happy valentine's day

Happy Valentine's Day...in Japan, it's only for the guys...which I've told you about here and here.

This is the recipe I used for the truffles, though I only made half the recipe.

Super easy and only 2 ingredients, well 4, if you consider the matcha powder and chopped almonds.

I tasted some before giving them to him and we also had some extras to enjoy too.

Have a nice Valentine's Day, everyone!

starbucks

I think it was March that Starbucks came out with a skinny latte in convenience stores, which uses skim milk instead of whole.

It was good, no sugar added either.

And on a visit to Starbucks, I had their churro (again). I wanted to dip it into the chocolate truffle cocoa, but they have sold out at the location I was at and won't be serving it until winter.

A good thing is that the sakura macarons are back for Spring.

update and some food

UPDATE: yesterday, the guy from the glass door shop called at 8:30 (I love shops that start early in the day, most places here start at 10:00!) I guess what happened with our door is common because as soon as he came over and saw the crack he told us (Satoshi had the day off) why it cracked.

Not sure if you can see it, but the door as some metal strips criss-crossing in the glass. This is in case of an earthquake, the glass won't totally crack and fall apart, only problem is that with condensation during the winter, the water goes in between the glass and door and rusts the metal strips.

Since our apartment faces the south, we usually get sun all year round, winter is no different, so our apartment during the daytime in winter is about 21C (69F), nice and toasty. This mixed with the coolness of outside was the makings of the cracked window/door.

He took measurements of the door and was out within 3 minutes...speedy! He says he'll probably be back today to replace the glass in the door.

Glad this was resolved within a couple of days and am glad were at home (and not on a trip) when it happened. Thanks everyone for your concern.

Okay, let's move onto some food....

Remember I had made vegetable soup? I had added some cooked rice and the rice soaked up all the soup overnight....my soup turned into risotto, heated up with a little cheese...delicious.

I recently received some shredded gouda from my student (Thank you!), I put some cheese with some ham between walnut raisin bread and made croque monsieur for breakfast one morning. I think I could have put more cheese but it was still really good.

Recently at Starbucks, I tried their short chocolate truffle, a rich dark hot chocolate. No need to have sweets with this drink....400 yen (about US$4)

I was recently in Daiei and picked up a chinese bento. This one had mabo tofu, mabo nasu (eggplant) and some glass noodles. It was very spicy and there was lots of rice on the bottom...it was a great lunch. 320 yen (about US$3.20)

Wow, it is Friday already, hope you have a good weekend!

hefti

My host sister, Tomoko had sent me these goodies by Hefti, a Swiss confectioner, the day after I came back from Hawaii.

A box of assorted truffles and pralines with chocolate, hazelnut or almond ganaches coated with milk, dark or white chocolate.

And a box of macarons.
Chocolat Sel (dark brown with nibs)-62% ganache with fleur de sel
Chocolat Fig (poppy seeds)-Fig and Kirsch ganache
Chocolat Passion (coconut)-White chocolate & passion fruit ganache
Gianduja (light brown with nibs)-Almond & Caramel ganache
Chocolat Framboise (pistachio)-bitter chocolate & raspberry

I really liked the Sel & Fig macarons. (Thanks Tomoko!)

super bowl sunday

Today is Super Bowl Sunday--when America's hustle and bustle may literally stop for about 4 hours or so to watch the big game. For those of you who don't know what this is, it is where the top 2 professional football teams duke it out for bragging rights as "number 1" in all of the U.S.A. But, for fans, it is a great way to get together, and "tailgate"--have a party filled with all kinds of foods as you watch the game and cheer for your favorite team. For a foodie, this may be an ultimate day for feasting!

I, myself haven't watched one in years, but have always enjoyed the commercials (when I did watch) that they play throughout the game. So, you can understand why, when they show the game in Japan, I get frazzled--they cut out ALL of the commercials! (enter super pouty face here!)

Our regular "sunday dinner" took place yesterday, since other family members will be attending various Super Bowl parties.

For dessert, my aunty made this super moist, rich chocolate cake with buttercream frosting and topped it off with these decadent Sprungli Liliput truffles, which her friend, W1 brought back from Switzerland--they come in 5 flavors, Dark, Hazelnut, Champagne, Bourbon Vanilla and Cappucino.

Touchdown!...Enjoy the game fans!

happy valentine's day

It's Valentine's Day today...it kind of snuck up on me...I had envisioned making these great truffles...but didn't really have the right equipment...anyway, these are the truffles I made for Satoshi. Curry and green tea.

My recipe for the truffles: (adapted from a recipe on the internet)
Ganache:
140g milk chocolate (only because Satoshi likes milk chocolate)
1/4 cup cream
10g butter

Melt everything together then put into a bowl and chill for at least 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, form into balls with teaspoon. Put back into the refrig.
Temper 140g milk and dark chocolate. Put some chocolate at the bottom of your candy cup. Put in the ganache into the cup then put some chocolate on top. Top with your favorite seasonings or spices. I put a little curry powder and a little powdered green tea.

I sampled them (not the ones I'm giving to Satoshi) and they tasted really good! I hope Satoshi likes them.

Here's my mid-afternoon snack...dipped strawberries with the leftover chocolate.

Hope you have a very nice Valentine's day.