noix de beurre

Wanted to send something to friend J in Sendai for her birthday.

Went to Ginza Mitsukoshi to send her something from Noix de Beurre.

They only have 3 shops and all are in Tokyo, and are supposedly super popular 

we tried their lemon cake...super moist and lemony

their financier was buttery and their pistachio financier had lots of pistachios and two griotte cherries on top

photos uploaded wonky...

These were delicious and I hope she enjoys what I sent to her.

Heard the line for the yakitate (just baked) items is always long but when I got to Ginza Mitsukoshi at 10:30, it wasn't too bad, though when I left it was starting to get krazy. (and the bulk of the people in line were Asian tourists)*

*before standing in line, grab a clipboard with an order sheet and a pen and fill out what you want to purchase, everything is in Japanese but there are photos of the products

I'll be back whenever I need to send a gift.

Noix de Beurre

4-6-16 Ginza

Chuo, Tokyo

Closed when Ginza Mitsukoshi is

Hours: 10:00-20:00

iced strawberry matcha latte

V wanted the recipe for the iced strawberry matcha latte....here you go!

Iced Strawberry Matcha Latte : serves 1

3 strawberries, diced

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon matcha

hot water

ice

1/2 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)

Dice the strawberries and add sugar, let sit aside to macerate

Make your matcha...I added some hot water (about 3 tablespoons) then whizzed with my milk foamer thingy, set aside

Add strawberry then add to cup

pour in almond milk, or milk of choice

Add the matcha that you set aside

Stir

Enjoy!

NOTES: I think I used a 200 mililiter sized jar (8 ounces) enjoyed this version more than the one I tried with strawberry jam

I think it might be easier to drink if you mash the strawberries...

We usually don’t have strawberries in summer, so I had to make it now

If you try this, I hope you enjoy it too

this and that

I "made" the slightly pink peony “bloom”...well actually, I had put the flower's "head" into warm water and then shook the water out...a little too hard, so the heavy flower "head" just fell off...boo…

We went to the Japanese version of Komeda coffee called Okagean. 

In our area, it is right next door to the regular Komeda coffee...Okagean has all sorts of Nagoya "wa" (Japanese) foods and sweets.

You can even grill your own mochi...

I kind of wanted shaved ice and Satoshi kind of wanted ice cream...

We both ordered this shave ice in a glass that is topped off with soft serve...

The little container of matcha sauce is sweetened.

Be careful when you try to pour the sauce, I spilt mine as it ricocheted off the soft serve...

 

This was delicious, and their soft serve portion is quite large…750 yen (tax included) each

red kiwi...been seeing these more often these days...

Tokyo People: not sure if these two are related to each other, but I often see them walking, the umbrella is super vibrant yellow

Tokyo Furry People: just hanging out on the asphalt...

another tokyo furry people: I think this one lives across the street from us and maybe pooping...pc: satoshi

I told you that the place I go to color my hair doesn't take reservations, so I try to go early...yesterday I was 3rd in line...the lady that was 1st in line brought a chair and her game...

to the left of our front door, there was our room number, I guess they plan to give us new plaques

in place of the camellia bushes they put up this fence, not sure how the 1st floor residents feel about not being able to see through the fence, I would be bummed

I wrote about this house before, glad I was able to catch it when their roses were blooming...

The weekend looks like it will be rainy, hope you have a nice weekend where you are.

boneless spareribs

When I went to Yokohama to see the roses last week, I stopped into Union, a supermarket, and they had the same boneless spareribs that I bought in February (photo from February)

So, I purchased some for our dinner.

I sauteed some onion, carrot, eggplant and spinach and then tossed in the sliced spareribs at the end to heat.

This was so good over rice...super peppery, meaty and tender.

Would definitely get this again.

hotel de yama

There is a hotel along Lake Ashi called Hotel de Yama

And this year it is celebrating being in business for 77 years

Their azaleas have been on my “to see” list for some time

We had planned to go on Sunday but the weather seemed wonky, and then turned out to be a beautiful day! grrr

Satoshi said, "you go check it out Kat"

So I did yesterday

I mapped my route according to Google maps…well when it told me to get off the bus, I did

And then I had to find my way (safely) down to the town (no sidewalks)

Luckily I wasn't that far off from where I needed to be...

As I was walking, I then realized that there was a path along the water, so I walked along it.

and, I came upon this.

Everyone was waiting their turn to take a photo...Instead of waiting though, I just snapped one of whoever was there...

The water was super calm

The walkway wasn't too flat, so gotta be careful, especially since it was a day after it had rained.

By the time I reached the hotel, Mount Fuji went into hiding.

Mount Fuji should look like this...(from the hotel's IG page) I think they took this photo from their restaurant terrace area 

It’s been blazing, so the azaleas looked like they might have been past their peak, still, it was nice to see.

(TIPS: I had read somewhere that there was a free shuttle to and from Motohakoneko to the hotel for their guests, but if you "silently" get on board their bus, they'll take you...

To get to the Motohakoneko area by bus from Hakone Yumoto Station, you can either take Hakone Tozan Bus routes: H, R or K

When I arrived at Hakone Yumoto, everyone was standing in line for the H & R buses, so I went in the K line and this was a much nicer route and was not as crowded.

Coming back to Hakone Yumoto I jumped on the first bus that came and went on the H route...the bus driver was whipping the turns...talk about getting motion sickness..blah)

when I got back to Odawara, I went in search of lunch...and went back to Rokuzaemon

This time I tried their ume and my favorite okaka with ginger and takuan

I'm glad they let me sit on the bench in front of their shop to eat.

After lunch, I went in search of Moriya Bakery.

They have been in business since 1921 and are apparently well known for their breads.

By the time I went though, they were out of most things.

Luckily I was able to buy 2 anpan...was hot! out of the oven! 480 yen (tax included) for the 2

We had the anpan for breakfast today.

Filled with sweet bean paste

The bread was so soft! almost like sweet bread, so ono!

I'm glad I got to check out the azaleas yesterday and wander a bit around Odawara.

Moriya Bakery

2-2-2 Sakaecho

Odawara, Kanagawa

Closed: Sundays & Mondays

*cash only

koss coffee

Tried a new (to me) coffee place, Koss Coffee

Apparently they opened last year in Oookayama

Whenever I go to Oookayama, I usually don’t go to this part of the shopping arcade but walked further to check them out

They renovated the interior but kept most of the signs that were on the outside of the shop

I tried their espresso tonic…800 yen (tax included)

Super refreshing

I love that they open early in the morning 

I want to try their cold brew, I’ll be back when I am in the area 

Koss Coffee

1-29-1 Kitasenzoku

Ota, Tokyo

Closed: Tuesdays

Hours: 8:00-16:00

jumangoku

We tried these manju called Jumangoku, wagashi that is only sold in Saitama prefecture.

The outside is made from tsukune imo (a type of yam) and koshihikari (rice), the texture was like steamed manju...and filled with sweet bean paste

After trying it, I realized I didn't like the soft manju texture.

They also had these chocolat man, which reminded me of the ones we tried from Niigata.

Except that these had a yellow bean paste (white bean mixed with egg yolk) that was also mixed with condensed milk and wrapped with a thin manju then covered with chocolate.

My only peeve with this one was the outer chocolate and manju stuck to the wrapper & plastic container it was packed in, even when chilled

I ordered these online and I'm glad we tried these and would like to try other items from this maker the next time we are in Saitama.