Tag Archives: Chowhound

News and links

Posted on by bruleeblog

And lastly, if you live in the Edmonton area you should check out the local Chowhound board. I took over moderating the Edmonton Restaurant Review of the Month (RROTM) a couple of months ago, and we need more people participating! Here’s some info for you:

The Edmonton Restaurant Review of the Month (RROTM) is an event where chowhounds nominate local restaurantsto review for the month (similar to a book club). The moderator of RROTM will use a randomizer to choose the restaurant for the upcoming month. Chowhounds try to eat there at least once during that month, and post their opinion in a RROTM specific thread. There are two monthly threads for RROTM – the discussion thread to choose the restaurant and the thread for the reviews.

June discussion: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/710328?tag=main_body;topic-710328
June review thread: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/711446
May review thread: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/705743

Duchess Bake Shop, Edmonton

Posted on by bruleeblog

Yesterday afternoon, when I saw this post on Chowhound and saw Crazy White Girl With a Kitchen’s post and photos, I knew I HAD to stop by the Duchess Bake Shop after work. It is a stylish little place and makes a welcome addition to the shops and restaurants on 124th Street. (For those who are address-challenged and need visual landmarks to find their way around, the bakery is across the street from Koutouki Taverna.)

Look at these pretties! Can you guess what I picked up?

Duchess Bake Shop goodies

Duchess Bake Shop goodies

Oh yeah baby. Macarons and madeleines! Say goodbye to the diet (at least for the day). Hellooooo yummy sugar.

Duchess Bake Shop - macarons and madeleines

Duchess Bake Shop - macarons and madeleines

The madeleines I chose were lavender flavoured. I quite liked the floral flavour of the little sponge cake. I think I would have preferred them to be a tiny bit less dense, but I gave the other one to someone else to try and that person commented that the madeleine was very light tasting. At the bakery they told me the lavender came from Salt Spring Island.

They had three flavours of macarons available so I had to try them all. A lemon (which was fabulously lemony), a pistachio (excellent but maybe a touch too sweet for my preference), and a lavender (just a very faint floral taste, mostly tasted of vanilla). I ate one each, and gave the remainder to the aforementioned other person, who promptly scarfed one like a glutton instead of slowly enjoying it. Yeah, that person got a dirty look from me. Humph.

I was so excited about seeing the macarons that I forgot to ask them what kinds of cakes were in the case. Covered in egg whites with toasty peaks, they looked like stylized cake-shaped baked Alaskas. If anyone knows what they are, please let me know.

They’ve been open for less than a week, so I was told that their hours weren’t absolutely set yet. However on their front door it says that they’re open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

I am so fucking ecstatic that I can buy macarons in Edmonton now! Pardon my français. I’m so happy that I had to write this up right away instead of working on other delayed blog posts. I was starting to wonder if I would have to figure out how to make these things myself… or book another trip to Vegas so that I could raid the Bouchon Bakery. Too bad this means I have to do more exercise to work off all the calories… but I think they’re worth the pain for the yummy pleasure. And honestly, as long as you only eat one or two the calories aren’t too bad.

And while I was writing this I noticed that Only Here for the Food posted about the bakery as well. Looks like word is getting around fast.

Duchess Bake Shop
10720-124 Street, Edmonton
www.duchessbakeshop.com

Duchess Bake Shop on Urbanspoon

The Great Food Revolution: A Citizen’s Guide to Eating in the 21st Century – review of part 3 and 4

Posted on by bruleeblog

Part three and four of the Great Food Revolution was broadcast on the CBC yesterday.

First of all, I have to say I’m ticked off at the CBC’s contest. They changed the contest question for the 2nd week. But the 1st week’s answer was in the 2nd week’s episodes! How on earth was anyone supposed to enter last week?!

The 3rd part of this was “24 Hours, 24 Million Meals: Feeding New York,” and followed some of the many suppliers, vendors, servers, cooks, etc. who feed NYC every day. I liked that this episode had a more focused topic, even though it jumped from person to person. From fishmongers to truffle hunters to feeding the poor, they covered quite a bit. And wow, a 20 million banana shipment! It’s hard to even fully comprehend that many bananas in one place at one moment. Oh and look, there’s the answer to last week’s contest question.

The 4th part was “Food of the Future,” and like the 1st part of this series touched on a number of different subjects related to future trends, rather than focusing a bit more on certain topics. Like that other episode, to me it felt like there wasn’t enough depth and detail dedicated to each item and instead they were just touched on like a quick news story rather than a feature.

My thoughts while watching this part:

  • Did not realize there was molecular gastronomy research being done in Vancouver.
  • Mmm jellyfish.
  • Oh lordy, they’re talking about food bloggers! And Chowhound!

All in all, not a bad series. But the promotion (and cross-promotion) could have been done much, much better.