todoromi marmalade

Satoshi has been working very late hours. He also leaves for work earlier than usual too.

It is taking its toll not only on him, but on me too.

Most days I feel like I am jet lagged or have a hangover. One day, I ended up sleeping practically the whole day.

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, I was still feeling sluggish, but decided to get out and about because the next couple of days are supposed to be rainy.

I headed to Minoo station and went to check out several shops that I heard were selling the Todoromi yuzu (citron) marmalade made with yuzu grown in a part of Minoo called Todoromi.

I was happy because they had some. One bottle was 450 yen (about US$4.50). I decided to buy one to try and one to give away.

Over the years, I've learned that during winter, most people in Japan drink yuzu-cha (citron tea). There is no "tea" involved, they just melt some marmalade into hot water.

After drinking the "tea", they eat the yuzu bits.

It is a nice way to fight off colds and warm up too.

I hope this is good, though I'm pretty sure it will be. UPDATE: it was delicious!

yuzucha

A couple of years ago, I was first introduced to yuzucha (citron tea), when my host-sister gave me a bottle of Korean yuzucha. I didn't know much about it then, but after trying it as a drink and as a topping on yogurt and also on toast, I was hooked!

This yuzucha is made by a company in Kochi prefecture on the island of Shikoku--the same company that makes a yuzu drink that I like called Gokkun.

I think yuzu and other citrus fruits, such as mikan (tangerine) have the power to keep you warm, that is why it is added to onsen or furo(hot spring or bath water)--plus, it smells nice and refreshing.

Yuzucha has no actual tea in it, in fact, it looks like runny marmalade.

Just put a tablespoon or two (depending on how sweet you want your drink) into your teacup and add hot water.

It is a nice way to warm up and I also love eating the strips of yuzu at the end.

mini jam crostata

I first saw this recipe on Ivonne's blog, Cream Puffs in Venice, printed it out and set it aside to try at a later date. Well, I finally got the ingredients together and it is also finally cooler to be baking, so I decided to try it.

The fruit jam that I used was a mixed berry made by an Austrian company called D'arbo, which I found at an up-scale supermarket in the neighborhood.

I think it is also yuzu season here. Yuzu is a citron and sometimes looks like a wrinkly orange. I zested this and put it into my dough.

NOTES: I wasn't sure as to when to use the zest, so I put it into the dough. I also cut this recipe in half because there is only the two of us. This recipe is very easy. I split the dough in half and pressed it into two ramekins--one serving, being 1/2 a ramekin. Since I didn't have walnuts, I topped the crostata with macadamia nuts.

The lemony crust, with semi-sweet jam, matched with the mac nuts and was delicious with some Indonesian Java tea.

matsuyamayushi

I'm always on the lookout for evironmentally safe cleansers.

When I was in Hawaii, I bought the Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day brand, which I wrote about here. This brand's dish cleanser is really good, plus the lavender fragrance is really nice too.

Another one that I came upon is made in Japan by a company called Matsuyamayushi. Yushi is the Japanese word for fats & oils. (On this company's letterhead it even says Matsuyama fats & oils company.)

They have a dish soap and detergent which I've tried, but didn't really like. I guess because they are environmentally safe, they don't have the oomph that is needed to clean dishes and clothes.

What I do like is their skincare line and bath/hand soaps and salts. Their skincare uses lavender and sage. The herbal water (toner) really smells great and works well too. Plus, the refills for the skincare line, come in disposable pouches, so all you have to do is refill the glass containers that you get with your original order.

I recently bought some of their bath salts and took it on one of our trips, filling up the bath tub and adding these salts made the whole room smell nice!

They also have a yuzu (citron) line of products like lip balm and hand cream. They really smell wonderful and really softens your hands and lips.

Have a great weekend!