients to soup ratio: kale, sausage (not the crappy Italian or generic kind but a variety I cannot pinpoint but is undoubtedly of high quality & low fattiness), beans, and a melting pot of other ingredients that enhanced the deliciousness of it all. Well worth the price. http://www.haleandhearty.com/

Taste: 10/10 $5.95/medium cup

 

100% Pure Grapefruit Juice (Manhattan Fruit Exchange)

100% Pure Grapefruit Juice (No sugar or other ingredients added)

Brand: Manhattan Fruit Exchange & Juice Factory @ Chelsea Market

Just as freshly squeezed grapefruit juice should taste. Not your grandma’s bitter Florida Grapefruit juice out of the carton…hell no. This shit tastes natural and might as well have been hand-pressed by yourself with a juicer, with juicy, plump bits of grapefruit pulp floating around in juice with absolutely nothing else added. The perfect amount of sweetness and mild acidity of grapefruit, nothing more, nothing less. Pricey with a humble-looking handmade sticker label from the local Chelsea Market, this is as local/natural as it gets. Absolutely recommended if you're willing to shell the money.

Taste: 10/10 $4

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jugglerpm/sets/72157623044458172/

Maison du Chocolat Truffles & Ganaches

Maison du Chocolat truffles & ganaches

Maison du Chocolate Boutique @ Rockefeller Center

Melt-in-your-mouth smoothness, you can tell immediately that these truffles are worth the price in both quality and craft. The ganache is firm as butter, but soft and silky as a feather. Once bitten into, it bursts into a soft wave of complex notes unlike a feeling I have never experienced with other truffles. On a scale from 1 to 10, Godiva is a 3, Jacques Torres 8, and Maison du Chocolat an 11.  Perfect balance of buttery and bittersweet,  in addition to a deep complexity of flavors beyond ordinary truffles or Jacques Torres. Quality and consistency is remarkable, well worth every penny of the price if you go for the non-plain ones (avoid the mint ones, especially the gooey mint fillings, as minty tastes usually overwhelm the rest of the flavors). P.S. There was one particular piece that was almost orgasmic in taste...I forgot the name but I think the inside was caramel. However, the caramel was not gooey/sticky, but rather incorporated into this buttery, solid ganache. (Looks just like the one in picture above) http://www.lamaisonduchocolat.com/en/

Taste: 10/10 $2.50/piece

Photo credits: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-oneill/an-afternoon-in-la-maison_b_223901.html

http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2008/08/la_maison_du_chocolat_to_open_on_wall_street_with_new_look.html

Shortbread With Stem Ginger (Shortbread House of Edinburgh)

Finest Shortbread With Stem Ginger

Brand: Shortbread House of Edinburgh (Handmade in Scotland)

A step above Walker’s, nice buttery flavor with the perfect crumbly consistency of genuine shortbread. Studded with bits of candied ginger of perfect size and slight sweetness, this is the only ginger product I've ever tasted that does not possess a sickly, overwhelming ginger flavor. Quite the opposite, these tiny ginger bits enhanced the flavor of this shortbread, and I daresay makes it even better than the original. http://www.shortbreadhouse.com

Taste: 9/10 3 packets (2 each) for $2.50 (on sale @ Chelsea Market)

Askonsie – 72% Tenede, Tanzania Dark Chocolate

Askonsie –72% Tenede, Tanzania Dark Chocolate

Semi-sweet, bitter taste with fruity, earthy/bark notes. Slightly acidic, in such a way that makes it slightly sour as well. Not my cup of tea -- utterly unremarkable save for its complexity of flavors that are a step above $3.99 bars, but not justified by the price.

Taste: 8/10 Quality: 9/10 Consistency: 9.5/10

http://www.askinosie.com/

Photo credits: http://drexeliuschocolates.wordpress.com/2011/03/09/askinosie-chocolate-tanzania-review/

Vosges – Oaxaca 75%

Vosges – Oaxaca 75%

Vosges Boutique @ Soho

Chilles ingredients clearly tasted, but does not enhance chocolate taste. Overwhelms the complexity and quality of Vosges chocolate medium that supposedly is justified by the $7.50/bar price tag. Unremarkable, not recommended given the high price.

Taste: 7.5/10 Quality: 9/10 Consistency: 9/10

Spiced dark chocolate is ridiculously overrated. I am pretty sure the idea of peppering bars with spices, with perhaps the best intent, ultimately became a form of generating variety, such that a steady stream of novel flavors could be perpetuated in the overpriced dark chocolate market catering to the wealthy and wannabe connesoiurs. This bar is completely unremarkable, both in complexity and spice taste. It’s a plain chocolate bar, with no particularly obvious flavor notes, that has the taste of plain ole’ spices in it. That is it, and that is all. Although those who adore the spice and dark chocolate combination may like this bar (I have yet to meet such a person), I was completely unimpressed by both the quality and taste of it. The $7.50 price tag did not help, and I am glad I only tasted this via free sampling.

Ingredients: guajillo & pasilla chillies + Tanzanian bittersweet chocolate

http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/

NYC - Fat Witch Brownies

Witch’s Bakery – Original Brownie

Chelsea Market (other location: Hell’s Kitchen)

Consistency and cocoa ratio has room for improvement, but nevertheless this is an amazing brownie. Extraordinarily rich and buttery (and most likely equally dense in calories as well), I highly recommend purchasing at least the $1.50 tasting squares for taste of one of NYC’s best brownies. Soft with the oily smush of a brownie you know has tons of buttery goodness inside - depending on your taste, this may or may not be an ideal consistency. The level of butteri-ness is most likely what has caused Witch's to receive so many accolades. Even if you do not like that smushy consistency, the taste is well worth the purchase. http://www.fatwitch.com/

Taste: 9/10 Quality: 8/10 Consistency: 8/10 $1.50/ tasting square size

NYC Spring Break 2011

Just came back from NYC and had the most amazing range of experiences. Boutiques, gourmet grocers, and sights I've never seen, I could go on and on about everything. While my flight was delayed, decided to write as many reviews as I could about the things I tried. Posts coming up. Everyday this week, at least one post a' day about something I tried in NYC.

Music Review - Malachai: Return to the Ugly Side (2011)

I don’t usually do music reviews, since I find it difficult to put in words the feelings music evokes in me. But I really had to review this, because it is just so damn good. Unpredictable, beautifully complex and varied, I haven’t heard such good shit in so long. Every song in this album reinvigorated my senses, throwing fresh takes on familiar genres and transitioning from song to song in wildly varied styles so that the entire album  in and of itself was an aural canvas of a masterpiece containing an immense density of layers and influences (absolutely must be listened to in order, through and through, especially since some are multi-part tracks). I listened to the entire thing through twice because it blew me away.

First track began as what sounded like an epic journey soundtrack, somehow managing to transition seamlessly into an entirely different style: some strange electronic trip-hoppy reggae. From then on, I knew my ears were in for a treat. You know how after you listen to a song, you can kind of predict what sounds will be thrown at you next? Not true for this beauty, at least upon first listen. Unpredictable twists and turns, an incredible collage of styles and beats, I would probably classify this album as experimental of the most wonderfully genre-bending, hybridizing loveliness your ears for so long have been lacking.

Malachai - Return to the Ugly Side

Myspace, Facebook

Released: Feb 22, 2011

Label: Domino
Genre: Alternative / Psychedelic / Visual / Indie
Location: Bristol, UK

Amazon, Mediafire

Food Review - Dames' Chicken & Waffles

Took a glance at my tag-cloud, realized to my simultaneous horror and amusement that "food" is conspicuously much larger than the rest. Well I guess this is learning towards a foodie blog atm, which it most definitely will be next week when I go to NYC!


Back-story to the chicken and waffles combination. Wikipedia always explains it better than I do. It seems like such an odd, unexpected, and simply Southern combination, and after having my standards set by Bojangles and Duke marketplace waffles, I honestly did not know what to expect (except a severe food coma).


And holy shit was it good! I quickly came to the realization that chicken and waffles were...


List of Cliche Descriptions and Puns:

• A match made in heaven!
• Meant to be!
• Really clucking good!
• What the cluck? Good!

At some point, a couple outside stopped to read the menu taped to the glass window by my seat, and I suddenly had the impulse to hysterically gesture for them to come inside. But for the sake of not making a poor impression on my significant other of the night, and the fact that the restaurant was pretty quiet and my behavior may have been classified as "rowdy", I managed to restrain myself.

The humble appearance of this slice of heaven, hole-in-the-wall joint would suggest otherwise. However, several keys of success of this restaurant immediately come to mind.

1. Quality - obvious, but the few things that Dames' does, it does damn well (ahaha, get it???). Waffles were fluffy, light, buttery, and just so fucking perfect. Didn't have the made-in-a-waffle-iron look, were beautifully imperfect squares of wheat-y soul food mama goodness. Chicken fried to the perfect texture, not overwhelmingly greasy as most fried chicken ends up being. Portion sizes just right, contrary to my belief coming in (not as food-coma inducing as a Chinese buffet). 

The delicious simplicity speaks for itself, and I barely touched the sauce (also fantastic) because the chicken and waffles were just so fucking good on their own and I didn't dare overwhelm the blissful subtleness, not even simultaneously putting chicken and waffles in my mouth as the combo might otherwise suggest.

2. Variety - 7 types of schmears (sweet orgasmic butter creme spread), favorite was peach & apricot. Blueberry, sweet potato, classic waffles. Go w/ the classic first. Classic is classic for a reason.

What I got: recommended for: first-timers, light eaters, sweet simplicity

• Dueling Roosters - Rd. I - four chicken wings on classic waffle, choice of two spreads (try Peach & Apricot)
• 
  

LOCATION: Downtown Durham
317 W. Main St.

http://www.dameschickenwaffles.com

Sunday Comics

Apologies for the lag in posts. Been busy this week with midterms and non-academic related activities ;), and so has Katherine. Expect a few posts soon!


Friends...

http://nedroid.com/2011/02/grilling-weather/

...you can always be yourself around them.

What the hell is wrong with Mad Hatter’s frosting??

(And why the hell haven’t they changed it?)

Besides allowing the title of this post to speak for itself, I’d also like to add what exactly I found wrong with it. I would be professional and all, and buy a slice of one again to carefully taste test and then write the gory details of my consensus here, but if you think I take my blog that seriously you are sadly (or happily, for my sanity) mistaken. 

From what I recall, the frosting tasted like Mad Hatter’s wanted to go all local, and therefore decided to purchase milk and butter from the nearest location, which happened to have nothing but wax cows that produced milk that tasted waxy. Sorry for the redundancy, but I just wanted to convey how I felt after, upon tasting that otherwise beautiful frosting, tasted a taste of waxy taste. Waxyyy…

I mean,

Why why why? Perhaps it is because they hold a monopoly

As one of the only bake-shops nearby, so they have no problem with their unpleasant ratio of butter in their frosting.

X! Woe is my flabs!

You should stay away from their cakes, no matter how beautiful they are.

^*I had the common sense to only try their cakes twice, from The Perk. But from what my roommate tells me, she agrees about the waxy part as well. Therefore the facts supporting my review are sound.

Voodoo Valentine's

via http://www.postsecret.com/

Valentine's Day

http://vimeo.com/15263537 (MUST turn on fullscreen!)

by Leo Bridle

Alpine Atrium (BC) - Sugar Cookie (w/ M&Ms)

This sugar cookie is incredible, and I'm incredibly picky about cookies (I have never tasted a satisfactory chocolate chip cookie). Especially if you are a short-bread lover who is on a diet and therefore reverts to its cousin, the regular cookie, rather than working out and then consuming the real thing later. It looks so freakin' unassuming, like the typical over-sized cookie that's always too big to finish (and may be of questionable age), and yet the stores do not seem to recognize that perhaps it would attract more consumers if their cookies were actually smaller and cheaper, because who eats a face-sized cookie for a meal (which inevitably happens with cookie-lovers or those with poor impulse control) without feeling guilty afterwards and therefore masochistically decides to continue buying it the future?

On whim, I bought this cookie around midnight last night (or this morning? or this night? or a few hours before the break of dawn? w/e). Me and my roommate tried it and the buds of our tasters experienced a buttery, delightful surprise of the most supreme degree. The M&Ms were irrelevant, merely sprinkles of unnecessary calories and fake chocolate-y taste. The texture could have been better (the cookie is a little hard, so I recommend not using your front teeth to bite into it).

The cookie's at the BC Alpine every time I've been there. If you have poor impulse control, bring a friend to carry some of the calories too. But everything else equal (meaning your metabolism is equivalent to my roommate's and you will love this cookie as much as we did), eating the whole damn thing at midnight not only will not make you fat, but it will temporarily make you a very happy person as well.

 

Sunday Comics

http://www.invisiblehairsuit.com/genesis.htm

http://www.invisiblehairsuit.com/the_bully.htm

Edinburgh

Recently, I went to the beautiful city of Edinburgh over the school inter-semester break with my friend Peach. We decided our goal for the day was to climb up this hill called Arthur's Seat... but alas it started raining!

Without rain, though, there would be no double rainbows! Can you see it (on left)?

I admit, I feel that although I go to Edinburgh quite often, I usually stay in the main area of Prince's Street. This time, we ventured out to the Royal Mile, a stretch of road that leads from Edinburgh Castle to Holyroodhouse Palace. Narrower roads and older buildings give this area a more antiquated (and tourist-y) feel.

We made our way along the streets taking shelter in various museums and shops along the way. Three museums we visited were the Museum of Childhood, Museum of Edinburgh, and the People's Story Museum. I liked how they were all small and specialized, each bringing different stories to understanding the city as a whole :) All were free admission. We even got free postcards... and free shelter from the rain!

Another place we came across was an antique map store.

The owner was quite friendly and resourceful. When he learned we were from St. Andrews, he showed us a drawing of the place from 300 years ago... it looks exactly the same...

We also chanced upon a small confectionery shop. We actually thought it was a thrift store at first... maybe it was the sewing machine that threw us off.

Yeah... still not sure what the sewing machine was doing there... I wish we had asked.

And last was the Fudge House! Sugar rush much?

There are also a lot of festivals that happen in the city. A nice one is the Music Festival that takes place around August where you can see performances from all around the world. I think its something Diana would really enjoy... maybe she should come by someday and take a look, please...*hint hint* :)

Recipe - Desi-style tea (Dorm Edition)

Thanks to my roommate for this recipe. I used to drink coffee for my caffeine, but now I drink nothing but this (except Joe Van Gogh's Greek Frappe, which is so good btw that I don't have sufficient words or time to write about it. fyi, I also converted three of my friends to it already. Give it a try.). Don't get me wrong, it's not like some 5-star tea. But it's easy, satisfying, and decent for when you need caffeine for late nights.
 
What is desi-style tea? In a nutshell, people in India and Pakistan make tea that is significantly better than the white-people kind, because they boil it slowly and gradually, to get all the flavors out of it or something. This kind of preparation is the desi-style.

Microwave Desi-style Black Tea

• a mug
• (2) black tea Lipton bags
• water (of the Pellegrino kind, if you feel this somehow enhances the quality of your microwave tea)
• milk

1. Put everything in the mug....
2. ...until it's filled about 3/4 way through
3. ....and microwave for 3 minutes, uncovered.

Milk can be any kind. I use skim because I try to be healthy, but of course I'd rather use whole like my roommate does. But I have recently compromised with my carton of half & half.

Hi my name is Katherine :)

Hi everyone! So glad to be joining this blog! I still remember the days back in high school when Diana and I would sit in the library looking at food and travel magazines instead of working (yeah... sadly, not a lot has changed). Maybe this blog will help us make such a use of time into something more productive... maybe...

Let me just warn you all, Diana exaggerated on that previous post... I have not dated various hot European men... and I'm sure we don't all eat escargot... because for one thing there are vegetarians here, too... like me :)

... because eating vegetables looks so much cuter :3

Anyways, right now I live in this small picturesque town in Scotland called St. Andrews.

I'm studying Geography and Geoscience here. I love music, cooking, and traveling around. I think in regards to traveling and being a tourist in general, being in the UK is fantastic! Lots of history (castles!), convenient public transportation, cheap flights to the rest of Europe, etc. I can live without a car!

I know Diana's stuck in North Carolina practically all time, so when I do travel to different places, I will try to share as many stories and pictures as I can :)

INTRODUCING!....Katherine!

Hey guys, so my friend Katherine, who I go a whiles back with, will also be joining as a contributer to this blog. She's studying in Europe right now, which means that she's cool and most likely has dated really hot European dudes. Therefore, she will have much interesting stuff to talk about. She also owns a Nikon D60, which means that she will also be taking high-quality pictures of Europe, food, and men (as well as women). 

EDIT: So Katherine kindly reminded me a second ago that I failed to introduce myself...

Hi, my name is Diana. Here is a dry introduction about myself:

College: Duke University
Major: Biology (pharmacology concentration), Public Policy
Interests: finding out what I want to do with my life, film, music, the usual.
Activities: Campus Concert Series, Duke Microfinance Leadership, college radio DJ, pharmacology lab, co-developing a business plan for Acción Emprendedora (the branch starting in Durham, hopefully soon)


How this blog began (today): I like to muse randomly to my poor roommate about the random things at the random-est of times. She suggested several times in the past that I should just start a blog, so finally this evening I decided to do just that to generate productivity out of what was looking to be a very unfruitful evening. Hope you guys enjoy the blog, and feel free to comment or leave suggestions!

Dale's Indian Food - Review #1

I've been procrastinating too long now, so I'll make this review short and sweet:

• Navrattan Korma, makes the belly warma'.
• Aloo Paratha, I want more, mamma.
• Gulab Jamun, yum yum yum.

In case this review was not particularly informative, too abstract, totally irrelevant, and/or off the mark, here is how I would sum up tonight's Merchants on Points experience with these particular foods from Dale's Indian Cuisine (which holds a monopoly as the only Indian place on the Merchants on Points menu, but fortunately does not always abuse this power to the lowest possible quality):

It was verrryy good. Order these items. They were creamy, savory, and honey/buttery, respectively.

(Disclaimer: I did not make up this logo using basic Microsoft Word 2000 tools in a jiffy, just because I needed a logo. Dale's made it.)

Joe Van Goghs - Dark Chocolate Expresso Beans

If you are a dark chocolate lover and like coffee as well, you are a fool for not having purchased these magical beans from Joe Van Goghs while supplies lasted. Seriously, you are stupid - you are so stupid. (If you didn't get this joke, please refer to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMtZfW2z9dw).

Not only were they $2.99 for a bag nearly bursting at its plastic seams in bean-y goodness, but also in terms of caffeine utility these were a much bigger bang (pun intended), both mentally and physically (as in the physical reaction to caffeine overload, not the other kind you dirty people) for the buck (no pun intended here, sorry). 

They were also "magically delicious ©" and not overtly sweet like most mass-produced (if these are mass-produced) coffee beans, such as Starbuck's. In my opinion, dark chocolate lovers love dark chocolate because it's not as sweet and fakey-milky/grainy as regular milk chocolate. So if you're going to make a dark chocolate bean, people, at least not make it too sweet! Unless you happen to be making a dark chocolate bean targeting milk chocolate people who would like to think that eating dark chocolate will make them feel more sophistiated/foodie-like, but can't stand the bitterness of dark chocolate and thus revert to sweet dark chocolate that might as well be called a really dark milk chocolate bar without e milk. 

Well Joe Van Goghs does it the right way. This, plus the creaminess of just plain good dark chocolate, made every single point of my 2.99 food points worthwhile. Try it if you get the chance.

Green & Black = Hazelnut & Currant Dark Chocolate bar

The Green & Black Organic Hazelnut Currant bar is basically a Ferrero Rocher for people who don’t want to admit that they like a candy -- ubiquitous in the most unlikely places such as drugstores and the corner Asian market -- that is now associated with “candy gifts from cheapos” (especially Asians, from my experience). Why? Because this tastes exactly like a Ferrero Rocher, except a little less oversweet, plus the yuppie plus of antioxidant boost of currant bits that merely recognized to my tongue as “some random sweet berry bits”. 

The dark chocolate quality is average – I don’t claim to taste the subtleties like “woodsy flavors from the __(insert South American country here)__ with a hint of cherry, and perhaps a little nuttiness of the cashew nut as well”. But I've tasted better. In fact, the abundance of hazelnut and fruits actually disguises the dark chocolate flavor, which I feel is the best part of a dark chocolate bar.

But my roommate liked it, and according to my data 50% of those surveyed like it. So if you have food points to spare, grab em' while you can from The Perk in Von der Heydn.