Saturday, November 11, 2006

Jin + Mama Gin, Sittin' in a Tree....



During my online drunk love fest, I decided I could not stand to look at one more of Jin's pictures without tasting some of her work. So much of what she displays online is so beautiful that I had a hard time believing it could taste as good as it looks. So I decided to do what some of her other blog fans have done and order a sweet box.

Jin of course replied with a hearty LOL and packed up a carton of delicacies of her own choosing for Poor George and me, and had them delivered to me in about a week's time. (I hate making decisions like what to order, so I told her to go to town for us.)

Imagine my delight when I got home late Wednesday evening and found her sweet box intact and unhidden by George, who is notorious for squirreling away sugared treats and then forgetting about them until they are stale and inedible.



Here is what we received:

3 Chocolate Chunk Cookies
4 Frosted Molasses Cookies
5 Mint Brownies
12 of her infamous Petit Fours
4 Awesome Muffins of zucchini, quinoa, dates, applesauce, pecan, carrot and spices
5 Raspberry Lemon Dream Bars - shortbread topped with lemon custard and raspberries
3 Pretty Babies - red velvet cake squares filled with cream cheese frosting and coated in chocolate glaze

Night one: It was late, so I made us a cuppa Mango Indica Whittard of Chelsea tea (courtesy of the lovely & talented Mindy June) and set us up a plate of three Petit Fours each.

Wow!

George, the resident food critic, examined every layer and proclaimed "this is by FAR the best petit four I've ever had." When he starts picking apart flavors, layers and hypothesizing about techniques used to create something, you know he's impressed.

Day two: We each enjoyed an Awesome Muffin for breakfast along with some fruit. The muffins were moist, and very, very tasty. George's comment: "This is delicious. This is a superb muffin. My only criticism is that it's TOO SMALL."

Night two: for dessert George and I each enjoyed one Raspberry Lemon Dream Bar and one Pretty Baby. Now we REALLY got drooling. I am absolutely gaga over the Dream Bars. They are deliciously moist, and so delicate in both the raspberry and lemon flavors. These are my favorite so far, but unfortunately I haven't even tried everything yet. Regarding the Dream Bar, George said "I wish I has as deep an understanding of crumb as she does."

George is also particularly gaga over the Pretty Babies. Red velvet cake is one of his favorite treats, and again he said this is the best he's ever had. And he doesn't make statements like that lightly.

(Shhh, don't tell George but I snuck one more Dream Bar before bed. I'll let him have the last Pretty Baby as penance if he figures it out.)

Day three: one more muffin each for breakfast. Again, George whined about the size. I should have let him have mine and dove for more dream bars.

Night three: George and I gorged ourselves during dinner at Todai in Koreatown, so we decided not to have any Jin treats that night.

Day four (which is today): This is the best part yet. Mama Gin got up early and trudged down our stairs to satisfy her OCD and make sure all our doors were locked. I decided it was time Mama Gin enjoy a little Jin love, on accounta their names are so similar and all.

I placed a petit four on a lovely little Chinese plate and went out into the hallway where Mama Gin was testing the door handle for the thirtieth time that hour.

"Mama Gin, here, you eat." I held out the plate to her with two hands, as is the proper Asian technique for offering something to a person.

Mama Gin looked startled, but when she saw how pretty the petit four was her face lit up and she actually reached out to take it.

"For me???" she asked, holding the plate up close to her face.

"Yes, you eat," I replied. Mama Gin giggled like a school girl. I swear, the lady giggled and held it up to her face again.

"Oh, cookie!" she exclaimed. She was downright giddy.

Jin, I think it's official. Your food has magical powers. You have melted the heart of Mama Gin. Now if you can just produce a baby for Poor George, Mama Gin will probably give you everything she owns.

Anyway blog fans, I strongly encourage you to order from Jin if you ever get an inkling. It will be well worth your time and money, damage to your waistlines notwithstanding.

Bon appetit!

ps: can't post actual pictures of the treats as our digi camera is on the fritz.

20 comments:

Dale said...

You think you're the only one who knows how to do breakfast right CP?

I'll have you know that just this very morning, I had Lay's Smoky Bacon chips and a glass of Coke. I was still feeling a bit peckish so I had Toaster Streudel.

So there. I'd order but I don't think cross border baking is covered by free trade.

Coaster Punchman said...

Hmmm, that sounds almost as good as cold pizza with a hangover.

lulu said...

Those do sound very tasty, but I actually really like to bake, so I think I can solve my own cravings. I am about to start whipping up a pan of brownies now as a matter of fact.

Dale said...

I love cold pizza with a hangover although I rarely have either anymore. I just stay drunk.

Creepy said...

As a Type II Diabetic, I hate you all! But please have a Coke and a muffin (2 of the things I miss most) while thinking about me.

jin said...

Heeeheeeee!!! :-D
YAY!
I won over Mama Gin?!
AWESOME!!! :-D
(Even if it was only briefly!)
Wow...that could be a new tag-line for me:
"Buy petit fours from jin, for it will tame even the unruliest of in-laws!"

As for the Awesome Muffins, poor george is correct, 1 is not enough, D & I always have 1.5 each.

Oh...& the Mango Indica Whittard of Chelsea tea.....ROCKS!!!

(Psssst! Did George find out about the dream bar yet?!!? ;-)

Jake's Mom said...

Didn't save any for your favorite sister? It's because I color better than you, right?

Joe said...

I've got a sweet tooth now, thanks to you, and all I have is the leftover Halloween candy no one wanted.

I see we're going to have to add the petits four to our order along with the Black Pearls next week.

Mmmm mmm good.

Anonymous said...

aren't her sweet boxes the best????? Mhhh mint brownies and peti fours. I can't wait to order another one.

Anonymous said...

MINT BROWNIES.

I loved ours, in fact a mint brownie was the only thing I snuck before my last visit with Leslie.


I might have to order some more sometime very very soon.

Molecular Turtle said...

This is by far the greatest advertising for food ever. You should be a food critique or something cp. I think i may order me a box after christmas (i've decided to be healthy until christmas and as my new years resolution i will eat more sugar treats.

Anonymous said...

I haven't been able to get past Jin's pictures yet. I will go to her site and steal glances at her stuff. The fondant cakes are so beautiful! I just saw her petit fours the other day and marveled at how beautiful they are.

Old Lady

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the only post in which you will discuss a woman's "sweet box."

What? I teach high school. It fucks up your sense of humor.

Tumuli said...

There were no photos, but the descriptions alone made me drool. :) Being a sugar fiend, I always have a "sweet box" in the fridge or cupboard, but I never pass up a pastry or other dessert treat.

And if Jin's items provoked such happiness, their ingredients must be from heaven...

Coaster Punchman said...

Lu, what are you trying to do here, start a brownie bake-off bitch-slap fight?

Dale, are we off the crack finally?

Sorry Creepy, didn't mean to throw you off your diet. Congrats on all that weight loss.

Jin, as of this morning (Monday) all your treats are gone. I am also in love with your mint brownies, which surprised me because the only other time I had mint brownies was in college where the cafeteria used to serve them with this gross green frosting that tasted like toothpaste. Blech. But I couldn't get enough of yours. If I had to order again and choose, I would double up on those and the lemon rasberry bars. George is all about the red velvet cake, of course.

Marg, no, I did not save any for you. That's all I have to say about it.

Yes Bubs, place an order. Today.

Katy aka Dino, like the new avatar. What does "avatar" mean anyway?

Real, totally. I am all over those mint brownies.

Molecular Turtle, thanks for the accolades on my writing, but Jin is the inspiration here. You should ask about shipping to Canada - I don't know if foodstuffs can pass through the mail or not. Finished your fudge yet?

Old Lady, yes, the pics are what sold me. They are as good as they look.

Megan, that's ok, we're into adolescent jokes around here. We encourage them.

Tumuli, they are (from heaven.) So tell us about your sweet box(es.)

lulu said...

I promise to give your warning so that you can sell tickets.

Anonymous said...

Dear kind readership of the CPW. Although I adore him very much, there is something you must know about the CP, he is semi-autistic when he is given too much sugar and the ritalin rushes he gets makes him a blogging maniac. For instance, notice the misspellings and poor use of language. The only correct usage came from Mama Gin for goodness sake. However, everything about Jin's baking is true. Jin is a true artist and one of the few treasures left in this cultural waistland that is America. What's that honey, oh, for me? a cookie?

jin said...

CP: I just KNEW you were saving the mint brownies for last because you thought you wouldn't like them! HAHA!!! SURPRISE! I use pure peppermint oil in the filling, nothing 'gross'...& if I had my way I'd leave the filling white, but every single one of my customers requests the single drop of green food colouring be added.

Whilst eating a mint brownie & talking on the phone with me, jewels coined the term 'mouthgasm', that is indeed what it sounded like!

PG: Awwww...... :-) Thanks! :-)
(That definitely reserved you some complimentary pretty babies in your next order! ;-)

p.s. Someone should tell lulu:
not to mess
with a sorceress
;-)

lulu said...

All I said was that although your stuff sounded wonderful, I like to bake and am quite good at it, so I didn't need to outsource. I never threw down, that was Tom starting a fight.

It's your job, you get paid to do it, I would certainly hope that you are better at it than I am.

Coaster Punchman said...

Now girls.... of course Lu is right, I do like to *try* to start fights, but I have to be careful not to offend either of you since I intend to eat more of both of your sweets....

CP