goodbye february, hello march

How are you?

I'm doing fine. Had a lot of "me" time the past couple of days. Satoshi went to help out his baseball alumni with a baseball event, so he's been in Himeji.

Friday, I went to Happy Camper Bagel and picked up some bagels.

I didn't realize they also made an-bagels. Their version of anpan uses a walnut bagel dough filled with chunky sweet bean paste.

This was good toasted.

Saturday, the weather was sunny-ish with some clouds.

I checked out Suigetsu Park and more ume were in bloom.

Today, we have rain. It seems like every 3 days or so we have rain...

Am looking forward to spending time with various family members and friends coming to Japan this month.

Have a nice week, talk to you again soon.

sesame dressing

Recently tried a new recipe for sesame dressing. This one was easy to put together and doesn't make a lot, so it was also easy to use up.

I first used it on steamed broccoli.

The second time I used it, I wilted some cabbage and then used some of the dressing.

Sesame Dressing from "Everyday Salads" by Masaki Higuchi
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon kurozu (black vinegar)
1 tablespoon sesame paste (tahini)
1/2 tablespoon shoyu
1/2 tablespoon kuromitsu (black honey similar to molasses)
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Place everything in a bowl and whisk.

NOTES: I didn't have black vinegar so I just used rice vinegar. Also, if you don't have kuromitsu, I think you could probably use honey. I added a little ground black pepper and threw everything into a jar and shook it up.

The author notes that you could also add cilantro, ginger, garlic and/or chives.

I like that this dressing isn't too sweet.

I'll be making this dressing again.

It's Friday! hope you have a nice weekend.

saying goodbye

We spent the past couple of days in Kyoto.

SIL's father passed away.

He had been ill for some time and it had been years since we last saw him.

He always had a warm smile and was fun to chat with.

We're gonna miss you!

boulanger s kagawa

There is a tiny bakery in the Nakazaki-cho area of Osaka called Boulanger S Kagawa.

I picked up a few things to try...the milk france (a baguette filled with a milky buttercream).

Loved this but I should have scraped out the buttercream before heating this up in the toaster oven...what a mess it made!

The chocolate bagel...meh! I'll stick to Happy Camper's bagels.

Fig rustic, packed with so many dried figs! love.

I love how you need to tell the people behind the counter what items you want and I love their "hard type" breads....I'll be back!

Boulanger S Kagawa
1-10-10 Nakazaki, Soleil Nakazaki 1F
Kita-ku, Osaka
Phone: 06.6374.0181
Hours: 7:30-19:00
Closed Tuesdays & Wednesdays

foodie saturday in kobe

Saturday it was sunny so we decided to check out the Chinese New Year festivities in Kobe.

It was packed and hard to find a place to eat lunch at.

Our first choice had a krazy line, and the restaurant next door had no line, so we chanced it and had lunch at Koshusaikan.

They said we may have to share our table. We ended up against a wall with a teeny table.

Satoshi and I ordered the dim sum lunch which came with 12 different "tastes"...980 yen each.

These lunches had been made and had been sitting awhile because the skins of the dim sum were dried out...blah!

The bowl of noodles had either hardened or at least the noodles were in a massive clump...probably the worst meal I've had in Japan?!

I guess that is the chance you take when you veer blindly off your "to try list"...

A bit hungry we walked around a bit and decided to check out Lima Coffee.

They just opened last October and are part of the "third wave" coffee trend sweeping Japan.

Siphon-style, Satoshi enjoyed watching the guy behind the counter brew the coffees.

Satoshi had their Mandheling (medium) while I had their Peru (small)...770 yen for both.

Their coffee was good!

Since we were still hungry we checked out the second place on my list, Hyotan Gyoza.

This tiny shop has been in business for over 60 years!

They only have 8 seats so be prepared to wait.

If you don't have time to wait, order some "to-go".

Warning: If you eat at their counter, you have to order at least one order of gyoza per person.

We ordered two orders (one order has 7 pieces)...740 yen.

The skins are thin and have a little pull.

Kobe style is to eat it with a miso sauce. The sauce is made with hatcho miso, a red soy bean paste. We added a little vinegar to it, but you could also add chili sauce or shoyu.

We also tried their garlic soy sauce (bottle stuffed with sliced garlic and soy sauce), by itself.

Both are good.

Satoshi enjoyed these. He said that if he lived in Kobe, he would be here often.

I'm glad he liked this place...we'll be back to the latter two places.

Have a good week!

Koshusaikan
2-10-8 Sakaemachi-dori
Chuo, Kobe
Phone: 078.393.0607
Hours: 10:00-22:00

Lima Coffee
3-8-1 Motomachi-dori
Chuo, Kobe
Phone: 078.335.6308
Closed Mondays
Hours: 8:00-18:00

Hyotan Gyoza
1-11-15 Motomachi-dori
Chuo, Kobe
Phone: 078.391.0364
Hours: 11:30-22:30, days off not set, call before going

more chocolate

This is the different chocolates I picked up from various import stores...

Madécasse, chocolate maker that makes their chocolate in Madagascar.

I love that they don't skimp...look at all that coconut & caco nibs!

(The popcorn, I wrote up about here.)

Askinosie Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter bar...they use Tanzania cacao. The peanut butter was in the background and this chocolate was creamy!

TCHO's Tchunky Tchotella--Gianduja...creamy with bits of roasted hazelnuts and just a touch of sea salt.

Mānoa chocolate..made in Hawaii. This one was fruity along with the sea salt.

Cacao Atlanta Chocolate Company's Candied Ginger with Pink Peppercorn...creamy milk chocolate studded with candied ginger pieces and pink peppercorns...surprisingly good!

Olive and Sinclair's salt and pepper bar. I'm not sure if this was dark chocolate but I like how the pepper snuck up on you while eating this.

Alma's Salty Nutty Toffee Bar (mini)

Love how there was more "stuff" in it than chocolate.

I think all of these bars are the trending "bean to bar" types.

I'm glad I got to try all of these.

Have you tried any of these? Which is your favorite?

chocolate update

UPDATE on these chocolates...some I had tried before, so I will tell you about the ones that I hadn't tried before...

Rochef: Dark chocolate with salted caramel...love!
Dark chocolate with maple sugar...the maple sugar didn't stand out so it tasted more like dark chocolate
Dark chocolate...72%...love!

Cadbury: Curly Wurly...caramel & milk chocolate, be prepared for it to stick on your teeth.
Crunchies...this was a spongy toffee center, kinda like honeycombs?! different texture, but fun!
Wunderbar...think Butterfinger with the addition of caramel...sugar coma!

Trader Joes: Fireworks Bar...love the popping candy effect
PB & J: wow! tastes just like a peanut butter jelly sandwich (with chocolate in it)....love!

Thank you again for these delicious treats!