Dec 18 2010
OPERATION: TARTLETTE
MISSION: Pool the staff’s lunch money to secure sugary goodness from local Baking Goddess Joanne Chang’s Flour Bakery, or, Operation: Tartlette.
LOCATION: Central Square, Cambridge, MA. U.S. of A.
THREAT LEVEL: HIGH.
ACTION PLAN: Operative Lisa – code name “Snickerdoodle” – is to scour Joanne Chang’s cookbook Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe; she will determine which tartlettes to procure in order to cover the three previously agreed upon flavors: lemony, chocolaty, and anything else that looks really, really good.
Operative Will – code name “Country Ham Quiche” – is to call the bakery and find out the exact circumference of the various tartlettes in order to meet the agreed upon target: “most sugary-goodness-per-dollar.” Also, he will get exact directions to the bakery.
Operative Nastia – code name “Meringue Cloud” – is to be dispatched to the bakery to purchase the decided-upon tartlettes: LEMON LUST TART, HAZELNUT-ALMOND DACQUOISE, and HOMEMADE OREOS. She must get back to work in time to start her shift. (SOP)
MISSION STATUS: Delicious.
MISSION REPORTS: Lisa, aka “Snickerdoodle”: “The cookbook is displayed directly in front of the register, and so I have had lots of time to figure out what I wanted to try first. The lemon tart was better than I imagined. I was highly suspicious of the homemade Oreo because it looked like a whoopie pie, but it was outstanding. I am now curious to try the famous sticky buns.” (See photo on Cookbook cover above.)
Nastia, aka “Meringue Cloud”: “I knew I had to get those desserts the moment I saw my coworkers cuddling a copy of Flour cookbook again, picking and choosing their favorite things. I think the slice of the hazelnut-almond dacquoise was the tastiest dessert I’ve tried in a year.”
Will “Country Ham”: “The lemon tart flirted with lemon excess but never crossed the line into overwhelming. If I ever win one of the multi-state mega-lotteries, I’m filling a swimming pool with this stuff and eating it all. Don’t judge me people.”
Read more: Cambridge, Cooking & Cookbooks, Flour Bakery, Food, General, Globe Corner Bookstore, Joanne ChangLisa can usually be found staring longingly at the Eastern European shelf at the Globe Corner Bookstore. However, she really wants to go to Colombia.
