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12/03/2004 Entry: "Here come the Holidays!"

Brrr. It's been cold here in San Francisco. Although I dread the cold like the plague, once the days get shorter and the weather gets chillier, I start to feel very Christmassy. I can't wait to go home and spend the holidays with my family in Manila though -- Christmas there is just so much more special.

Halloween came and went -- Garry and I bought special costumes from Walgreens and partied with some of my coworkers. I was a medieval princess, and he was an evil count. ;)

Garry turned 30! Jane organized his friends and made a wonderful dinner with asparagus and crab soup, pear and walnut salad, and 8 quarts of chicken pot pie! I made a chocolate meringue cake from Desserts by Pierre Hermé.

We spent Thanksgiving with Jane, Mark and the Sunday night dinner crowd -- decided to forego the fried turkey (did that last year but someone stole the turkey fryer in Jane's garage) and try the special Peking Turkey that we read about in Chowhound. There's a Chinese restaurant in the city that can do it for you for less than 30 bucks -- drop off your turkey on Monday, pick it up on Thursday. Our problem was: how do we know we're going to get the same turkey back? Our friend Chuck tried to ask, but the lady on the phone didn't seem to understand a word he said, so we left our turkey with them anyway. Chuck and Anne picked up our Peking Turkey and we had it with Anne's special sticky rice, Garry's homemade loh bak goh (turnip cake), Chuck's cornbread stuffing, Jane's super buttery napa cabbage stir fry, and Mark's to miao (young pea shoots). The menu seemed a bit too Chinese -- I think next year I'll push for a traditional dinner. For dessert, I made a Hazelnut Dacquoise with Milk Chocolate Mousse cake. The cake took me a day and a half to make, and was one of the most challenging cakes I've done to date. Here're some pictures:

Hazelnut Dacquoise and Milk Chocolate Mousse with Praliné Crunch	Homemade Pumpkin Pie. mmm..
Garry Turns 30!	Chocolate Meringue Mousse Cake from Desserts by Pierre Hermé. See what's inside.

Replies: 3 comments

hi ky! what are you cooking up for your birthday? whatever it is, it's sure to be scrumptious. advance!

Posted by dawn @ 01/23/2005 08:45 PM PST

I got the chocolate transfer sheets from New York Baking (forgot the exact name but it is a baking supply store in New York). I think you can also get them through jb prince.

Posted by Karen @ 01/11/2005 04:44 PM PST

Where did u get the chocolate print transfers for your chocolate disc ? I made the HEavenly Chocolate the other day, i an not able to find Praline paste in the market, so i just use the hazelnut chocolate spread and i put corn flakes instead of the feuilleine. It taste good. Yours look more professional, as you also make the crispy chocolate as a disc , it looks much nicer !

Posted by Carrina Chau @ 01/09/2005 09:55 AM PST