Thursday, July 17, 2008

fruits of summer

A couple of posts ago, I wrote about laundry. An anonymous reader reminded me about the big clips that are needed to hold your futon (comforter), onto the railings of the lanai.

I wanted to show them to you and luckily the big condo across the street had some samples.

When we first came to Japan, I bought a pair of clips for our futon, then when we moved to the apartment we are in now, I realized the clips I had bought would not hold our futon onto the lanai railing, so I needed to buy bigger ones (insert pouty face)

Changing the subject, what fruits have you been enjoying this summer?

To make these muffin style clafoutis, I used a range of different chocolates (65% Guittard Sur Del Lago, 2006 Gran Couva Valrhona, Madagascar by Nakatani & 65% Guittard Ambanja). Bing cherries were quite expensive this year due to the rise in oil prices (they are imported from the US). I don't think Dhanggit pitted the cherries she used, but I did.

The "muffins" were dense and chocolatey. I want to try this recipe again using muffin papers instead of ramekins, if I can't find fresh cherries, I may use dried ones.

The sakuranbo (Japanese cherry) that I bought wasn't sweet at all, kind of disappointing actually. Overall, I think I may prefer the bing cherries over these.

On the other hand, the suika (watermelon) that I've bought has been really sweet--between 11% and 12% sugar content.

These momo (peaches) smell like they will be were delicious. I'm glad they are not wrapping these guys in saran wrap--I like to smell peaches before buying them.

These fruits are probably the best part of Japan summers.

18 comments:

2kamuela47 said...

yummy...this summer I had lots of mangos, lychee, stawberries and blueberries. Sorry no pictures. Ohh, my friend has a lychee farm on the Big Island, their lychee is really big and meaty.

Take care!

Tamakikat said...

Hi there from Gion Festival town, Kyoto.

That muffin looks and sounds delish.

I agree with you that summer fruit are up there with the best things in summer.I've had some of all the fruit you mentioned. Do you like the mini grapes too?

TK

K and S said...

yum, lychee, I'm jealous Laura!

mini grapes? I think you may mean the "delaware" grapes? Those are good too, Tamakikat.

Take care you two.
Kat

Rowena said...

Those futon clips are like...boomerangs! Italians air out their comforters too -- right outside their windows. No clips, only because they never hang them on a windy day (dust gets into the windows).

Beautiful fruits!

K and S said...

I've seen my neighbors futon go flying because she didn't clip it to the railing, Rowena :)

Take care.
Kat

Lyvvie said...

I'll come out of lurk to talk fruit. We've had a huge amount of fruit this summer and it's been very cheap which is uncommon for the UK. We've been gorging ourselves on nectarines, grapes, cherries (Which historically go for almost £5 a pound and I've not bought for many years), donut peaches which are a new type in the market and strawberries. Mounds of strawberries. Scotland is apparently over-run by strawberries at the moment it's as if they're giving them away. We're having strawberries daily.

Deb in Hawaii said...

Your muffin clafoutis look so good. I love chocolate and cherry together. And those peaches are so pretty! I miss peaches--they never look that good here.

Rowena said...

The fishermen are on strike?!?! For some reason it just struck a bad nerve in my body. And 182 yen/liter for gas sounds like a deal. I think we were paying that price like a year ago. :(

K and S said...

I've seen those donut peaches on Tea and Cookies blog, looks delish! Strawberries daily sounds like a treat! Thanks for coming out, Lyvvie :)

Thanks Deb!

I hope it won't be for too long, Rowena.

Take care everyone.
Kat

Chibog in Chief said...

oh my goodness kat your chocolate cherry clafoutis looks really really moisty and delicious!! oh how i miss the big watermelons in japan..thats the sound of summer for me!!

K and S said...

thanks for sharing the recipe, Dhanggit :)

take care.
kat

Anonymous said...

I've been eating a little of everything this summer. Lychee, mango, kiwi.... Those peaches look good!

K and S said...

Yum Lori, lychee, mango! The peaches here are so different from the ones in Hawaii :)

Take care.
Kat

Anonymous said...

I too have been enjoying cherries - they're among my favorite summertime snacks and lately Whole Foods has had an excellent selection of them. I'm keeping my eyes open for some fantastic peaches. :)

Ari (Baking and Books)

Kathy YL Chan said...

ooo I love Japanese peaches - so much more ono than anything we get in NYC! :)

K and S said...

I hope you find some delicious peaches, Ari :)

I guess the peaches here aren't picked early for shipping that is why they are so good, Kathy.

Take care you two.
Kat

Barbara said...

Lovely summer fruits Kat. I love the photos.

K and S said...

Thanks Barbara, I'm looking forward to seeing what you are enjoying in Australia :)

Take care.
Kat