just a little more fall foliage..

Last Saturday, the weather was beautiful. Sunny and clear, but still very cold.

Still, I got Satoshi out of the house and we went to check out the fall colors in Ikeda.

It had been years since we went to the ruins of the Ikeda Castle.

The view is pretty spectacular.

The ruins are very tiny compared to other places.

They had a pond filled with koi (carp).

They even had a machine where you could buy them some food for 100 yen...though they weren't interested in eating it...how disappointing!

The trees that got the most sun were the reddest!

From the ruins we walked towards the mountain and came upon this huge gingko tree.

Against the mountain are two temples..Yoshunji and Daikoji.

We thought this dragon was painted on the wall, but it was a relief sculpture.

And then we went back down all the stairs and back towards the station.

Along the main road back to the station there are many objet.

I really liked this one titled "I ♡　Ikeda" (Just in case that heart didn't show up, it says "I heart Ikeda")...

The early mornings and evenings seem to be coldest these days. At least most days have been sunny.

How's the weather where you are?

so-min champuru

The other day, I was looking in my pantry and realized I had a lot of somen to use and thought I could make champuru with it.

In Okinawan, so-min (soh-mean) means somen (angel hair pasta-like noodle). Champuru means "stir-fry".

The Okinawan cookbooks that I have, had some recipes for so-min champuru but they looked rather "plain" and colorless...

So, I jazzed it up with some colorful veggies...

So-min Champuru : serves 2
1 bundle of somen
cabbage
orange bell pepper
maitake
spam
pepper
olive oil

Cook your somen no longer than a minute and a half, rinse and set aside.
Cut veggies and spam into bite size pieces
In a frying pan, heat oil and stir-fry veggies and spam, if you want your cabbage a little softer, cook longer.
Add some pepper
Toss the somen in and coat well.
Serve

NOTES: so easy and delicious. I didn't add any salt because I was using spam, but if you want, you could add some shoyu or salt. Definitely will be making this again.

c-h-e-e-s-e

It's Winter which means it is perfect weather for cheese...melty, oozy goodness.

I thought I had talked about this cheese but figured out I hadn't. We actually had this Rosso di Langa back in October.

It is made from sheep & cow's milk. This cheese was a bit pricey...880 yen for that piece in the photo.

After trying it, I thought this one wasn't as creamy as the carboncino we tried, but still delicious.

Then, when I had lunch with my host brother's wife, she mentioned Kannonya's cheesecake.

She said, "if you go into trying it thinking it is "cheesecake", you'll be disappointed"...

Actually, I've been meaning to try this for many many years, but hadn't gotten around to until recently.

From the directions, you'll know off the bat it is different.

You'll need to heat it up before eating...

The cheese needs to get melty (but not burnt--said the directions)...

Spongecake topped with Denmark cheese (I think it is similar to the type of cheese used in fondue).

Pop it into the micro and nuke for a couple of seconds...until melty.

Yup, it is really "cheese" cake.

Sweet-Salty. Nothing like the cheesecakes I have ever tasted.

Super delicious with wine.

I'm glad we finally got to try this. I think these would be a great gift for wine lovers.

What foods are you eating this winter?

mcgyver...

I don't know if I've told you, but part of being a housewife means being a handyman as well.

The other day, I was cleaning the washing machine...(just throw a cleanser into the washer and let it do the rest)

Well, I had the "brilliant" idea of taking off the net that catches all the lint in the washer and letting the cleanser clean it too...

Bad idea, the little nub at the top of the net (it holds the net in place in the washer) broke off...

Since I still needed to do laundry, I did what I do best...be resourceful. (I taped it together)

Not bad as it is still holding together.

Luckily, the net is on order and should come in, in a couple of days...whew! (update: over the weekend, I got the call that the net came in! whoo!)

grove piccola

Last Sunday, I had breakfast at Grove Piccola, a tiny cafe near Utsubo Park.

Their breakfast and lunch menu are the same and I think their prices are the same as well.

I had their quiche set...550 yen

A piece of their shrimp walnut quiche, salad and a creamy root veggie soup, plus a drink (I had iced coffee)

This was perfect for me, though I don't know how hungry Satoshi would be afterwards...

After breakfast, I wandered around Utsubo Park and checked out some of their roses...Strawberry Ice.

Apricot Nectar

Tequila...all delicious sounding, yeah?! (and pretty too).

It was a sunny day and perfect for walking around.

I'll be back to try the other items on Grove Piccola's menu.

Grove Piccola
1-9-5 Kyomachibori
Nishi, Osaka
Phone: 06.6443.6733
Hours: 7:00-15:00
Check their site for days closed

on a walk (or two)

The other day on the way to the market, I caught a glimpse of these leaves from the pedestrian overpass...

Then yesterday, the weather was sunny but the wind was icy and blustery.

Still, I got myself out of the house to get some Vitamin D...

This maple seemed a bit darker in color than in the past.

You can't really tell how blustery it was, but trust me, it was!

During my walk there was actually gingko leaves whipping across the roadway...pelting all of us as we walked along the sidewalk.

It's the end of November, I can't believe that 2013 is almost over.

Too fast!

foodie thursday in minoo

I told you I met up with Fiona to check out Sanshikisaido.

I didn't get a chance to talk to about the food part of our day.

From Sanshikisaido, we walked to Onohara and had lunch at Crocchetta...a shop that makes croquettes.

They also had all sorts of bentos and side dishes to choose from.

Here is the bento I had...500 yen Not bad considering there were two oysters on the kamameshi (left side).

After lunch we went to Fiona's place and chatted until her husband, WR, came home.

The three of us then went to a cafe, Doux Doux, in her neighborhood that makes really fluffy pancakes....780 yen (with coffee)

It was a great day, lots of walking, lots of talking and lots of eating.

Thanks for a great day Fiona (and WR)!

Crocchetta
6-1-16 Onohara-nishi
Minoo, Osaka
Phone: 072.728.8400
Closed Tuesdays, Hours: 10:00-20:00

Doux Doux
3-57-18 Yamada-nishi
Suita, Osaka
Phone: 06.6878.2522
Closed Mondays, Hours: 11:00-18:30