Tonight's dinner was a mixture--Italian-seasoned roasted veggie salad, yaki gyoza (chinese fried pot stickers) and genmai (brown rice) with gokokumai (5 different grains). There is a grain in there, kurogome (black rice) that usually turns the rice a purplish color, so don't worry, I didn't burn the rice :)Gyoza is Satoshi's favorite food. Ask him what he wants for dinner and he will always mouth "g-y-o-z-a". The bottoms of the gyoza usually have this cripy crunch (from sticking to the pan/pot) to it and the tops are soft and usually juicy. The dipping sauce is very easy to make, a little vinegar, a little shoyu (soy sauce) and drops of rayu (a chinese chili pepper oil made from sesame seed oil and chili peppers).
Dessert were a couple of squares of Vosges' Barcelona bar. Although I'm a dark chocolate fan, this bar is actually 40% cacao milk chocolate with smoked almonds, and gray sea salt and very addicting! The sweetness of the milk chocolate goes really well with the gray salt and there is a hint of caramel in the chocolate. I've been noticing a lot of "dark milk chocolates" lately and aren't quite sure what that means.
In March, while in Okinawa, my mother-in-law bought me these pair of geta. Geta are the traditional footwear in Japan. Now, they are usually worn during the summer months. These geta are a bit different because you don't have to balance too much to walk. I like the sound of the geta as it hits the pavement. It has a clopping kind of sound to it. I wore them in Hawaii and have been wearing them here...summer is almost here! I will warn you in advance that I do not enjoy summers in Japan. It is very humid and very miserable. People often tell me, "but you are from Hawaii". And I say, "Yes, but if it is humid, it usually means that it will rain. And once it rains, it usually cools down."If you have ever visited Thailand, you will understand what the Japan summers are like. Anyway, more on this later...
Hope you are having a nice week.
