the first week of 2019

Happy New Year!

Hope you started the new year off with little to no stress.

I think we started the year off right by being able to see Mount Fuji.

We had ozoni for our first breakfast.

We also went to a lot of shrines around our area for hatsumode.

We also had osechi...this year I bought mostly everything since we were on a little trip before the New Year (which I'll write about later), but did make namasu and tataki gobo (burdock root).

We didn't have all the foods to make it an authentic osechi...oh well.

We face-timed with family on their first day of 2019 (love technology!)

finally got to introduce Satoshi to Civitas, he had the "snack" plate with ham and enjoyed it...we'll definitely be back.

On Friday, Satoshi went back to work, so I went to see "A Star Is Born", I didn't realize it was a remake (have not seen the original nor the other remake)...Loved the music!

Lunch before the movie was at City Bakery...veggie sandwich and cappuccino.

Saturday we went to Naritasan in Chiba.

Lunch or more like mid-afternoon meal was at Surugaya where we waited 3 hours for unagi! (more about that later too).

So that was our first week.

I'll write up things more in detail later, but thought I should kind of bring you up to date.

Have a good week!

the past couple of days

Satoshi went back to work today, so I have some time to post.

On New Years Eve day, we had toshikoshi soba for lunch.

Although we had more soba than soup...

Then for New Years Eve dinner we had all sorts of nibbles.

New Years Day morning.. we had ozoni with mochi in it, some sekihan (reddish rice with azuki beans), and o-toso (which is just a little sip of sake to ward off illnesses and to start the new year).

We went to several of the shrines that we normally do for Hatsumode (first prayers of the New Year).

While standing in line to get to the prayer area of a shrine, we saw this huge tai (sea bream), just hanging in front of an izakaya (Japanese pub).

Huge, yeah?!

I was surprised no cats had attacked it...

Dinner was o-sechi, the foods that are normally eaten during this holiday...I've written about this previously,here.

I'm super thankful for pre-made stuff and not having to do these foods from scratch.

On the 2nd, we braved the crowds of the department store to pick up some bento.

Luckily, we knew what we wanted to get, so we were in and out of there rather quickly...it was super nuts!

We brought the bento and went to visit MIL.

This year is the Year of the Dog.

I noticed this origami dog on MIL's calendar, so we cut it out and folded it into the dog.

We saw the Super Moon as we walked home from the train station.

And then last night, we were craving some meat, so we had some steak with mango chutney and other nibbles.

With all the eating I did, I definitely need to get some walking in...

Hopefully you all had a great holiday season.

year of the horse

2014, the year of the horse.

Wishing everyone all the best this year.

We went to pay our respects at various shrines this morning, this is called hatsumode (hah-tsu-mow-day).

The weather was overcast for most of the day.

We'll be visiting MIL tomorrow.

I hope your year is starting off nicely!

the first couple of days

Reader Alan had wrote to me about not posting about ozoni.

I've posted about it several times, and didn't want to bore you and post about it again, but since he asked, I'm posting...

Let's reverse a bit...On December 31st, we had toshikoshi soba for lunch, in Japan, you are actually supposed to have this at midnight, but we didn't know whether we would be awake at that time or not, plus, eating that late is a no-no for us these days.

You know, I have many dishes, but nothing proper to warm sake in...sad, yeah?!

Our osechi was store bought, the only thing I made was dashimaki egg (which wasn't traditional)...my kind of cooking.

Buri teriyaki, chikuzeni, kuromame, namasu, konbu maki, tazukuri, kamaboko...I was missing some items from a traditional osechi but we got to eat some of those missing items when we visited MIL.

This year's ozoni was "lazy" style.

A packet of instant o-suimono, some mochi, some daikon slices and hot water.

Heat your mochi and daikon in a pot with water so that they soften, and then pour over the dry o-suimono in a bowl.

I actually saw a version of this on a TV commercial, their version only had the mochi and the o-suimono.

You could probably "jazz" it up with some kamaboko and carrots too.

January 1st, we visited MIL.

Besides osechi, we also had sushi. She said it was her first time ordering from this sushi place, but we thought it was pretty good.

On the 2nd, we did our hatsumode.

We went to a couple of our "usual" places to pray but also went to the Toyonaka Inari Shrine. We were amazed at how big this shrine was, I think we're adding this to our list of places to pray at.

And we had some Japanese sweets, uguisu mochi (which is coated in a green soy bean powder) and shogatsu mochi from Kagetsudo.

So there you go...If you're interested, you can also read a detailed post about Japan's New Year here.

Kagetsudo
1-12-24 Honmachi
Toyonaka, Osaka
Phone: 06.6852.6105

p.s. It's Friday here, and a 3-day weekend, enjoy!

kyoto

Monday, snow dusted the trees and mountains of Kyoto.

There were flurries off and on and the wind was icy and blustery.

After visiting with MIL, we headed to Uji because I had heard they had a rabbit statue.

Since this year is the Year of the Rabbit, I thought it would be nice for us to do hatsumode (visit shrines and temples to ask for good wishes and thank the gods for everything for the past year) here.

At Mimurotoji, the statue of the rabbit has two holes at the base. Inside there is a marble egg.

You are supposed to reach inside and make the egg stand upright. If you do, it is supposed to help your back and legs be strong and "stand upright".

Satoshi and I tried this and were successful, hopefully we will both be healthy this year.

From Mimurotoji, it is about 500 meters to Uji.

We were surprised because every time we've taken a bus or train to get to Uji.

This time, we walked the distance and searched for somewhere to have lunch.

Being a national holiday, some places were closed, luckily we were able to have some cha-soba (noodles made from green tea) at Kawabun.

I had eaten here when my Aunty had visited several years ago.

Satoshi had never eaten here so we decided to have lunch here.

The lunch crowd had subsided, so we were able to get a table right away.

Satoshi chose the cha-soba (noodles made from green tea) teishoku which came with some nigiri sushi...1050 yen (about US$10.50)

I chose the don mini set, this came with cha-soba and a mini oyako donburi (chicken-egg bowl)...950 yen (about US$9.50)

On a day like Monday, the warm soba really hit the spot.

Satoshi was in the mood for some sweets so we stopped in at Surugaya and picked up some cha-dango (rice cakes made from green tea) and a kuri mochi (rice cake filled with sweet bean paste and chestnut)...total 575 yen (about US$5.75)

It was a very cold day, but we were able to visit with MIL and do hatsumode.

Surugaya
16 Uji-higashiuchi
Uji, Kyoto
Phone: 0774.23.8191

what we've been eating and doing

Satoshi was off the 30th, 31st and 1st, but had to go to work today.

For New Years Eve dinner, we had a hodge podge of foods, some traditional, some not.

For the non-traditional, there was kim chee gyoza, smoked salmon dip with rosemary bruschetta (toasts), and sweet potato salad (recipe to follow).

For traditional, there was date maki (da-tay ma-key) (yellow-ish roll), tazukuri (tiny fish), kuromame (black beans). I've explained about some of these foods before, please read about them here and here.

Apparently the date maki resembles scrolls and is eaten in hopes of having culture develop and grow. It is made out of a whipped fish cake called hanpen, it is also quite sweet.

There was also a little sake (rice wine).

We were able to see the moon quite clearly and the wind was very blustery! I was hoping for some snow, but none was to be found or seen.

On the first day of 2010, we woke to see the first sunrise, but it was so cloudy that we could only see a haze of pink, so we went back to sleep for another hour.

For breakfast, we had ozoni, which I've written about here.

Then we went out to do some hatsumode (ha-tsu-mo-day), which I've also written about here.

We've been enjoying these teeny mikan (tangerines). Most are seedless and easy to peel. Though it was kind of hit or miss with the sweetness.

Before the New Year, I bought a new tea called Nouvelle Annee (New Year) from La Marina de Bourbon, a white tea flavored with citrus and dried fruit...delicious.

(UPDATE:2011 this restaurant is now closed)

We also tried some shiro-taiyaki (white fish shaped pancake filled with sweet bean paste). Apparently this is all the rage now. We found some mini sized shiro-taiyaki on New Years Eve while picking up some last minute groceries.

These came with custard, chocolate & sweet bean fillings. The outside is made with rice flour and egg whites, so it is more like mochi (rice cake) than pancake. We prefer the original version over this white version.

Since most of the markets and shops were closed on New Years Day, we tried to make sure we had enough food to at least last us until the 2nd.

We've also been enjoying these kotorayaki by Toraya Uiro. Kotora means baby tiger. The batter is a yellow sponge type, it is poured into a mold and flipped while baking.

2010 is the Year of the Tiger, so these were perfect to ring in the New Year.

Here is the recipe for the sweet potato salad. In Japan, you will see a lot of potato salad, more like a "mashed potato" salad. In Hawaii, you will actually see the chunks of potato.

This was just a last minute throw together dish, so I don't have real measurements.

1.5 skinny sweet potatoes
some red bell pepper, diced
some onion, diced
some zucchini, diced
some eringi mushroom, diced
pinch of herbs de provence
1 tablespoon sweet pickle juice
1 tablespoon mayonnaise (best foods)

Steam 1.5 skinny sweet potatoes until soft
In a non-stick pan, cook the red bell pepper, onion, zucchini & eringi.
When everything has wilted and browned, add the pinch of herbs de provence...cool.
After the sweet potatoes are soft, mash while hot with skins on...cool.
Add cooled veggies to cooled sweet potato and add sweet pickle juice and mayo.
Mix well.
Chill and serve.

lucci, mochi cream & hatsumode

Yesterday after Satoshi went to work, he picked up some dessert for us. He couldn't decide and ended up getting 8 different flavors of Mochi Cream. Hawaii has a counter in Shirokiya.

Sakura (cherry blossom), Beni-imo (purple sweet potato), Caramel macchiato, Kuromame kinako (black bean powdered soy bean), Zunda mame (soy bean), Blueberry, Cafe au lait and Chocolate.

I took two bites from each and gave Satoshi the other half. They were all really good and blueberry was my favorite.Today Satoshi had the day off, so we went to say our prayers for the New Year. This is called hatsumode. One of the shrines we go to every year holds the god for the feet. We go to this shrine to pray that our feet/legs will be strong enough to carry us through another year. Another temple that we go to is to pray for success, so that the new year will bring success at work.After going to various places to pray, we headed to Ikeda, to try a new Italian place.

Lucci is small and only seats 8 at a counter, but the 20-something year old chef/owner, is very personable and the service is very good.

We both had the lunch A (1000 yen about US$10). This included a salad, your choice of pasta from the specials, dessert and coffee or tea.

I chose the tomato sauce pasta with pancetta and green beans, Satoshi chose the cream pasta with pumpkin. We tasted each others choices and both were very good.

Dessert was a blanc mange (like a pannacotta), flavored with an apple liquer. Not too sweet and just the right amount...I think we'll be back.

Tomorrow everyone goes back to work, hope you have a good week.

Lucci
4-19 Daiwa-cho
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.752.8380
Lunch 11:00-15:00
Dinner 17:30-23:00
Days off are not decided, call before going

foodie kind of weekend

Saturday, Satoshi and I ran some errands in Umeda. The place we intended to eat at for lunch was unfortunately closed due to the New Year, so we walked around trying to find some place that was open for lunch. We walked past the Marubiru and stopped in at Cante for lunch. I tried this place but a different location with Tamakikat.

This time, I had the tandoori chapati and a marsala chai. Both were delicious and hit the spot.

Satoshi had a dish called dry curry and jasmine tea. The curry had no liquidy sauce. It was a bit sweet but still spicy.

His jasmine tea came with this teeny glass. I think he filled this about 10 times before emptying the pot.

Sunday, we did Hatsumode (visited the shrines and temples to ask for good wishes and thank the gods for everything for the past year).

We stopped at Sone for lunch. This little restaurant only seats 12. I had the Italian omurice. Omurice is a ketchup based fried rice covered or enveloped with a fluffly omelette. This version was good, though the tomato sauce was a bit sweet.

Satoshi had the Japanese style spaghetti with tuna, grated daikon(long white radish) and a shoyu (soy sauce) based sauce. The only thing we didn't like about this dish was that there was LOTS of mayo squirted on top.

For our tea time, we tried these Chamorro Gold Macadamia Nut cookies, which Satoshi brought home from Saipan. Chamorro are the people of the Marianas Islands. These cookies are made in Guam and are very light, buttery and crisp. These cookies have a serving size of 18 cookies. According to Satoshi, he ate his 18 (he actually checked them off as he ate each one)....

Hope your week is going well.

Cante Grande
Marubiru B2
Osaka
Phone: 06.6341.7377

Papa Angelo
3-3-22 Sonehigashino-cho, Viking Building 1F
Toyonaka, Osaka
Phone: 06.6867.1117

the past couple of days

First off, thank you all for your New Year messages, I was surprised when I opened the computer to see them. When I posted about the foods we had for New Years, I had forgotten to mention that I didn't make most of the foods we had on New Years, yes, I cheated and bought a lot of them mainly because the cost of buying the ingredients was kind of outrageous.

On January 2nd, Satoshi and I went to his parent's home in Kyoto. They live near Kinkakuji (the Golden Pavillion). I had heard that Satoshi's brother and his family would be there, but when we got there, it seems Satoshi "forgot" that his brother and family couldn't make it...So, it was just the two of us with his parents and his uncle. They took us to the Takaragaike Prince Hotel for a luncheon buffet at a French restaurant called Beaux Sejours.

Here is the lobby decorations and a pair of kadomatsu
at the entrance to the hotel. We had to wait quite a long time to get into the restaurant as they were not taking reservations, but lunch was really good.

After lunch we decided to visit Kamigamo shrine. Most visit shrines and temples during the first few days of the New Year, to pay their respects and pray for the New Year, this is called hatsumode, I wrote more about it last year, here. The grounds of Kamigamo shrine are huge! Since it was quite rainy, the amount of people were substantially less, so it was actually nice not to be pushed and shoved.

In the center of the grounds, there is large area where they hold various events. These two mounds of sand called morizuna are there year-round as a representation of the mountains that the gods came from.

As you leave the shrine, in the parking area there is a little mochi (rice cake) shop called Aoiya. They are known for their yakimochi (grilled rice cake). They are only a dollar a piece and come in plain (white) and yomogi (mugwort). Both have the sweet bean paste inside.

After visiting the shrine, we headed back to Satoshi's parent's house and had some o-sechi and these cute manju (steamed bean cakes) called fukuwauchi--which means the "good luck comes inside" made by Tsuruya. These cakes are different from others because they use a bean called otafukumame--which means lots of luck beans. Otafukumame is actually soramame (lima or fava beans) cooked with sugar to sweeten them up. It was a nice visit and a nice way to start the year.

Today, the weather was clear and sunny. We walked towards the next city, Ikeda (about 30 minutes from us). I had accidentally found this route while walking back from an English lesson last month and wanted to show Satoshi all the amazing finds.

The first place we stopped at was this shrine called Sonpachiyakujin also known as Shakain. We were amazed that this huge shrine was tucked away in a little neighborhood so close to us.

They also had their pair of kadomatsu at the entrance. If you notice there is a plant at the bottom that looks like a leafy cabbage, this is called habotan (leafy peony). I don't think you can eat it, but you can see it around in various arrangements during autumn and winter in Japan.

On our way back, we stopped in a bake shop called Mademoiselle Liliha. I had wanted to ask about the name of this place, but everyone was too busy. The reason is because we have a Liliha bakery in Hawaii. We tried two of their baked treats. (UPDATE: as of 9/19/08: this place has since closed)

Satsukiyama Romance-a heart shaped cookie sandwiching chocolate cream.

Satsukiyama Golf Road-we weren't too sure why this treat was named what it was but it does look like a golf ball, don't you think? It is a puff pastry enveloping a whole marron glace.

Whew, this post was a long one, hope no one fell asleep while reading it.

Satoshi goes back to work tomorrow. Have a great week everyone!