I finally bought myself a toaster oven (a big one) so I can make cookies. Finding home made cookies in Taiwan is pretty much impossible. I haven't found any yet. Cakes and pies are something you have to go out of your way for, but can be found relatively easily. If I opened a place that just made and sold fresh, delicious cookies I could probably make a small fortune.
Anyway, I bought a toaster oven. It of course does not come with any of the bake ware I need. I need cookie sheets. Small ones that will fit in a toaster oven. I bought the thing at Costco and they do not have any there. So on Saturday I went on a quest to try and find cookie sheets or at least some type of flat pan that I could make work.
I started by wandering through the Shilin night market area a bit. I had looked around on one of the forums and found out that there are a couple of DIY bakery stores in the area. (DIY or do it yourself stores are strangely common here. You will see DIY on random storefronts for crafts and baking and pretty much anything that a person could do on their own.) I failed to write down the address of the place though and mainly just got lost. Next time I will write down the address and bring a map with me.
I started my adventure early in the afternoon and I had not had much to eat so I decided it was time to find some food. There is a small place called Toasteria that I haven't been to in ages so I decide to head over there. Toasteria makes grilled cheese sandwiches. I'm talking delicious, gourmet cheese, gooey, grilled to perfection with many topping choices available deliciousness. I wander my way over there, order and sit down at the other table (there are only two tables and about five seats at the little bar in front of the grill. it's a really small place.) and pull out the book I'm reading. As I'm sitting there waiting I notice a mouse poke it's head out of the gutter. I surprise myself by not freaking out and screaming like a little girl. I just think to myself, "Well of course there's a mouse here, there's lots of cheese." I don't want the thing near me though so I stomp my foot on the floor and it scurries back into the gutter. It pops its head out a couple more times while I'm there, but all the people walking by on the street and the loud noise of construction up the way send it back to wherever it came from.
I finish up and head off to my final destination of Ikea to see what baking goodies I can find. When I get to the building Ikea is in I pass a Body Shop and stop to check out a facial cleanser I want to try out. I'm running out of the one I have and can't get anymore so time to start experimenting. Anyway, I ask the guy who is working if they have samples or small sizes so he points them out to me and says it's 600NT for 6. Okay, so I ask how much is it for just one and he tells me I can't buy just one I have to buy 6. I tell him I don't want 6 I just want one, but he will not let me buy just one. So I put down the bottle I'm holding and walk away. Great customer service. By the way, 600NT is not cheap. It's about 20US dollars. That may not seem like much to some of you, but I shouldn't have to spend 20 dollars on stuff I don't want just to get one thing that I do want.
So I moved on to Ikea. I was really disappointed in the selection of bake ware. I don't know why I'm so surprised. This is not a country known for it excellent baked goods, but Ikea caters to a more Western standard of products so I was really hoping for the stuff I wanted to be there. I did find a couple useful things, but no cookie sheets. The search continues.
It is currently pouring outside and I'm debating if I really want to trek out into the world again or just cuddle up on the couch and watch some movies. I also need to clean. Maybe in an effort to avoid that I'll get motivated to go out. Who knows.
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