using up some canned goods

Been trying to use up some canned goods before the expiration date comes around.

This can of "baked beans" from Italy, tasted more like what we have in the US called "pork and beans" except without the "pork".

It sure made for a great dinner and I'm glad Satoshi ate this, I'm pretty sure he didn't grow up eating "pork and beans"...

I had this can of smoked salmon, but it didn't have an expiration date on it, so I figured I should use it as soon as possible.

I finally realized that it is super easy to make salmon patties in a food processor, just throw everything in and whizz!

I whizzed some onion, flat leaf parsley and the salmon, then I put everything into a bowl and added an egg.

What have you been cooking up lately?

the past couple of days

Thank you for your Christmas wishes. Satoshi was able to take the day off so we spent the day together. (Christmas is not a national holiday here, so if it falls on a weekday, most times Satoshi has to work--I think this was the first time in 7 years of living here that he was able to take the day off.) To our family and friends, we appreciate all of your cards and gifts.

This Christmas was rainy and cold. I was hoping to see some flurries but there were none to be seen.

We had our annual Christmas party on the 23rd with two other families. I brought two cream cheese dips. One with smoked salmon and one with roasted garlic and served them with Ritz crackers. It was a nice gathering and nice to see our friend's children who are getting bigger each year.

Our Christmas dinner last night was a pupu (appetizer) party. I made a version of Deb's ahi, avocado, crab towers. For some reason, the market didn't have maguro today, so I subbed salmon cut for sushi. I did it a bit chunky but it was still delicious.

We also had slices of apple with smoked cheddar.

There was also some chips and a glass of Two Oceans pinotage, a South African wine.

Dessert was chocolate dipped strawberries.
Recently, I bought a fondue pot by Vanilla Patisserie, which I found out is a shop in England. DHC, which I have written about before, was selling these pots in dark 70%, milk with hazelnut and white at an introductory price of 800 yen (about US$8). Of course, I bought the 70%. Just warm up the pot in some hot water for about 10-15 minutes and you are good to go.

Despite the rain, it was a great day. We hope you had a Merry Christmas and were able to enjoy it with family and friends.

pupu party

When we lived in Hawaii, especially during the Summer, we would go down to Safeway and "hang out". Walking around just to cool off.

Our apartment didn't have air conditioning and for most of the year, it wasn't necessary, there were always tradewinds to keep us cool. But on those rare humid and/or hot days, we'd head to Safeway (or any market, actually).

We'd pick up ingredients to make layered taco dip, a bottle of wine, several varieties of poke. Dinner would be simple and cool...a pupu party. No standing in front of the stove. For those of you who don't know what "pupu" is, it means appetizer in Hawaiian.

I want to share with you a story of a time when we were getting ready for one of our "pupu parties" and I cut my finger really bad. Satoshi being the "great doctor" that he thought he was, put mercurochrome (that red stuff) on the cut. Boy, did it sting. The bleeding didn't stop. I had to go to emergency.

When we got to the emergency room, the nurse came out to look at the cut. She said, "alright, who put the mercurochrome on the cut?" I pointed to Satoshi. She sighed and left the room.

Then we were put into the examining room and the doctor came in. He took a look at the cut and said, "so, who put the mercurochrome on the cut?" I pointed to Satoshi. He sighed and left the room.

Then he came back to clean the wound, he scolded Satoshi because by putting the red stuff onto the cut, they couldn't assess how bad the cut was. By this time, the cut stopped bleeding. The doctor looked at it again and said that I wouldn't need stitches...whew.

As we left, the doctor smiled and told Satoshi that next time he should leave all medical things to him.

So anyway, Saturday's weather was perfect for a pupu party. I bought some smoked salmon, a red onion. I also found some feta cheese in oil with olives and bought a baguette and some cherry tomatoes.

This smoked salmon dip was really easy to make. The measurements are the amounts I used, but you can add more or less of any ingredient that you wish.

Serves 4
94 grams (about 3 ounces) smoked salmon sliced
36 grams (about 1 ounce) cream cheese
1/4 red onion, diced
several shakes of dried dill
several grinds of pepper
3/8 teaspoon capers

Throw everything into the food processor and whiz to the texture of your liking. I whizzed mine kind of fine. Serve with toasted baguette or your favorite cracker.

Today's pupu party was smoked salmon dip, toasted baguette, feta cheese with olives and sliced tomato. Sliced bell pepper and carrot. Saki ika (cuttlefish) & pirikara geso (spicy octopus legs). Yebisu dark beer. We'll probably have this type of dinner a couple more times this Summer.

I hope the weather is bearable where you are.