imbibing

At the Foodie Staff Party, we always have lots and LOTS of alcohol.

Every year depending on who comes, depends on what will be consumed. Most times it is hard to predict.

One year it was lots and LOTS of beer.

This year it was wine.

We had bought a case of beer and some chu-hai (which is actually short for shochu highball, a drink made with juice and shochu (like vodka except it is made with sweet potatoes or barley) and Satoshi's co-workers brought many bottles of wine. (Thank you!)

First off, we started the party toasting with Santero's Pinot Rose, which I've tried in the past and written about here.

You should know that in Japan, maybe this is just in Osaka, but before any party ever starts, they toast and toast with beer.

Even if you don't want to drink beer, you have to toast with beer.

Anyway, I don't believe in this "ritual" and told Satoshi we are toasting with this sparkling wine instead and so that is what we did.

After drinking this sparkling wine, we opened Caliterra's Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon. I don't know much about wine, but this was nice and full-bodied.

So were the others that we tried...Chakalaka Spice Route, a South African wine. The wine was good and I like saying "Chakalaka".

Badet & Clement's Cuvee Prestige Blanc was a type of chardonnay (I think) it was nice chilled, light and easy to drink.

Hardy's Shiraz was kind of spicy.

Some people were drinking high-balls which they mixed Chivas and soda water.

I stuck to only wine, though most people went back and forth and mixed their drinks.

Major hangover today but I am pretty sure everyone had a nice time.

I found out from Satoshi at the last minute that there were not enough people for the party next week, so those who could come came this week, luckily for me I only had to cook for this one party!

Ooh, and the cilantro I got from Nate is growing! Will keep you posted on this.

Today is a National holiday, it is Keiro no hi (Grandparents Day), I wish I was able to spend the day with my Grandma, but am glad I was able to spend two months visiting with her while I was in Hawaii.

foodie staff party

Satoshi's staff party entailed 7 co-workers, some new some not. Apparently we won't have to do this again next week.

We got together a little after noon and had...

Layered Taco Dip made with Ellie Krieger's Black Bean Dip

Ellie Kriger's Grilled Thai Beef Salad

Kim Chee Potato Salad

Spicy Poke

Shrimp Chips

And for dessert Cocoa Berry Mochi...which was inspired by something I had while in Hawaii at the Peace Cafe, only thing is that this version isn't vegan.

The recipe I got from my mom is made in a 9"x13" pan, which will NOT fit in my teeny oven, so I cut this recipe in half.

For this mochi recipe I needed 1/2 a can of evaporated milk and 1/2 a can of coconut milk...and when I went to Seijo Ishii, I was pleasantly pleased to find 1/2 sized cans.

In Japanese evaporated milk is called "eba milk" which is a shortened term. They don't have a "v" pronounciation so it pronounced with a "b".

Anyway, here is the recipe if you'd like to try it.

Cocoa Berry Mochi adapted from Koganji "Simply Delicious"
2 cups mochiko (rice flour)
2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
1 can (12 ounce) evaporated milk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 can (12 ounce) coconut milk
1 cup total of dried fruits, walnuts & chocolate chips

Mix everything well. In a greased 9"x13" pan, bake at 350F (180C) for 45 minutes.
Cool completely then cut into desired serving size.

It seems that everyone enjoyed themselves and ate everything.

I hope everyone had a nice time...I enjoyed having everyone over, now to clean up.

the day after

The party started at 13:00 and didn't finish until 18:30...I think the party went well.

The dishes I served didn't come out as well as I would have liked.

Oh, I forgot to include one more item on the menu...I also served Fragrant Tuna & Chickpeas Salad.

There was a lot of laughter, lots of chatter, and lots of alcohol.

We received these flowers along with lots of snacks and some wine from Satoshi's staff (Thank you!)

I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

foodie staff party

First off, I want to thank everyone who left a message cheering me up over the crappy "no aloha" days I had.

I took some of your advice and got into the kitchen. It did help take my mind off of things.

Plus, it is that time again, when we invite Satoshi's staff members over for lunch.

This is our 4th year doing this. Usually we have this party during the summer, but I went home, then we went to Palau...I guess the dates I gave Satoshi conflicted with their company trip, so this year we are only hosting one party. (Usually we do 2 parties because Satoshi has so many staff members.)

Most of the items on the menu have been "Satoshi tested"--he's tasted and liked them.

Here's the menu:
Ellie Krieger's Spiced Nuts
Smoked Salmon Dip
Apple Gorgonzola Salad
Shrimp with Mayo & Walnuts (easy version)
Beef Roll with Japanese Tartar Sauce
Rafute
No Bake Oreo Cheesecake

I was happy with the sale of shrimp...10 yen (about US$.10) a shrimp...I bought 50 for 500 yen (about US$5), though I am not looking forward to cleaning them.

The only recipe that wasn't "Satoshi tested" was the "no bake cheesecake", there is no "cool whip" here, I had to make whipped cream from scratch, so I hope it comes out okay...

Friday, I made the rafute...since I had some leftover sauce, I poured it over a bowl of rice and had it for lunch (no protein, just sauce and rice)...not the healthiest, but super comforting food.

Hope everyone coming over enjoys themselves and has enough to eat.

sigh....

Luckily, these carrot cupcakes were disastrous the day before Satoshi's staff came for lunch.

Not sure what I did wrong because they came out okay two weeks ago. I felt crappy about throwing them out because ingredients are expensive and there are people in areas of the world who aren't eating real meals.

All in all, the party was great, I added spicy garlic soybeans to the menu and resorted to apple-blueberry crisp for dessert.

Hope you have a great week.

carrot cupcakes

Last year we had some of Satoshi's staff over. Since he has a large department, we broke the group down to about 10 per gathering.

Sunday, we had some of Satoshi's staff over for lunch. I made Spicy Poke, Taco Dip, Szechuan salt & pepper shrimp and Kim chee gyoza, but we ran out of food!

For dessert, I also made carrot cupcakes using a Food Network recipe, I'll have to tweak the baking time though, the cupcakes came out quite dry.

I guess for the next party in two weeks, I need to add another dish or two.

foodie staff party (part 3)

Over the weekend, the 2 staff parties went well. The only bad thing was that outside the temperature was about 38C(100F) and our a/c was overworked with the amount of people in our place at one time so the inside of our place was 33C(91F)--talk about sauna!

We received all kinds of gifts from his staff. In Japan, when you receive a gift like fruit, cake or wine, it is an unwritten rule, but you are supposed to serve it to the people you received it from. When I first encountered this, I was appalled because when you give a gift you don't give it with intentions for receiving or partaking in it.

The other week we received those giant grapes and also some cookies.

Ramen from Kyushu. This is Kumamoto ramen from Maruichi.
Tonkotsu(simmered pork with bones and root veggies) soup base. We had to add our own green onions and yakibuta (roast pork). A delicious treat for the hostess who spent all the time in the kitchen cooking while Satoshi ate and drank with his staff. (I think the 8 of them drank about a case of beer and they were all women!)

Petits Gateaux Assortis, which I think means assortment of petite cakes from Henri Charpentier. These were so cute! I just can't imagine buttering these tins. Pictured are the madeleine (plain), pyramid (orange peel), madeleine au te (earl grey), financier au chocolat (chocolate), and praline (cake with praline paste and amaretto). Delicious!

And a semi-tropical bouquet of flowers.

There was lots of laughter, lots of drinking and lots of eating. I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

Hopefully the temperature will go down, I water my plants twice a day now and in the morning they are still kind of limp.

Take care and have a nice week.

foodie staff party (part 2)

You may or may not remember, last year we invited Satoshi's staff over for dinner. This year, Satoshi changed departments and now has 30 people in his section rather than the 12 people he had last year.

So, as a thank you for all their hard work, we invited 10 people each over 2 Sundays and a Saturday. Luckily, it is Obon season (the season to visit your ancestor's graves), so many people couldn't make it, so instead of 10 people each over 3 days, the amount decreased to about 6 people each over the 3 days.

Here's our menu:
Kamaboko Dip with Crackers
Spicy Soybeans
Bulgogi
Beer steamed clams with garlic bread
Spicy Poke

And for dessert: Macadamia nut shortbread with Ginger-Pineapple Sorbet
This was the first time for me to make these two and boy, was I glad I did. The shortbread was easy to put together and came out really flaky and buttery. As for the sorbet, you don't need an ice cream maker (which I don't have anyway) just mix well and let the freezer do the rest of the work.

Macadamia Nut Cookies from Wisteria Delights
1 cup butter (226.7g)
2/3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2.5 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1.5 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

Cream butter and sugar.
Stir in vanilla.
Mix in flour, salt and nuts.
Shape into 2 rolls and chill for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350F (180C).
Cut into 1/4 inch slices.
Bake on ungreased sheets for 12-15 minutes.

NOTES: I had to bake mine for about 25 minutes total since they didn't get very brown after 15 minutes.

Ginger Pineapple Sorbet adapted from Sam Choy's Sampler
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup pineapple juice (118 ml)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon or orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 pint cream (473 ml)

Mix ingredients. Place in freezer until partially frozen, then put in a bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon.
Return to freezer until frozen.

NOTES: After grating a 1-inch sized piece of ginger, I only had 1/2 a tablespoon, so I chopped up some candied ginger to make up the other 1/2 tablespoon. I also put everything into a ziploc container and mixed it up. I put the container into the freezer and waited 20 minutes, then mixed everything again and put it back to freeze. This sorbet was more like ice cream rather than the sorbet that I was used to, the pineapple flavor was strong, so the bits of candied ginger helped add another texture.

I think everyone had a nice time, oh, and there were no leftovers.

Have a great week.

e komo mai

"E Komo Mai" means "welcome" in Hawaiian. In Hawaii, we don't usually use this phrase in everyday conversations, but you will often see it around at entrances to restaurants or subdivisions. On my trip home in January, I bought this welcome mat at the Swap Meet (a flea market)--I was bummed that it was made in the Philippines and not made in Hawaii. Still, it brightens up our entryway.

If you remember, while I was in Hawaii, Satoshi came to re-new his drivers license and we met up with friends. (Before we moved to Japan in 2001, the Dois were in Hawaii too. Mr Doi works for a hotel. After moving to Japan, we've gotten together with them several times for dinner.)

We've talked about having them over for dinner or heavy pupus (Hawaiian for appetizers), but with everyone working (except me), it was hard to get everyone's schedule free...until today.

The menu I planned was not too fancy and usually things you can find at pot-luck parties in offices or homes in Hawaii.

Layered Taco Dip with tortilla chips
Chinese Chicken Salad
Spicy Poke
Kim Chee Dip with crackers
Deconstructed chocolate haupia pie

Layered Taco Dip is Satoshi's favorite. I've mentioned this before but this is what Satoshi asks for when we are throwing a party in our home. It also has become sort of a tradition at our Christmas parties. One of Satoshi's friends actually said that it isn't Christmas unless he eat this dip...kind of like needing turkey for Thanksgiving I guess...

Chinese Chicken Salad is my favorite. Actually, I like the dressing because of its sweet/sour flavor.

Spicy Poke was a new recipe for me to try. Sam Choy (you may have seen him cooking with Emril on the Food Network) is the "master of poke" in Hawaii and also has a contest every year on the Big Island to find the best poke. I found a recipe in the Honolulu Star Bulletin while home in January. (Nate, since I can't send some over to you, this photo is for you!!)

Spicy Poke by Sam Choy taken from the Honolulu Star Bulletin 1/31/07
1 lb. ahi (tuna) cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 medium tomato cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 cup ogo (limu kohu seaweed) chopped
1/2 cup onion cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 cup cucumber cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1/2 cup diced green onion
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed minced chili pepper (seeded)
1 teaspoon kim chee base
salt, pepper to taste

Serves 16--1/4 cup servings

NOTES: this recipe makes a LOT of poke. I used 473 grams of maguro (tuna) (about a pound according to the conversion calculator that I used). Also, I used the poke packet that I bring home from Hawaii. Inside the packet is dried ogo--all I did was reconstitute it in water and chopped it up. Since Mrs Doi either cannot eat cucumber or doesn't like it, I didn't add it in. Make this a little prior to serving so that all the flavors can meld and can be served cold.

Kim Chee Dip was a last minute addition. I knew there was a super easy recipe but I didn't have it in any of my cookbooks. Thank goodness for the internet, it hooked me up with the recipe.

From HECO (Hawaiian Electric Company)

1/2 cup chopped kim chee
8 oz. cream cheese cut into quarters
1 tablespoon kim chee juice

Whiz in a blender add more kim chee juice if needed. Chill and serve with crackers or chips.

NOTE: I only had half of the cream cheese amount, so that was what I used. I stuck everything into the food processor, unchopped, and just whizzed everything just a bit to have some texture from the chunks of kim chee. It is really fast and easy!

Dessert was a deconstructed chocolate haupia pie of sorts.

I made the haupia (coconut pudding/gelatin) using the NOH mix. I really wanted to make everything from scratch but couldn't find all the ingredients in time.

The chocolate pudding was from a mix too, Jell-o. I toasted the macadamia nuts the night before and put everything together this morning.

NOTES: I'm gonna try making this from scratch, the haupia mix is not too coconutty and the chocolate Jell-o is too sweet and overpowers everything.

We also had wine called Birillo made by Tenuta Marsiliana. A couple of months ago, I had this wine with dinner and really liked it, so I hunted for it around our area but came up empty handed. Then one day while surfing the internet, I found it online in Japan and quickly ordered 2 bottles. This "mini Super Tuscan" wine is 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot and Shiraz.

The Dois also brought Santero's Sparkling Pinot Chardonnay--it was good, dry and reminded me of champagne.

We sure had a lot of food, I hope the Dois had a nice time.

Have a great week.

tea party

Today I was fortunate to be able to tag-along with Kazumi to a tea party at Mrs. Kusakabe's home (her cooking teacher). Her home is in the mountains of Ashiya, a quiet but ritzy neighborhood.

The menu was pot-luck and boy, there was a LOT of food! Here are a couple of shots of the entree table.

And a shot of the dessert table.

This sushi topped with edible flowers was so pretty and delicious!

Mrs. Kusakabe's home is so beautiful with a lovely yard and many rose bushes. The rose fragrance wafted with the breeze.

It was a very lovely day. (Thank you Kazumi & Mrs. Kusakabe!)

climbers unite!

Remember last July (wow, has it been that long ago?) some of us climbed Mt. Fuji? I posted about it here.

Well, a couple of weeks ago while shopping at a market, my Aunty M1 and I ran into one of our climbing members, May. (In Hawaii, you'll often run into people you know at the market) Since most of the group lives on Oahu, they have gotten together after the climb once before.
Anyway, we got to talking and since Satoshi would be in town, we talked about getting the "Mt. Fuji Group" together for dinner.

So, the emails and phone calls went out (Tony doesn't have internet) and we were able to get most of our group together. Most of the group is retired and since my brother is working and was home last month--he couldn't make it.

Instead of going to a restaurant, we came up with having a pot-luck party--everyone bringing something then noshing and chatting. This idea was nice because we could leisurely eat and be loud!

It was a lovely gathering-- everyone reminiscing about the climb, talking about what they've been up to, sharing new travels and planning new adventures.

keiro no hi

Yesterday, we had 2 families, all the husbands work together for the same company, come over for a party. We usually get together for Christmases and other occasions. One family has 4 children--an unusual amount by recent Japanese standards, the standard is 1.5.... The other family has one child. It is so nice to watch these children grow, and boy, can they all eat!

We got to sample this New Zealand beer called MOA, which we received from Satoshi's staff members awhile back. This beer was a bit fruity, but smooth. Their website also introduces a dark beer and ginger beer which sounded good too.

We also had lots to eat and drink and I think everyone had a nice time.

Changing the subject...here are a few more chocolates which I discovered at a neighborhood convenience store...
A bitter version of Nestle's Kit Kat.

Glico's almonds covered in 70% cacao.

And Morinaga's chocoball has a special edition--Bitter chocolate covering the crisp shell and peanuts.

Today is a National holiday, Keiro no hi (Respect for the Aged Day). It is a day to thank the elderly for their contributions to society over the years and to celebrate their longevity. I think in America they have a day around this time of year called Grandparents Day. I sent my grandma a postcard and told her how much we loved and appreciated her--if you still have grandparents, tell them how much you appreciate them!

Have a great week!

foodie staff party

This was the first time we had 7 people (adults) over to our cute apartment. Some staff members of Satoshi's department are readers of this blog. I'm not too sure what kind of food they had in mind, but they were excited to come over and have dinner.

I didn't get to take many photos (was busy cooking and tending the "bar"), so I'll talk about what I served and show you the dishes that I served it on. Most of these dishes are made by a company called PTS International. The name of the plates is called"Westbury Court Lyrical Blooms". I couldn't find a website for these dishes, but did find one for replacements on Replacements.com. I bought these just before moving to Japan. It was a nice investment.

Starters: Layered Bean Dip. This is Satoshi's favorite. Ask him what he wants to be served at a party that we throw and this is the first item out of his mouth. Tortilla chips fit nicely in this bowl. This dip is very easy to make, put a layer of refried beans at the bottom of your serving dish. Next add a layer of chopped onions. Mix a scoop of taco mix into a container of sour cream, add this to the layer of chopped onions. Next add layer of chopped tomatoes (seeded), and layer of chopped black olives. Add your favorite guacamole or sliced avocados to the olives and top with shredded cheddar cheese. Serve with corn chips.

Blackened Ahi (Maguro). I put cajun seasoning on the outside of the maguro and fry in a pan with some oil for 5 seconds on each side. I'm glad I got this plate just before moving to Japan too, it is definitely a hit at parties.

Main Dishes: Steak with roasted onions. I grilled steaks and roasted onions. The onions were really easy to make, just drizzle olive oil, and grind some pepper and salt on top. Roast in oven for about 30 minutes.

Pork Ginger. This is another easy dish. Marinate the pork overnight in 1-1/2 Tbsp. sugar, 2 Tbsp. sake (rice wine) and 2 Tbsp. shoyu (soy sauce). Add some minced ginger. Minced garlic optional. Cook well and top with chopped green onions.

Pasta salad: Farfalle (bow-tie pasta) and Penne with chopped salami, tomato, red onion, carrots, capers, red bell pepper. Salad dressing was the lemon-oregano vinaigrette that I previously posted about here. I actually wanted it to be all Farfalle, but the supermarket that I shopped at before the party, didn't have any :( Still, I think it turned out well.

Dessert: Apple-blueberry crisp. I found some fresh Oregon blueberries at our supermarket and added them to this recipe from International recipes.net. With a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it was a nice ending to the party.

His staff came bearing gifts, too.

A new toy for Satoshi-this gadget adds gas to the beer as you serve so that it can give the "coming from the tap" feeling. Of course, Satoshi hates to read manuals--so he let his staff figure out how to put the gadget together...

Arare (rice crackers) from Funahashiya, a well known maker of tea sweets.

And a gelatin dessert called Goro from Taneya.

Notes to self: invite a little less guests (or make it pot luck) to enjoy self, food and conversation more....

Hope you had a nice weekend!