Chocotorta: chocolate cookies, dulce de leche and cream cheese cake

Scene: Saturday night, a couple in an appartment
Character 1: man in the kitchen preparing pizza
Character 2: female, resting on the couch, the TV is on
Idea: women, "Maybe I can do something for dessert"
Available ingredients: dulce de leche, cream cheese, chocolate cookies
Answer: "I can do it in 10´!"

That was more or less how this dessert started, because it´s fast, no messy, and I could prepare it at the living room table, the kitchen was busy with the pizza guy.

I grabbed two glasses, two bowls, milk, sweet cocoa and the three essential ingredients.

Chinatown in Buenos Aires

Taking advantage of the summer schedule we have at work, I went to Chinatown. It´s in the neighborhood of Belgrano, in Buenos Aires City, where Taiwanese immigrants settled a years ago.Today there are several Eastern communities present.

From some years to now this place became a must in the tours in B.A. As far as I know it´s not a big Chinatown, I knew the San Pablo´s not as colorful, but bigger as this. This are only 2 or 3 blocks on the street Arribeños, from Juramento St. and Blanco Encalada St. There are at least 4 supermarkets, bazaar shops, food stalls and restaurants of the different communities.

The chinese restaurants some are better than others and not very pricy. Of course, the japanese are pricier and less crowded.

Conversions & Equivalents: metric vs. non-metric

Here in Argentina we use the metric system, centimetres, kilograms, and Celsius degrees. And that´s a problem, because most of the recipes I read are in English units, inches, ounces, and Farenheit degrees.

To solve that, I´ve made a simple chart, although I write in english the recipes are in metrics.

To have a quick access to this chart I´ll add a button on the top of the blog.

Hope it helps you!

Concorde Dessert: is not a bird, or a plane!

It´s the"Concorde, the cake"


It is one of the most delicious and memorable chocolate cakes. It was created by the renowned pastry chef Gaston Lenôtre in honor of the Place de la Concorde in Paris. Mr. Lenôtre, who passed away in 2009, has changed the pastry as it was known, for a lighter and less sweeter one. 


He´s also the creator of the famous Opera cake, meringue succes, and the school that is known worldwide.

Wishes

With this picture of my Christmas tree, obviously made ​​by my hands with some wire, paint and ornaments, I want to leave my happiest wishes for the remaining of this year and the year that is going to start.

Without further ado: HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Limequat pound cake, a potion for cold days

The last ingredient that was missing! exclaimed to myself in a supermarket. 
I was in the process of creating something different (the chicken or the egg ...), and encountered some strange fruits for my eyes. And took prey (after paying a small fee).Upon reaching the cave, small golden jewels were immersed in a bath of sugar and water in equal parts, and they were swimming around under low fire until they were tender. 


And waited, and waited, until one day, in times of snow and cold, gnashed his bowels, and there was only one answer for that in his great book (the big web with millions of recipes). This witch put them with others who were arrested from immemorial times in a big pot. And with little magical spells achieved a potion that deserves to be registered.

Gingy: Ginger and honey cookies

(Angry Gingy says: Don´t eat me!)


When the holidays arrive and we realize the year is coming to an end, we start to think about what happend during this year and put things in a scale.
My year was very good, I can´t complain. It had its sad side, by the departure of a beloved, had its joys, challenges, hopes and celebrations. The scale leaned to a positive side.


Next year, I expect surprises, as always, generally the´ll be good, so I'm waiting. 
And so in a feeling of celebration, to get into the warmth of the holidays, I made spiced cookies  with a child motif, shaped Gingy the gingerbread man from the movie Shrek.