kiku

This past weekend was actually a 3-day weekend. It rained for the most part of it. Sunday, it was really gloomy and drizzly. We went to Kawanishi for lunch and checked out their kiku (chrysanthemum) display.

I was impressed with their bonsai. If you click on the photo you'll see that the roots of the kiku go all the way down the carved rock!

Another thing I was impressed with were these very tall kiku.

If you look at the potting, each pot has 3 stems, but they all come from one plant! Amazing!

There were also very different varieties of chrysanthemum.

Autumn is here.

hirakata

I wrote a little about the Kikuningyo (Chrysanthemum Dolls) of Hirakata Park before.

4 years ago, when it was the 96th display, it was supposed to be the last exhibit.

This year is technically the 100th year (though they didn't have any exhibits over the past 4 years, I think)...

We went to check out the display and it was beautiful.

This year's theme is Sakamoto Ryoma, the man who helped change Japan.

To make the dolls reminded me that it was similar to making floats.

(In high school, we would make floats for homecoming. Putting chicken wire over wooden structures then attaching paper flowers to them.)

First off, they start growing the chrysanthemums 400 days prior so that they are blooming when they create the dolls.

Then they make a wooden figure positioning them in particular stances and poses.

A "mesh" made out of bamboo "rope" is then put onto the figure in order to attach the flowers to the figure.

The artist then attaches the mums in the same direction so that the flowers all face the same way.

They also mix in pine fronds to give different textures.

After putting the mums in, they then decorate each doll with a head, hands, obi (fabric belts) and other items like swords or fans.

These dolls take a lot of time to put together, but the results are fabulous.

Since they reached 100 times, we aren't sure if they will continue to do these displays, so we're glad we were able to see this one.

After looking at all the dolls, we headed back to the station and had a snack at the Malasada Cafe.

It was a great little place located on the platform which also played hawaiian music.

We ordered a sugar malasada (the original) and a cocoa sugar malasada....130 each (about US$1.30) and some coffee 270 yen each (about US$2.70)

These malasada were good, not oily and very light.

Only thing we were disappointed with was that we could hardly tell there was cocoa powder on the cocoa sugar malasada.

It was a nice Autumn day, lots of beautiful flowers and good food.

Malasada Cafe (UPDATE: 2016 no longer in business)
on the platform of the Keihan Hirakata Koen Station
Phone: 072.841.5514

3-day weekend

Friday, was a holiday, Bunka no hi (Culture Day), we were I was rudely awakened by a little earthquake. Although it was only a "2" where we were, it was enough to wake me up, not enough to wake up Satoshi though...

Saturday, I whipped up some scones for breakfast with a recipe that I used and posted about here. They came out better this time, I think the baking powder was fresher... After breakfast, Satoshi had his German language class and I had an English lesson.

We met in Umeda for lunch and shopped at the gourmet supermarket. I found this cute candy made by Cocoa Deli, a candy maker in England.

It looks like an ice cream bar, but is actually a truffle on a stick. This one was called cookies and cream and had vanilla and chocolate layers with crunchy chocolate crunchies inside. Very rich and creamy.

We then went to a shopping mall in Kawanishi and found these beautiful kiku (chrysanthemums).

About this time of year, there are a lot of displays and exhibitions, most are prize winning and beautiful!

This one was as tall as Satoshi!

This chrysanthemum was used in a bonsai display.

Sunday's dinner: Barolo and mushroom risotto and steak pizzaiola, I got the recipes out of "The Silver Spoon". I was surprised at how easy both were to make.

Here are the recipes: Barolo and Mushroom Risotto (Risotto al Barolo con funghi)--Serves 4

1 3/4 cups dried mushrooms
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 fresh rosemary sprig, finely chopped
1 fresh sage sprig, finely chopped
1 fresh basil sprig, finely chopped
4 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
about 6 1/4 cups vegetable stock
1 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprig, finely chopped
2 cups risotto rice
scant 1 cup Barolo
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
salt and pepper

Place the mushrooms in a bowl, add hot water to cover and let soak for 20 minutes, then drain and squeeze out.
Melt the butter with the oil in another pan, add the garlic, onion, rosemary, sage and basil and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and cook for a further 15 minutes.
Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper to taste, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring the stock to a boil.
Stir the parsley and rice into the pan of vegetables and cook, stirring constantly, until the grains are coated in fat.
Sprinkle in the wine and cook until it has evaporated.
Add a ladleful of the hot stock and cook, stirring, until it has been absorbed.
Continue adding the stock, a ladleful at a time, and stirring until each addition has been absorbed. This will take 18-20 minutes.
When the rice is tender, sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve.

NOTES: I cut this recipe in half, also I didn't use as much butter and oil as the recipe called for. I didn't have Barolo, which is supposedly a very expensive Italian wine, so I used Japanese sake. Also, I couldn't find vegetable stock and didn't have time to make it, but found chicken stock, so I used that instead. I would also use a little less rosemary as it kind of overpowered the taste of the risotto.

Steak Pizzaiola (Bistecche Alla Pizzaiola) Serves 4
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 garlic cloves
4 round steaks
5 ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced
pinch of dried oregano
salt and pepper

Heat the oil and butter in a skillet, add the garlic and cook until it turns brown, then remove and discard it.
Add the steaks on the skillet and cook on high heat for 1 minute on each side.
Season with salt and pepper, transer to a plate and keep warm.
Add the tomatoes and oregano to the skillet and simmer for 10 minutes until thickened and pulpy.
Return the steaks to the skillet and cook until done to your liking.

NOTES: Since my grill pan has grooves in it, I kind of reversed how I cooked everything. First I put the tomatoes, garlic, oregano and 1 tablespoon of olive oil with no butter into a little saute pot and cooked it for a bit. Then grilled the steak on my grill pan and then added the tomatoes onto the grill pan at the last minute.

Dessert was the chocolate covered almonds and mac nuts which I posted about here.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

hirakata

Yesterday Satoshi had the day off. We decided to go to Hirakata, it is right in the middle of Osaka and Kyoto. There is a theme park called Hirakata Park. Every year they have an exhibit called Kikuningyo (Chrysanthemum Dolls). The theme of the dolls varies from year to year and mostly reflects a taiga drama (historical drama) on television at the time. This year the theme is "Yoshitsune". It is also the last year that they will do this exhibition.

The exhibition started in 1910. This year is the 94th time, but the 96th year (some years the exhibit was cancelled due to war, etc.) that they have had this exhibit. A lot of locals really want them to continue, at least until the 100th.

For lunch we went to a French restaurant called Bistro Le Passage. It is nearby the Hirakata Koen Station. The interior was very comfortable and relaxing. And the food was really good.


We have another 3-day weekend coming up this weekend. The weather doesn't look too good, so I'm not sure what we will do.