year of the horse

2014, the year of the horse.

Wishing everyone all the best this year.

We went to pay our respects at various shrines this morning, this is called hatsumode (hah-tsu-mow-day).

The weather was overcast for most of the day.

We'll be visiting MIL tomorrow.

I hope your year is starting off nicely!

thank you!

On the 29th, Satoshi had to work.

Since his choices for lunch on Sundays are usually slim, I figured that this particular Sunday would be even harder to find something for lunch since most businesses were going on New Years holidays.

So, I asked him if he wanted a bento (boxed meal), he thought about it and said yes.

Salmon, tamagoyaki (rolled omelette), kabocha chakinshibori (mashed pumpkin with parmesan cheese), shiitake sauteed with butter and tonkatsu sauce, spinach goma-ae, ninjinshirishiri, musubi filled with different items (goma takana, ume, konbu).

It's the last day of 2013...it was a short, yet long year.

Lots of sad days, for sure.

But, I am thankful for the time spent with my Mom.

And even if most days were stressful, I'm still thankful for the time spent with my Dad.

I am very grateful for the support of family...

and for friends (real & virtual).

This year, I reconnected with many eating places and old friends.

I was lucky to meet up with some blog friends and Flickr friends, IRL (in real life), too.

So even if most days were sad ones, there were still good ones and many delicious ones too.

Thank you for reading our blog, I hope 2014 will be a happier and even more delicious year for you.

Be well everyone!

books 2013

A list of the books I read this year...

1. Michael Booth "Doing Without Delia"

2. Joanne Harris "Jigs & Reels"

3. Vivian Swift "Le Road Trip"

4. Jeffery Brown "Darth Vader and Son"

5. Jeffery Brown "Vader's Little Princess"

6. Christina Henry De Tessan "Forever Paris"

7. Molly O'Neill "American Food Writing"

8. Peter Mayle "Encore Provence"

9. Nigella Lawson "How to Eat" (e-book)

Please share with me what you read this year.

10 photos

I started doing this back in 2008 as a meme, and now I think it is a great way to take a peek at some of the highlights over the year from my kitchen...

Kale with Orange Miso Sesame Dressing

Re-creating this salad was fun and delicious.

O-inarisan

It was my first time making these and even though it took some time, I'm glad I tried making these.

Japanese Cole Slaw

I had been wanting to try making Japanse cole slaw with purple cabbage and I'm glad I did.

This version is much more colorful and tasty too.

Matcha Scones

With all the scones I have posted on the blog, these were the first matcha(green tea) ones.

Black Sesame Pancakes

Adapted from a book that Dennis introduced me to, changing the recipe to fit what we had in our pantry didn't change the deliciousness of them.

Magurozuke Avocado Donburi

This dish was simple and fast, and it got a thumbs up from Satoshi.

Spam wonton

These were delicious, but they didn't freeze too well.

I think if you freeze them they should be done before you fry them.

After frying them and then freezing them, they were really greasy...eep!

So-min Champuru

A great way to use up somen in your pantry.

Marinated Sanma Salad

Re-creating this salad was tasty and the marinated sanma and mushrooms make great pupus (appetizers).

Zippy's Fresh Strawberry Summer Salad

A perfect combination of sweet and sour, this salad is great whenever strawberries are in season.

Did you have a favorite from this past year that wasn't posted? Tell me about it in the comments.

echi ponte vecchio

We went back to Echi Ponte Vecchio for lunch last Sunday.

I tried their pasta. This was a roasted leeks, pancetta and tomato pasta topped with provolone cheese.

Loved the smokiness from the leeks.

Satoshi went with their buri (amberjack) pizza.

I didn't try this but it also had some grated yuzu (citron) zest over the fish.

Looked delicious.

Their food is always tasty, I'm sure we'll be back.

christmas dinner

What did you have for Christmas dinner?

For our Christmas dinner I made Rolled Beef with Japanese Tartar Sauce.

Besides the shiso (perilla) leaf, I used baby leaf, a slice of red bell pepper, as well as some maitake in each roll.

This cooked up really quickly because the beef was paper thin.

We also had some cherry tomatoes, some bleu cheese and some beer.

Dessert was a rich custard pudding by Tada Farms, from the Tohoku area.

Nothing too fancy nor time consuming, my kind of cooking.

It's Friday here, Satoshi is off for the next week. We'll be doing O-soji and maybe getting out and about if the weather is cooperative.

Happy Holidays everyone!

snackage

Bonne Maman's Croquants are tiny cookies (maybe an inch round (2.5 centimeters)?!)

I found these at an import market.

What I love is how much coconut they use in these.

They not only use grated coconut but coconut oil as well.

When you open the package the aroma fills the air.

Very flavorful and crisp.

Nice with black coffee or café au lait.