A little mushroom grove of sweetness.
Sometimes the right decoration can make an event out of a very normal thing.

I purchased some Meiji “Kinoko No Yama” mushrooms on impulse at Uwajimaya, an Asian specialty super-store in Seattle. I thought they’d look adorable on a treat for Christmas! Some people gave the little mushroom guys quite a negative review (or a very close relative to what I purchased), but honestly they’re no worse than Hershey kisses in quality.

I got the recipe for some Dulce de Leche cheesecake squares off of the Smitten Kitchen blog, and had high hopes for it based on the description and the comments. The cheesecake itself had a very different, somewhat strange consistency. I think it’s the gelatin and the dulce de leche; the bite-size cakes had a custardy quality to them. It’s definitely creamy but perhaps doesn’t have the .. flake? .. I’m used to in a proper cheesecake. Perhaps I’m being too critical though – the husband said he’d love to eat the creamyness out of a big bowl if that was an option the next time I make it.

Seattle Pie in the Magnolia neighborhood is a cozy, spacious place to get that slice you didn’t want to have to spend 2 hours baking yourself. We tried slices from two of the pies – Apple, and the "Ultimate Crumb". Mike made a controversial statement to a dessert-lover like me – “You can’t mix your pies”. Or something along those lines. Anyway, I can kind of see his point now. I started with the Apple, which was amazing. But then when I had the Berry, it was so much sweeter that it made going back to the Apple kind of difficult. Oh dear Apple pie, it wasn’t your fault at all. The Berry pie just had that lil’ sumthin, I think it was the way the crust could be sold separately in a candy jar and probably pay most of the rent for the owners.

Tempting pie choices

Joe, one of the friendly employees

The Ultimate Berry-Crumb Pie

Mike and I left South Florida for good almost 2 years ago. However, we have a number of friends still living there, so we thought it would be a nice change of pace to have Thanksgiving down south. The day of the big Turkey was lovely and cozy, the fog kept the blazing sun at bay, and we were filled to the brim with stuffing and happy baby smiles.

Sub-tropical clouds. Quite different from the kinds of clouds we get in Seattle.

Two days later, we were looking around for something less American, more simple. More European, in fact. We also wanted great bread. Our friend Jay raved a few times about Côté France, a cute little bakery in Boca Raton.

Pistachio Tart with mousse

Pineapple Tart with Grand Marnier

Most excellent fruit tart

One of the owners, Claudine, was extremely friendly and delved into complete explanations of each of the desserts I pointed at. The pineapple tart grabbed my eye mostly due to the marshmallow-like globs on the top. Claudine said the topping was a mixture of whipped cream and custard. She also said that they used Grand Marnier to add more orange flavor. Yum!

Charming Claudine

Jay pointed out that fruit tarts are done poorly very often. You can find them in most supermarkets, the glaze clammy from overnight hardening and the fruit usually under-ripe. But when done right, just right, the simple fruit tart can be the star of any dessert display. I like how the apple in this tart is sliced to remind me of a parrot’s ruffled head-feathers!

Maria, the proprietress

Today was the second of my now weekly treks to investigate new shops and businesses that make something sweet. With Leila again as my trusty sidekick, we armed ourselves with a puppy umbrella and were ready to stomp though the rain. We settled on someplace not too far from home, Curio Confections in the U-District.

I asked Maria, the proprietress at Curio Confections, about her candy selection. She apologized for the rather low inventory that morning, as well as for the fact that they had just run out of coffee. I was OK with those facts, except that I would’ve ordered some fruit jellies if they had been in stock. I took a quick look over what was in the glass display case, and ordered her gingerbread pudding and an orange spice tea.

Now here’s where I begin to fall in love with the place. Not only did Maria offer to top the gingerbread dessert with whipped cream, she offered to put it in the oven. I know that ovens are a very old staple of any kitchen, but they seem to have fallen out of regular use by those in the food trade looking for a quick warm-up. Believe me, please, restaurants and bakeries I frequent, the oven is superior to the microwave. Even though it takes longer, if given the choice between a beepy nuke and an oven, I’ll choose the oven every time.

Gingerbread Pudding

The rainy Northwest – as viewed from indoors

Although a bit grey, the above photo illustrates what I love about Seattle in the fall and winter months. Its quiet, slightly moody, contemplative side, punctuated with tall evergreens and ever-present sounds of droplets falling or wooshing wind. Cool, rainy weather is a great excuse to seek shelter and get cozy. Urban planning may dictate that our city’s future is UP rather than OUT, but I love looking out a window at a group of older, well-kept homes rather than more condos.

Here are some more cute photos of the shop’s interior:

This sanguine ship-shop has lollipops!

Perhaps we could convince them to make hot air pinatas?