we're back

We're back from Hagi & Tsuwano.

Lots of pictures to sort through, and lots to tell.

Hope to get something up soon and catch up on my favorite blogs.

To tied you over, I wanted to show you all the snow we got to experience. It really reminded us of being in Hokkaido.

Happy Valentine's to everyone!

yatsumi-zuke

Pet peeve, I hate it when plans change at the last minute, but that is the life of a housewife of a Japanese businessman, mine anyway.

Don't need dinner, need dinner, at the last minute, don't need dinner...believe me, it has taken the wind out my sails many a time.

I mean, why bother to shop for groceries, plan a meal, if you don't have to cook for anyone but yourself? Especially when Japan has many great sozai-ya (pre-made food shops).

In the end, I usually find a way to use the food I have in my refridge or things that I have prepared, most times by feeding it to Satoshi for breakfast the next day.

The other day, Satoshi told me at the last moment that he didn't need dinner, so instead of cooking for one, I took the veggies that needed using in my fridge and turned them into tsukemono (pickles).

The first type of pickles that came to mind was yatsumi-zuke since I had komatsuna (a type of Japanese mustard cabbage) and daikon.

Yatsumi-zuke is a type of pickle that you find in Hawaii which uses cabbage and mustard cabbage.

I once told someone in Japan about yatsumi-zuke and got a strange look. I guess it isn't too popular in Osaka?! Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen many shoyu-based tsukemono in Osaka...hmm.

Luckily there was a recipe for yatsumi-zuke in a cookbook I have.

It was my first time making this and I must say, it came together quite easily and quickly.

Here is the recipe if you'd like to try:

Yatsumi-zuke From "More Recipes Please" by Joyce Nip, Karen Sugimoto & Florence Yamada

1 head cabbage, medium size
3 heads mustard cabbage
1/4 c. Hawaiian salt
2 tbsp. sesame seeds, roasted
Ajinomoto to taste

Sauce:
1/3 cup shoyu
1/4 cup Japanese vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 chili pepper

Cut head cabbage and mustard cabbage into 1/2 in pieces
Place in a large container
Sprinkle Hawaiian salt over cabbage, mix well.
Let stand for about 1/2 hour
Squeeze out excess water from vegetables and place back in container
Add sesame seed and Ajinomoto
Prepare sauce by bringing all ingredients to a boil
Pour hot sauce over vegetables and mix well
Leave mixture at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours after which keep in covered jar in the refrigerator.

NOTES: I only had 5 bunches of komatsuna and about 6 inches of daikon, but I made the full recipe of the sauce. I didn't have whole chili peppers so I put a pinch of a dried sliced chili that I have, while leaving out the Ajinomoto.

To store, I am keeping this in glass jars. Satoshi said this is quite salty, so the next time I think I will rinse after the 30 minutes and squeeze out the water.

All I can say is, bring on the rice!

clean

Ever since we moved here nearly 10 years ago, I've been trying to keep this utensil drawer organized.

Everything I tried just didn't fit nicely in this drawer...plastic dividers, boxes...the drawer is quite shallow and a little narrow.

So as I was daydreaming in the furo (bath) the other night, I came up with a way to organize my drawer...make my own dividers.

I used some cardboard and tape and folded it to fit the drawer and the space I needed for the different utensils.

Then I cut strips of non-skid cupboard liners and voila, clean and organized (I do have more silverware that isn't in the drawer at the moment, but I'm sure it will all fit).

Don't know why I hadn't thought of this earlier, now if I can only figure out how to organize my gadget drawer...if I think of a way, I'll be sure to share.

peanut monaka

Recently, my friend Aya, sent me a package of these peanut monaka made by Nagomi no Yoneya.

She lives in Chiba prefecture and one of the things they are known for is...peanuts.

Don't you just love the packaging? I do.

Monaka is a type of Japanese confection with a wafer outside and sweet bean paste in the middle.

The wafer texture reminds me of an ice cream cone.

Most monaka are square or round but this one is shaped like a peanut so to keep its shape they are put into these plastic containers.

Aya had also wrapped these in bubble wrap, but they still got a little beat up.

Inside is sweet bean paste mixed with peanuts. It amazingly tastes more like peanut than it does sweet bean.

Thank you Aya!

Nagomi no Yoneya (main shop)
500 Kami-cho
Narita, Chiba
Phone: 0476.22.1661
*their products can also be found around Chiba prefecture in smaller shops

It is Friday, a National holiday (Kenkoku-kinen no hi: Foundation Day) and the start of a 3-day weekend, I'll be off the grid so I'll check your comments when we get back, hope you have a nice weekend.

things I'm liking

Some things I'm liking...the salted caramel popcorn at the movies.

It was my first time trying the popcorn at the movies, did you know they don't allow you to eat while watching the movies?? WT?

The small at 300 yen (about US$3) is about 2 cups of salted caramel or plain popcorn.

Since we couldn't eat this while watching the movie, we gobbled it up while waiting for our theatre to clear out.

The other night I tried SOL's chicken curry for dinner.

It is medium hot but my mouth was definitely on fire, in a good way.

Sometimes I want to have this shop's curry for lunch but he doesn't open early, so it has been awhile.

I wish he would bring back his Keema, it is so good.

Muji's Fair Trade teas. I tried the Chai blend & Orange Ginger.

Both are delicious. The Orange Ginger is so fragrant, like a freshly squeezed orange.

Subway's BLT. I was a bit disappointed with this. Bacon is still limp.

But, it had been awhile since I had had a sub sandwich so this was nice. Plus it was only 300 yen (about U$3) for a 6-inch (not sure how much it is in the US).

And even if it wasn't eco-friendly, I liked how they packaged my sandwich in this plastic container because it didn't get smashed on the train ride home.

Lotte's Yukimidaifuku...a soft mochi filled with ice cream.

The plus to this is that there is oozy chocolate in the middle...mmm!

What are you enjoying these days?

pretty!

Well, the weather has gone back to, cold.

Even with the sun out.

Lunch yesterday was a sushi bento bought from the department store food floor.

1 crab inarizushi, 3 temarizushi (bite size sushi) (crab, scallop & shrimp), 2 oshizushi (pressed sushi) shrimp & anago (conger eel), 2 crab makizushi...714 yen (about US$7.14)

Cold items but so pretty, yeah?? I had these with some green tea...mmm!

celebrate

Actually yesterday was my birthday, not much fanfare but that is how I like it. I was lucky because Satoshi got the day off.

Our day started off having breakfast at our favorite cafe, Hiro.

Afterwards, we went to the city office to renew my "alien" card.

In the afternoon we walked around Suigetsu Park, some of the ume (apricot) trees have started to bloom.

Did you know that sasanqua petals actually look like hearts? nice!

For dinner I made some seared salmon and we also had some bok choy with eringi, along with some senbei (rice crackers) and other snacks.

And to drink we shared a half bottle of Codorníu Clásico Seco Cava, a Spanish sparkling wine, which I learned about from Su-Lin's post. Dry, bubbly a nice way to celebrate.

No frills but a great day.