Saturday, February 10, 2007

Skipping dinner....

....and going right to dessert! Yes, I'm good at that... Continuing with the dinner party saga (by the time a morsel of food meets a guest palate, we'll be talking EPIC), I've decided to deal with the many indecisions that sabotage my ongoing planning by sticking to something I know well: dessert.

This week I dusted off my dessert books, consulted the mom-in-law (awesome baker), bought sugar, eggs, lemons, exotic creams and other diabetes-inducing ingredients and set to the arduous task of experimenting with different recipes. I've already decided on the chocolate beet cake as a staple and mama's chocolate mousse with Port as a finisher... what I need is something that will appeal to those alien/mutant/sadly damaged amongst us who don't care for... for... ggnnkk... chocolate (I can't believe my keyboard just survived that sentence without disintegrating into subatomic-hell particles.)

Cat was (not exactly unwillingly) recruited as a guinea pig and I proceeded to measure, sift, beat, blend, mix, curse, peel, grate and burn...er... bake my way into icebox lemon dessert and lemon bars. I prefer the first (nice, moussy, lemony and light), while Cat prefers the latter (substance, he says, has to weigh down my stomach, he says). Hmmm.., I murmur.

Speaking of delicious (and I digress, I know, but this is worth it) I've been looking for a good sweet and sour soup since I died and went to soup heaven at The Peking in Leicester, if you recall from the previous UK-trip blog. We haven't found anything better here in Ottawa, but I'm happy to say that our fave Chinese take-out makes a mean almost-as-good s&s soup. The place is called Hing Lung at Dalhousie and St. Andrew, and they also make the BEST, simply the best, better-than-all-the-rest (thanks, Tina) Szechuan bean curd we ever had. Again, not getting paid, cajoled or blackmailed into advertising, just like to spread the good word about good food when I find it. We're still looking for good sweet&sour in this here town, so if any of you have suggestions, addresses or good stories, let me know.

I would get back to the lemons, but alas, that was a long time ago, and besides, the wench is dead. Which is to say (whooo was that a ...BROAD reference?...that wuz just for you Steve :) that Cat wolfed down both desserts in record time and now I'm ready to move on to ... hmmm lemon almond cookies. Ok, I'm going overboard on the citrus thing... perhaps I was a sclerotic scurvy-infested sailor in another life.

So... dessert is shaping up. I would also like something with a nice sauce on it, but that will depend on the season... warm boozy sauce in the winter, a nice coulis in the summer... who knows? Ok, you putative guests, and you know who you are, this is your chance to put in your two cents. I can't promise I won't ignore your suggestions but I can promise not to laugh. Ok, I can't, but nevertheless I would much appreciate your contributions. And if I don't "see" you before the 14th, Happy Valentine's Day!! (including the visitor from Guatemala... Guatemala? Well, if you pay your way here, you're welcome for dinner and bring us some coffee!! ...hmmmm coffeeeee....:))