Chukar Cherries (Seattle, Wa)

I had never been a big fan of chocolate till I met this "special someone".

Last year, Mr. G and I went to Seattle for our annually vacation.  During our trip, we joined a food tour at the Pike Place Market.  This was a very first food tour we joined; and both of us enjoyed it so much.  Not only that we got to taste some great food from the local favorite spots or famous/popular restaurants.  We also got to know the background and history about Seattle and the Pike Place Market.  (PS, they offer 3 different types of food tour, check out Savor Seattle website to find out more.) These kinds of food tours could also be found in few other big cities in the States, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, NY, Orange County (YAY!), Boston...so if you got chance to visit these cities, please clean up your schedule to make some room to join a food tour.  I am pretty sure you won't be disappointed!  OK, so back to today's post - during this food tour, we were introduced to Chukar Cherries located at Pike Place Market.  We didn't expect the in-expectation until we got to try their chocolate cover bling cherries chocolates.  OMG!  They were totally amazing!!!  The combination of the sweetness from the chocolate and the tartness from the cherries take a chocolate to another level.  From that day, Chukar Cherries became my #1 chocolate.  If you don't have chance to fly to the North Pacific, you could also order their goodies online, by clicking here.

Different types of chocolates from Chukar Cherries,
our favorite is the chocolate covered the bling cherrie.s 

Free gift from them.

The honey pecans one is another top item from them. 

We joined the Savor Food Tour, and got a discount card to shop at most shops/restaurants
at the Pike Place Market

Jamprint Cookies Recipe from OddFellows Cafe + Bar (Seattle, Wa)

Imagine from Cakespy.com

Ever since our first visit in Seattle, I have been falling in love with this city, the food, the culture and the people there.  I have been chasing after few Seattle food and dessert blogs since we had gotten back from our trip last year.  Few months ago, I made these Jamprints Cookies based on the recipe I found from the OddFellows Cafe + Bar's facebook page.  I altered the recipe a little bits by adding some fresh lemon zest.

The cookies came out so moist and yummy.  Here is their secret:

Jamprints Cookies

Imagine from PRZman.com

Ingredients

• 0.75 lbs butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3.5 cups flour
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• flaked coconut, for edges
• jam (of your choosing), about 1 teaspoon per cookie

Instruction:
Preheat oven to 350

1.     Cream butter + sugar in mixer w/ paddle attachment, add vanilla + salt

2.     Sift in the flour, mix until dough comes together

*Optional:  Adding lemon zest in the batter

3.     Wrap in plastic, chill for 1 hr
4.     Roll it into 1 ounce balls, dip balls in egg wash + roll in flaked coconut

5.     Put ball on a baking sheet + indent the top, fill with jam.

6.    Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until coconut is toasted and jam thickens.

Very easy to make and very tasty! 

Thanks Oddfellows to share their recipe.

Seeking Sweetness in Everyday Life - Cakespy

I mentioned that Mr. G and I went to Seattle last year on my preivous post.  During our trip, we stopped by Capitol Hill because I wanted to check out an art gallery + store,CakeSpyShop there and it's walking distance from the hotel we stayed. 

This little store has all kinds of "sweet" treats (sorry, nothing edible though) inside, art works, cupcake stands, dessert stickers, ice cream lamp, dessert wallets, donut t-shirts, just everything sweet...

I was so happy to meet the artist and the owner of Cake Spy, Jessie Oleson (aka head spy) at her very own store.  She is such a sweet and welcoming person to meet with! When we got there, she was about to go out for running some errands. As soon as she saw us, she asked us if we wanted to come in.  She told us she could go later...

Since that trip, I have been following her cakespy blog till now.  Her blog is very fun to read because she interviews different bakeries, ice cream shops, candy shop throughout the country.  Also, she has a lot of great or interesting recipes for us to follow.  Of course, her artworks are also amazing and "sweet" too!  She has a new book coming out and I can't wait to get a copy of it.

 In front of CakeSpyShop (415 E Pine St, Seattle, WA 98122)

(between Bellevue Ave & Crawford Pl) Little Cuppy is welcoming us!

Jessie's art work inside the shop.

 Ice cream lamp inside the shop.

 Jessie and I

I bought some "sweet" postcards from CakeSpyShop.  Look at the little cuppies by the Seattle Space Needle.

New book (Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life) by CakeSpy (photo courtesy of CakeSpy.com)

"Seattle cheesecake takes NY cheesecake!?!"

Last November, Mr. G and I went to Seattle for our annual vacation.  As soon as we were landed, I could smell the fresh air, I could see the greens, I could feel that I entered into a twilight zone...

Seattle is a very unqiue city and I have a love/hate relationship with "her" (I seriously think that Seattle is a girl because she is very "moody" all the time!)  I hate the weather (due to the location of Seattle, it's either cloudy or rainny 293 days among 365 days in a year), but I do love the people, the food culture and the well developed transportation system (yes, we didn't drive during our 7 day visit at all!  We took buses, cab, monorail and walk everywhere.).

After dropping off our belongings in the hotel room, we walked to the famous Pike Place Market  for some lunch.   A lot of people might think that Pike Place Market is just for tourists and if you are cool or local enough, you won't go there!  I TOTALLY disagree with it.  We talked to local and some friends, who have been living in the city for a long time or a regular visitor of Seattle, they adore this market O so much!  The fresh produce, the fish throwing, the street musician, MOST IMPORTANTLY, the FOOD! 

We tried countless of awesome food here at the Pike Place Market; this time I am going to introduce you a very tiny cheesecake boutique, called The Confesstional!  Unlike the triangle shape of NY cheesecakes, The Confesstional's cheesecakes are a petite cup-size.  They have about 15-20 different flavors daily, and their flavors change with the season.  I have tried the rasberry flavor and the caramel flavor, they both are "unreal" - Good flavor, tasty crust, smooth texture...(I can go on and on...) and compare to the NY chesecakes, I think they are lighter and fluffier!

If you have chance to check out Seattle, stop by the Pike Place Market and The Confesstional, you won't be disappointed about what you see and taste!  One great news I found out from The Confesstional's website that you could order their cheesecakes online and they ship them within US.  How awesome that is!