stollen-ing

Tried the different stollen this morning

Romi-Unie lots of butter, marzipan, some fruits, spices are super light almost non-existent

Roca Bake cinnamon kinda overpowers everything, but there is a large chestnut in the middle, more bread like 

Think lots of nuts, dried fruits and spices

I'm glad we got to try these.

Each are different, each are delicious

takaya marche

Takaya Marche is a shop in Ashiya, Hyogo

My host sister recently sent us their salt sable (cookies), financiers and caneles for Christmas

She said the salt sables are really popular.

We appreciate her kindness and look forward to enjoying these during the nenmatsu nenshi (year end and beginning of the new year)

Thank you T!

Takaya Marche

5-26 Funato-cho

Ashiya, Hyogo

Closed: Sundays & Mondays

Hours: 10:00-18:00

this and that

lately my oatmeal has 1/4 apple, dried cherries, chocolate chips, kinako and cinnamon
 

Himmel’s krapfen. I think this is my first time trying it. The doughnut is supposed to be hollow so that you can fill it with jam or chocolate

Himmel has a plain version and I tried their cinnamon version but there is no filling in either one. 

There are some raisins in the dough, so airy! love!

Satoshi saw Dr Yellow, I did too but never got a photo of it

Satoshi said the train was leaving the station so everyone was trying to get a photo, which is why he had someone’s elbow in his shot

yangnyeom chicken from origin bento...538 yen (tax included)

I like this version better than omma's.  

The chicken is fried and is still quite crisp even with the spicy sauce on it.

We finally saw "Perfect Days" and loved this movie

If you remember we went to check out all the public toilets that were in the movie...here, here & here

After seeing the movie, I realized that not all the toilets were in the movie.

tried the honey, nut and butter streusel kuchen from Himmel.  

Since I didn’t eat it right away, I froze it then reheated it, the texture wasn't too good after doing that

Will try it again without freezing...hoping it will be tasty 

It was the memorial day of my Grandma's passing yesterday...bought her some chrysanthemums...miss you Gma!

Tokyo has been cold, though the next couple of days are supposed to be warm...we need rain, it’s so dry here

Have a safe weekend!

romi-unie

When I learned that Romi-Unie would be selling stollen, I reserved one for us to try

Unlike most stollen we have had in the past, this one is kugelhopf style (looks like bundt shape)

This one is quite heavy!

We look forward to trying this one too in the coming days.

roca bake

When I saw Roca Bake’s stollen box, I thought it was a place in Osaka that I had been wanting to try, so I ordered it...

Well, it wasn’t, it turned out to be a tiny bakery in Hakodate Hokkaido that has been around for 19 years...boy was I surprised!

The box was supposed to arrive on Monday, but because of the snow in Hokkaido, it arrived today

Love the packaging!

"when it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile"

mini chocolate chestnut stollen (top left),  orange tea cookies (top right), slices of lemon poundcake and caramel nuts poundcake (bottom right), financier (bottom left)

close up of lemon poundcake and caramel nuts poundcake

cute magnet

"bread is better than the songs of birds"

I'm glad I ordered this and look forward sharing these with Satoshi in the coming days.

Roca 

3-6-20 Tomioka-cho

Hakodate, Hokkaido

*online sales only

reconnect

Reconnected with Omma Foods’ yangnyeom chicken

This bento was 580 yen (tax included) 

The price has gone up a little since the last time I posted about it on the blog

I think this time the chicken was just cooked instead of deep frying then coated with the sauce

I prefer K-sozai’s version but since they are no longer in business, this version will have to do

The sides of the bento were hijiki & I think spinach

I'll try to walk out this way more often while the weather is cooler

this and that

Sunday, Satoshi went to the 100th anniversary of the Tokyo Big 6's baseball clubs (Keio, Meiji, Hosei, Tokyo, Waseda and Rikkyo).

Waseda, Meiji and Keio started back in 1914.

I think 1925 was the year that Tokyo University joined in.

He said there were so many people even people from the NPB, Japan's pro baseball.

He sent me some photos of their cute desserts, I thought this one was the cutest. 

You may have heard that on Monday, Aomori had a big earthquake that triggered a tsunami watch.

The alarm on my phone counts down until the earthquake is about to affect the area you are at, it was kinda scary to see the area widen out from Hokkaido

Some people in Tokyo actually felt it but I didn't.

Hoping everyone can get back to their normal routines soon. 

Tokyo People: parking patrol

This granola that V's friend, M gave me...so ono! love that it has lots of nuts & coconut in it

all cinnamon rolls should have puff pastry around it...

There is talk that there might be sleet this weekend...brr

Have a safe weekend.

grateful

Sometime during the ending part of November, friend Mayumi sent me several photos of her persimmon drying project.

She said she was drying 200 of them!

Today, she sent me 25 of them!

I put most of these into the freezer...and will eat some in the the coming days!

Thank you Mayumi! 

this and that

belated Thanksgiving...poached chicken brest with cranberry chutney, wilted spinach with lemon dressing, roasted kabocha, maitake sauteed in butter and takoyaki sauce and really old purple cabbage pickles

dubai style chocolate pie from Vie de France...chocolate puff pastry filled with pistachio cream and crunchies...too sweet

who knew Toyota made sewing machines?! (seen near Think) if I understood the article correctly, they were apparently selling them until 2019?!

Tokyo University of Art...I think it might be a graduating student's project.

There were two other objet next to this one, but this one had the biggest impact on me

got the girls mammo'd....our city pays for the screening on even numbered birthdays (I think), so I had to pay 500 yen (very cheap)

recently been seeing this tuk tuk around our area

been following overall arts for some time now and noticed that they did a mural in a shopping arcade near the Keikyu Kamata station

when you don't lable the stuff you throw into the freezer, you reheat a chicken meatball instead of what you thought was a little ball of rice...ha!

hope you have a good week!

ueno

In order to get to Think, I walked through Ueno Park
 

I noticed this huge tree on the grounds of the Tokyo National Museum luckily it could be seen from between the slats of the outer fence 

Tokyo University of Arts

So stinky but so pretty

think

After Vaner went out of business, Think went into its space in 2023

The lines for this bakery are always long and krazy

Plus, they only allow 4 people in the store at a time, so be prepared to wait.

I saw on social media that they were selling stollen, so I reserved one online and went to pick it up yesterday.

The thing about "just picking up" is that you still need to wait in line, so I went early and was 2nd in line...whoo

I purchased their marron hazelnut financier...so buttery, a little chocolatey, with big pieces of chestnut here and there and lots of hazelnuts...love!

Had their cultured scone for breakfast...so buttery! the outer part got a little crisp after I heated it up in the fish grill…love

Cassoulet...a piece of baguette topped with tomato sauce and cassoulet beans and a snappy sausage

I ate this with a knife and fork...delicious!

 

Sangria Red...was looking for an explanation of this online, but couldn't find one...I think they use red wine in the dough or maybe to rehydrate the dried figs and fold in dried figs and nuts...I sliced this and put it in the freezer.

And their stollen...the ingredients are almond powder, butter, orange peel and raisins...look forward to trying this in the coming days.

I don't know that I'll be back here since it isn't nearby, but I'm glad I got to try these items

Think

2-15-6 Uenosakuragi

Taito, Tokyo

Closed: Mondays & Tuesdays

Hours: 10:30-17:00

thank you

Thank you A for sending us a box of apples.

These apples are called San Fuji. 

Crisp & sweet

If you are interested in the difference between Fuji and San Fuji apples, please look here.

We appreciate your kindness A!

yoroniku & ebisu gardens

V invited us to celebrate her birthday at Yoroniku in Ebisu.

She and A dined here last year and enjoyed it.

Unfortunately Satoshi had something so he missed out

This post is gonna be long and you will gain weight...you have been warned

Assorted kim chee and namul

shoyu based sauce a little sweet, lemon & ume shu soda

beef tartare

after mixing it up and putting it on the garlic toast…so ono

2 types of beef sashimi ichibo (sirloin cap) and uchimomo (top round)

thick tongue, outside skirt and loin

salad with salt dressing (kinda like vinaigrette but not puckery)

this salad had huge pieces of lettuce in it, so a lot of us used it to wrap our meats in it as we ate

outside skirt with green onion sauce

thick tongue with lemon

loin with special sauce

lean meat and tsuchinoko (near thigh?)

eat in slightly sweetened sauce...so melt in your mouth

osuimono (clear soup) with bits of tripe...type of palate cleanser

wagyu onigiri

chateaubriand and silky loin

chateaubriand was cooked on super low heat to keep the tenderness and flavor of the meat

silky loin was cooked on a higher heat but was still very tender

dip the chateaubriand in sauce then cover the teeny rice ball...enjoy!

sirloin

eat sirloin with oroshi daikon and sauce first bite...add wasabi to change things up second bite

zabuton (chuck) "sukiyaki" with truffle

the chuck is shabu shabu-ed in this sukiyaki style sauce 

and then they truffle it

really truffle it

and then they froth it up

the rice they will add after you eat the meat, so don't eat up all the truffle egg mixture

frothed up truffle egg and meat

after adding the rice to the truffle egg

awa somen is a thicker type of somen from shikoku

chewy similar to reimen

add condiments...nori tsukudani and wasabi to change up the flavors

dessert...matcha shaved ice to share...first round eat as is

second round add the kuromame and condensed milk

surprise shaved ice for the birthday girl (left)

this one was shirokuma style which means fruits are embedded in the shave ice then covered with condensed milk

the staff worked so hard to cook the meats and serve so that we had the best dining experience

after dinner we walked (rolled) a little to Ebisu Gardens to see the Baccarat chandelier "tree"

This tree is displayed every year at about this time.

The chandelier is 5 meters (16 feet) tall and 3 meters (9 feet) wide and has about 8500 crystals and 250 light bulbs made by 13 MOF (meilleur ouvrier de france) craftsmen and took about 15,000 hours to make

At the opposite end they have this 10 meter (32 feet) tall Christmas tree!

Thank you V for letting me celebrate your birthday with you this year!

We are thankful for your friendship and appreciate your kindness.

We hope you enjoyed your trip! Have a safe trip home.

Yoroniku

1-11-5 Ebisu, GEMS 8F

Shibuya, Tokyo

Hours: 17:00-00:00

*reservations recommended