glædelig jul.

★Happy Holidays!★

(recipe for Buche de Noel coming soon!)

escargots: an experience.

Sorry for the lack of recipes lately. It's finals week so I've been stuck on study mode (still am). Currently, I'm working to put together a post for macarons. Hopefully I'll have it ready before the end of this week.

Anyway, I've recently had my first encounter with escargots (aka land snails). I had to do a double take when the mom plopped the package of prepared escargots on the table upon her return from Costco (What don't they sell there. I'm super curious now) I stared and read the blue lettering twice or thrice just to make sure I read correctly. I wasn't disgusted or afraid since we also have our version of snail in Chinese cooking. It was just a sense of intrigue and wonder that slowly crept its way from my mind and to my stomach. I was very curious as to how it'll taste. Needless to say, after reading the directions, I heated the oven and quickly placed the the snails one by one onto a baking sheet and into the fiery inferno.

15minutes and a few burnt fingers later...

 

They were ready! Steaming hot and ready for eating. 

The escargots were filled with minced garlic and parsley butter, adding a burst of flavor to the otherwise bland flavor of the actual flesh. On the topic of the flesh, it was a bit on the chewy side and had a slightly sweet taste similar to that of seafood. The closest resemblance to this would be clam meat, both in texture and taste.

And here's what the flesh looks like. Gross! I know... haha. I tried to make it look as palatable as possible, but the green of the parsley killed it. But yeah, it's definitely worth a try if you've a chance to do so. =) Then you, too, can say that you've had escargot!

~~~
The shells were rather beautiful, so I decided to wash a few and use them as decorations.

i'm alive!

 There's no recipe for today~ just a bit of a ramble about what's been going on in my life. Sorry, my lovely readers. =(

You might've noticed my lack of posting last month. I apologize for that! It's just that life got the best of me, pretty much. I got sick twice. I had familial and personal dramas to attend to. All while trying to retain a sense of normalcy within my academic and home life (though taking care of a whole house while rushing three papers deviates from the norm). Gosh, it was hectic! I thought I'd never make it through.

And I really wouldn't have, if it weren't for the many wonderful people in my life that didn't let me give up. I'm forever grateful to them for sticking with me through my worse and having to put up with me. My friends truly went above and beyond their call of duty to help me out and I'm touched beyond words for that.

Anyway, I haven't been really cooking "cooking" lately. Well, I've been feeding the people of the household, yes... enough to keep them well-fed and happy. As for me, I haven't been taking care of my self as ideally as I should have.-has been living off Ritz crackers and Ramen for a while- (O_e;;)

  

On another note, I've received two pleasant surprises. The postcard my lovely friend sent to me while she was on vacation in Australia came! It really brightened my day~絵葉書をくれて、ありがとう～メールちゃん！

Then yesterday, someone dropped by with this~

He was kind enough to pick up quite a few (too many! >;I) goodies for me during his trek down to LA for Luna Sea's REBOOT world tour.

These steamed cupcakes smelled heavenly! They didn't specify any flavorings on the ingredients, just the basic flour, sugar, and eggs... but I think they might have added jasmine essence to the batter.

 

Next were baked buns filled with pandan custard. I really love the scent of it~ I wonder if they sell pandan perfume. Haha, just kidding.

Finally, tiny, handmade pineapple filled tart-like confections! These were just adorable~

Here's a closer look at just how cute they looked!

I'm at a loss for words. Haha, no one has ever done this for me before. It's weird. The good kind of weird.

If you're reading this (which I doubt), you're long overdue for a cup of tea at my place. And anyway, I can't eat all of these alone~ I'll need your help!

 

...and I've still your lucky fedora hostage.