Browniiieess ^_^

Seth Greenberg of East End Cookie Company was sweet enough to drop off a fresh baked batch of his signature brownies as I headed down to apartment showings last Friday. The babies come a dozen to an order, all neatly packed into a brown and gold box. For those who play the cakey versus fudgey game, these are for fans of the latter. The brownies are fudge to the n-th degree, impossibly rich as the photos implies and studded with pecans.

If the Greenberg name sounds familiar, it's because Seth is the son of William Greenberg Jr who previously owned a bakery by the same name on the Upper East Side (they do the black & white cookie that was mentioned in my cookie post). The bakery is no longer owned by the Greenberg family, but Seth started his own bakery and is responsible for these brownies along with a line of Sticky Schnecken Buns and Lemon Squares.

The brownies don't have that crackly crunchy top I'm so very fond of, but they more than redeem themselves with the most chocolate-y of innards and lots and lots of pecans.

A glass of milk on the side is mandatory. Nuts are optional, but why say 'no' when you can say 'yes'? ^_^

East End Cookie Company
By Delivery Only

Thank Youuuu...

...to my very awesome mom and dad for mailing the most recent surprise package. Every now and then, my parents send over random gifts just because. Those are the most wonderful type of presents - ones given for no particular reason whatsoever :)

The most recent package, which arrived yesterday, was particularly swell. These "happy packages" are often a random collection of objects, or food...this time around it was clothing, shoes and bags.

First off, a splendid pair of red and black heels...

...and a silk black dress with heavy beading around the neckline - I am especially excited about this one.

A new office bag for work.

And a long black jersey dress and blue cashmere cardigan.

My mom and dad are indeed the most wonderful parents in the world as far as I am concerned :)

I talk to Shann, either on the phone or aim at least once a day. Our conversations center around everything, from when will we find our Mr.Big�s and Aidan�s of Sex and the City to what type of furniture we should get for our new apartment this fall. But most of the times we talk about food. We�ll talk about ANY food. Like what you ate for breakfast. For lunch. For dinner. What will you eat tomorrow? Are you going to eat any more tonight? What should we eat this summer? We even invent food in our heads. Some sound good, some don�t sound like they�ll taste good and some are just confusing like chicken teriyaki mochi balls and bacon cookies.

Well today I got a package in the mail with a return address from NYC. It was from Shann! It was not just any kind of package but the best kind, a FOOD package.

I opened it up to find an Olivia note card, which, like all Shann�s letters, manages to blend humor, good food and even better insight into things that you never thought to think about. And it somehow always leaves smile on your face after reading it. Like that feel-good feeling you get after eating a croissant.

Being the creative person she is, Shann included a paper titled �Box Contents!!!�. I was like, whoa, crazy! She had thoughtfully labeled everything in the package by alphabet with a yellow post-it note. The �Box Contents!!!� paper had a little commentary on every item, making it all the more fun to open. Kind of like a treasure hunt, only I don�t have to engage in any physical exercise.

Right underneath the card was Box A � SUPER LEMON drops. I love sour stuff. These are like Warheads�except EXTREME.

Shann�s comment brought back a memory of how when I small, I could never handle the sour outside of a warhead and always ended up running to the nearest water fountain to wash off the sour part. So sad. But now I can handle it!

I gave one to the cute boy at work (I work at the school�s career office in the afternoons) and his face got all puckery. Surely a good sign!

In Box B we have Rice Candy! The first time I had this was in elementary school and I was absolutely fascinated by the fact that I could EAT PAPER. Okay, so it was rice paper, but nonetheless, what elementary school kid wouldn�t be in love with a sticky, soft chewy candy wrapped in paper?!

I also gave cute boy a piece, but methinks he is more partial to the sour lemons. It's a tie for me: edible paper and sour lemons, it's hard to play favorites :)

I was really excited about Box C because I am borderline obsessed with collecting Pretz and Pocky boxes. At first I thought it was because I really liked eating them, but now I�ve realized that more so than eating, I love to look at and examine the boxes. They�re fascinating! The one you see here is the French Toast four pack (it has become a two pack as of 5 minutes ago).

It has that sweet-salty business going with a maple-y syrup linger after you pop a stick. Pretz and Pocky are one of those funny foods. Like potato chips, I rarely crave them, but if I start on one, there is NO WAY I can stop till I�ve gone through the entire box.

I�ve only been to Ikea once in my entire life. And that�s because I can�t find anyone who is willing to drive me to West Covina for the sole purpose of picking up food products from a furniture store. But Ikea food is good! Like their Swedish meatballs? I could eat those day and night! Go on over to Reid�s site at Ono Kine Grindz credit � he made his own meatballs from the Ikea cookbook! And of course the meatballs are not complete without a side of lingonberry preserves, straight from Ikea. And even if I don�t have meatballs, this would totally go with a buttery hot biscuit. Or waffles. Like totally ;)

�E� is the Swedish Pancake and Waffle Mix. I am going to use them with the lingonberry preserves for breakfast this weekend! Oooh and some powdered sugar on top, that will be good! Or maybe even a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream�..

But the coolest thing was Tonkatsu Sauce! It has been confirmed that tonkatsu sauce is no longer limited to chicken katsu but goes good with EVERYTHING. Especially over a bowl of hot rice and tuna. And even with the Thai kind ramen if you prepare it the �dry� way.

Thanks so much for sending this Shann! It makes this week (and the weeks to come!) so much more food-fun, hehe :) I will leave you all with a wise comment from Shann during our recent discussion on donuts, �well, donuts are more lusty. You can't love donuts. They're more like one-night food stands.� I could use a one-night food stand right about now ;)

Malassada in the Mail?

It's been three long and lonely years since I've last had a Punahou Malassada. And these years have passed by with great pain when my parents would phone the first week of each February, regaling me with the stories of the many malassadas they were lucky enough to consume. �I�ll save some in the freezer!� I was promised every year, but by the time summer rolled around, the malassadas would have somehow, magically disappeared into my sister�s stomach. Such are the hardship of my life.

But this year, this year was different, very different. You see, Steph went abroad to Melbourne this semester and didn�t have to leave Hawaii until the Monday after our high school carnival. Which means that she got malassadas. She even called me and over the phone I heard noise of carnival, the rides, the food booths, think teriburgers, Portuguese bean soup and even the Hawaiian plate and I swear could even catch a whiff of the crisp, freshly fried malassadas bathing in a secret blend of sugar, cinnamon, and I suspect, a hit of nutmeg. What I would have given to be there in person!

But instead I went back to my homework, creating an auditing presentation and reading about the SEC and federal regulations. And Friday went, Saturday came, and Sunday was long. So was Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday I went to the mailroom. And there was a package for me.

It looked like this. Did someone send me a can of soda? Tennis balls? I looked at the return address: STEPH SHAO.

I ran back to my dorm, up three flights of stairs, gasping and out of breath. I whipped out my blogging camera and shot pictures (just for you). Then when I could wait no longer I tore the package apart.

Something was in this clear container that previously held locally made smoked squid. It was golden, it looked like dessert. OMG. It could not be!

But it was, it was! STEPH SENT ME A MALASSADA IN THE MAIL. I didn�t event think this was possible! THE PUNAHOU MALASSADA. Holy cow. THANK YOU THANK YOU STEPH! It had been sitting in the mailroom for a while though � was it still good? I took it of the Ziploc bag and popped it in the toaster. Five minutes later, I carefully removed it, and generously dusted my golden ball of doughy happiness with sugar. Then I bit it. Sure, it was little more sour than I would have liked and it was very greasy (but hey, worse things can happen over the course of five days in the mail). But what I ate was the memory of Punahou Carnival. The good years of middle school and high school were I spent the first weekend of every February basking in the fun and joy of carnival. But it was not the ferris wheel and pirates ship that made me happy (those made me throw up). It was the malassadas, and perhaps even more importantly, my friends. I remember waiting in the ever growing lines of locals hungry for their once a year treat of the best malassadas on the island.

A quarter would buy you a tennis ball size treat of pure heaven, fried hard and crispy on the outside and rolled sugar and magic. I would always burn my tongue, but it was so worth it and I�d easily do it again. Once you broke past the crust, you would be rewarded by the most awesome doughyness, soft, sweet and eggy, like nothing you would dare to imagine in your wildest dream. One year I even worked at the malassada booth, and boy, I was never more than happy to be surround by vats of oils and hundred of pounds of sugar. That�s carnival for you. And one year, my friends and I�ve decided, we will all go back. Sometime in the years after we�ve graduated college but before we�re all married and tugging screaming toddlers around. And it�ll be just like we never left.

Today I was blessed by the delivery of the many books I ordered from Amazon. There are a total of five books. The three related to hospitality and restaurant accounting are for my senior thesis. I really wanted to write about food, just food, croissants in particular, for thesis. But alas, I was told that in order to graduate with honors, you MUST write thesis in the topic of your major (gasp!). It is difficult to meld the topics of croissants and financial accounting into a 100-page thesis. What to do? So I sat down and did some heavy thinking over an In-N-Out Neapolitan milkshake. And there must be something magical in that milkshake, cause within three sinfully thick and creamy sips of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla, my thesis topic popped into my head: restaurant accounting!

The other two books are much more interesting I assure you. Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink and Calvin Trillin's The Tummy Trilogy. The Tummy Trilogy is a collection of my three favorite books from Trillin, American Fried, Alice, Let's Eat, and Third Helpings. I've read all of Trillin's books before in the past, but he's just one of those writers I come back to over and over again. Because no matter how many times you've read his stories, they will never fail to make you laugh. And happy. Oh so happy.

Well, it's going to be a difficult decision, trying to decide what I'll do with my next free hour before class. Start the bagazillion page senior thesis or do some food reading for pleasure? ;)

(On the subject of my dorm room carpet: Friday night I made miso soup to have with my rice, Spam, eggs and ume furikake. All was going well. I made the soup in my saimin pot on the hot plate, and poured the soup into a ceramic bowl. Mistake #1: I forgot to turn off the hot plate. Roommate says, �is something burning?� �Oh no!� I cried and quickly dashed six feet across to the other side of our dorm. I turn off the hot plate, and thinking it would be stupid to leave an empty pot on a still hot surface, I remove the pot and put it on the ground (we�re operating in a college dorm here). Our ground is carpeted. That was mistake #2.

So I had my dinner, and enjoyed it quite a bit even though I ate way more Spam than intended. It was so good though, cause I pan fried it until really crispy and even added some teriyaki sauce. And after I finished I decided that, well, why don�t I be good today, and do the dishes. So I pick up my bowl, chopsticks, and saimin pot off the ground. Only the pot wouldn�t lift. I mean, it wouldn�t move. My god! It was stuck to the floor! Holy moley, I melted the carpet. Oh no. I started to tremble. I gathered a good portion of the girls living on my floor. We must lift the pot from the carpet!!! But it wouldn�t go. It wouldn�t leave. It wouldn�t budge. I was so sure I was doomed. And I started to cry.

But wait! I had a knife. Not the puny steak knife kind, but the big butchers knife, all shiny and sharp. Just in case I�d ever need it. And so I whipped it out from the dark corners of my pantry shelf and started slicing the pot off the carpet. It was ridiculous I tell you. The pot came off after great muscle strength exertion. I was home free. The bottom of the pot was covered in nice thick layer of carpet fur. And our carpet was naked.)

Oh man, many little good things happened/were accomplished today, but none inspired me to write a post until the ever magical and most-fun-person-to-eat-with-in-the world, Robyn, made an appearance in my mailbox. Via a box of chocolates. Wait! But not just any chocolates, but the most picture perfect set by Pierre Herme.

Look!

And then I turned to my dad, who was clearly confused by my excitement, and declared, "hoooooo, these are so amazing, I'm not going to share them with anyone in world!" He didn't look like he gave a hoot, so I continued, "but I might share them with you...because, you are cool like that, dad!" And then he looked really confused, so I went back to oohing and ahhing over Pierre Herme's strategically designed box.

I don't know even where to begin! With names like Mathilda, Mogador, Cho Chocolat, Ispahan, Azur, Lou, Ouvre-toi, I can barely decipher which type of chocolate is what, but there are hints of pralines, caramel, rose, cirus, and nougatines to come. I think I've gone to fairyland. I'm going to taste these bit by bit and do a post on all of them at once, though till then, I'm going to savor the chocolately scent for as long as I can. Thank you SO MUCH Robyn!

And that's the end of the really delicious chocolate part, but if want to know what I did with the rest of day, read on!

OK. So I woke up late after a post-Christmas pre-New Years potluck party with all my high school friends. We had Zippy's Chili, poke, Zippy's Fried Chicken, lots of hummus and pita, garlic-shoyu edamame, CPK pizza, brownies, Ted's Pumpkin-Hapuia pie and plenty of other good stuff. Ah, how much I miss potlucks!
Well I was still half asleep on the living room couch when I heard the doorbell ring. Our couch is not so strategically placed within feet of our completely see thru door, and when I looked up groggily, I saw...the FEDEX MAN. oh no! How embarrassing! I was still wearing my hello kitty pajamas from 7th grade! so I ran and hid in my sister's room. The doorbell left unanswered. I'm sure the fexex man understands.

A good half hour later, I bravely opened the door to get the package. I looked at the name. It was addressed to me! Wow, it must have been my lucky day. I dragged in it and ripped it open. And what was inside? A new suitcase from my employer! Neato! Even though I'm not starting work for a good eight more months, gifts already? It's not quite big enough to check in at the airport, and little bigger than the typical carry on...but it's the fact that i got a SUITCASE in the mail that makes me happy. As you can see, it doesn't take much to make me happy.

I also had a very bad cinnamon roll ($2.25) from Great Harvest Bakery. It's like dry bread sprinkled with brown sugar then rolled up into a pseudo cinnamon roll. Though the frosting, given in a little container on the side, is very nice, smooth, thick with cream cheesy goodness and not too sweet. If only I had a good cinnamon roll to spread it on!

I also got Buddy a new dog tag (after he got lost yesterday). It's a yellow hexagon that very plainly says, BUDDY, and then my mom's cell phone number on the next line. We couldn't put our home address cause we're going to move soon. Dad suggested putting our PO Box, but I highly doubt anyone would return Buddy to a PO Box.

From Robyn, Via New York

Whooooa. Robyn is such an fantastic food-trader-wither. I did a food trade with her a few weeks ago, but because of an excessive backlog of posts, I had to set aside enough time to give her package its much deserved thanks. Thank you Robyn, for giving my many cavities and fat calories :) Everything was so good I ate it all in a matter of three days, giving no regard whatsoever to the excessive quantities of sugar I consumed. I was on a continuous happy sugar high. Oooh, food trades, so bad, yet so gastronomically satisfying.

Thank you thank you Robyn!

The beautiful baby is the LEVAIN cookie. Oh, sexy, this hefty chocolate chip walnut baby weighs in at half a pound. I don't know where to begin but know you're not supposed to eat it all in one sitting (which I regretfully/happily did). You bite and it's like Whhhoooa. Crazy. The insides were soft and cookie doughy with equally generous portions of walnut and chocolate chunks. It drove me crazier than any guy ever has. It's rich, it's moist, it's huge. There's really nothing more you need in a cookie. If I were not simultaneously a bad photographer and aggressive eater, you'd also see the innards, which I scarfed down too quickly to be photographed. I'm sending you over to read Robyn's review, which not only offer better pictures but is a 100 times more drool worthy.

Buried in the tasty heap of sweets was a City Bakery cookie. It manages to be iron board flat, crispy and crunchy but at the same time, include not chips or chunks of chocolate but layers of chocolate. Mind blowing. And we thought chocolate chip cookies were just chocolate chip cookies.

You see this little green and white striped box? It's magical. I requested that Robyn include macarons, my favorite cookie addiction of the moment. After reading much about these French cookies on many blogs and tasting a trio of mini macarons at Jin's Patisseire, all I wanted to do was eat the world one macaron at a time :)

Ok, these pictures are unforgivably bad. Please don't judge taste by them. They chipped a little in the mail, but that was rendered negligible after the first bite. This is what the pistachio one is supposed to look like. Now that's an awesome picture, isn't is? But the one I need to tell you about is the chocolate bugger on the right. This was the single best item in the whole package (a difficult choice to make!) I bit into cookie and was instantly taken aback by how the thin brittle layer with just a whiff of chocolate gave way to a dense, moist and chewy innard. Before I could comprehend this, something oh so smooth slid across my tongue, a dark rich and bitter chocolate ganache. Caught between the two perfectly round cocoa cookies, it was chocolate in the most sinfully addicting form. I told myself I would only eat half, as I insisted on "sampling" EVERYTHING while opening the box. Ha. Half? Are you kidding. The whole macaron in all its decadence made it's way from NYC and straight into my tummy. I would not have had it any other way.

Much to my delight, Robyn kindly tucked in a duo of chocolate truffles hidden in the Financier box. I gave one away to Meg, my future roommate and kept the dark chocolate coconut for myself. Sweeet. A bite into the mellow, bitterly sweet shell revealed a liquidly center, boasting rich coconut flavors. It was a bit sugary for my tastes, or maybe it was cause I just had a ton of sugar via various baked goods J

The cookie parade never ends! This Ranger Cookie was from Alice's Tea Cup. This was the "healthiest" cookie of the bunch, with all the good basics rolled into a light and crisp disk. Every sweet crumbly bite revealed combinations of chocolate chips, coconut and rice crispies. It was a comfort cookie, like something found at a (very good) school bake sale. I have fond memories of Alice's, having visited at least every other week to enjoy afternoon tea. Often I'd go by myself, nothing quite like passing away a Friday afternoon hidden underground in the cozy nooks of this restaurant. I love their scones the way a mother loves her daughter, an intense fondness and...ooookay. That was getting way off. But yes. They've got a wonderful rotation of scones, my favorite being the strawberry caramel and ginger honey blueberry. Fly me home to the city and I promise we'll dine on scones together. Cream and jam. You, me and a dozen scones. Divine!

What is this? Huge, triangular, all the poppy seeds on the planet packed into a dough that's not quite cookie, not really cake, but both! It's a hamentaschen :) No fruit filled ones here, only poppy seed will do. This particular one came from Moishe's in the East Village, nyc's finest (in my opinion) Jewish bakery. I like these cause every bit has that haunting flavor of poppy entwined with a softer cakey shortbread-like dough. None of the components are sweet in the traditional baked good sense, but put together, they make a most interesting kind of cookie.

I saved the best for last! Oh wait, I already said the Financier's chocolate macaron was the best. Ok. It will be a tie. I requested this loaf from Arte Around the Corner after reading Nosher's post. His post honestly made me drool and all I could think about for the next two days was his sage-honey loaf. I'd sit in class trying to balance so-and-so's firm's 1999 balance sheet when the words "sage-honey loaf" would dance across my head and right onto my paper. Instead of debiting the inventories account, I had drawn a picture of the loaf. Nice. Which explains why I was literally trembling when I saw the loaf in Robyn's package. They had run out of the sage flavor, but I was equally content with the rosemary-honey loaf. It looked beautiful and tasted even better. A thick dense slice that smelled and tasted powerfully of rosemary, richly saturated in honey. The edges, after a light toasting, were delicately tender and crisp. Isn't the color of the slice something? The contrast between golden brown and a husky yellow? I'm not kidding when I said saturated with honey, my head was spinning, all sweet breads need be honey soaked then boldly shocked with savory herbs. I love it! I love it!

Much thanks to Jenny who sent me the most exciting package I've ever received in my life! :) Pooh on the US Post Office who can never seem to do anything right. The package was sent out via 7 day shipping, but it never arrived until 3 weeks later as the post office had mistakenly sent it to another office. But I'm just glad it is here and (most) of the food is edible.
The highlight of the package was a book that I've had a sinful craving for (yes, you can crave a cookbook): Mario Batali's Molto Italiano! Not only did Jenny send the book, she sent a hardcover edition. And not only was it hardcover, it was autographed by Mario Batali himself! Oh man! Oh man. This just about made me the happiest person in the world. And to think I lived right next to Babbo's last year and never ate there (but I did have the olive oil gelato at Otto's which is insanely good). I hugged the book for 10 minutes and then spent the next 4 hours reading though it. Sigh. I love reading cookbooks. I went to sleep with wonderful dreams of Osso Buco with Toasted Pine Nut Gremolata and Fried Lamb Sweetbreads. Ahhhh, can't wait to cook all winter break!The book would have been more than extravagant gift itself, but Jenny went all out and sent my favorite brownies from all of the city, Fat Witch Brownies. Clockwise from bottom left is the Blonde Witch (choco chip cookie brownie), Java Witch (coffee brownie), Fat Witch (the original) and the Baby Walnut Witch (original w/walnuts). And on the right is a pack of their "Witch Brew", a hot chocolate mix that produces a very creamy dark and decadent drink. As you can see I attacked the Baby Walnut first. I love these brownies because they are dense and fudgy. Some complain that they are too sweet, which is hard to argue but this is a good kine sweet! It's a intense chocolatey sweet, similar to a flourless chocolate cake - you know it will cause cavities but its so good and just begs to be eaten. And so what can you do but eat it? hehe. After I took this picture, the Java Witch was consumed. I need to learn how to share desserts or I'll die of a heart attack pretty soon. Next door to Fat Witch in the Chelsea Market is Eleni's, a sweet shop specializing in all sorts of fanciful cookies. Included in the package was a tin of Eleni's oatmeal raisin cookies. These cookies rock. They're wonderful light and crispy, with just the right balance of raisins and the nutty flavor of oats. The shop also makes pretty good cupcakes ( they're 1/2 off an hour before the shop closes). My favorite cupcake is the "George", a brownie like cupcake with marshmallows and cookie crumbs mixed into the batter.
If the Post Office had done their job correctly, I would also been feasting on Apple Cider Doughnuts and Pumpkin Ginger Bread from Breezy Hill Orchard at the Greenmarket. But they didn't. And so I don't want to think about it because food gone bad makes me mad. The doughnuts and bread were all moldy but smelled so good. I actually tried to take a bite (talk about desperate). Bad idea. Don't eat moldy baked goods!
Also from the Greenmarket were cubes of Maple Sugar, both plain and with pecans. These were great on their own, they seem to disappear in your mouth, leaving behind a faintly sweet taste of maple with a nutty undertone. They also made a delightful addition to my cup of tea in the morning. On the bottom is a package of dried figs from the grocery store in the Chelsea Market. I think I'll incorporate them into my next rice dish, inspired by Robyn (that was some pretty awesome curry and rice dish you made!), with some spices and hazelnuts.

And that. That was all good. All so good. No, good doesn't do it justice - I'm exhausted and happy in the best sense of the word. I felt like I just took a walk to all my haunts in the city and indulged in all my favorite sweet treats. Thank you Jenny! (We do a lot of co-cooking over the phone with Batali's book over break)!

Shann sent me a box of chai from the Chocolate Bar during our first round of food blogging via mail. I've nearly finished the box but am trying very hard to savor the last bit. I love my daily chai from Starbucks but this, this is something else! This chai is a blend of black tea, a good dose of masala spice, vanilla, bits of dried apples, mint and pieces of CHOCOLATE! The smell of the blend is intoxicating - I think I've devoted more than a two hours sniffing the bag like some horrible addict. What do I smell? This warm, chocolately mint feeling of Christmas. It's honest, smoky, heartwarming - apples, spices and chocolate all at once! I imagine being surrounded by family and friends, pulling warm loaves of pumpkin bread (moist and dense inside with a slightly crunchy crust) from the oven and a delicious dinner mixing cultural and local cuisine - shark's fin soup, roasted duck and plenty of rice to go around! Isn't it crazy how smell can transport you?

Where would I be without Shravani? Lost. and Hungry. Who is Shravani? Quite possibly the most generous and sweet person in the entire universe. She was my closest friend at NYU and even though I'm no longer in nyc, I still consider her to be one of closest friends. She tolerated my mad obsessions with food, my random bakery hunts, my walls plastered with restaraunt reviews and rec, desktop images of macarons and mooncakes and frequent walks to Chinatown (just "to look"). So imagine how happy I was today, this random Friday afternoon to recieve a package in the mail from the one and only Shravani. I could barely contain my excitement, skipping back to my dorm (I probably looked like an idiot while doing so) and tearing open the package as soon as I got into my room.
HOLY MOLY! INDIAN SNACKS AND SWEETS! I'm in heaven. Sigh. :)
Shravani, you are too nice!
I'm about to attack everything now, but I'll try my best to resist the urge and explain what's inside this most fantastic care package ever.

From right to left: Khatta Meetha (a sweet and sour gram mixture), Masala Chickpeas /Channa (a super spicy fried chickpea snack) and Punjabi Mix (similar to the Khatta Meetha but more spicy)! I had an opportunity to try the Khatta Meetha last year. It's dangerously addicting. Crunchy, salty with just the right amount of spice, the mix includes the most genius blend of peanuts, green peas, riceflakes and a ton more other stuff I cannot define. Think of it a mochi crunch taken to the millionth degree! I'm excited to try the Punjabi mix, which Shravani suggested eating with rice and yogurt.
She also included a couple of indian sweets which top my list of cultural desserts. I fell in love with Kalakand last year, but since the sweet had to be refrigerated, it couldn't be mailed over. I suppose it could be crudely described as an Indian version of cheescake square, but MUCH better, a simply refreshing combination of boiled milk, ricotta, and pistachios. Shravani found a way around the refrigeration issue with a Kalakand Mix, which I will try and post about as soon as I can. She also included Sonpapdi, a "Pistachio Flavored Sweet Crispy Cake," a many layered, delicate treat. Mmm. Oh man. I'm in heaven.
Thank you Shravani!