christmas came early-ish

Starbucks Bearista Bear Gingerbread Boy and Girl with a "Candle Cake", a light and crumbly gingerbread-like cake filled with cream cheese and apple pie fillings, frosted to resemble a candle with a flame. Got holiday spirit?



Last weekend I got back home in Tokyo after what seemed like years, to a stack of packages from friends all over the place. None was intended to be a Christmas present, I guess, but they nonetheless contained Christmas-themed goodies, most of which, if not all, were food or food-related. God, they know me!

The treasures I acquired include: a Panettone (or should I say Panettoni as I actually got two!) from Loison of Italy; Peppermint Bark White Chocolate Bars from funky Trader Joe's grocery store; a set of Advent calender chocolate (minus, um, calender) in wrappers with old-fashioned Christmas-themed pictures on from England; Texas Trash, or a "custom blend of cereals and pretzels mixed with fancy pecans drenched in a creamy white chocolate flavored coating" from Susie's South Forty Confections in none other than Texas; almonds coated in dark chocolate infused with chili from upscale Waitrose supermarket; and a Ghirardelli boxed chocolate assortment. And trust me, I got a lot, LOT more stuff than those, Christmas-y or otherwise.


What I thought was interesting was that I received a holiday issue of Food & Wine and Bon Appetit magazines from two different (and unrelated) friends. Now we can find these American foodmag bignames relatively easily in Tokyo, and while I often sample them at a bookstore, I find myself almost always picking Gourmet; I'd get more than one if they didn't cost ten+ bucks per copy, but oh well. So these two good people in the States, one on the sunny left coast and the other on the down south, somehow each picked a food magazine that I'd love to read, without overlapping the one I normaly get myself. Now they really know me!


So I almost feel like I've gotten all Christmas presents for the year - and they all came early! Now the question is, would I manage to save at least some until Christmas? Well, you know me.


love y'all x