Desserts – Page 17

Sage French Cake and Coffee-quality food and a New Year Resolution I have kept!

February 18, 2008 Cathy Bakery, Caffeine Fix, Desserts, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is the blog, written by a bunch of friends about food we eat, sometimes with some side notes about other things we do while eating. Today, Cathy is blogging.

Hello. Cathy here. Part of my New Year Resolution for 2008 was to take time to relax every day. Even if only for a few minutes…an hour a least I think I told myself.

So, the other day The Mister and I were shopping at Nijiya Market and finally got ourselves over to French Cake, located in the same parking lot. Many people have told me to try it here, and I have said I would…and now, finally, in 2008, I have.

Should have done it sooner.

We tried the banana split mousse ($3.75)- a very gelatinous, firm mousse, with very strong, rich flavor of banana and blackberry syrup with a dense flavored thin slice of chocolate cake on the bottom and an unsweetened whipped cream on top. Perfect flavors for me- I don’t crave sweets and do appreciate the true flavors that were in each bite. Even the cocoa in the cake.

We got regular coffee from the pump pot. It was strong flavored and fresh.

One of my recommendations from Yummie Yummy was to try the tiramisu ($4), and I am so glad we did. An excellent rendition that was very fresh and very non sugared down, with fresh marscapone with cocoa and cake which was perfectly textured.

I will be stopping here regularly, as part of my wanting to stick to my New Year Resolution to relax for at least one hour daily- and not eat or drink in the car while driving…

Yeah…I made a New Years Resolution and somehow turned it into a reason to stop at a bakery at least once a week…I don’t want to hear it…

Sage French Cake and Coffee 3860 Convoy Street, Suite 112 San Diego, CA 92111 (858) 571-3484 Tues-Sat 10-8, Sun 10-6, Closed Mon

Red Berry-Frozen Yogurt on Convoy Street

August 17, 2007 Cathy Desserts, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

Red Berry has closed.

Cathy is blogging for mmm-yoso today. Kirk is probably still at work. Ed is, you know, in Yuma. It's a short one.

Frozen yogurt. It is everywhere. Sold by the ounce. With and without toppings. Sometimes sold by the cup. Crazy flavors. Cool interiors of stores. Crowds of people.

Eh, I don't crave sweets, you know this. But I have tried quite a few of these places. They are almost outnumbering Boba places. But I haven't seen any with free wi-fi. I do eat yogurt, the 79¢ cream top incarnation from Trader Joe's and the Cream Top from Brown Cow when it is on sale.

I have gone to the very busy new Frozen Yogurt place next to Tapioca Express and Tofu House on Convoy street. Once. They sell it by the ounce there. I got one swirl of peach and one swirl of plain. No toppings. It cost $1.64. It was good, it was frozen yogurt, I remember Heidi's Frogen Yozurt. It was a trend in the 70's and 80's. Meh. I have no cravings.

Here is the latest incarnation: Red Berry.

It is in the mall with Nijiya Market, Shanghai City, some other places, and Curry House. You know where.

If you enlarge the photo you can see the signs on the door-free samples! Whoo hoo! We were there.

The interior is kind of really neat- cool tables, cool chairs, really cool lighting and a neat effect on the stainless steel walls.

Here is a peek at the menu. $3 for a small (plain) yogurt, $4 for a small with toppings- as much as you want- you can top it one time only- The topping bar was pretty extensive- lots of fresh fruits and some dry stuff ( I did not see Mochi, but did not look for long).*** I was just informed that there are indeed mochi available as a topping, but they look like marshmallows and are easily passed over***

We sampled the blueberry (nice, smooth and tart and richly flavored), the green tea (not much tea flavor- tasted almost like the plain – and did not try the strawberry or mango and ordered a small cup 1/2 peach and 1/2 plain. $3.

Pretty darn large. (that is The Mister's big ole' hand holding the cup). Pretty darn good-plain was nice and tart and the peach had a real/not artificial sweet peach flavor- slightly tart. I liked that it was more creamy and not 'gritty' as some frozen yogurt I have tried. Enough for the two of us to share before we walked into Nijiya.

Oddly, there was no tip jar. We asked. Nice young man working there. He chatted with us. The one time I wish there was a tip jar.

Red Berry, Inc. Frozen Yogurt 3860 Convoy Street, #106 San Diego 92111 (858)571-7947

There is another location in Newbury Park. It's a chain!

Portland: Voodoo Doughnuts, Stumptown Coffee, and other “stuff”

June 5, 2007 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix, Desserts, Portland, Oregon, Travel

For people who don’t like to eat in restaurants, the In-Laws sure did enjoy the breakfast buffets at the Embassy Suites. I on the other had other things in mind. And though several people mentioned that the location of the Embassy Suites in Downtown Portland was right on the "edge" of the more "scary" part of Downtown Portland, we had no problems. In fact I loved that we were just a block away from two of my favorite places in Portland.

The first being Voodoo Doughnuts.

This small and dark little doughnut shop with the edgy-punk look makes up some pretty good doughnuts.

And though there are many "fun" and offbeat names….stuff like the "Triple Chocolate Penetration", the "Arnold Palmer", and the ah..ahem, "Cock-n-Balls", being the unhip and boring Guy that I am…I just order the Old Fashioned Glazed. Now the Missus needs to undergo some serious Krispy Kreme deprogramming, She found the doughnut too light and fluffy, and gasp"…. old fashioned", but not so bad that She was able to hold off taking a bite until I took a photo.

As you can see it is good stuff! Reminds me of the doughnuts we used to get at this little renegade doughnut shop in Honolulu Chinatown. The shop located in a tiny doorway would only open from midnight to about 6 am, and made some great doughnuts.

Voodoo Doughnut
22 Sw 3rd Ave
Portland, OR 97204

It was my plan to take my doughnut down the street and grab a cup o’ joe from my favorite coffee shop in Portland(the doughnut never made it):

Stumptown Coffee Roasters.

Now from what I understand Stumptown hand roasts all their own coffee beans in small batches. Just watching the Baristas hard at work, you can tell they’re pros.

And though the crew is rather "detached" and the room cavernous(better for the afternoon DJ, I guess) and loud. The coffee is always rich and smooth. All three cups I had there were excellent. The Missus even thought the coffee was "too smooth", and lacked character….sounds like She needs some Starbucks deprogramming as well!

Stumptown Coffee Roasters
128 Sw 3rd Ave
Portland, OR 97204

After breakfast we met up and walked the 2-3 blocks to the Portland Saturday Market, which I’ve posted on before , so I thought I’d just do a few photos.

Now the In-Laws are not big on lunch, so I managed to sneak in a "snack" from this booth:

I ordered some Pierogies($4.75). You know me and dumplings! A friend’s Mom used to always make us fresh pierogies when she visited, and boy did I love them! These however, were not that good.

The toppings were much better than the pierogies. The potatoes were really dry. But still this was more than enough carbs to keep me going.

You see, the day was just beginning. With the help of FOY ("friend of yoso") Guilty Carnivore(thanks, man!), I was able to plan our day to the last detail. Some timing was involved, you see, even though the Max Light Rail ran every few minutes to Washington Park, the Washington Park Shuttle wasn’t beginning service until later in the month. So we had to coordinate our arrival with Route 63, or wait up to an hour between buses. As it happened we did well, and made to our destination…..first

The International Rose Test Garden.

And though we were a bit early in the season, and many of the roses weren’t in bloom, we still enjoyed the beauty of it all.

We also made time for the Portland Japanese Garden which is right across the street, also worth a visit.

I was surprised at how the photos turned out from my little ultracompact camera……

We managed to catch the Bus back to downtown and after getting the In-Laws settled and a short break went out for dinner……

To Be Continued!

Portland: More Foodcarts, Mio Gelato, and Kell’s Irish Restaurant & Pub

June 3, 2007 mmm-yoso Desserts, Indian Restaurants, Portland, Oregon, Pubs and Pub Grub, Thai Restaurants

When I asked my In-Laws where they wanted to visit on this trip to the Mainland, they said Seattle. They also said they wanted to go by train……. Which was no problem really, I've taken Amtrak's Coast Starlight several times, though my trips have always been from Seattle to LA. So what we did was send off the In-Laws on Amtrak, and leave on a flight the next morning since the Coast Starlight takes about 36 hours to reach Portland. We arrived a bit early, and got to our hotel at about 1pm. Since the standard check-in time is 3pm, I thought we'd check our luggage, get a bite to eat, and stretch our legs a bit. When we arrived I went to the Bellman and asked to check my bags. In the typical Portland manner, he told me, "that would be fine, but why don't you just check at the front desk, your room might be ready." And to my surprise our 2 bedroom suite was ready. Seems like my lucky day. After freshening up a bit, we were starved, and just wanted something quick to eat…and I knew just the place!

Yep, we headed to the food carts that line SW 5th Avenue. Now I had told the Missus about these food carts, and she saw my photos and my previous post, but there's nothing quite like being there yourself. The only problem was deciding what to get…..

The Missus settled on some Indian Food, not from the New Taste of India…

But from the "Real" Taste of India a few carts down. Talk about competition!

Now this food cart had a 9th anniversary special going on….some chicken-something or other, but the Missus was in the mood for lamb, and ordered the Lamb Saagwala, cubes of lamb cooked in a spinach, garlic, and ginger sauce/stew($7.00).

The portion size was quite large, and we weren't able to finish it. There was an abundance of well prepared and moist lamb. Didn't quite know what to expect, and this was better than what I had anticipated. I thought that the pieces of ginger were too large and disrupted my tastebuds at inopportune times, but the Missus loved it! In fact, She told me it was Her best meal in Portland….She was kidding….I think…….

In the midst of ordering paralysis, I decided to grab something from this Food Cart, called Thai Sky(????):

Since we had plans for a nice dinner, I decided on the Daily Special, Pad Kee Mao(Drunken Noodles) with Tofu($5.00):

I ordered this at medium heat, and it was a bit hotter than what I consider medium. The noodles were done well, they where a nice al dente. The flavor was interesting, I'm used to Pad Kee Mao that's had a bit of a sweet flavor, this version just had a mild soy(not fish sauce) flavor. Still, it did the job, which was to hold me over until dinner.

There's a ton of construction on 5th and 6th avenues for a new Max rail line called Green Line which will connect Portland State University to Union Station. So signs like the one on the right are on Evey corner listing the businesses. Did I mention that I love the public transportation system in Portland?

At about this time the Missus got a call from Her Mom telling Her that their train had been delayed about 2 hours. so we decided to take a walk around Portland. And after doing a bit of window shopping, the Missus told me that She needed "something sweet". Which was no problem since we were just up the street from Mio Gelato.

This coffeeshopish looking Gelato joint had always been full everytime I passed it on my last trip to Portland, so I figured it must be worth a try. The Missus did the ordering, so we don't remember the prices. But She got one scoop of Grapefruit, and one scoop of Mango.

Not being much of a "sweets" person, I found the Grapefruit to be very much to my liking ( all credit to the Missus here). Refreshing and palate cleansing, it was very nice. Both the Missus (who has a sweet tooth) and I found the mango gelato to be overly sweet and rich, which overpowered any mango flavor.

Still, I can see why this place is very popular.

**** Mio Gelato has closed

Mio Gelato
25 NW 11th Ave
Portland, OR 97209

As we made our way back to the hotel, the Missus received another call from Her Mom saying that the train is further delayed…bummer! And though the Missus's Parents were not as late as we thought, by the time we got them settled, and something to eat (they have an aversion to eating in restaurants), we were very tired. So with some reluctance we crossed Biwa off our list, and walked on over to Kell's 2 blocks away.

Having been to Kell's in Seattle, I knew more or less what to expect, and really won't go into details here. Though as always, the Missus asked if they had some rice for Her Irish Stew(maybe one of these days they will) which was pretty good. And She enjoyed the soda bread.

Everyone was ordering sandwiches and burgers, but I ordered the Fish and Chips which were pretty bad. The fish dry and flavorless, and the chips are basic "industrial" fries.

Still, that draft Boddington's was nice, not overly chilled, but a perfect "cool", nice and mildly creamy, with a sweet finish. After a sip, the Missus decided that She wanted the Boddington's, so I ordered a Harp, which I thought would be too bitter for Her, but after a sip She decided that "this" was Her beer. So I finished with a draft Guinness, which I know the Missus won't touch. Strangely, it tasted over carbonated and very dull in flavor. Oh well, we were still in Portland, and had another whole day ahead of us!

Kell's Irish Restaurant & Pub
112 Sw 2nd Ave
Portland, OR 97204

Postscript: The Kindness of Portland Part 1

You know, I've written about the sincere kindness of the people of Portland before. But still, I'm always surprised…….

We were taking a break at Pioneer Courthouse Square, just having a seat to rest our feet a bit. And we noticed amongst all the construction, there seemed to be a major "to do" being set-up.

We were wondering what this event was. Just about that time, a Police Officer happened to walk past, and the Missus decided to ask him. Now usually we'd get a gruff "I don't know", or some distracted answer…. But this Gentleman replied; "I'm just on duty, so let me find out, I'll be right back…" Which made me feel really bad, I didn't want to be taking up His time. A few minutes later, He's walking back to us, and is talking on a cellphone. As he walks up to us, we can overhear that he's asking someone our question! Now, I'm really feeling guilty, since I'm sure he has more important things to do….. By the time he reached us, I could tell that he'd made a few calls, and he explained to us, what this was. Funny thing is, neither the Missus nor I can remember what event this was. But we sure remember that police officer! As I tried to mutter an apology for taking up his precious time, he smiled and told me, "well, you may be the first person who asks me what is going on here, but you probably won't be the last. So I better know what's happening." As he left, he introduced Himself and shook our hands….. So here's to you Officer Thompson! You're a great ambassador for the City of Portland!

Arely French Bakery Cafe- Excellent food!

April 23, 2007 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts, European Restaurants, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Cathy is just letting you see some of her meals, versus Kirk showing you what He ate.

Hi again. The Mister and I were on a quest for some weird items the other day (among them, helium quality balloons and an Old Maid card game), and ended up at the 99 Cent Only store in Clairemont Mesa mall. When we were leaving, of course I was hungry and I looked over at Woody’s Hot Dogs, where I have enjoyed a few good meals. (I still can’t figure out how to put up a link to the post that Kirk did on Woody’s. Look it up under the "hot dogs" section of the blog on the left column here; and, really, we have heard all the Woody jokes already). I noticed on the corner right on the other side of the parking lot, the old Liquor store was gone and a pick Up Stix was in its place. Then I looked for the Viking Bakery and it, too, was gone and in its place was this signage.

Now for some reason, I have been seeing and going to a number of French Bistro places around the county lately and had intended to go back and blog them, but hadn’t had the time Fortunately, I had my camera with me, so here it goes.

This one, Arely, is the smallest of all I have gone to, but also the least expensive. There isn’t much atmosphere,but the food was *excellent*, and I mainly talk about the food in this blogging forum, so that is what I will concentrate on.

There are 3 tables inside, two tables out in front and the menu is on the wall (in all the other French Bistros I have gone to, there is a menu you can sit down and read, then you go up and order and sit back down again). This way, at Arely, is fine though.

We decided to try some "basics" to see how well it was done.

The Parisien sandwich-ham with Brie, lettuce and tomato on a baguette ($4.50). The bread is fresh made in the store. The ham was black forest, and excellent, and, I dare say, too much ham was in the sandwich…the Brie was not warm, but cut into chunks with the rind and I could taste it, and it was good. I would have been happy with just the Brie and bread, actually…and the lettuce was crispy and tomato slice had flavor (unusual these days).

We got a wedge of the spinach and cheese quiche- only $2.95. A quarter of the made in store quiche, filled with fresh spinach, a nutty flavored swiss cheese, creamy eggy custard, nutmeg and a delightful, light crust. They offer 3 flavors a day the spinach and cheese, ham and cheese and vegetable) and you can buy a whole quiche for $12…of course, I would just buy 4 individual slices…(this is when Basic Math comes into play in real life).

We also wanted to try the French Onion soup ($3.50), since it is a French Cafe… DO NOT be put off by the styrofoam cup. The ambiance is the *only* thing lacking here. You are not paying for it, you are paying for good food, and that is what you get.

The soup was superb; filled with a fresh herb-y, beefy broth topped with slice of fresh bread and more of that wonderful swiss cheese (it tasted close to Jarlsberg, so nutty in flavor).

The bakery items are made in store and are beautiful. I saw one person eating an omelet and it was quite large. I will go back for breakfast.

This place has excellent food. If you are going to the movie theater just on the other side of the mall, this is a place to go to either before or after. They have just extended their hours (used to be open only until 3 p.m.). Give it a try, you will not be disappointed.

Arley French Bakery Cafe 4961-a Clairemont Mesa ( in the Clairemont Mall at Clairemont and Clairemont Mesa; Two places down from Woody’s Hot Dogs) Open 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Mon-Sat, 7:30 – 6:00 p.m. Sunday

Thanh Son Tofu – San Diego

March 1, 2007 mmm-yoso Desserts, Markets & Grocers, Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Thanh Son Tofu moved, then closed

We'd been trying to get to Thanh Son Tofu on El Cajon Boulevard for a while. First off, they are located a bit off the street with one of those psycho-free-for-all parking lots where people seem to define their own parking stalls and rules. In addition Thanh Son seems to close rather early, so I've missed the boat a few times, before we finally made it at about 1pm on a recent weekend afternoon.

We entered the large almost empty shop, and no one was around, and not much food either. There were many, many signs though!

Wow, so Thanh Son does Banh Mi? But I really didn't understand much else.

In the meantime, the Missus had struck up a conversation with a nice young man, who told us that they were out of tofu. In fact, they usually run out of fresh tofu before noon. Bummer. Meanwhile the Missus's short attention span had gotten ahold of Her and She had moved on, and was checking this stuff out.

A large variety of Che, otherwise known as "sweet soup", those very refreshing dessert drinks of which there must be hundreds of variations. These were $2.50 a piece which I thought was on the high side until I noticed a sign over the cash register.

Basically buy 2 get one free! Baaargain city….. So, the Missus hit the jackpot and selected Her Che. I'm not a dessert person, but the one She enjoyed the most had taro and slices of ginger in coconut milk, which I thought was pretty good. Unfortunately, there's no photo since it never made it home. Here are photos of the other two cups of Che the Missus had.

Come to think of it, these were 12oz cups…and were pretty large.

We also got some of the fried tofu we saw(10 pieces for $1.25):

After the Missus talked the young man into giving Her some samples(She is very useful sometimes…) we got the version on the left, it had onion, bean thread, and black fungus in it. Crunchy exterior, nice flavor, with just a touch of salt. The version on the right was a lemongrass tofu which we didn't think had as much flavor, nor the great texture. We were still a bit disappointed that we missed out on the tofu….

At this point, getting some tofu from Thanh Son had become a mission. My mantra became, "I'm going to get me some tofu…or die trying!" I got up at 630am on a recent Sunday, and made my way to Thanh Son. If there is one benefit to arriving at 7am, it's that I had my choice of parking spaces without having to worry about being blocked in. I walked into the shop and noticed three people hard at work making spring rolls and other items. Luckily the same young man who served us the other day was there; the other two people only spoke Vietnamese. I ordered two block of tofu($1.25/ea), and also an order of the noodles that looked really good.

The large container of the noodles cost $3.50, and was okay, just a bit under flavored for us.

Oh yes, and finally the tofu! Now due to communication problems, I'm not sure if Thanh Son sells a variety of Tofu. I was given two large blocks of firm tofu.

The tofu was quite dense, but short on the strong "soy bean" flavor I was expecting. The tofu is well suited for deep frying or various stir fries. I'll probably be back to see if other tofu products are sold. Till then, if you're in the mood for some fresh tofu, you know where you can get it.

Thanh Son Tofu
4616 El Cajon Blvd Ste 15
San Diego, CA 92115

Observing Lent, Part One-Paczki Day

February 28, 2007 Cathy Desserts, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Cathy is blogging about some silly stuff. Kirk is not .

Hello Again. This post is late, as my Friends in Detroit are keenly aware. I was kind of busy and didn’t get a chance to even start the post until it was too late.

This isn’t a religious post, per se. It is an introduction to an explanation of why you are seeing $1 Filet o’ Fish sandwichs at McDonald’s, $1 fish tacos at Rubio’s, a fish sandwich at Arby’s, as well as at KFC and full page ads for seafood at Ralphs. I have had a few friends remark to me about McDonald’s having its Fillet-o Fish Fridays and how that ‘seems to happen every so often’.

Lent is a Christian Observance. It starts on Ash Wednesday, 40 days before Easter. That was on February 20 this year. As you know, if you have been reading the blog, I was born and raised in Detroit and was also raised Catholic. I am not a Practicing Catholic now, but I do observe some of our rituals for a "just in case" scenario. Christians perform some type of sacrifice for the 40 days of Lent. Usually the sacrifice involves giving up a favorite food, but I also have some friends who will give up watching television, or the Internet…something that involves a sacrifice. The idea is that Christ died for our sins and He sacrificed and we should too. Christians Believe that on Easter, Christ rose from the dead and basically the sacrificing stops then and we all go back to whatever we did without for the previous 40 days.

ANYHOW, you all know about Mardi Gras…debauchery and partying in the Big Easy and all of that. That’s a giant party ends on the day before Lent. Its a major deal party in New Orleans…so, similarly…if you skew the definition of ‘similar’… mostly in the South East/Detroit area of Michigan, there is Paczki Day (its pronounced poonch-key, sort of, there is a thingy under the letter "c"; oh, never mind). One Paczek is a jelly donut Lent , the plural is Paczki. Fried donuts filled with jelly or jam and either glazed or covered in powdered sugar. I buy jelly donuts at Mary’s Donuts, in Santee.

Detroiters, and others who are not as wild and crazy as revelers in New Orleans at Mardi Gras go all out and eat up as many Paczki as they can (whoo hoo!), because once Lent happens, there are no jelly donuts to be had in any bakeries, only lowly Hot Cross Buns.

Which are not bad, but are definitely not fried (they are baked), or filled with jelly (they do have some dried fruit or raisins in them) and are part of that "sacrificing" Christians (and Detroiters) do for the 40 days.

So, that’s it. You go crazy eating jelly donuts, or partying, and then Lent begins and you begin sacrificing with lowly baked instead of fried sweets.

As a side note, this year was the first year that all the Starbucks in the Greater Detroit area had Paczek available in their stores. Everyone really gets into Paczki just before Lent. The day when the most are sold is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, though. Dozens and dozens are bought and consumed at work, grocery stores give them out…its an interesting phenomenon.

Future Lent posts will explain, via short blogging, about ‘not eating meat’ as defined by Catholics (hint- fish/seafood does not count as ‘meat’).

Mary’s Donuts 9031 Mission Gorge Road Santee 92071 (SE corner of Mission Gorge and 125) Open 24/7

Its cold, you know I don’t really crave sweets, but…Niederfrank’s Ice Cream

January 26, 2007 Cathy Desserts, Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation so you get to see what Cathy has been eating … in this weather.

Hi again. I know, its been, like, freezing out here in Sunny Southern California…well for 4 days in a row, last week, anyhow. I know better than to complain, but it’s something to do while the rest of the United States is having "their" Winter.

Ah, I blog about food, not weather…Oh…yes…OK. I will confess, when I was young, living in Detroit, we lived a few blocks from the Good Humor plant, and I could get all the ice cream novelties I ever wanted (toasted coconut and strawberry sundae on a stick being my favorites), Senate Sweet Shop and Sanders for banana splits with Dad…and I also went to that newfangled Baskin Robbins because they had those free cones on your birthday (always a sugar cone, always that ‘extra charge for the French Vanilla’ flavor)…and occasionally, I have a craving for one of those Original Drumsticks…but really, when it comes down to it, its the salty peanuts I want more than anything.

Today, I found myself in National City, at I-5 and Eighth Street. Go East, through the light at National City Boulevard, one more block, to "A" Avenue, make a left (north) …there it is on your left: Niederfrank’s. 100% Natural. It’s been there for 59 years, this coming May. 100% Natural. Ice Cream. The real thing. Quality. Small, unassuming, wonderful. As you know, I don’t have cravings for sweets…but gosh, I am here and I know I will like it…again…
There is a website with all the flavors also listed. This is what it looks like when you walk in.
The website has photos of the current (since 1995) owners, the founder and Al Roker…they must have shown this on one of those Food Network Shows I haven’t seen (I must confess, I only watch "Good Eats" with Alton Brown, to learn stuff…and what I like to call "The Lazy Chef Show" with Sandra Lee…good God, have you seen how she makes stuff????!!? She buys it ….and then rearranges it…. and calls it ‘semi-home made’).

ANYHOW… Niederfrank’s. Everything here is made of natural ingredients, extracts, real fruits…and all is made in the building. They also provide ice cream to a few other shops and restaurants around town. Check out the website listings before you tell me the best is from someplace else….it may actually be from Niederfrank’s.

I will admit I went a little crazy today and got two scoops (Its $2.35 for one scoop, $4 for two). Coconut and Lemon Custard. Excellent! The coconut is not too sweet, has flakes of real, not toasted, not dehydrated, coconut which are chewy and flavorful. The lemon custard has a crisp fresh lemon flavor and the custard texture that I crave. They also have sundaes on the menu, but I like the pure flavors of the ice cream. It isn’t aerated…its old fashioned, real, natural. A joy. Even for me, someone who doesn’t crave sweets.

Niederfrank’s 726 "A" Avenue National City, CA 91950 (619) 477-0828 fax (619) 477-0876 Opens at 11 a.m. daily. Click here for website.

Maui: Home Maid Bakery

October 28, 2006 mmm-yoso Bakery, Desserts, Maui, Travel

There is a Japanese tradition of giving gifts when returning from a trip, these gifts are called Omiyage. In Hawaii, the tradition is deeply rooted, and goes beyond ethnic and cultural differences. In fact, when making a trip from say, Honolulu, to Hilo, your mind automatically starts ticking off what you need to bring back for Omiyage…., Mochi from Two Ladies Kitchen, or something from Big Island Candies. The tradition even works in reverse; when taking trips to Lanai, Manapua(sort of a steamed Char Siu Bao, but bigger), Pork Hash(Siu Mai), and Pepiao from Char Hung Sut was a required gift. Maui seems to have more than it’s share of Omiyage items, though the list seems to be getting shorter(of the stuff I know) as time goes by. Long gone are the Maui Hot Dogs and Shishido Manju. But several sources of Omiyage are going strong. One of those sources is located in Wailuku on Lower Main street, Home Maid Bakery.

The bakery is not that hard to find, but parking can be. Though it might not be a long wait since cars are always leaving as quickly as they are entering the hilly, uneven, slightly pot-holed parking lot. And Home Maid’s hours are very convenient, they are open from 5am to 10pm daily.

Once in the bakery, you’ll notice all of the bags lined up on the back counter; those are the orders waiting for pick-up, mostly for people on the way to the airport. There are a variety of various pastries available, and most of it is self-serve. But on this trip to the airport to pick-up the Missus’s parents, we decided to try the malasadas, those wonderful Portuguese fried donut like pastries. I’d been warned of the sometimes surly service at Home Maid, but on this day, the Older Lady working the counter was very nice. And we got a dozen to go($6.60):

You’ll notice only eleven malasadas in the box. That’s because, in order to stop a certain someone with a growling tummy from salivating all over the box(not me…), I had to open it up, and that malasada was inhaled. Overall, these were not too bad, they lacked the yeasty goodness of the malasadas from Leonard’s Bakery, but were not a bad substitute for someone who had not had a decent malasada in 5 years. The confections were slightly crisp, very hot, and sugary. Please note that malasadas are only available from 530am to 930am, and 4pm to 10pm daily. When I kiddingly asked the Lady why that was…She looked up with a total deadpan expression and said, "cause no mo’ malasada man!" And proceeded to crack up…….

But what Home Maid Bakery really is known for are the Crispy Manju, which unlike traditional Japanese Manju, has a crisp pastry crust (Think pie crust). So I had to make sure to buy a couple for snacking pleasure.

I picked up the Imo (sweet potato) and Crispy Manju Deluxe(lot’s of azuki). The Missus really didn’t care much for them, She’s much more of a traditionalist, and while I still enjoy the buttery sweetness, I thought these seem to be much more greasy than I remember.

My Mother In Law on the other hand, who obviously eats this much more often than we do(living in Honolulu) loved them. And we made a stop on the way to the Airport so they could grab a good selection as Omiyage for their friends and the people at work. The MIL says, the Coconut is really good.

So on your way to the airport, don’t forget the Crispy Manju from Home Maid Bakery.

Home Maid Bakery
1005 Lower Main Street
Wailuku, HI 96793
Open 5 a.m.-10 p.m
7 days a week,

Malasadas Available
530am – 930am
4pm – 10pm

Maui: Tasaka Guri-Guri

October 20, 2006 mmm-yoso Desserts, Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt, Maui

I must admit, you all are a sharp bunch. Yes, it is Maui, and yes, that was a really nice little cup of Guri-Guri(2 scoops/$1). And on Maui, the "only" place for Guri-Guri is Tasaka Guri-Guri.

Located in, of all places, the Maui Mall in Kahului, the Tasaka Family claims that Jokichi Tasaka invented Guri-Guri somewhere around 1920, way back in plantation days. Guri-Guri and I go back a long way…from what I remember my Mom told me that Guri-Guri(called Goodie Goodie in Honolulu) was one of the two items She craved while pregnant with me. Being a good Maui Girl, I have no doubt that She craved Guri-Guri. If you really want to know, the other item She craved was Saimin….a yes, I wuz a noodle head, from da’ beginning!

The Missus first had a version of Guri-Guri, called Goodie-Good at Cafe 100, during one of our many visits to Hilo when we had friends living there. I had always told Her that it was nothing compared to the "real thing" at Tasaka. So of course our first stop after picking up our rental car was Maui Mall and Tasaka Guri-Guri, which was quite busy, even during a mid-afternoon during a weekday.

After standing in line, the Missus got Her Guri-Guri(there are 2 flavors, Strawberry and Pineapple – I think Strawberry is the better flava’), and I can truly say after having a spoonful, or two, that it tasted exactly the same as I remembered, one of the few items that still tastes the same from waaay back in hanabaddah days. So very "clean" and refreshing…….

So what is Guri-Guri? Well, it’s sort of a Sherbet. The flavor is sweet, and slightly milky. In fact Reid of Ono Kine Grindz even has a recipe, located here. The Tasaka Family recipe is a closely guarded secret.

If you want Guri-Guri, you’ll have to go to Maui, you won’t find it in Honolulu. In fact, I’ve heard of people taking the 2 Quart "Cold Pack"($10) all the way back to the Mainland.

I’m sure many of you are wondering, "what’s the big deal, it’s a sherbet". But it’s not only a a frozen confection, it’s a part of my childhood, part of a simpler time, and many generations of Kama’aina’s are addicted to it. Hey, former President Clinton even stopped at Tasaka on His visit to Maui. Which I think would have been a quite interesting event.

Tasaka Guri Guri

At the Maui Mall in Kahului. You really can’t miss the mall……

So why Maui? Well, it seemed that everyone was going to, or had gone to Maui, from our favorite Newlywed, Pam, who got married there, to other Friends. By this time, the Missus decided that She really wanted to visit Maui. Though, my Mother was born and raised on Maui, I had last visited Maui once in the last 30(yes "3-0") years, and on that visit, I barely recognized the place. Of course no mo’ Liberty Restaurant, wit da’ Chow Fun served in a butcher paper cones, or real Maui Hot Dogs…..

But of course the scenery is still beautiful….

One last side note: In what almost ruined our vacation, during our visit to Maui Mall, probably during our shopping at Long’s Drugs, some miscreants broke into our rental car, and stole everything that looked like a backpack. Which meant all of the Missus’s stuff, and some of my stuff. So suddenly our vacation took a turn, we had to wait for the Police to file a report, we had to go shopping to find clothes, and other personal items, including a charger for my camera, and a bunch of other stuff. But after the shock and anger wore off, and a high stress afternoon, we decided to make the best of things…..

To be continued…….