Dolcetti Gelato & Diva's Cafe Revisited

It's been 8 days since my wisdom teeth extraction. The swelling has definitely gone down, but the gums are tender and it still kinda hurts to munch on crunchy things. I haven't had raw, shredded cabbages (pretty much my main diet) for over a week now, and I feel like I'm having 'cabbage withdrawal'. The extraction site had some tan-colored shtuff covering it--scar tissue I guess. But yesterday morning, as I was irrigating the extraction site, a HUGE chunk of it got dislodged and came out, leaving a gaping hole. I thought, "That's weird--I was hoping the hole will get plugged up with new tissue??". But according to the post-surgery instruction, I am supposed to be flushing out debris out of the socket, so I must be doing it right...and it's not excruciatingly painful, just still kinda tender. But there's still a gaping hole in the back of my mouth! I'm planning on calling the dentist's tomorrow and see if that's normal. Yes, I am worried about this thing called "dry socket".

Anyway, since most of my meals the entire last week consisted of baby foods and smoothies, I felt that it was time for some major nourishment. I nagged my mom into taking us grocery shopping and snacking on gelato at Dolcetti Gelato (without Dad. We did tell him we're going to have ice cream too, but he said he was too tired).

I ordered the Singolo Sundae, which comes with two flavors of choice, whipped cream, and sauce. Mom picked Tiramisu and I picked Saffron-Pistachio. The Tiramisu flavor had chunks of ladyfingers biscuits, softened by the cream--and a substantial amount of coffee liquor. Both mom and I thought we're gonna get drunk off of this, but it was delicious nevertheless. The Saffron-Pistachio was exotic-tasting, mildly spicy...actually reminded me of chai. Mom liked this one too. Both gelatoes were really sweet, but the nuts and the whipped cream which was very lightly sweetened balanced it out.
Today was a "busy" day. There was a rummage sale going on at a church nearby, so we stopped there first thing right after breakfast.
Both mom and I lost each other for a while there. She was perusing through the plates/dishes while I scourged through a pile of books looking for cookbooks. Here are my finds (for $1 each):

When I got home, I checked their prices online--turns out that Fast Food Nation is about $8, Joy of Cooking (this one is the 1997 edition) around $25 on Amazon.com. As for the Pontus by the Book...I had a hard time finding this one. It's not in stock in Amazon, and the only website I found it was selling it for $47! SQUEEEEE!!! In addition to the books, I also got a metal pie pan, and ice cube trays shaped like golf balls--how about spherical jellies for a summer dessert?

As for mom, she got two 18-gallon tubs for her garden, ceramic jars for pickling plums, a mixing bowl, a cheese cutting board, and a Noritake serving platter. After that, we went to the thrift store, then to the hardware store for more gardening materials. By then, I was getting the low-blood sugar jitters (I have an uber-high metabolism), so we stopped by Diva's Cafe. The last time we came here was late in the afternoon, and the pastry selections were very slim--we left, a bit disappointed. But today, we got there a little before noon, and there the selection was much better--as a matter of fact, as we were browsing, a girl carrying a tray full of Red Velvet Cupcakes emerged from the back and set the tray in the display case. I've had red velvet cakes before, so I knew what they tasted like. Wanting something different, I picked the "Flan" Cupcake and a Brioche--just to see the quality of other baked goods here.

They didn't give us any condiments for the brioche, so we helped ourselves to the bottle of honey sitting over by the cream and sugar station.

The Flan cupcake. There's this tiny morself of caramel flan sitting atop a cupcake....reminded me of the Brulee-J cupcake I had in San Diego's Cups Lounge, except the custard is on the outside. I couldn't wait to taste it.

Wow. Maybe it was because I was experiencing low blood sugar and had an intense sugar craving...but this cupcake was delicious! The flan was smooth and custardy; buttercream rich and smooth without being too sugary; and the exterior of the cake soaked with all the caramel sauce that drizzled down from the flan. The cake itself was fine-crumbed, and fluffy. Mom ate just a quarter of it, saying that it was too rich for her, and that I need it more than she did. I was surprised that I wolfed down the rest of it without a problem. It was really good! I'm hoping I can replicate that buttercream at home--in the past, they told me that it's Swiss buttercream, which should be easier to make than the traditional French buttercream (in my opinion).
Hmmm....with the upcoming Mother's Day, and mom's birthday, I have some opportunities to practice...