The beautiful box of Higashi from Ikkoan.

My pastry chef sister Fuyuko e mailed me just before leaving Paris that I should check out Jacques Genin's new salon de the if I could get myself over to the Marais district.  Jacques Genin's  salon is breathtakingly beautiful. It is a bit daunting at first but the lovely marshmallows and caramels in the display case will lure you in.   What's was most impressive were Genin's chocolates. Creamy and dense in flavors of caramel, vanilla, chinammon, mint, etc.  The chocolates are packaged in a silver metal box.  I am telling you, he treats these little chocolates as if they were jewels.  I learned that in the old days, chocolates used to be sold in metal boxes because they stayed freshers.  Genin is bringing back the good old ways. I bought the smaller box of nine chocolates.  It was 10 euros for 9 tiny pieces but well worth it.  I was instructed not to put the chocolate in my suitcase while travelling because the temperature of the plane's cargo section was too cold.  So the silver box travelled with me in my backpack and stayed close to me during the 12 hour flight back to Tokyo.  

While you are at the shop, do have a cup of tea, sit here and enjoy the tranquil space. I loved it.  The teas are all Chinese green tea blended with herbs and flowers.  It was very relaxing.  You get two pieces of chocolate with the tea.  Also, when you buy the chocolate, they will let you try a free sample.  I ate so many chocolates that day, I felt full and happy.  I skipped dinner.

During the garden tour on Lopez Island, we visited Irene Skyriver beautiful propety. Irene greeted us with iced tea made with herbs from her garden. She used mint and verbena and added some pink roses for color.  The sun was doing a good job of steeping the tea.  The flavor was incredibly refreshing.  She also makes a raspberry wine from the raspberries she grows.  I liked the label - Our Lady of Misspent Youth. There is no added alcohol to this wine. It is basically made with fermented rasberry and sugar.  I want to learn how to make it.

We had a heat wave in Los Angeles today.  By 9am, the temperature was up in the eighties and made the morning hike a challenge.  Ellen said she was feeling the Martini from the night before but we still managed to finish the loop. The house felt like an oven.  By noon, itwas sizzling in the 90s.

Spring's gone.  Where to?

There are bottles of Blenheim Ginger Ale (here's the link)-asouvenir from North Carolina, chilling in the fridge since yesterday. I've never heard of this brand before and I don't much care for sweet sodas but I had to try one for its novelty sake. Plus I wanted something icy cold.  I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The flavor of this ginger ale is spicy and magnificently refreshing like fresh ginger that's just been grated.  I use fresh ginger in my cooking all the time so I find it awesome to know that a soda can produce this flavor.  I served the ginger ale on ice, which helped dilute thesweetness.  It was a perfect hot weather drink. 

Bleinheim is an old family run bottling company that prides itself in making artisinal ginger ale. Their production is very small so you probably won't find it at the market unless you live in the South.  Best way to buy it isprobably on line. I am going to remember this one.