kyo kurenai & sun celeb

During this time of year you can find Kintoki Ninjin, a variety of carrot used for Osechi and other New Year foods.

Most of the veggies that are used for New Years foods are pricey at this time of year.

Luckily, I came across this Kyo Kurenai, which is similar to the Kintoki, at the market.

One of the markets I go to has a corner for "homegrown" veggies, so they are cheaper and their shapes are "not perfect".

I like the deep orange color of these carrots.

I didn't think they tasted any different from the other variety of carrots, but it was nice to try.

Another item we tried is Sun Celeb oranges from Oita prefecture.

These boast the texture to be similar to gelatin.

These oranges were sweet, some had seeds, they were easy to peel and super juicy.

I'm glad we got to try these too.

Satoshi is back to work today (Sunday)...hope everyone is enjoying the start of the New Year.

Our governor is talking to the main branch of government to put us (Tokyo) into a state of emergency...since the main branch hasn't done this sooner....

Have a good week.

ichiyo raifuku

Saying this year was krazy is an understatement, yeah?!

So many sad days with all the loss of life.

Even if we didn't get to travel as much as we wanted to, or do all the things that we wanted to, I am thankful that I was able to share with you what adventures we did have.

Your comments always keep us inspired and motivated.

The Japanese have an idiom, ichiyo raifuku, it is a type of yojijukugo (idiom that uses four chinese characters).

Ichiyo raifuku is used to mean to hope for good after a long period of bad.

I hope 2021 will be a good year for everyone.

Be well, be kind and thank you for always being a part of our adventures.

10 photos

10 photos started back in 2008 as a meme and now is my way to look back at some of the "firsts" in my kitchen...

Nitsuke, I was amazed at how easy and tasty cooking fish this way was.

It was our first time cooking with garlic scapes, it reminded me of garlicky green beans.

Ajillo was super easy to make in the fish grill.

Using the tsukemono jiru (pickle sauce) and turning it into dressing was a nice way to use everything up.

Hakusai and kaki amazu-ae was a refreshing pickle/salad.

Hiyajiru, a cold miso soup, perfect for the heat of summer.

"Sarameshi" is a show that offers a look into the bento and lives of people in Japan.

This musubi using mikan peels was different and delicious.

Daigaku imo was a nice way to save a "dry" yakiimo (roasted sweet potato).

Kinugasa donburi is a delicious (and easy) Kyoto favorite using green onion, aburaage, dashi and egg.

Saba goma was a dish we saw on our favorite show "Kodoku no Gurume", we tried this using kanpachi (amberjack) and madai  (sea bream) since we rarely see saba (mackerel) in the stores.

I think most of us spent a LOT of time in our kitchens this year, I hope you had a delicious year in your kitchen despite the pandemic.

movies

This year with so much time on my hands...you would think that I read a lot. 

For some reason during this pandemic, I needed "noise" so instead of reading I would watch movies instead, sometimes watching more than one movie a day. 

Our cable subscription has 7 different channels that show films (actually there are more if you pay more for them), what I enjoy about these channels is that they show a variety of English, French, Korean, German and Japanese films as well as many other foreign language films too.

At the end of the year, I would usually list the books that I read but instead I’ll list some of the movies I watched/enjoyed.

Last films seen in a theater: 

"Ford v. Ferrari"

"Hustlers" 

Based on real stories:

"Elle s'appelait Sarah" ("Her Name is Sarah") (French) 

"Loving" 

"The King's Speech" 

"A Street Cat Named Bob"

"On the Basis of Sex"

"The Pianist" 

"The Post" ("Pentagon Papers" Japanese title)

Jason Statham:

"Safe" 

"The Transporter" 

*there were WAY more Jason Statham movies that I saw but I don't want to bore you...

Documentary : "Bon Uta : A Song from Home" (Japanese/English) documentary of Bon Dance in Hawaii 

French: 

"La Verite" ("The Truth") 

"Friends" 

Korean: 

"The Beauty Inside" 

"A Moment to Remember" 

German:

"Goodbye Lenin"

"Slum Dog Millionaire" 

Were you able to watch some movies during your "stay at home" time? What did you watch? Please tell me in the comments.

this and that

The day after Christmas we did our o-soji (cleaning)...I cleaned the kitchen, while Satoshi did the windows, lanai(s) and light fixtures.

For dinner I made Ikea-ish meatballs. 

The recipe called for panko (bread crumbs) but since I didn't have any on hand, I used dry okara powder. 

My cream sauce was kind of lumpy so I looked online to see how to fix it (love technology!)

I also didn't have lingonberry jam, so used the really old cranberry chutney that I found in my refrige.

Everything worked out well and I would definitely make this again.

I don't know if you can get this where you are, but I love this lemon dressing from Kewpie.

It isn't overly puckery or overly sweet and it goes well with salads when I serve fish or chicken as our main dish.

I have my traditional year end posts lined up and will talk to you on January 3rd when Satoshi goes back to work.

As for COVID, Tokyo's numbers are headed towards 1000.

Please take care, stay safe and be well.

christmas eve and christmas day

How was your Christmas?

Our Christmas was very low key.

I saw this at the supermarket and had to copy.

Doesn't really look like the photo but I loved the idea, the recipe suggests using a balsamic vinegar dressing, but I used a lemon one instead to keep the baby mozz from turning black.

I baked some lamb chops in the oven for Christmas Eve dinner.

It came with a spice packet which had curry powder and other spices in it.

I followed the Meat Guy's directions on how to bake it in the oven....

Room temperature for 30 minutes then in a 200 C (400 F) oven for 20 minutes.

It wasn’t in the direction, but at 10 minutes, I flipped the chops.

This was so tender and flavorful, even after reheating it for Satoshi after he came home.

Christmas morning...super pretty sunrise.

I went to Daimaru to send some gifts for New Years to MIL and BIL since we will not be travelling.

I picked up this brioche chocolat from Daisy, a bakery from Saitama that has a shop inside the JR Tokyo Station.

This was so good, with chocolate crisps on top and lots of chocolate ganache inside.

Dinner was nibbles from RF1 and gateau chocolat from Maison Cacao which I also picked up inside of the JR Tokyo Station.

61% Colombian chocolate topped with cacao nibs...so rich but so good with a cabernet sauvignon from Maison Fortnant.

We don't really give each other presents anymore, but Satoshi surprised me with this little bottle of jam sandwich cookies and a tiny bouquet of gerbera and carnations.

I hope Santa wasn't quarantined and was able to visit you this year.

Have a nice week.

this and that

It is Christmas but isn’t a holiday, so Satoshi is working.

We'll probably be able to eat dinner together on the day after Christmas because he has the day off.

This week he and 3 other co-workers had lunch together.

He said the restaurant that they ate at had acrylic partitions.

Hopefully it was a "safe" lunch....

Starting next year, his company will be downsizing and also be cutting everyone's wages.

Hopefully Satoshi will still have a job, we are also not sure if we'll be able to stay in Tokyo...

Still, we are grateful for what we do have.

I hope more people will stay at home this holiday season to bring case numbers down and to help keep the people on the medical front lines safe too.

Our main branch of government still refuses to "lock us down" or provide financial help...

I wish someone would mention to them that if our numbers do not go down (especially in Tokyo) hosting the Olympics (safely) will definitely be impossible.

Please have a safe holiday weekend everyone.