Thanks for the previous post, my niece-y! The flan looks delicious. Alas, I can only imagine eating the sweet and smooth flan. Mmmm…Virtual Delicioso. Next time that Guurlfriend makes it, think about changing the flan recipe by adding green tea? The flan reminds me of Chinese egg custard tarts and I have seen them come in different flavors in some NYC’s Chinatown bakeries. The egg custard can be egg white only, green tea or almond flavor. I have tried them and they have the same taste as the original yellow egg-y ones. Not that I have good taste buds in the first place to differentiate. So think about changing the recipe for next time. Guurlfriend can also make panna cotta which is another milk dessert. I think it is really easy to make, but I have not found the time, then forgot about it. I was going to use soy milk and add green tea powder that I bought in Kyoto to flavor it. Ask Guuurlfriend to make!

For July 4th, I went to the Taste of Chicago Festival to sample food from participating local restaurants, and to see the fireworks display. The Taste is an annual summer event that takes place in Grant Park and is free for everyone to stroll along and browse the food stalls set up by Chicago-land eateries. The admission to the Taste is free but the food is not. Food ranged from 4 tickets to 10 tickets, where a strip of 12 tickets was 8 bucks. Pretty expensive. There were all types of cuisine such as African, Indian, Southeast Asian, and Italian. I wanted to try them all but allowed myself to purchase 24 tickets. So my plan was simple: Taste the sample portions that cost from 3 to 4 tickets each, and hopefully can sample 6. Well, that plan did not work. I like sweets and caved in to buy a slice of cheesecake with strawberries for 6 tickets. Yes, eating desserts is first for me. Then I was good, and purchased 4 tickets worth for a taste portion of vegetarian soul food. It is called BBQ Twist which is just gluten with yummy barbecue sauce. Next was another taste portion of toasted cheese ravioli with marinara sauce for 4 tickets. I passed Chinese food, then another Italian, and was tempted to try African fare but hesitated because of its goat meat menu. I’m new to Chicago and in exploring the city, I came across a specialty market for African food. In the market, I saw goat heads, and I mean WHOLE heads and other goat parts for sale. The image is burned in my head and so I shivered in remembrance when I passed the African food stall. Afraid goat meat is not for me. Onward as I forged through the crowd, until I saw lobster tail and garlic potato plate for 10 tickets.  I had exactly 10 tickets left and I was tired of fighting the crowd and sprang for it. Then I was free, free from the crowd to roam the rest of Grant Park and waited for the fireworks display.

Overall, the Taste is a good way to while away time but this year, the event was marred by gang-related shootings. I saw an emergency vehicle carrying away one of the shot victims, and at one point, I saw scores of youngsters running away from something, perhaps a shooting. The Mayor has stated that the shootings were isolated incidents and won’t hurt Chicago’s Olympic 2016 bid. Hmmm, I don’t know about that…Shouldn’t the Mayor be more concern about the high crime rate and not about the Olympic bid?

VEGGIE BBQ TWIST

CHEESECAKE

FIREWORKS!!