kanransai

I first met artist, Kanransai at Toji Temple in Kyoto last year.

His paintings and artwork are mostly of Jizo-son and Kannon, as well as enlightened figures in Buddhism.

If I am not mistaken, Jizo-son watches over children and the living and Kannon represents peace.

While at Toji Temple, we looked at his exhibit, some of his paintings were powerful and some were very calming.

I bought a calendar of sorts at the exhibit. There are no months, just days of the month on it.

Everyday, there is a "new saying", well, after going through the calendar for the whole year, you come to memorize the sayings. I like this calendar because it reminds you of something to be thankful for everyday.

For example, the 31st is "Arigatoo wasurenaide arigatoo" (Thanks don't forget, thanks). The 6th is "Shizen no megumi arigatoo" (Thanks for the blessing of Nature). The 25th is "Watashi no inochi arigatoo" (Thanks for my life). And the 12th is "Itadakimasu, Gochisoosama, Arigatoo" (Thanks for the meal) to just name a few.

Today is Kinro Kansha no hi, kind of like Labor Day and Thanksgiving blended together, a national holiday.

My grandma says that she says "thanks" everyday, no matter what kind of day she has had. Something I would like to try to do. I think this calendar helps.

It will be Thanksgiving in the States soon. It is this time of year that I miss being with family and friends the most.

I am thankful that we have both been healthy this year. And that Satoshi has been busy with work. I am also thankful that Satoshi lets me visit Hawaii at least once a year and that he lets me do as I wish.

What are you thankful for?

chikujian

I was in Ikeda recently and stopped at the Chikujian counter located near the ticket machines. Chikujian is a Kyoto sweets shop whose main shop is in Arashiyama.

They had an interesting looking sweet called kaki daifuku, a soft mochi wrapped around persimmon puree and sweet white bean paste.

It looked just like a persimmon, and even had a dried stem on top to make it look realistic. It tasted a little sweeter than the actual fruit, but it was delicious.

I also got a kuri daifuku, this is sweet azuki bean paste with a chestnut in the middle.

Both were 189 yen each (about US$1.89) and a nice afternoon snack.

tomato miso soup

One morning, I was watching a program and they mentioned that the "trend" nabe (hot pot) this season was tomato.

Awhile back it was tonyu (soy milk) and then it was curry, but this year it is tomato.

The way they cooked the hot pot on the program was closer to an Italian based soup with cheese topping the dish.

I on the other hand, envisioned the tomato miso ramen at Hanamichi that I like.

I didn't have any meat in my fridge, just a lot of veggies, so I ad-libbed and came up with this soup...

Tomato Miso Soup serves 2 big bowls or 4-6 small servings

1 can (400 gram) chopped tomatoes
1/2 carrot, bite sized
1/2 sweet potato, leave skin on, bite sized
2 thin slices pumpkin, leave skin on, bite sized
3 inches gobo (burdock root), thinly sliced
2 fresh shiitake, sliced
4 strands green onion, bite sized
3 leaves lettuce, bite sized
1 tablespoon miso
1 cube chicken consomme
3 cups water

Put carrot, sweet potato, pumpkin, gobo and shiitake into a pot.
Add 3 cups water.
Cook on medium for 15 minutes
Add consomme cube, miso and cook another 10 minutes.
After consomme and miso melt, add can of chopped tomato.
Add lettuce and green onion.
Serve with rice or bread.

NOTES: This was good, I think I could have added a little more miso to make it closer to the ramen flavor, but on a chilly night, this really hit the spot.

It is a 3-day weekend here, hope you have a nice weekend.

p.s. I'm sending this to Deb @ Kahakai Kitchen for her Souper Sundays, you should check this event out, there are many fabulous ideas for soups, salads and sammies!

tuesday

Tuesday, I started French language classes again.

My teacher was on maternity leave during the summer so she had a substitute come in, then I went to Hawaii during the summer, and went back to Hawaii in October, so I am starting mid-way through the Fall session.

No worries though, our classes don't cover a lot of information all at once, just a little at a time, so I don't think I missed TOO much.

I still have problems with pronounciation, but I am slowly beginning to be able to read and figure out what is being said.

After class, I had lunch at Daimaru Department store, they have a cafe called Galleria. I love their cappuccino.

Up until Tuesday, there would be a heart or leaf pattern on the cappuccino, I was pleasantly surprised to see this...a little chick!

After lunch I went to check out the Italian Fair at Hankyu Department store. They recently merged with Hanshin Department store, so I wondered what kinds of things they would have at their fair.

Competition for business is always quite intense between department stores, so they had several different Italian chocolatiers.

I bought some bon-bons from Giraudi, a chocolatier near Torino. The cremino (a hazelnut cream and dark chocolate square was creamy and not too sweet). The pistachio bon-bon had a pistachio paste inside but I thought it was a bit chalky...242 yen each (about US$2.42)

I also got some Majani chocolates, a Bologna chocolatier....126 yen each (about US$1.26) Apparently these chocolates were made when Fiat produced their Tipo 4.

Besides their Fiat chocolates, they also had these cute car shaped chocolates--cinquino (dark blue foil--dark chocolate outside with dark chocolate ganache inside), gippino (red foil--hazelnut ganache/milk chocolate outside), furgoncino (green foil--pistachio ganache/milk chocolate). My favorite was the cinquino.

Giraudi
via Giraudi, 16
Castellazzo Borimida (AL)

Majani
via G.Brodolini 16, 40056
Crespellano, Bologna (Italia)

t.m.i.??

Do you know what T.M.I. stands for? I didn't until a couple of years ago. It means "too much information".

Well, the empty lot in front of our building has sold and started to build a house and as I walked past, I noticed that they had a porta-potty, but not the kind with walls.

And they don't have it facing a wall or anything, just full on facing the road...I hope I never see anyone using it...

dinners

The weather has been quite gloomy the past couple of days. Cold and rainy, sometimes kind of blustery.

Since it is getting colder, I've been trying to find ways to put veggies into our meals without having to have "cold" salads.

We had vegetable soup for a couple of days with crusty baguette.

On the day we were finishing up the soup, I also made this side dish with ham, fresh shiitake and spinach. The seasoning is a couple of squirts of tonkatsu sauce and a pat of butter. Super easy and really delicious.

The original recipe uses only shiitake, tonkatsu sauce and butter, but I had leftover ham and spinach that I wanted to use, so I threw that in. It came out just as delicious, though I would probably not use ham the next time, just veggies.

Dinner last night was sauteed pork wrapped pumpkin.

This was my first time trying this recipe, but it was easy and fast.

Sauteed Pork Wrapped Pumpkin Serves 2 adapted from Orange Page's "Aki ni Oishii Kondate"

6 slices thin pork shoulder
6 slices of pumpkin about 1/4-inch thick, cleaned, skins left on
1/2 onion thinly sliced
1 eringi, thinly sliced

Sauce:
1 tablespoon EVOO
1.5 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
2 tablespoons sake (rice wine)

Slice pumpkin 1/4-inch thick
Wrap slice of pork around pumpkin
Heat oil, medium heat
Cook pork 1 minute, turn and cook another minute
Add onion, eringi and sauce
Cover for 3 minutes
Turn pork and cook another 3 minutes
Take cover off and turn heat up to high
Cook until liquid evaporates.
Serve with lots of rice.

NOTES: The pumpkin slices I had were longer than the meat I had, so I cut the pumpkin slice in half and wrapped each piece with pork.

I liked this, though it may be a bit sweet for others with the combination of the pumpkin and the sauce, you may want to cut back the sugar in the sauce if you don't like things too sweet. Since the pan I used doesn't allow heat higher than medium (non-stick), I cooked it on medium until there was just a little liquid left.

How is the weather where you are? What have you been eating for dinner?

hikidemono

Here is the hikidemono that Satoshi received. Since the bride grew up in Kyoto, the items were from there.

A handmade chazutsu (tea container). The copper tea container is made by Japan's oldest craftsman, Kaikado which has been in business since the 8th year of Meiji (1875), very nice. This shop also makes silver, tin and brass tea containers.

He also received a hand-screened tenugui. Tenugui is usually made of cotton and is a thin cloth used as a hand/face towel or sometimes tied as a bandanna. I've even seen people frame them and hang them in their homes or use them as runners on their tables.

A baum kuchen by a well known sweets shop in Kyoto called Malebranche. They have counters at most department stores and I often buy from this shop to give away as gifts.

Satoshi said they had Japanese-French food and that the reception was held on a large property that was renovated near Kodaiji. With Autumn's fall foliage here and there, there were many tourists eager to see the leaves lit up.

He said he had a nice time, though he was very hungry when he came home...

Kaikado
Rokujohigashi hairu, Kawaramachi
Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto
Phone: 075.351.5788
Open 9:00-18:00, Closed on Sundays & Holidays

Malebranche
Shokubutsuen-mae, Kitayama-dori
Kita-ku, Kyoto
Phone: 075.722.3399
Shop: 9:00-21:00 Salon: 10:00-20:30
*also available at various department stores around Japan, check their site for a location near you