things I'm liking (for breakfast)

What are you enjoying for breakfast?

I hope you do eat breakfast, did you know that until Satoshi and I started dating, he didn't?!

Now, he says, "he can't live without it" (breakfast).

Anyway, it has been awhile for a "things I'm liking post", so I thought I'd share with you some things that I'm liking for breakfast.

I first heard about Pon juice from Martin's blog.

This is one of the first "local" orange/citrus juices that is a juice made from 100% mikan (tangerine)grown in Japan.

Most others add grape juice or other fruits to come up with the 100%, leaving you with only a smidge of orange in there.

On the container they are called "pom" but the katakana reads "pon".

It is a little pricey, but worth every "penny", especially since they don't use a lot of preservatives or colorings. I think the label only lists 2 ingredients, the mikan juice and a preservative.

We'll be drinking this often.

It is strawberry season here.

The other day, while I was at the market, these caught my eye.

Hinoshizuku are grown in Kumamoto and are really sweet.

I debated whether to get them because they were quite expensive, 599 yen (about US$5.99) a container, but I'm glad I did. In the container there were 2 layers, total about 35 or so berries.

They are sweet and delicious, perfect for our mornings.

Nisshoku's quick oats. On their site it says that they are the first company to bring oatmeal and cereal to Japan in 1929.

Everything grown in Hokkaido and don't you just love the can?

I bought the quick oats at Seijo Ishii but noticed on their site that they have a rolled oats, which I'm interested in trying. I hope I can find them somewhere.

In the meantime, I have Bob's Red Mill Thick Oats in the container, which I brought back from one of my trips to Hawaii.

I recently found these kiwi, I've mostly seen the ones from New Zealand but these from Shikoku (Ehime) caught my eye...198 yen (about US$1.98) for 5.

They were a little tart and a bit on the unripened side but were great with plain yogurt and homemade granola made with pecans, pistachios and dried cherries.

Is there something you are enjoying for breakfast?

eating local

I've read on a couple of blogs that this month is eat local month. Let me tell you, eating locally (radius 100 miles) in Osaka kind of limits you. Needless to say that it has been hard to find local veggies, seasonings, EVERYTHING. Most of the "good stuff" comes from a little further than the 100 miles. So, I've decided to eat local when possible....

Still, there is one place that I like to order from, OusunoSato. They are a cute little store in Gion, Kyoto. They specialize in making "umeboshi" (pickled plums). Some versions are sour, some salty, some sweet. They also make a dressing, which is great on a grated daikon (turnip) salad. Since I don't go to Kyoto too often, I usually order from their catalog or "otoriyose" as it is called in Japanese.

I recently placed an order with them and eagerly awaited for my delivery. It finally came today, but I was a bit disappointed because I ordered the wrong item! Instead of 2 packages of rakkyo (pickled onions), I ordered 2 packages of benishoga (red ginger). The 2 items are close together on the order slip and I mistakenly checked the benishoga! sigh.

One thing you should understand is that most food items in Japan cannot be returned (especially if you made the mistake of ordering it!), but the neat thing is they send the merchandise before payment! How trusting is that!

So, I guess I'll have to think of ways for us to eat the shoga (ginger)...