Chocolate Lover's Tea: A Valentine's meetup (Picture Heavy)

Hey friends,

It's Keiko here with a meetup review! Sorry for the late post, but I was at a meetup last weekend! My comm went to the Saint Paul Hotel in downtown Saint Paul for their Chocolate Lover's Tea special event. This is a 5-course meal tea party in honor of Valentine's Day. The venue was beautifully decadent and the elegant atmosphere was accentuated by a live piano performance throughout the event. 

I enjoyed their Black Tea blend, but was unable to catch the name of it

Beautiful decor and attention to detail

The five courses all incorporated chocolate in some way to celebrate the spirit of the holiday. I tried to test it all but, since I'm an extremely picky eater, I can't give a fair review of what the food was like--- but I can show you some pictures of what we had for each meal!

Duck and Dark Cocoa Terrine
Choco-dipped strawberry with Candied Walnuts
Chili dusted shooter with mole soup (Spicy!)

Chocolate citrus glazed veal Osso Bucco
with creamy polenta and vegetable garnish 

Chocolate Citrus scone with Godiva
Chocolate Butter

Raspberry and candied citrus Mendiant
Chocolate Caramel Bar
Chocolate Mint Marshmallow

Dulce Ganache Chocolate Short
Dough Tartlet (My favorite!)

The Saint Paul Hotel's Valentine's teas are extremely popular each year. They hold around 5-7 events with this theme in February and they each fill up months in advance. For this meetup, we asked all attendees to reserve starting early to mid-January to make sure we got enough spots. In the end, all 9 reservations were filled and there were even more people that wanted to come!

It was a good time to make conversation and enjoy the extravagance of the hotel lobby. The servers were dressed as maids or butlers, which was a neat touch, and they seemed to be from different ethnicities, races, and walks of life. This detail was important to me because seeing only Latinx and African American maids initially made me uncomfortable, given the historically racially charged implications of servitude among those groups. As a Latina myself, it made me feel like I was a European aristocrat at the cost of other people. Thankfully that wasn't the case, but I could write an essay on wanting to feel like a royalty in lolita and not wanting to fall back on the historical ramifications that would entail. Either way, I digress.

Below is a picture of my coordinate that, believe it or not, was taken at the hotel lobby bathroom. It had numerous other golden details and ornate mirrors and stalls. As lolitas, my comm could not pass the photo op up!

Headpieces: Pastel Parade, chocomint
Blouse: The floral Notebook
JSK, Sash, Socks, rings: Angelic Pretty
Necklace: Deerstalker Pictures
Bracelets, shoes: Offbrand

Have you been to a meetup recently? How was your experience? Tell me all the details in the comments section below~ <3

30 Day Lolita Challenge - Day Eleven?: A picture of your favorite sweets

Hello everyone~

Keiko here~

I hope you are all well today ^^ As mentioned in the previous post, I will skip the prompts 10 11 and 11 because I am away from home and cannot quite do them yet. Instead, for every day that I am using a prompt out of order, I will be placing a question mark next to the day in the title.

Today is day 11, for instance, but I will be completing prompt 13 instead. That means that we'll be talking about my favorite sweets. Let's get crack-a-lackin'!

I am quite picky about food, and sweets are no different. Pretty much all the sweets I like have some variation of chocolate within them because it's my favorite flavor. I prefer chocolates in this order: Milk chocolate > dark chocolate > white chocolate. I am not a fan of chocolate mixed with many other things, as I prefer the chocolate by itself. As a result, I am not a fan of caramelized chocolate or salty chocolate.

Mmmm, chocolate <3

Now for the actual sweets that I like other than straight chocolate. They are in no particular order because I love all of them <3:

1. Kitkats

They're crunchy and awesome. I could eat them all day <3

2. Crunch

Crispy rice goodness

3. Cinnamon Rolls

Specially Cinnabon ones

4. Donuts

I'm always a slut for donuts ʕ♡˙ᴥ˙♡ʔ

5. Pancakes

Technically not a sweet, but the blog title gives it away

What about you? What are the sweets that make your mouth water? Or are you more of a savory foods person? Let me know in the comment below!

Keiko out~

 

30 Day Lolita Challenge - Day Four: 10 different kinds of food you like

Keiko here~

Day four of the lolita challenge is here, as is the first Monday of the new year. For this round, we will be talking about my top ten foods kinds of food. I'm getting hungry already!

10 Different Kinds of Food You Like

1. Pancakes – Probably my favorite food. I love pancakes! They are fluffy and sweet, or dense and flavorful. I like them with butter, syrup, turkey slices, honey, cheese, chocolate and other things of that nature. I could eat them for every meal!
2. Chocolate – I looooove chocolate. Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, crispy chocolate, chocolate milk, cereal—you name it! I like red velvet and white chocolate a little less, but will eat them nonetheless. I hope to collect many chocolate-themed things!
3. Spongy Cakes – It’s hard to beat a nice spongy cake with a cup of tea. It’s such a nice treat on chilly evenings.
4. Sushi – I am a sushi fanatic. I love fish and sushi provides me with a way to enjoy it differently than usual. My favorite roll at the moment includes shrimp tempura <3
5. Fish – I was raised in a coastal town, but I would rarely get to eat fish because my father hates even the smell of it. When he was gone on trips, my mother would make some fresh fried fish with lemon, and I would eat that puppy up real fast! My grandma also spoiled me by making fried fish sticks with mayo even though she hated fish herself. Fish is one of the reasons I enjoyed going to the beach despite being such an indoors-person.
6. Chicken – Chicken’s versatility and price make it a good meat to have at hand. As a college student, most of the protein I consume probably comes from chicken and eggs, since both beef and fish tend to be pricier. I enjoy teriyaki chicken and chicken in soy sauce particularly.
7. Ice Cream – This one is a given for me. If I have the opportunity to have ice cream, I will probably take it even if I am slightly lactose intolerant. I just love it so much! My favorite flavors are chocolate and vanilla. Occasionally, I will venture out of my comfort zone and have some brownie fudge or cookie-dough flavored ice cream, but I tend to default to chocolate primarily.
8. Pasta – I like pasta because it is easy to make and I have shared it with many friends that are important to me. I like it with alfredo sauce, tomato sauce, with just cheese, or with tuna and mayo. I tend to prefer penne or spaghetti over other types of pasta.
9. Tea – When I worked overnight shifts while studying in college, I drank black tea almost on the daily because I cannot drink coffee without getting migraines. As a result, I ended up shying away from it for a while, but I still love me a good cup of chamomile, green tea, or English breakfast once in a while. Milk and honey are optional as long as it is taken with a sweet treat.
10. Plantain Cake – This one is a dish from home. It involves layering fried plantain slices with an egg-mix, cheese, and ham, and baking it in the oven. Some versions have the plantain be baked to be healthier, but I can’t resist the fried plantain-cheese combination. My mom makes an awesome plantain cake and I miss it very much. For more information and a simplified recipe for this dish, check it out here: http://livingsweetmoments.com/venezuelan-recipes-plantain-casserole/

So many yummy things! My tummy is getting the rumblies... Are there any snacks that you can't resist? Feel free to share some with me in the comments below!

Keiko out~!