Egypt: Memories and more

I just returned from Egypt--The Land of Civilization--and I am still recovering from being "civilized". When I landed in Cairo, I truly had no idea what to expect. I was certainly not anticipating quaint and charming scenarios, but I have to admit I was totally unprepared for the city's chaos, noise, lack of traffic rules, and general crazy quilt of people and action. Yet as I traveled throughout the country, and got more acclimated to the whole idea of really being in Egypt--Egypt! (me! a little ole Midwestern girl!), I found the people friendly and warm--happy to see visitors(obviously many were interested in baksheesh)but mostly genuinely wanting to make tourists feel welcome in their country. And of course, the antiquities are unsurpassable, from the pyramids to the temples. I did discover that candy shops are few and far between (and liquor even more distant)but I had some really sweet experiences --and hey, that's what this blog is all about. Stories to follow.

How to drink a candy bar

This morning while email chatting--I mean working--my friend Sue from the Detroit News sent me a note with this subject line: "Just found a recipe for my favorite candy bar!" Hmmm. Who could resist that? The recipe comes from her friend and co-worker at the News, Melody Baetens who is also a part time bartender.

Milky Way
Drink this concoction as a chilled shot.
• ½ ounce of Baileys Irish Cream
• ¾ ounce of Kahlua
• ½ ounce of Tuaca (a citrus and vanilla liqueur)
• dash of cream
Shake all ingredients together with ice and strain into a shot glass.

I can hardly wait to try it! Cheers to Sue and Melody! (Were you guys taste testing recipes at work today?)

Don't forget to check out Sue's blog: www.detnews.com/travelblog

Sweet memories of 2008

Best cake memory: Gateau de sirop cake at Cafe des Amis in Breaux Bridge, LA

Best chocolate gelato memory: Vestri in Florence, Italy

Best overall chocolate tart in the world memory: Dolci & Dolcezze, Florence, Italy

(Also the sweet shop I would most like to own)

Best blackberry and pink grapefruit gelato memory: Giolitti in Rome, Italy
(How can you not love a place and a country where men in suits close deals with a handshake at a gelato shop??)

To be continued.

Chocolate Pot de Creme in Hyde Park

If I lived near the CIA (as in Culinary Institute of America) in Hyde Park, I'd go there every day for coffee and pastry, lunch or dinner. On a recent visit (I was in Poughkeepsie for my son's wedding), I only had time to wander through those hallowed cooking halls and visit the Apple Pie Bakery Cafe (it was too short notice to make reservations for a meal at the restaurants there). The cabinets in the hallway displayed antique sets of heart cookie cutters, carved wooden biscuit (cookie) molds, a collection of Twelfth Night charms found in the the traditional Twelfth Night cake, metal molds for sugar flowers, and more. And more. I fell into almost a sugar swoon. It's a wonderful place.

I was in heaven and I hadn't even walked into the bakery. The Bakery! Every item in the display case was sweeter and cuter than the next. I took a few photos before I was gently informed: NO PHOTOS. But the pot de creme baked in the egg shell and topped with cocoa nibs I had to have. I also bought the steamed gingerbread (served in a tiny bamboo steamer!), the apple butter cheesecake topped with candied Hudson Valley apples, and a pastry with Mexican chocolate and a homemade marshmallow on top. I passed on the 61 per cent dark chocolate tasting because I had to. All the desserts were in these sweet darling doll size portions though--and no, I did not eat them all at once. It was at least 24 hours before they were all gone.
They also sold jars of jam and caramel with fleur de sel (I bought two jars), various sea salts, and lollipops in exotic flavors! When we left (I was slumped in the front seat and a little sleepy but still excited) I also noticed that all the streets on the campus of the CIA are named for herbs. Parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme. I want to go back to a college where I can learn things like how to bake pot de creme in an egg shell, and how to make lollipops and my own caramel with fleur de sel. Useful delicious studies.

Check out http://www.ciachef.edu/ for more information on visiting.

Sweet on Italy

With airfare skyhigh, and worried we might lose our frequent flier miles, my best friend Angie and I decided to cash in our miles and take a trip to Italy. No matter the dollar is in the tank. We figured meals can be made on gelato. And guess what? They can!

We ate gelato every day--sometimes twice a day. Stay tuned for our favorite gelato shops, all duly recorded (as you can see) by yours truly. Oh yeah, we did have a few pasta meals and made several prosecco stops too. After all, woman cannot live by gelato alone. (But she can survive quite some time on it.)

Michigan: Mackinac Island fudge

A couple weeks ago the Sunday Pioneer Press travel section ran a story I did on Mackinac Island (http://www.twincities.com/travel/ci_9566606). Although I didn't have the word count to include some info on specific fudge shops on the island, I thought I'd at least mention here my take on fudge in general and Mackinac Island in particular.

First off, before I even talk about the island's sweet shops, it's important to know that I consider my mom's fudge the all time best. I've never tasted fudge like hers in any fudge shops. For that matter, I've never tasted any homemade fudge like hers, period. She made the kind of fudge that was hand-beaten. I can still see her with her well worn wooden spoon and hear the noise it made in the bowl. Before she beat it, she would drop a droplet of the warm chocolate that had been bubbling on the stove for awhile, into a glass of cold water. That was how she could tell the exact time when it was ready to take off the heat and begin the beating.

The result of her chocolate fudge was not a creamy soft light and high confection--it was a dense dark chocolate rich with butter and cream--barely an inch high.

At any rate, I say all this so that you can understand why the fudge I have tasted at many tourist type shops does little for me and why I may taste it, but rarely buy any. It has to be exceptionally good before I'll part with my cash--and I can count on one hand the places I've bought it. One of them just happens to be Jo-Ann's Fudge shop on Mackinac Island. I had read that Murdock's Fudge was the original shop that started selling the sweet, and my driver who took me on a tour of the island recommended May's variation as his all-time favorite. But after tasting Jo-Ann's plain chocolate fudge, I knew I had to buy some for my flight home. It was buttery, rich and creamy, but not cloying sweet. It was definitely still not my mom's but it was still definitely worthy.


For the record, Mackinac Island has an annual Fudge Festival. Check out http://www.mackinacisland.org/fudge.html for more information.

Ireland: Galway bakeries

When people think of Ireland, they don't generally think about fabulous food or delicious sweets. They think of Guinness and fish and chips obviously, and green green pastures and grazing sheep. They think of music and pubs and soft misty mornings and warm friendly people.

But I have to say that while visiting Ireland last November, I experienced all of the above--yes, even the fabulous food and delicious sweets. (I also experienced rain. But that's another story.) This being a blog about sweet treats, I'm here to tell you that I found Galway an especially sweet town. The first shop I happened upon was the Gourmet Tart Co. where I spotted the pedestal platter full of those incredible looking strawberry meringues in the window (pictured above) as soon as I started up the street for my one day of shopping. However, I decided to wait to purchase one until on my way BACK to the car. Mistake. Big mistake. Actually on any trip, this is a Cardinal Mistake (CM). Never, never, NEVER ASSUME you will be able to find your way back to any particular spot you see ever again-- whether to take a photo, or purchase something you spotted in the window. Of course, if I had been with my girlfriends, this would never have occurred in the first place. They would have reminded me. But I was with my family. At any rate, you guessed it. When I returned to the shop (I did find it again), and went in to buy my meringue, the shop girl sadly informed me that they were sold out. And while the ones in the window were still displayed, she told me they were not fresh. (I was ready to take one of them. I mean, meringues stay fresh for days I wanted to tell her.) Need I say I was crushed? I was. Luckily, I was not leaving Galway until the next afternoon. The next day I bought and ate the meringue as soon as I got to the shop. And it WAS well worth waiting for!! I have not had such an exceptional meringue since. It was on par and in fact superior to a few meringues I have eaten in Paris. I would love to know how they managed to get the strawberry jam swirled so perfectly in them

Galway had several other bakeries as well. I visited Griffin's several times as they sold jars of orange marmalade made with Irish whiskey and I wanted several to bring home for gifts. Also, the fam discovered if you bought a cup of tea there, they threw in these delectable mini scones that simply melted on the tongue. One of my sons talked me in to buying a wedge of some chocolate covered confection with dried fruit too (dried fruit always raises a red flag with me). But it turned out to be quite yummy. In fact, so yummy, I wished I'd bought more. Two other bakeries I also checked out were The Oven Door (a cute little shop) and Goyas--where the wedding cakes in the windows were darling and decadent and different than any I've seen here in the USA.

Above: Me-- finally with my meringue!!!