Pierre Herme... turn the taxi around

It was the second last time I was in Tokyo... it was rainy night in November and our feet were sore from walking all day. We had decided not to take the subway and had hopped into a taxi. We were heading towards Omtoesando (the Champ de Elysee of Tokyo apparently), right near Aoyama.... and there it appeared, the 2 storey Pierre Herme flagship. I gasped! We turned the corner and it was disappearing from view... I had heard that Pierre Herme was in Tokyo. I just couldn't find it!

I had found it... but I was sulking! It was our last night in Tokyo, and the next morning we would be leaving at 8am to go and get our flight. Arrrrrrgggggh! I was cranky! The patisserie was in my sights... it was just too much of a tease!

So this last time I didn't miss my chance! We did have a misadventure- of course... our first attempt was in the evening. But it just happened to be the night that they close early. So we went the first thing the next morning. The store... or should I call it the atelier, was designed by the amazing "wonder wall". I suggest you take a look at their photos as mine will not do it justice!

It is very different from the one in Paris (near St. Sulpice)... that one is a cosy, dark wood panelled pocket size shop. The first level of the Tokyo shop is a chic extravagance of grey and white marble highlighted with lime green. There is only a small counter of patisserie (similar size to Paris)... they have lots of Pierre Herme's signature creations, but I was disappointed that there wasn't any millie fueille 2000 on this day. There seemed to be a macaroon theme... there were even dancing macaroons in the window with cartoons of Pierre Herme!


We went upstairs to the "Chocolate bar". This was more like Paris... cosy & chocolatey. We took one of the high stools overlooking the street... so we could watch the passers-by. The menu was difficult for us... it was in French & Japanese. So after a bit of indecision we ordered the Mont. Blanc and the profiteroles. The Mont. Blanc was so different! There wasn't a mound of chestnut worms (!), it was hidden underneath with what I think was yuzu. It had both sweet and sour tastes. The texture was also a combinations of crunchy and soft... crunchy chocolate meringue biscuits and the soft chestnut. The profiteroles didn't do much for us... the choux pastry was stuffed with mint ice cream and a chocolate sauce was poured on top.

On our way out I got two macaroons to take home... 1 peach and 1 lemon. That night I could wait no longer... they were succulent... and so flavoursome! I heard myself saying "This is better than Laduree"! I couldn't believe it! I never thought I would say that!



Pierre Herme, Paris, Tokyo... how about Sydney? T

Frida

Rescue Softie #5

Name: Frida
Wants to be when she grows up: A painter
Favourite Dessert: Creme Brulee

Frida seems to be obsessed with Mexico. One day she would like to travel there and stay in a Hacienda and paint all day. She is the only one we could make from the scrap of fabric we found.

She has now moved to Germany... to live with a young couple. Auf weidersehen Frida!

Bernina baby

This is my new baby...my first. Born: yesterday. Weight: heavy. Name: Bernina Bernette 80e.

After a couple of weeks of mad research, some sensible motherly advice & a process of elimination...not to mention the rush to catch a bargain in the lead-up to Mother's Day...it came to this. Bernette has all the features I feel I will need as I progress from my "L's" to more advanced projects! And it came within my budget...sorta. I'm kicking myself that it was $100 cheaper only 1 week ago, but I can't dwell on the negatives can I...especially knowing the years of joy Bernette will bring me...I hope!

I am currently working my way through the sizeable instruction manual. I think it's the 1st instruction manual I have ever read...the hubbie can't believe his eyes! Now I just need to book into the free lessons I was offered to see what this baby's capable of...I hope she has a good temperament! My eyes have been opened to a whole new world... N

Stylin' it at Lunch

When I was about 11yrs my dad packed up our family and we moved to Hong Kong. I was lucky enough to go to International school (my cantonese is the worst! Needed an English speaking school) and met other kids from all over the world. There was a Japanese girl in my class, she was so sweet and she had the most amazing lunch box. I had ham sandwiches and she had sushi arranged perfectly in a little stackable box. I was a little green eyed monster... I wanted that lunch box, and its contents!

On this last trip I got a lunch box... for my boy. If it was for me it would be covered in cherry blossoms or cute characters. I work from home so it doesn't seem worth packing everything into a lunch box! But I am getting the joy from packing his. Today he is having spicy tofu & pork mince and poached chicken on rice. This lunch box with its napkin & chop sticks makes left overs look so good! T

Lest We Forget

Today is ANZAC day... the day we in Australia remember the wars & those "who went off" to fight in them for our country. My family are fairly recent immigrants to this country... I think my parents have been here for about 40 years. Mum came from England and Dad came from China/ Indonesia. But we are all Australian.

My mother's dad, although being an engineer did not fight in the war. He wasn't allowed in the forces, because he was too short! I don't think he scrapped in much past 4ft. He was one of 16, and I am not sure about the rest of the family... but I do know that it was tough during the bombing of London for everyone.

Dad spent most of his childhood in the village of Pontianak in Indonesia. During World Was II it was occupied by the Japanese forces... Stories circulate Pontianak about the young girls hiding under beds and then the old grannies would go under the bed after them. When their houses were raided and the occupying troops fished out what they thought would be a pretty young girl... they actually found an old lady!

Many Indonesian people died during these times and the villagers in Pontianak still remember the day when the Australian troops came and rescued them. They have not forgotten. We remember the troops at Gallipoli... but those that liberated Indonesia are not as well remembered. I think it is because a lot of the details were kept secret. My aunt went on to marry the son of one of these troops... and only recently I heard some of the details. Maybe we will hear some more soon... I had trouble finding anything on the internet.

But what we do know... lest we forget. T

Banana-drama

When Cyclone Larry hit Innisfail in tropical north Queensland last month and destroyed most of Australia's banana crop (in a region that produces 95% of the national total), we knew bananas were gonna be expensive. But I never thought I'd see the day, as I did on Saturday, when bananas were more expensive than those lovely reddy-green corella pears ($7.99/kg vs $5.99/kg, respectively). That is REALLY expensive for bananas. I normally only buy corella pears when I feel like spoiling myself as they're usually a lot more expensive than other varieties of pear. But no need to feel guilty this time....as Tiff & I decided today...now would not be the time to whip up a banana cake! N

Charlie

Rescue Softie #4

Name: Charlie
Wants to be when she grows up: A deep sea diver
Favourite Dessert: Hokey pokey ice cream

Charlie is a cheeful bear-cat. She is one of only two. Her twin Holly has gone to live with a little girl in the Northern Suburbs of Sydney where there are lots of trees.

There is buttons in them hills!

I love buttons... I like them much better than gold. And if there is a rainbow with a pot of buttons at its end... it is in Nakameguro, Tokyo. The pot is called ""& stripe"".

I made my boy walk up & down the canal that runs through this little emerging suburb. There was no way I wanted to miss out on going to this store. It is only tiny, but it is always packed full of lots of Japanese ladies... and the honey that draws us bees are the handmade buttons from France, Italy & Japan. Little boxes line the walls, each box has an example of the buttons that are inside. You just grab the boxes you want... take them to the counter.... point to colour you want and make the hand signal of the amount you want/ need (depending on your addiction).

There is a brother store that stocks men's buttons only called "& Stripe Gear"... we also tried to make a trip there. It is just around the corner. It was closed... damn it! But I had already blown the budget... and now I just look at their site online and count my pennies til I can get back there!

The apples are a set of felt coasters I got from Afternoon Tea... another shop... another addiction... But that is for another day! T

Back Tack Bliss

Well... I have been meaning to write this post for ages, it seems! I'm in! "Back Tack 3" that is! Phew! I was sure that I hadn't made it in when I read that others had found out they had been accepted.... and I was still pacing the room waiting to hear if I was one of the lucky 100! I had even come up with a title for my "I didn't make it in post", I was going to call it "Back Tack Blues"!!! Well, that title will have to got to waste!

I am partnered up with "la mammina" (to send & receive to). I had said that I was happy for international posting... but as fate would have it my buddy is in Bondi... just a few suburbs away. Hi Allison! The interesting thing is I have actually met Allison. Nicky & I were investigating possible places to have our market stall and went to Bondi markets and saw la mammina's. Nicky bought a really lovely green & white skirt as a present... which has already become a favourite!

The Back Tack project requires that all the softies have to be made in black and white plus another colour. So I decided to inspire myself a bit and research some images that were based on this restriction. Red seems to be a very popular combination out there! I also included some designs from one of my favourite books... "Japanese Optical & Geometrical Art" by Hajime Ouchi. Now I have to decide between the 3 patterns... I am leaning towards the pointy kitty. I think Easter has left me a bit over bunnies!

But we will see! T

Martha Stewart's April Almond Petits Fours

"Delicate cakes with an ethereal, springlike air" is how Martha likes to describe these moist little cakes... and so we gallantly dived into April's "Year of Cakes" challenge with as much springlike & ethereal behaviour as we could muster! (This of course petered out at about the 4th hour).

Our first stumbling block came right at the start this time in the ingredients section. After scouring specialist shops & European grocers we came to the conclusion that Almond paste does not lurk on our shelves in Australia... so Nicky made us up some. Let it be known that I detest marzipan. Nothing can get me to put down a slice of cake as quickly as that taste! So with much trepidation I tasted the lumpy pale glug and was horrified to find that it had "that" taste. But there was no turning back.

The cakes were easy peasy... and light, moist and fluffy. "Good one Martha". We did find that you shouldn't be too mean with the cherry preserve... the more the better in the taste department. Of course we weren't lulled into a false sense of security with the ease of cake making... because that had happened with February's cake. The cutting of the cake into precise squares was yet to come. I held the ruler.... Nicky cut the cake!



After that we put them in the fridge and had to wait an hour (BTW- We were meant to refrigerate prior to cutting, but got ahead of ourselves). We put the time to good use.


We had heard along the blogline that the icing could turn from white to hot pink in 3 drops flat. To be in keeping with the whole "ethereal" thing we thought we would go for a light pink. So we started with one drop.... nothing happened... Two.... nothing... Three... nothing ("Tiff I am getting nervous now". "Don't be nervous just bung a few more in") Five drops.... ("What colour would you say that was?" "Alabaster, the colour of Nicole Kidman's skin") Ten drops.... ("what about this colour?" "Same as Barbie's butt." "Don't say that!!!")... As you can tell we were there stirring colouring in for a fair while and ended up with three different batches!

I really enjoyed the icing process... swirling the thick stuff all around. It was a bit therapeutic... and set really well. It also tasted really yum and we both will be using this recipe again for biscuits & cupcakes. The rest of the decorations were pretty straight forward... we couldn't get the beautiful cherry blossoms in Martha's picture (not available), so we picked up some sugar ones from a lovely shop called The Bay Tree in Woollahra and the little balls are sour cherry chewing gum that I picked up from Muji in Tokyo.

Here is Martha's Almond Petit Fours:


Here are ours:



And here is one with a bite in it!


The taste? A sweet little bite... sugary for sure and the cake is very moist... and most importantly not a bit marzipany! T

Whisper Cherry Blossom

When I was a kid I used to be able to make my dad laugh without fail, by singing "Sayonara.... Japanese goodbye. Whisper Cherry Blossom..." in a terrible fake Japanese English accent. I tried to search for the words to the song but without any luck. So I can't supply all the lyrics unfortunately.

On this last trip I discovered how important the cherry blossom is to the Japanese.... We first caught site of the blossoms from the train as it was pulling into Naka- Meguro station... as a swirl of pink winding through the apartment blocks. My boy and I both gasped out loud. Once you are down on street level, you have to cross the road & make it past the gaming arcades to get to the cool shops which line both sides of the canal.


The last time we were there it was a hot summer evening and the mozzies where snacking on our ankles... this time it was a wonderland of cherry blossoms. The petals were falling like snow and filling the air. Old ladies where sitting on the curb eating French macaroons, drinking hot tea from a thermos and admiring the trees. Other people had their Afghan dogs out for a photo shoot. Most people like us were walking up and down the canal in awe... we even saw an old man bend over and scoop up handful after handful of blossoms and throw them in the air. It just felt so happy!

It seems like the whole country gets into the spirit with festivals and parties called Hanami. Most stores celebrate with some type of merchandise adorned with the blossom.


There are desserts made for the season... these ones were from Roppongi Hills: Cherry Gelato, Cherry Parfait & Cherry mousse & strawberry crepes. Too bad if you don't like cherry!



Other things I found out were: Sakura is the Japanese word for Cherry Blossom & that they have TV reports on where the trees are blooming!

Here are some at night...



where they are definitely blooming at Roppongi Hills. T

Snacks for sustenance!

This is Pat, Pat and….Pat again! He is posing with one of the snacks I bought (which he invented!) while we had our first stall at Paddington Markets on Saturday. After a disappointing breakfast consisting of foul coffee, a salty meat pie (Tiff) and a sour quiche (me), the ice cream sandwich from Pat & Stick’s Homemade Ice Cream stand was our highlight snack of the day! Ok, ok, I admit we shared an ice cream sandwich for lunch! We had been eyeing off this stand for some time now having seen it at other markets. And we are big supporters of foodie entrepreneurs!

Like us, Pat (the shorter American guy) & Stick (the taller Aussie guy) have gone into unchartered territory to do something they love (both have computing backgrounds). I had a nice chat to Pat while deliberating over what flavour to have…and found out he majored in Chinese at university. When I shamefully confessed to him that I don’t speak any, he proceeded to say something in Chinese which he later translated as “You don’t even speak a little??”. Ummm….nuh! When I told him my school French is better than my Chinese, he then started speaking to me in French…until we both laughed and said, “ok, let’s stick to English!” Nice guy. In the end, I chose the Caramel Pecan sandwich - butterscotch ice cream between 2 pecan cookies…which Pat told me was his favourite. Salty & sweet he said….I told him I sooo get that concept!!

Well it was a long day…and we thought that little treat would do us fine…until Tiff’s boy went off & brought us a chocolate-smothered Belgian waffle to share....from the stand next to Pat’s (you may just be able to spot the waffle dude in the 3rd photo above). Uh-oh, little did he know what we’d snacked on earlier in the day….”I should have known you 2 girls would have snacked on something!” Hee, hee hee…what can we say???

As to the market, we were in a great location & picked up a lot of the passing human traffic. We were warmly welcomed by some fellow stallholders, who later told us it was a fairly slow trading day. Tiff & I thought we were trading ok…if this is slow, we’d love to know what a busy day would be like! Oh well, will just need to sustain ourselves in future with more of Pat & Stick’s creations, won’t we?! N

Hot cross baking

I don't know how Easter managed to creep up on us so quickly, but it did! I almost ran out of time to do some Easter baking...but I couldn't resist somehow...even if it meant icing cookie creatures until 1am this morning! It's not the 1st time I've baked into the early hours...I wonder why I do it? Ummm...cos I love baking is what I tell myself! Until the tiredness hits me like a truck the next day! Oh well....never mind, here are the results:

Some hot cross buns made from a Donna Hay step-by-step recipe pulled out from a newspaper many eons ago. I don't make bready stuff much, so was scared they'd turn into hot cross rocks, but it was ok in the end:


And some of Chocolate & Zucchini's Lemon & Fleur de Sel Butter Cookies....with a bit of variation using my favourite egg white lemon icing, mini sugar flowers & those funny shiny balls they call cachous:


So Happy Easter from me too...hope you enjoy your break! N

Hopitty.. hop, hop!

The whole concept of giving an Easter basket is a bit foreign to me. But after seeing a few on other blogs and now having a niece that I am sure will appreciate it... I decided to get into to the spirit!

So her Easter treats included a cute bunny bag from Japan, by Baby Roo, little creature chocolates, bunny stickers & a strawberry shaped ice block mold.



I am sure she will love all these little bits because:

a. She is obsessed with strawberries! And,
b. The last time I saw her she wouldn't put down my bag!



Happy Easter all! T

A week of florentines

It’s kinda funny that Tiff should bring back some of Pierre Herme’s florentines to share with me (thank you – yummy!) when the very week she was away, I baked some of my own. Thinking alike or what?! But I know we’re both very particular about our florentines and we each have our favourite experiences of them. Both of them happened to be in Paris: Tiff’s at Jean-Paul Hevin’s chocolate boutique & mine, the mini ones at A La Mere de Famille, Paris’ oldest sweets shop. But one thing’s for sure...we like them thin and crisp, with just a little chewiness, especially if they’ve got juicy currants in them.


I’d purchased the book “Paris Boulangerie-Patisserie: Recipes from Thirteen Outstanding French Bakeries” from Amazon sometime last year in preparation for my trip to Europe. It’s full of recipes from Paris institutions like Laduree, Lenotre, Gerard Mulot, Poilane etc. The photos look a little dated, but I don’t think the recipes from these places can really date! Until last week, I hadn’t got round to making anything from it, but I had my eye on La Maison du Chocolat’s florentine recipe for some time.

They were pretty easy to make and I was so happy with the results. They were crisp, sweet & chewy, courtesy of the candied orange peel and currants (the latter I substituted for the candied cherries which I couldn’t get my hands on at the time). And thanks to some egg rings I picked up in a $2 discount shop, the florentines kept their shape nicely. I did try doing a bit of free-form…but let’s just say it was like the florentine version of The Blob!

I liked them so much I made a second batch. And now that I’ve got my hands on some candied amarena cherries just this week (the end of a 2-year search!), it won’t be long before I’ll whip these babies up again! N

Seasons that say "hello"

The people in Japan are the most pleasant that you will find in the world... it is beyond good service. The average Jun (Joe) in the street will stand aside and let you pass, nod a greeting and give you room on the train. They live a gracious and respectful lifestyle. As Sydney grows and grows I often lament at the disappearance of the greeting of passers-by and the word "thank you". Since we have got a dog we have noticed that we get to say hello to so many more people. He is our ice breaker.

There is a bit of a trend for the little boutiques in Tokyo to greet the seasons and the people walking by. Here are some of their greetings for Spring.

Naka-meguro:


Naka-meguro:


Afternoon Tea at Roppongi Hills:


I decided to give it a go for Autumn (Fall).



It was a bit of fun! T

Cheekiness Revealed!

So I caught up with Nicky today and she got to take her share of the spoils!

This is her new bag:



It is a Roo tote... they have heaps of fantastic printed bags with secret side zippered pockets. You can see the whole range on the site here.

And some of the things we will share!



A. Is a Japanese crafty book that has step by step photos on how to make some bags, wallets, aprons and other goodies. With our fingers crossed, we hope to attempt some of these!

B. Pierre Herme! The French patissier extraodinaire has an amazing new store in Aoyama, Tokyo. Whilst sampling some goodies... I also bought some of the Florentines with a crunchy biscuit base and tangy orange peel. Yum!

C. My Dear Doll.... a range created by a Hong Kong artist called Carrie Chau. On the back of the printed canvas is the softest floral corduroy. I think I found her blog here, but she hasn't written anything since August 2005... you can still see a few illustrations though.

D. When I saw this Japanese craft book on the shelf I gasped with delight! I have coveted it for so long now... the back cover was a bit bent, this would usually prevent me from buying a book but no problems this time! I am dying to make the glove dog on the cover as soon as possible!

By the way I sent my email to Backtack... now nervously awaiting to see if I made the cut! T

Back Tack 3

Tomorrow at 9am Australia time the email address to join Back Tack3 will be made available. At last! I have been waiting for so long... checking at least twice a week. I am so excited... I hope I make it in... they are only taking 100 participants. Will keep you posted. T

Cheekiness!

I thought I would be a bit cheeky today. I haven't seen Nicky since I got back home and will be hopefully catching up with her tomorrow. The day before I left she gave me instructions, as her international personal shopper I of course listened intently! She wanted a bag... ("what another tote") and anything else that I might think she would like! Huh! That would be so much... I would have to pay excess luggage!

So here is a bit of a tease... her bag:

Secret bag
Originally uploaded by sweet little treat 2.

And somethings I might share with her:

Secrets to share
Originally uploaded by sweet little treat 2.

All will be revealed soon! T

P.S Arrgggh! Something is going wrong with the uploading of photos... sorry, it looks a bit weird!

P.S.S We changed the background to something a bit fresher... I saw it on another computer and it looked a bit "blurk"! So we are glad for a bit of a change!

Hello Sailor!

I think the world has gone marine crazy! If you have missed it, the epidemic of navy and white stripes are sure to be coming your way soon.... My mum will be happy, she has tried to dress me as a little sailor since birth. When I was in Tokyo I had to go to ZARA (as we don't have any in Australia), and there I saw a t-shirt that looks suspiciously like it was copied from my wardrobe in the 80's. Sailor blue and white stripes with bat wings and that loose boxy shape that was so popular! Aargh! It can't be true! And not the white shorts to match! Now that is an outfit that will make me look even shorter than I am!

This brings me to a little burger place we discovered in Daikanyama... or it found us. The wind was blowing at a gale force and a man in a white sailor suit came and handed us a "food menu" for a new eatery called "By the Blue". Aaaah! A refuge from the wind and it was way past lunch time.... so we decided to give it a whirl.



Once we managed to pull the door open against the wind we discovered a stripey marine concept burger cafe. Japanese are never ones to go halves on a concept... they even had a fantastic logo of a cross-section of a shell that resembled an anchor. Just to show how far they will run with an idea take a look at the loo. It isn't a great shot as it was a bit tight in there but you can get the idea of the blue and white polka dot tiles and the blood red walls with the knot motif. Very impressive. I would love to go back again (in summer) and hang out in their courtyard that is an all white setting with little huts around the edge. Looks like something out of a Gidget movie!


But I forgot to tell you about the food! I won in the drink stakes with an "Arnold Palmer". As my boy is a golf nut, I can tell you that he (Palmer) is a bit of a famous golfer.... the drink is an ice lemon tea. But better than one I have ever had, really tart and fresh (not sure what the association with golf is). The boy won in the food stakes. I was sucked in by the Plain Hot Dog with sauerkraut... it said a "meaty sausage". It wasn't bad... but the boy had a gourmet "juicy" burger home made with "Japanese beef, pork and duck" which was pretty good. After we had downed all this, the generous amount of fries, salad and the 7 or so condiments we happily made our way out ... refreshed and ready to shop! T

Aranzi Aronzo pilgrimage

It has been a long time since I posted... thanks to Nicky, who has been holding the fort despite recovering from her trip to the hospital! She said that she got the wrong end of the deal this past week! That means I must have got the right end! I got to go to Hong Kong & Tokyo... I think she was right!

One of this nice things about the blogging world is discovering that there are so many people out there that are interested (obsessed?) in the same things... one of these being Aranzi Aronzo! So following on from Nicky's post about her first crafty book, I thought I would tell you about my recent trip to the source of this cutie goodness! Each time I am lucky enough to go to Tokyo I make the pilgrimage to Daikanyama to this sweet little shop where "soft green-tiled walls and dim light of bulbs will make you feel comfortable".

The first time I went there I discovered it by accident after wandering around Daikanyama for 2 hours, but it was shut!!! I was devastated, we were leaving the next day! If you want to go there to discover it for yourself I recommend printing out the map from the website and to keep in mind that it is always shut on Wednesdays. Save yourself the heartbreak! Since our first visit a few shops have sprung up around it... but it still stands out. As you turn the corner you will find a quite steep street, in the middle is a small shop front with the green tiles, some yellow blossoms and little folk peering out the windows.

The front door:



The outside noticeboard:



It is really very tiny inside... a small basement of a shop, that is certainly dimly lit. As you go down the 6 or so steps you spy two sweet girls in peppermint aprons. On the left is three rows of shelves stuffed with all the goodies you could ever hope to discover! Here are the collection of things that came home with me... after much oohing & aaahing... picking things up and then putting other things down.... and remembering that they only take cash (hmmm how much do I need for sushi and a couple of snacks?).





If you don't have the chance to make it there yourself, maybe you could give their online shopping a go. They deliver internationally now! T

My first craft book!

It started with the crafty blogging. Then I took up sewing lessons. Then I made my first softie. And before you know it, last month I’d bought my first crafty book…Aranzi Aronzo's "Cute Things". Tiff has two previous Aranzi Aronzo books and like those, all the little craft projects are in Japanese. But the great thing about these books is they are all well illustrated with instructions. And most of the projects actually look simple and do-able, even for a beginner sewer like myself! Well, I guess we’ll see over time how simple they really are….

The patterns include little accessories for the Aranzi Aronzo animals, plus lots of other knick-knacks like key rings, simple bags, little zip purses, business card holders and tissue dispensers. Lots of the projects use felt which is nice to work with, since it doesn’t fray easily. Here is a selection from the book:

Some light reading:
Some simple bags:

Ready for business:

And this just cracks me up:

So all I need now is a sewing machine! I haven’t a clue what to buy…I am hoping to catch a bargain in the lead-up to Mother’s Day. And then the crafty monster can be unleashed from within…N