snacks & scones

I don't know about you, but while I'm sitting in front of the computer, or in front of the TV, I like to munch. Sometimes it is dried fruits, sometimes it is nuts, but most times it has to be something crunchy, like these snacks....

Karinto--a sweet, deep fried treat made from flour and sugar. Some are also made with kokuto (literally black sugar = raw sugar), matcha (green tea) and aonori (green laver). I read somewhere that this treat goes back to the Edo period (around 1830).

Senbei--a baked wafer. There are many different types but these are called shoga senbei (ginger flavored wafer), a sweet but spicy wafer with some sprinkles of matcha (green tea), kurogoma (black sesame seeds) or shiso (perilla). Both of these snacks go well with either hot or iced Japanese teas.

Changing the subject a bit, Summer brings "cool" and refreshing looking sweets. This effect is created by using kuzu (kudzu/arrowroot). For this kuzumochi (arrowroot rice cake), a ball of an (sweet bean paste) is enveloped in translucent kuzu. I hope to show you more of these "cool" sweets throughout summer, some are really pretty.

My friend Val sent me a box of Stonewall Kitchen's scone mix. After looking at the box, I realized that this called for a LOT of unsalted butter (a stick and a half!) and after calculating it into grams, I realized it would take almost a whole box of Japanese butter.

Butter is quite expensive here and unsalted butter is even more expensive. So, whenever I try baking, I always try to cut down the recipe to the smallest portion possible to use the least amount of butter.

Since I was out of things for breakfast, so I decided to make these. I followed the directions on the box and also added blueberries and lemon zest. These scones rose very nicely,were moist and kind of flaky. (Thanks Val!)

Well, we have officially gone into the rainy season here in Osaka although we were 6 days late. The way the weather was going, I was thinking (more like hoping) that maybe it wouldn't be so humid...I was wrong.

Hope you have a nice weekend.