hiramiyuki farm

The Noto Pennisula earthquake that happened on New Years Day was so tragic.

One of the stories that was featured on the news here was of Hiramiyuki Farms' blueberries.

The farm experienced a landslide

Wanting to help some how, I was happy to see her selling what blueberries she had at Tabechoku

We've ordered from Tabechoku numerous times since the pandemic

800 grams, with taxes and shipping (special type since they were frozen)...4976 yen of which 300 yen will be donated to the earthquake victims

These orbs are huge! and delicious.

Seeing Japan grown blueberries at the market has been rare these days.

I'm glad we got to help a little and I hope she will be able to get back to her farming again soon.

supermarket finds

Can I share a secret with you?

If you want to know at what stage of the season the fruits or veggies are in Japan, look at where it was grown.

For example you will see most fruit & veggies start from Kyushu (where it is technically warmer) then make its way up all the way to Hokkaido.

Of course, there are some fruits and veggies that are only grown in certain areas of Japan, so this tidbit wouldn't apply.

Anyway, these peaches which were grown in Fukushima Prefecture which means that the peach season is nearing the end.

These blueberries were grown in Nagano, so I think the season is also coming to an end.

We'll try these in the coming days, hopefully they won't disappoint.

UPDATE: the peaches were on the firmer side but sweet and delicious. The blueberries were a little tart but delicious too.

lately

Lately there are peaches at the markets.

Love the peaches here, most are perfectly ripened--the fuzzy skins just come right off.

So juicy and sweet.

Also found some local blueberries which were a little tart compared to the peaches.

What are you enjoying this summer?

taro brand poi blueberry granola bowl

Have you eaten poi before?

Poi is a thick paste-like substance made from the taro root.

Taro is mashed with a little water until the poi is made.

The consistency is often referred to as "one finger, two finger, three finger poi" as Hawaiians used to and/or still do eat poi "scooping" it up with their fingers.

Growing up in Hawaii, we were often given poi in place of baby food.

And as a child, I remember sprinkling some sugar on my poi to sweeten it up, making it easier for me to eat.

The other day, I was checking out the Foodland ad and this caught my eye...Taro Brand Poi Blueberry Granola Bowl...what?!

The girl at the seafood counter was nice enough to show me where to find it in the refrigerated section (Thank you!)

It's 5 ounces (about 1/2 a cup) of poi, 1.5 ounces granola (almost 3 Tablespoons), 1 ounce of fresh blueberries (almost 2 Tablespoons), 2 packets of honey (8 grams = about 1/2 Tablespoon) and a spoon.

I didn't use the honey because when I put the fruit and granola into the poi it was sweet enough for me.

At $4.59 (plus tax), it isn't very cheap, but it is a nice breakfast/snack that you can enjoy on the go.

I haven't had poi in awhile, so this was nice.

I hope to have this again the next time I'm home.

hydroponics

When I hear the word hydroponics, usually lettuce comes to mind.

So, I was pleasantly surprised to find hydroponic blueberries at the market.

The berries are tiny! but firm and delicious.

Apparently they grow all sorts of fruits using this method.

Exciting!

Are farmers growing exciting things using hydroponics where you are?

blueberries

I recently came across some blueberries grown in Nara prefecture.

The berries weren't too big but these were a little tart and a little sweet.

Good with yogurt and homemade granola.

It's Friday here, I hope you have a nice weekend!

blueberry soda

The weather here is far from being summery, but blueberries are in the markets, so it was my chance to try this recipe I saw in "USA Today" when I was in Hawaii last year.

Blueberry syrup : makes about 2 cups from "USA Today: Weekend" Anton Nocito, October 2013
1.5 cups blueberries
1 cup sugar
9 tablespoons lemon juice

you can find a detailed recipe, here.

NOTES: I cut this recipe to 1/4 because I didn't know how it would taste, and because well, we shouldn't be drinking THAT much soda...

The recipe says to strain it, but I left the blueberries in...why waste?!

Also, the recipe says to add 3 tablespoons to a tall glass with ice. But I didn't know how tall the glass had to be, so I just added a teaspoon to my "short" glass and topped it with soda water.

I'm sure you could add more syrup to taste.

This was super refreshing. And it reminded me of the berry soda I had at Corridor.

Too bad our weather hit a cold snap and we are still below 50F...I'd definitely make this one again though.

zak = pom

Before leaving for Hawaii, I noticed these juice bottles at Seijo Ishii.

They said "ZAK".

I thought, weird, why would you name a juice ZAK and then I remembered that pomagranate is "zakuro" in Japanese.

Then it all made sense.

"ZAK" is "POM".

We recently tried the mixed version, pomagranate + blueberry with breakfast...yum!

whiz...brr

We had a mini snow storm the other afternoon. Nothing that stayed on the ground for too long, but it was fun to see (from my seat on the sofa).

It is still a bit too cold for smoothies, but since Satoshi was off on business, I made this one for my breakfast the other morning.

I've been seeing blueberries from Chile in the markets lately, and the local strawberries are in the markets too.

Here's what I put in it...10 blueberries, 5 strawberries, 1 small banana, 1/2 teaspoon ground flax seed, 4 tablespoons plain yogurt and 1/4 cup skim milk...whizzed together, even though it looks like only a cup worth, it was a little over, a very simple and delicious breakfast.

blueberry lemon muffins

Yesterday I posted about making ice cream. Well, I also went onto Amazon Japan to "review" the Japanese recipe book in Japanese. I gave it 1 star and basically wrote in Japanese what I did in English. (Actually, I wasn't going to even give it a star.)

Well, apparently "they" don't like less than 3 stars...they deleted my review! This actually has happened before, we had bought a book from a secondhand seller through Amazon Japan and I remarked that it had looked like it was taken from the library, it still had the dewey decimal label on the spine of the book!...well, the secondhand seller didn't like my review and harrassed me by sending me e-mails to change my review and the seller also e-mailed Amazon to the point where they deleted my comment...definitely no freedom of speech here!

Anyway, let's move onto something cheery...food!

What to do when you are in a pinch to have something fast for breakfast? I usually make scones or make muffins.

This past Saturday, I needed something quick for our breakfast, so the day before I made muffins with some blueberries and lemon that I had in the refrig.

I used this recipe as the base (minus the nibs & tea) and added 60 grams of fresh blueberries and the zest of one lemon.

The results were a great muffin, not too sweet, not too sour, just right.

With the juice from the lemon, I made some lemon fizz.

Maybe breakfast was a bit overkill with the lemon and blueberry in both the muffins and the fizz but it was quick and delicious.

making fizz and "stuff"

Thanks for all the great comments. I was surprised to hear about all the different types of drinks and snacks that everyone has at their Starbucks. And I was also happy to hear that, not everyone hangs out there. For me, I like them only because it is smoke-free, if I really had a choice, I know I wouldn't go there because they are quite pricey. In fact, they recently raised the price of their beans and drinks. 10 yen..but still.

Anyway, enough about Starbucks for now...In a recent post, I wrote that I was craving fizz and sugar. Since then, I have been trying to wean myself off of soda (since there is tons of sugar in it) and tried to make something as natural as possible.

On Thursday, at the supermarket, I debated over the lemons. They were selling 3 tiny lemons for 150 yen from the U.S. Versus 1 big lemon from Chile for 129 yen. I chose the 3 for 150 yen about US$1.50 and bought 2 bags. Then I squeezed the 6 lemons (about 1/2 cup lemon juice--not much juice as they were teeny) and added 2 cups of fizzy soda water. Then in a glass, I added ice and a teaspoon of blueberry honey.

I mixed it well to make sure that the honey dissolved. It was really refreshing and having it in the morning really wakes you and your tastebuds up! (You can adjust the sweetness if it is too tart, but we really liked it this way.) I am definitely making this again.

Did I say enough of Starbucks? Well, yesterday, I tried these blueberry-yogurt pancakes. Delicious, light and fluffy and on their "Wellness Selection" menu. I guess having yogurt in the pancakes make them "healthy", but I think it was counter-acted by the whipped butter...which I used the whole little container of (there is a butter shortage here, couldn't let it go to waste, could I?)

This year's summer has been really hot which may not be a good thing for us humans, but it has been a good thing for the veggies. They are HUGE! Take for example this eringi, (was about 6 inches long and 2 inches in diameter) usually they are skinnier and half this size.

I saw a television program once that said that Japan measures their produce by weight, them packages them for sale at about 100 to 150 grams per package, so most times they mix small veggies with big ones.

When I bought this (for 98 yen about US$.98), there was just this one inside, though I don't think it was 100 or 150 grams.

p.s. something is wrong with Blogger...I cannot access my blog to answer comments. Hope this gets fixed soon!

warming up

Yesterday was raining off and on. It was brrr...cold. The condensation would come out from your mouth when you talked.

Though I made this dessert for Sunday's dinner, I wanted to share it with you on this cold day.

I love apple crisp. It is even better with fresh blueberries in it. I've made it before and posted about it here.

We recently received a box of apples from Satoshi's friend (Thank you!). What would you do with 36 apples? Well, I gave half of it away. We've been eating some for breakfast and I also made an apple crisp with blueberries.

1 apple, sliced into bite sized pieces
1 handful of blueberries

Topping adapted from Ellie Krieger
1/4 cup flour
2/3 cup muesli
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
20 grinds fresh cinnamon
1/4 cup EVOO

Mix the fruits with the topping mixture. Bake in a oven-safe dish at 350F (180C) for 40 minutes.
Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Though the ice cream is cold, the warm crisp is definitely a nice way to warm up.

This morning, I made some bread pudding using a chocolate orange french bread, blueberries and a sprinkle of vanilla sugar on top. Out of the oven it was bubbly and hit the spot on a cold morning.

Hope you are staying warm where you are.

what? another election?

Well, it turned out that it was too hot and humid to go galivanting yesterday, but since I still needed some things for dinner, I did go grocery shopping while Satoshi went to his German class. The supermarket was packed! I guess everyone knows that it is a great place to cool off.

I decided to make a variation of the reisei pasta that I made the other day. Instead of tuna, I added tako(octopus), some lemon juice and lettuce. Very refreshing!




And for dessert, I made mini blueberry clafoutis. I used the same recipe I posted before, put some lemon zest into the batter and topped the clafoutis with lavender sugar. Heavenly!

Since there was nothing but election results on tv tonight (what? another election?)we were watching some DVDs--(can you believe Japan is having another election? At least the loud speakers during Kat's nap time were non-existent this time around.) Awhile back I told you about Li Hing popcorn which I picked up while I was home? Well, we finally got around to eating the next flavor that I picked up....Korean BBQ.

I was quite disappointed with this one. Somehow the flavor packet was weak and tasted mostly of furikake and arare. And why is it that the arare (rice crackers) that come with the furikake are always stale? I wonder if they get stale when you mix it with the butter? Maybe the packaging isn't very airtight. Either that or I'm spoiled with the fresh arare that I eat here. I have a feeling it might be the latter.

So back to the election, Satoshi says it is because the rest of the government do not like the current prime minister, so they are having an election to change the prime minister. Apparently whichever party wins, that political party gets to choose who will be the new prime minister. Satoshi says most times the very second the political party wins and chooses someone, the rest of the government wants to change the guy in charge. So someone chosen for 4 years could get kicked out half-way or several months into his term. Definitely not very good for world relations.

If you ask me, I think they have too many political parties in Japan, which causes a lot problems, kind of like when there are too many chefs in the kitchen? But since I can't vote here, I guess I can't grumble too much about it other than I wish they would do all of their elections in one swoop and stop using their loud speakers to campaign (especially during my nap time!)

Have a great week.

blueberry

Blueberries are available in the supermarkets now. They are coming from the U.S.

I saw on a U.S. news program that the price of blueberries was rising. The first pack that I bought was quite expensive almost US$4 for 150g. Another pack that I saw was organic and almost US$8! (I quickly put that one back.) The next time I bought some, it was US$3 for 150g. I think it may be timing.

All I know is that they are good with sliced bananas and muesli in the morning.

It is Friday the 13th...We are expecting a typhoon over the next couple of days. Okinawa has already had very strong winds and rain. It is already raining here, I usually go grocery shopping everyday, but just in case I can't get out on Saturday and Sunday, I'm going to pick up a few more things today. Satoshi is also supposed to go on a business trip to Guam and Saipan on Sunday, but with the typhoon coming, he wasn't sure if he would be able to fly out...wish us luck!

Have a nice weekend!

blueberry-nib scones-updated

As I was flipping through an edition of "Donna Hay" that I had bought in Hawaii, I came upon a recipe for blueberry scones. By now, I think you know that I love scones, so you know that I just had to try this recipe.

As I started making them, I realized that they didn't print how much of the blueberries should be added. Should they be dried? Preserves? Did I read the recipe wrong? Nope, I needed to ad-lib. I came up with...

Blueberry-nib scones adapted from "Donna Hay--Issue 29"
2 cups (250g) flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
50g chopped unsalted butter
1/4 cup dried blueberries
1/4 cup cacao nibs
1/2 cup milk

Mix the flour, baking powder and sugar together, cut in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Add the blueberries and nibs and mix a little more.
Add the milk and mix until just combined.
Let rest for 15 minutes.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and with your hands press out to about a 1 inch thickness.
Using a 2-inch round cutter cut out 8 scones, re-molding dough to cut as needed. (If you use a smaller cutter, you can make more scones.)
Place on a lined baking sheet and bake at 180C (350F) for 25 minutes or until cooked through.

These were great. The nibs gave it a nutty flavor . You can eat it with marmalade like I did or by itself. I had mine with coffee, but I think a black tea (not the flavored type) would go well with it too, maybe with a splash of milk/cream.

UPDATE:received an e-mail from Donna Hay Magazine, it should be 1 cup of blueberries. (thank you!) received another e-mail from Donna Hay Magazine, it should be 250g of fresh blueberries (thank you!) I guess you can either use fresh or dried :)

blueberry-cashew scones and a new blog

Every 15th of each month, a bake shop in our shopping arcade gives away a dish or bowl if you purchase 600yen worth of merchandise or more.

During August, the bake shop had an ad showing what giveaways were coming up for the rest of the year--October through December caught my eye...cafe au lait bowls!

In most interior/kitchenware shops, cafe au lait bowls have been priced at about 1000 yen or so. Hopefully you can understand my excitement to get them for about 600yen's worth, give or take.

I decided that we should initiate our cafe au lait bowls along with some scones for breakfast...I wanted to try making them using cashews and blueberries. I used this recipe for the scones and added 1/4 cup dried blueberries and 1/4 cup unsalted roasted cashews.

After measuring out all the dry ingredients, I added the blueberries and cashews. Then added the cream and followed the rest of the recipe.

NOTES: the cashew and blueberry combination went well in the scones and with the cafe au lait.

I also wanted to mention that I've started a new blog, which displays my crafts called My Craft Adventures. It includes a lot of my beading from 3 years ago--when I first started. If you're interested, please check it out.

blueberry-cashew bread

With the weather turning drastically cold the past couple of days, I think the "cold" season has officially started here. My student emailed me to say that she wasn't feeling well and wanted to cancel our lesson today. Since I now had some time on my hands, I decided to bake some bread.

I had seen this blueberry-cashew bread in the neighborhood bakery before and decided to re-create it.

I used the butter roll recipe that comes with the yeast packets and added cashews and blueberries to the dough before baking. I didn't know how much of the cashews or blueberries to put into the bread, and put just a little. Now I know, I could have put WAY more...

Still, the rolls rose very nicely and you get cashew and blueberry in every bite.

foodie staff party

This was the first time we had 7 people (adults) over to our cute apartment. Some staff members of Satoshi's department are readers of this blog. I'm not too sure what kind of food they had in mind, but they were excited to come over and have dinner.

I didn't get to take many photos (was busy cooking and tending the "bar"), so I'll talk about what I served and show you the dishes that I served it on. Most of these dishes are made by a company called PTS International. The name of the plates is called"Westbury Court Lyrical Blooms". I couldn't find a website for these dishes, but did find one for replacements on Replacements.com. I bought these just before moving to Japan. It was a nice investment.

Starters: Layered Bean Dip. This is Satoshi's favorite. Ask him what he wants to be served at a party that we throw and this is the first item out of his mouth. Tortilla chips fit nicely in this bowl. This dip is very easy to make, put a layer of refried beans at the bottom of your serving dish. Next add a layer of chopped onions. Mix a scoop of taco mix into a container of sour cream, add this to the layer of chopped onions. Next add layer of chopped tomatoes (seeded), and layer of chopped black olives. Add your favorite guacamole or sliced avocados to the olives and top with shredded cheddar cheese. Serve with corn chips.

Blackened Ahi (Maguro). I put cajun seasoning on the outside of the maguro and fry in a pan with some oil for 5 seconds on each side. I'm glad I got this plate just before moving to Japan too, it is definitely a hit at parties.

Main Dishes: Steak with roasted onions. I grilled steaks and roasted onions. The onions were really easy to make, just drizzle olive oil, and grind some pepper and salt on top. Roast in oven for about 30 minutes.

Pork Ginger. This is another easy dish. Marinate the pork overnight in 1-1/2 Tbsp. sugar, 2 Tbsp. sake (rice wine) and 2 Tbsp. shoyu (soy sauce). Add some minced ginger. Minced garlic optional. Cook well and top with chopped green onions.

Pasta salad: Farfalle (bow-tie pasta) and Penne with chopped salami, tomato, red onion, carrots, capers, red bell pepper. Salad dressing was the lemon-oregano vinaigrette that I previously posted about here. I actually wanted it to be all Farfalle, but the supermarket that I shopped at before the party, didn't have any :( Still, I think it turned out well.

Dessert: Apple-blueberry crisp. I found some fresh Oregon blueberries at our supermarket and added them to this recipe from International recipes.net. With a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it was a nice ending to the party.

His staff came bearing gifts, too.

A new toy for Satoshi-this gadget adds gas to the beer as you serve so that it can give the "coming from the tap" feeling. Of course, Satoshi hates to read manuals--so he let his staff figure out how to put the gadget together...

Arare (rice crackers) from Funahashiya, a well known maker of tea sweets.

And a gelatin dessert called Goro from Taneya.

Notes to self: invite a little less guests (or make it pot luck) to enjoy self, food and conversation more....

Hope you had a nice weekend!