Eclair for a Comatose Taste Buds

Chocolate Eclair -
photo from Helfer's website

With the last extreme winter weather in St. Louis, my husband commented that pollens were probably frozen, that he was not suffering the symptoms of his nasty allergies on the onset of spring. He spoke too soon. His seasonal allergies came in with a vengeance that he temporarily lost his sense of taste . For a person who have a passionate relationship with his palate, its like being constantly punched on his stomach every time he eats.

Ironically, with his gustation functionality in retirement , the more he wanted to eat different foods thinking that he can cajole the follicles of his tongue to come back pronto. I reminded him, as long as he is in medication for his allergies, it will take a little bit of time . Even if he is served dinner prepared by 5 star Michelin chef Alain Ducasse, it will probably reduced my husband to tears for I will be enjoying the spread but I will have fun describing to him how the food taste ala Andrew Zimmern e.g minerally, herbally, irony etc.

Last Saturday in his quest for his wandering palate, he took me to Helfer's www.helferspastries.com. , a mom and pop bakeshop in Florissant for lunch. I am not much of a sandwich person but their CJ's Reuben created an explosive havoc on my tongue with the right tartness of sauerkraut; I fell in love with it. The quiche is sacrosanctly eggy. I can tell from the food we ordered that the ingredients used are not industrial type (I meant commercial but 'industrial" makes it sounds more sinister).

But what made the day so special was when my husband bit into his Chocolate eclair. He said he can discern all the flavors in the Eclair, eureka , taste buds 70% restored. He felt like he was in heaven, said he.

You don't have to experience the loss of the ability to savor to fully enjoy Helfer's Chocolate Eclair. The pastry, filling, and chocolate glaze are done in perfection that even a comatose taste buds would gladly wake up to it.

Comments

Kermit and Mickey Mouse , Sad

I am a sucker for old fashion cartoons that I can proudly admit that I saw Snow white and the Seven Dwarfs more than I can count my fingers and toes; unabashedly cried when the great King Mufasa died and Simba tried to wake him up, commiserate with Miss Piggy in her unrequited love for Kermit and other emotional display of affection to these animated personalities that I won't mention for it will totally make me look beyond silly . I n May of 1990, the creator of the Muppets, Jim Henson died. I saw a tribute from the Disney artist of a drawing of Kermit the Frog being consoled by Mickey Mouse on the death of Kermit's creator. That drawing created an imprint on my mind the idea of raw sadness associated with death. Ironic that non living cartoon characters could invoke such cogent feeling in me, on issue of death. Here is the photo I am talking about: T here is a colored version of this but I was still digging up the Internet and up ...

Stanley Ketchel by Manuel A. Mora

Vertically challenged we the Filipinos are, yet we love the sport of basketball where height is definitely a might. Growing up with my older brother in one television household, my chances of watching my favorite shows were remote as me winning jueteng (local numbers game) when the pro basketball season was on. Boxing is another sport that Filipinos have affectation for. I think we have better chances to succeed in this sport, we have the physical built and mental toughness to survive in the pugilist arena. Interestingly, a nephew of my husband, Manuel Mora recently published his book , Stanley Ketchel A Life of Triumph and Prophecy , and it's out in the market. It's an engaging story of an American boxer, I had read the rough draft of the book and I am pretty adamant that this will be a good read. Check out the book especially if you are a boxing aficionado or just to learn the life of an unsung American Boxer -...

Pimp your Shoes

For some woman, it is considered sacrilegious to wear the same outfit that was worn before to another occasion, apropos with her shoes. If you have a talent for dressmaking or you have your own seamstress (lucky me I got 3 dressmaker sisters) , then the dress can be altered but you are somewhat limited to what you can do with it, maybe accessorize it or forget about it. I hang on to my shoes as much as possible, especially if the fit is excellent and it is not giving me mountains of bunions or calluses as rough as sandpaper . Eventually I will get tired of the shoe but it is mighty difficult to give it away, donate it or throw it. Then maybe its time to pimp the shoes, add more pizzas to it , make it look new. When my vanity outsizes my bank account, then my creativity rears its beautiful head . I thought of getting shoe clips, its like clips used for ...

The Convivial Gist

Search This Blog