the "sweetest" weekend

Literally, as we made over 700 Truflles in two days!!!!

Sat the 28th, will be the third and last(LOLs!), wedding banquet for Lyn & Shaun... this is for their friends in Taipei who were not able to attend either the Nantou or Kaohsiung receptions... still over 100 of them! GEEZ!!! Anyway, as a favour and gift to the the newlyweds -- we volunteered to make the truffles as parting gifts to the attendees... each person will get a box of 4 truffles...
Now, we have never made truffles before -- we have eaten lots of them -- of course --so we thought it would be a nice challenge.. and a great present, a more meaningful gift to the newlyweds... Besides, how BAD could it be right... after all I will be working with chocs.. MY FAVE!!! Challenge was the least of it... it was also time consuming, meticulous and messy...
-Time consuming as each batch of 100 took us about 3 hrs to finish up - scooping into balls, dipping in melted chocolates and rolling in the various topping...
-Meticulous as we want everything to taste great and look good... no out of shape ones - those were either packed to give to our friends and family - or eaten right away... lols...
-Messy as between the three of us, we had a whole load of laundry the two days we made the truffles.
Still, it was all worth the troubles as we were quite relieved that we finished them in a timely matter and they actually turned out, not only PRETTY but TASTY as well... now for the real test, getting the people to try them and hearing what they have to say...

CLICK HERE for more photos of our TRUFFLE MAKING adventure...

Taiwan Burrito... or is it Lumpia... or Crepe???

...who cares... it IS Delicious!!!!

Yesterday, Saturday the 18th I was able to TASTE what I think is, something fresh and different... and combines two of Yilan's BEST offerings: Taro Ice Cream & Candied Peanut...

Not sure what the name is - as most just refer to it as, Wassen hen bing chiling (peanut and ice cream), very original.... and simple... but there is nothing simple in the making of this delicious treat.... as a matter of fact, each and everyone made took a lot of laborious preparations... even though the two main ingredients, -- taro ice cream and the candied peanut -- are already pre-made....
Shaving the candied peanut alone took so much labor, and if one has to make so many of these a day to make a living - you will have one really tired vendor at the end of the day.... an ample amount of shaved peanut are put on the lumpia wrapper, then two scoops of Taro ice cream... and add a sprinkling of cilantro for additional flavor and aroma, too... the results is one heavenly treat... total delight to the taste pallet...
Am told that this was first invented here in YILAN - a few years back... so it became one of their most famous delicacy.... and it is apparent as all the little towns surrounding Yilan that we went to had their own offerings of this refreshing treat....