ComeUndone

Thank you! The boxes were all purchased at Solutions (http://www.solutions-stores.ca/). The plain brown cardboard boxes were enhanced with ribbons and an overlay of trimmed gift wrap. The photobox has an empty window on top for customizing. I used two complimentary cardstock and a sticker with my monogram. Notice that all the cookies were individually packaged in cellophane bag. This is for the practical reason of eliminating grease marks and allowing crisp and soft cookies to be packed in the same container.

This year I made extensive use of the Martha Stewart Cookies book as well as the vegan cookies recipes in Dreena Burton's cookbooks. Vegan baking is a new thing for me this year. From left to right: 1. Vegan Coconut Lime Cookie, 2. Vegan Peanut Butter Cookie, 3. Vegan Chocolate Spice Cookie, 4. Vegan Walnut Brownie, 5. Vegan Pear Ginger Pistachio Blondie, 6. Vegan Chocolate Almond Cherry Cookie, 7. Vegan Maple Walnut Cookie, 8. Vegan Homestyle Chocolate Chips Cookies, 9. Pistachio Cranberries Icebox Cookies, 10. Hazelnut Chocolate Sable, 11. Orange Fig Pinwheel, 12. Cream Cheese Walnut Cookies, 13. Butterscotch Cashew Blondies, 14. Personalized Gingerbread, 15. Maple Pecan Shortbread, 16. Coconut Macaroons not pictured: Walnut Chocolate Chips Cookies, White Chocolate Chips Fudge Cookies, Pecan Brownies, Espresso Biscuits Full description for the regular cookies assortment available here: http://wscwong.typepad.com/dessert_by_cand...s-are-here.html Full description for the vegan cookies assortment available here: http://wscwong.typepad.com/dessert_by_cand...ay-cookies.html For packaging ideas: And that wraps up another year of crazy holiday baking...

I finally overcame my fear of making a buche de noel this year. See here for picture and recipe for my chocolate pistachio cherry flavour one.

Hmm, I don't work with imperial measurements so my guess is as good as yours. Have you tried any of the online unit converters? Yes, gotta love the cookies chapters in the Herme books. One of the easier recipes to attempt.

Thanks! The "lacquer" boxes are actually plastic. I bought it for $25CND at Utsuwa no Yakata (http://www.utsuwa.com). The box is actually 3 tiers but I don't want to make the gift too large so I only used two. I used paper muffin liners to hold the cookies.

After a few weekends of hardwork, my holiday baking's all done! I highly recommend Tish Boyle's The Good Cookie. Lots of great recipes that I'll be returning to in years to come. This is what I made this year: http://wscwong.blogs.friendster.com/desser...sent_you_h.html

It's a yes for me too on June 6 8:30. Super super super excited!!!!

This is an old thread on chocolatiers and chocolate available in Toronto: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=83670&hl=

Thanks! It was as much fun to make as it was to eat. I'm surprise that a 5-year old found it cool instead of scary! Brave kid!

Getting ready for Halloween, I made a Grand Marnier Flourless Chocolate Cake glazed with Grand Marnier Ganache. I admit that I went a little overboard on the horror factor: Recipe and Picture available here.

I too am waiting for the book to be available in Canada. In the mean time, Amazon.ca posted a number of recipes from the book so that we can get a taste before we can hold the book in our (butter-smeared) hands. The recipes are Toasted Almond Scones, Chockablock Cookies, and Quintuple Chocolate Brownies. http://www.amazon.ca/Baking-Home-Yours-Dor...=UTF8&s=gateway

My choice packaging idea is to use disposable clear plastic cups. Place cupcake on a mini round cake board (those gold ones are lovely but in a pinch, small round coasters work great) and cover it with the inverted cup. Tape cup to cardboard round and you have a sturdy and gorgeous cake dome. So not environmentally friendly but it is highly portable.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13468807/?GT1=8211 http://www.greatnewwonderfulthemovie.com/

My latest favourite is Czehoski's rooftop patio. It's small and intimate with ceiling fans too (don't worry, there were mounted on wires so that you can still see plenty of stars)! Although there's not much of a view, the food more than compensates for it.

My recent fruit pairing for Earl Grey and chocolate is mango. The slight acidity and floral flavour of mango goes very well with both flavours.

I tried the recipe for cream cheese ice-cream in Claudia Fleming's The Last Course. I was very happy with the results and totally love the tangy flavour. A very nice departure from vanilla ice-cream to serve with fresh fruit compote.

My recent copy of Orange Page has an extra booklet that makes 24 different dishes using one basic miso sauce recipe. The master recipe is: 3 tbsp miso 1 tbsp sugar 1 tbsp sake 1 tbsp mirin They used this master recipe in three different types of application: dissolve in nimono/stew, mixed into finely chopped ingredients as a sauce , or as a marinate/spread for grilling. So versatile!!

These are the desserts I served at the restaurant last night: Cinnamon Chocolate Cake Melt-in-the-mouth chocolate cake flavoured with cinnamon, served with cinnamon crème anglaise foam and chocolate spiced streusel The streusel contains a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and black pepper. Crème Fraiche Panna Cotta Crème fraiche panna cotta with a subtle hint of Grand Marnier & orange flower, served with candied kumquats, candied pecans, pecan shortbread, and caramelized mini banana I'm very happy with both of these desserts and consider them some of my best so far. You can find more of my notes on how I came up with both desserts here.

Now that all of my chocolate/truffles are long gone, I decided that SOMA is still my favourite. However, although not quite local, the Thomas Hass chocolate from Sen5es are also very good. It is actually my fall-back hostess gift when I don't know what to get. Along with JS Bonbons, these are my favourites available in Toronto. As a somewhat follow up to this chocolate tour, I have finished reading The Chocolate Connoiseur and got into the whole world of chocolate tasting. So far, I find the best sources for purchasing chocolate bars are SOMA and The Cheese Boutique. Both carry a good selection of products from different chocolatiers including single-estate or single-origin bars. However, the price at SOMA is usually a better deal. Click here for a complete list of where I source my chocolate in Toronto.

You may find the following thread useful as well: Tokyo Sweets Tour

I used this recipe from Martha Stewart that yields excellent results. The cookie is soft at room temperature and doesn't need ripening. It stays soft even in the frozen state similar to commercial ice-cream sandwiches. This is my standard ice-cream sandwich cookie base.

I, too, enjoyed a wonderful meal at Habitat last Saturday. Here's a link to my review.

I have a habit of soaking vegetables (and strawberries too) in cold salted water to get rid of the sand and grits. It's something that I learn from my mom and aunts. Perhaps something about the saltiness of the water helps to draw out the dirt???

Lucky for you, Choya does have a US distributor so purchasing online shouldn't be much of an issue. See http://www.choya.com/overseas/america.html#usa

What if the egg whites are Italian meringue? They should hold better than French meringue, no?