About two weeks ago I put in a pre-order for Tai Zhan Bakery's annual holiday cookie box. Tai Zhan Bakery is a plant-based microbakery that I discoverd a year or two ago through Instagram. Every year they do a beautiful cookie box which I have only seen pictures of, and this year I wanted to finally try it. The price is what kept me from trying it in the past, but knowing that 25% of the profits were going to California wildfire victims this year helped me justify the $42 the box cost.
Tai Zhan Bakery operates via pop-ups, primarily at the weekly Japantown Farmer's Market in San Jose. Because they do not have a brick and mortar shop and do not deliver, the cookie boxes had to be picked up today at the farmer's market. I was surprised that the owner Wendy recognized me as soon as I walked up, because I had never introduced myself in the past (maybe she recognized me from my Venmo photo?). She so cheerful and sweet and I felt even better about supporting a local, plant-based business when I received my beautifully packed box.
The box itself is so pretty I may try to find a way to keep it. Even the little brown take-out container of caramel corn was stamped with their golden logo.
I don't think I have ever had homemade caramel corn before today. It is a bit softer than the caramel corn I have eaten in the past, which mainly came out of those big popcorn tins that come out around the holidays featuring corny winter snowmen scenes and Santa Claus motifs. I wanted to eat the whole container, but I vowed to save a little bit of everything as a surprise for my boyfriend, who did not know I ordered the box.
The cookies included in the box: chocolate chip cookies, raspberry linzer cookies, ginger molasses cookies, pecan snowballs, lace cookies with chocolate hazelnut spread, snikerdoodles, and dark chocolate almond toffee.
Besides the popcorn, I have only tried the raspberry linzer cookies and the lace cookies. Both delicious. The linzer is so soft and practically melts in your mouth. Only two came in the box and I almost want to eat the second and pretend there were never any to begin with. But I will be a good, unselfish girlfriend. This time.
That is about all I can write today, as I have to be leaving for work in the next 30 minutes and I haven't changed or prepared a lunch (or eaten anything but sweets all day).
