kajibou

When I was looking at Tabechoku to order blood oranges, the farm we ordered from last year, T-farm had not posted anything, so I bought 4 kilos from Kajibou instead, another farm in Ehime prefecture.

This is the Moro variety.

With tax and shipping it was about $45. 

A little higher than T-farm’s price last year and 1 kilo less, but we look forward to enjoying these.

shinagawa yakiimo terrace

The last time I went to this event was just as the pandemic was starting up in 2020

This year you had to buy an entrance ticket for 500 yen which they were pre-selling online.

Choose a time and date that you wanted to attend...11:00-13:00, 13:30-15:30, 16:00-18:00, Wednesday (2/1) to Sunday (2/5).

I chose Wednesday at 11:00-13:00.

I was happy that I could pay for this with my mobile payment account.

The check-in desk opened at 10:30, they checked our QR codes then had us stand in another line until 11:00 when the event opened.

We had to put this sticker on so they knew we had checked in (photo above).

You should know that there are two types of roasting textures…hokuhoku which is flaky and can be a little dry. The other type is nettori which is wet and sticky.

In the past all roasted potatoes were the hokuhoku type, but recently new varieties have popped up and when roasted they are nettori.

For this event, there are 15 vendors.

First stop, Souunmitsuimo, a shop from Okayama.

This yakiimo had so much "sugar" coming out of it!

This variety was nettori and super sweet...800 yen tax included

Next, Higeshoten, a shop from Fukui. 

They had a variety called Tomitsu. 

I purchased their Tomitsu beniimo…500 yen, not as sweet as Souunmitsuimo, but still sweet and hokuhoku.

My last stop was Kobe Imoya Shinomoto, a shop from Kobe. 

They had an original variety called Satoura Gold…600 yen tax included 

This variety was slightly sweet and hokuhoku

Mitsuharuka…700 yen tax included 

This variety was sweet and nettori.

I’m glad I was able to purchase the varieties I wanted.

It was the first time for us to try these varieties.

I put most of these into the freezer for us to enjoy in the coming weeks.

I hadn't noticed before but noticed today that you can see Tokyo Tower from this park.

Since most of the other vendors are from areas near Tokyo, I'll check them out in the future.

sunday

Sunday, we went out for groceries and then we had lunch at Lee Lounge.

A tiny cafe that we've been wanting to try.

It was kind of crowded, but we were still able to sit at a distance from others.

I had their napolitan...980 yen (tax included)...this was delicious and the sauce was not sweet.

My only peeve was that it was on a teeny plate, so you had to eat super carefully so as not to spill.

Satoshi had their thai shoyu ramen, he was asked whether he wanted rice noodles or egg noodles, he chose rice noodles.

His lunch came with a mini gapao rice, which was also scrunched into a teeny bowl, making it hard to eat.

But he said he enjoyed his lunch...900 yen (tax included).

It is a pretty laid back place, so we look forward to trying other items on their menu...we'll be back.

Down the street is Yaguchi Fresh House, a grocer that sells fruits and veggies.

I noticed he was selling beets, so I bought a bag, 162 yen (tax included).

I roasted them and we'll eat them in the coming days.

We also picked up something sweet from Cusunoki

Their Zao cheese...525 yen (tax included)...fluffy airy cheesecake filled with blueberry jam and coated with cake crumbs...so good!

Chocolat...365 yen (tax included)...chocolate cake with chocolate whipped cream and chocolate curls...delicious.

The wind was icy but at least the sun was out.

Lee Lounge

1-26-1 Tamagawa 2F

Ota, Tokyo

Phone: 070.8947.6948

Open daily 9:00-22:00

stivale

Satoshi's implants went as scheduled.

He was done by about 4:30-ish.

Before "picking him up", I bought us dinner from Stivale so we could just jump on the train to go back home.

Lasagna and hamburger with cheese and demiglace sauce.

1530 yen (tax included) for both.

Delicious.

He had some pain but was able to eat AND had wine...

Have a good week.

ps we didn’t have snow, at least I didn’t see any 

this and that

Every time I pass by Donkey, I see their photo of their hotcakes pasted on the window and want to try them.

Well, I finally did and was totally disappointed.

First off, they cut the hotcakes before serving them.

Am thinking these were the frozen type...bummer.

Satoshi’s dry curry looked ono.

There was talk about snow at the beginning of the week, everyone around Tokyo got the snow, we just got fahreezing temps...was kind of bummed, I mean if it is gonna be fahreezing...

Now, there is talk that Tokyo might see some snow over the weekend, we'll see.

Since Satoshi was working from home, most of this week, and there was that talk about the snow, I stocked up so I did not need to go out of the house for groceries.

Well, Wednesday night, just before Satoshi's German online class, the gas range’s light came on saying it needed new batteries...so guess who had to go out to get some batteries?!

At least the nearest covenience store is only 3 minutes walking away...

And as luck would have it, after buying the batteries, it seems that "someone" didn't turn off the range properly, which is why the light on the range was blinking...grr.

oh well, at least we have spare batteries...

This shirunashi (no soup) tan tan men...it had the perfect balance of ma (numbing) and la (spicy).

Tried a new (to me) banh mi place. 

The other day, I happened to pass by and noticed them.

Apparently they opened sometime last year...

I ordered their grilled pork...680 yen (tax included)

Loved the bread and the grilled pork was similar to the sweet char siu flavor we have in Hawaii.

I think they could've put a little more veggies, but overall I enjoyed this, I'll be back to try other items on their menu.

Satoshi is having implant work tomorrow, so he needs to get a PCR test done today.

On top of that for the past two weeks he had to take his temperature and record it.

I'm going to go with him to the PCR test so I can see where the hospital is.

Hoping all goes smoothly, he will have anesthesia and will be allowed to "sleep" it off, he said he'll be able to come home on his own, but I'm worried he won't, so I will go to "pick him up" tomorrow afternoon.

Hope you all are doing well, have a safe weekend.

Banh Mi Xin Chao

5-19-10 Nishikamata

Ota, Tokyo

Phone: 03.6715.8087

Open daily 10:00-20:00

reminiscing

One year ago we received our blood orange order from T-farm

Four years ago we were trying 175 deno tan tan men

Eight years ago we were trying zabon-zuke

Thirteen years ago we thought spring was coming

Seventeen years ago we were talking about tsukiai and other things.

monday

I had wanted to bake some mochi type muffins.

When it came time to line the muffin tin, I realized I inly had 3 muffin papers, so I used some parchment paper.

It was hard to fill with muffin batter, because the parchment didn't stay secure in the muffin tin.

Also while making the batter I only had a little mochiko, so I used half mochiko and half flour.

I put some yuzu peel that I had in the freezer, used up some chocolate chips and also added some cocoa powder

My baking powder expired but I used the hot water test and it still bubbled so I used it.

Even with all these obstacles, the muffins came out nice and will be good for breakfast or as a snack.