sunday

Okay, so we have replaced our computer, printer, bought an external disk drive, a USB flash drive, oh and new cell phones....so with all that, the thing that is driving me crazy is that every time my mouse rolls over a word, it highlights red and a little window pops up to surf the net with. I really hate using programs in Japanese, and Satoshi is of no help as he hates reading the manuals, which means I'm on my own with this stuff....Does anyone know how to turn this off?

Anywho...A reader, Colin, was interested to see what we eat that isn't blogged about.

So, for the next couple of posts, I'll show you what I've been eating.

First of all, I don't pack lunch for Satoshi, so I don't know what he eats for lunch, but I do know that he usually goes out to eat.

Sunday's breakfast started out with a fried egg and splash of okonomiyaki sauce, tsukemono (variety of veggies and an eggplant one), rice and green tea. (We tend to eat eggs in the morning, it is the fastest and easiest way to get protein.)

Lunch was picked up at the bakery inside of the supermarket. A ham sandwich and a nut danish. (I wish these bakeries would make different sandwiches like turkey or chicken, but most do the "nitrate thing"--ham, hot dog or tuna/egg salad. The chili cheese Fritos were brought home from Hawaii.)

Dinner was a combination of new recipes. Green pea miso soup, simmered new crop potatoes and asparagus with a ginger sauce.

Here are the recipes for the dishes: from "Soshoku no susume: Spring recipes" by Makuuchi Hideo : all recipes are servings for 2

1 cup green peas, shelled
2 tablespoons miso (soy bean paste)
a little salt

Put 2 cups of water into a pot and boil the peas until soft (about 12-13 minutes).
Take the peas out of the water and keep this water aside.
Whiz peas until paste-like. Add some of the boiling water to the paste in the processor to turn paste into a soup.
Return everything to pot and heat. Add miso and stir until miso combined with water and peas. Add salt if needed (I didn't put any).
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400g new crop potatoes with skins on
2 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
1 tablespoon mirin (sweet rice wine)

After washing potatoes, put into a pot and fill with enough water to cover them.
Boil on medium heat until soft. (about 30 minutes)
When soft, add shoyu and mirin. And put an oshibuta (piece of foil with 2 holes or a drop lid).
Turn heat down to simmer and simmer until all the liquid evaporates. (About an hour.)
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10 stalks asparagus
2 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
1 nub ginger, grated
1 tablespoon sesame seed

Cut asparagus into 4-5 cm pieces, add to boiling water and boil for 2 minutes.
Transfer to sauce mixture, toss.

Hope you enjoy these recipes, Colin! They are easy and delicious. Stay tuned for the rest of the week.