supermarket finds

Can I share a secret with you?

If you want to know at what stage of the season the fruits or veggies are in Japan, look at where it was grown.

For example you will see most fruit & veggies start from Kyushu (where it is technically warmer) then make its way up all the way to Hokkaido.

Of course, there are some fruits and veggies that are only grown in certain areas of Japan, so this tidbit wouldn't apply.

Anyway, these peaches which were grown in Fukushima Prefecture which means that the peach season is nearing the end.

These blueberries were grown in Nagano, so I think the season is also coming to an end.

We'll try these in the coming days, hopefully they won't disappoint.

UPDATE: the peaches were on the firmer side but sweet and delicious. The blueberries were a little tart but delicious too.

summer

The weather has been depressingly grey and super humid.

Poor Kyushu, they got a month's worth of rain in a couple of hours...

We've had some rain too, at times it rains in sheets.

It makes getting to the market a challenge for me, but I still try to get out so that I can get in a little walk.

We've been enjoying peaches.

The first couple of peaches were on the firm side but this morning the peach was perfectly ripe.

They are super sweet and juicy.

Satoshi and I stand over the kitchen sink eating them in the morning before sitting down to breakfast.

Summer is here.

huge

Found a huge peach at the market.

The price was kinda huge too...close to 400 yen (with tax)...

It smelled nice...was delicious!

hawaii reconnects

Reconnected with Revolution Teas recently...they were having a sale on these two teas at Safeway.

Been enjoying the Sweet Ginger Peach as an iced tea and will save the Earl Grey Lavender for lattes this Fall.

Have you reconnected with any foods/drinks lately?

momo

In Japanese, peach is momo. You may have heard the story of Momotaro (peach boy)?!

Anyway, with summer upon us, the stone fruits are starting to pop up in the markets. Some, like the bing cherries are imported. But the bulk, like peaches and plums are local (meaning, grown somewhere in Japan).

I bought these peaches they were a little small, only the size of a tiny fist and only weighed about 100 grams each. They also weren't as expensive as they can sometimes get...298 yen.

These were good, the skin just peeled right off and the fruit was very juicy and sweet.

Looks like rainy season will start sometime next week for us...definitely not looking forward to that, but am looking forward to more of these summer fruits.

What fruits are you enjoying these days?

sakura walk

Sunday, Satoshi had something to do, so afterwards we met up near his appointment which was close to Osaka Castle.

I had been here two years ago to see the blossoms with visiting friends, but it had been several years since Satoshi and I had seen the blossoms together in this area.

One of the main reasons we don't come to this area is there are just too many people during this time of year.

The atmosphere is like one big college party, lots of drinking, eating, chatter. Most times you see people sick as dogs from drinking too much, how can that be fun?!

No one really enjoying the blooms, just enjoying the booze.

I also shake my head at those who bring their grills when there are signs specifically saying "no grills".

The peach garden on the grounds were in full bloom too.

Many people who couldn't get a spot under the cherry trees were partying in this area.

From Osaka Castle, we walked to an area called Sakuranomiya.

Sakura trees run along both sides of the Ogawa (big river).

By the time we got to this area, the sun was setting and it was also overcast.

It was still nice to see so many trees in bloom.

Lots of walking and more bonding with nature.

p.s. I've uploaded some videos of the day here, here, here, and a neat water clock in Osaka here.

kibun tenkan

"Kibun tenkan" literally means change of feeling. Most people use this phrase to mean a change of pace. We really needed it over the past couple of days.

The horrifying scenes on the television were and still are unbelievable. We can't believe it is in Japan that everything we are seeing has happened.

We feel helpless not being able to do anything. Watching everything starts to get us down so we need to get out, away from the television, kibun tenkan.

We packed a bento and headed to Suigetsu Park.

Many families were sitting under the trees enjoying the apricot and peach blossoms.

It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm.

Lunch was tamagoyaki (rolled omlette) with shiofuki konbu (seasoned kelp), kinpira, yatsumi-zuke, umeboshi (pickled apricot).

Some temari-style musubi (plain, yukari (ground salted perilla leaves), curry)

For dessert, chocolatiest crinkles and some green tea.

The news on the earthquake has been going non-stop. Hopefully I will get word from my friend soon, most of the phone lines in the area are down I am told.

I hope your week will be a good one, keep the affected areas in your thoughts, I will too.

damasareta

Awhile back, I wrote about being deceived by some nice looking corn.

Well, it happened again, this time with white peaches.

These peaches were packed in those mesh styrofoam sleeves to keep them from getting bruised and then placed in a plastic box to prevent more bruising.

The thing I hate about all this packaging is that 1)it is bad for the environment and 2)you can't smell the fruit to see if it is ripe (or if they are hiding defects).

I noticed there were some holes here and there on the plastic box, so I checked for ripeness by putting my nose to these holes.

They smelled sweet, so I bought a box of 2 for 498 yen (about US$4.98)

The next morning I was ready to serve them.

I took out the bigger of the 2 peaches and noticed...mold! (say it isn't so!)

I cut it open and...blah! rotten (not even salvageable!)

Luckily, the smaller peach was okay, so Satoshi and I split it for part of our breakfast (but it was not as sweet as the white peaches in Japan could be).

I had been kind of avoiding this market for some time now because after a big company took them over, their prices had gone up and quality down.

Even though they are located very conveniently to where we live, they are usually my "last resort" place to shop.

Guess I'll go back to avoiding them.

fruits of summer

A couple of posts ago, I wrote about laundry. An anonymous reader reminded me about the big clips that are needed to hold your futon (comforter), onto the railings of the lanai.

I wanted to show them to you and luckily the big condo across the street had some samples.

When we first came to Japan, I bought a pair of clips for our futon, then when we moved to the apartment we are in now, I realized the clips I had bought would not hold our futon onto the lanai railing, so I needed to buy bigger ones (insert pouty face)

Changing the subject, what fruits have you been enjoying this summer?

To make these muffin style clafoutis, I used a range of different chocolates (65% Guittard Sur Del Lago, 2006 Gran Couva Valrhona, Madagascar by Nakatani & 65% Guittard Ambanja). Bing cherries were quite expensive this year due to the rise in oil prices (they are imported from the US). I don't think Dhanggit pitted the cherries she used, but I did.

The "muffins" were dense and chocolatey. I want to try this recipe again using muffin papers instead of ramekins, if I can't find fresh cherries, I may use dried ones.

The sakuranbo (Japanese cherry) that I bought wasn't sweet at all, kind of disappointing actually. Overall, I think I may prefer the bing cherries over these.

On the other hand, the suika (watermelon) that I've bought has been really sweet--between 11% and 12% sugar content.

These momo (peaches) smell like they will be were delicious. I'm glad they are not wrapping these guys in saran wrap--I like to smell peaches before buying them.

These fruits are probably the best part of Japan summers.

hana shobu

We have a park nearby called Suigetsu Park which we have visited in the Spring and Summer and I have posted about before. Spring showcases the ume and momo (plum and peach )trees. As Spring turns to Summer, you can see the fruits begin to ripen on the trees.

The beginning of Summer also brings the hana shobu, a type of iris.

I love the these fragile flowers.

The beginning of Summer also brings Satoshi's birthday. This year he has to work on his birthday. I bought us some dessert from a shop in our arcade called Mior. I bought a Chocolat for Satoshi and Tiramisu for myself.

Here's the birthday boy, he looks a bit run down since he's been working late and also been going drinking with friends and co-workers.

"perfect" fruit

Sorry, I need to vent a little...remember yesterday how I was talking about how fruits and vegetables are wrapped and most of the time perfect? (here)

Well, these "perfect" peaches weren't :( I cut one of them for breakfast this morning and as soon my knife went in, I realized that it was really hard and not even ripe, so I re-wrapped it in hopes that it will ripen soon...

That's what I don't like about this pre-packaging method. You can't hold it in your hands to feel the fruit, or even smell it. Most times all you can do is turn the package upside down to see if the other side is bruised or moldy. Sometimes they fool you into thinking that they are perfect, but when you open them up at home, they hid all the bruised areas (perfectly) with the packing materials...

The tape they use to wrap the package with is so strong sometimes that a lot of times you end up bruising the fruit or veggie yourself by trying to take off the plastic wrap and the tape!

And these babies cost a pretty penny too...almost $5 for the two!

Sigh...I hope they ripen soon....thanks for listening!