sunny day = laundry

It's funny, now that I am a housewife (sengyo-shufu = full-time housewife...does this mean I qualify for retirement someday?), a sunny day during the week isn't means for outings. Oh, sure, I do go for longer walks on my way to the grocers. But in essence, a sunny day during the week means laundry day. I love to hang our clothes/towels outside (especially when the other neighbors on the other floors aren't smoking on their lanais(we call them lanais in hawaii, in Japan these are called verandas, in other countries they are probably called balconies...) And feel a bit confined when I have to hang them inside because of rain, cloudy weather or the smokers.

I'm not too sure if I told you or not, but the washing machines here in Japan only have cold water washing. This means during the winter you are basically swishing your clothes around in ice water and hoping they come clean...there is also a hose that connects from the washing machine to the furo (bathtub). This is so that you can re-cycle the bath water and use it to wash your clothes. What it does is suck up the bath water, and filter the water as it transfers it to the washing machine. Still, I usually try to wash our towels or sheets with this water. The washing machine also doesn't have the agitator in the middle or the holes in the basket to drain (this is to prevent mold from forming on the outside of the basket (the areas you can't see), as mold is thought to be one of the causes of atopic dermatitis (atopi) here). The load takes about an hour (if you are adding softeners...so be prepared to spend some time doing a load or two...)

Another thing you'll see is that there are a LOT of detergents, softeners and stain remover products on the market. There is even a product that boasts not having to iron if you add it to your wash. I think I tried most of them. Although, I know our clothes aren't as clean as they could be if we used American detergents, the water is hard here and the detergents are made to "protect" the environment, and with all the mixtures of chemicals, I'm sure they aren't doing much for our skin.

Oh, and when hanging your clothes outside, don't drop them, the lanais are so dirty with this greyish dust probably from pollution, that you have to re-rinse or re-wash whatever you drop! (trust me, I've done this several times...)We don't have a clothes line instead we have these l-o-n-g metal poles called monohoshizao (poles to dry things on), so I usually put the clothes onto hangers and then use these big clips to keep them from flying off the poles (the crows also like to steal hangers so that's another reason for the clips). If I'm hanging towels, I usually have to wipe down the poles before doing so because of the dust. And I'm sure we must be breathing in that dust too (probably a reason why some people have asthma (zensoku) here too). Still with all these cons on washing clothes, I still enjoy a sunny day to do laundry, and if our washer should ever "die" (knock on wood) I have my eyes on a washer that has a dryer built in...

Changing the subject, we got this dekopon from a member of Satoshi's staff. (I decided to take a photo of it next to a kiwi so you could see how big these dekopon are.) Dekopon is a cross between a kiyomi orange and a ponkan. Ponkan is a citrus fruit originally from an area called Poona in India. The Japanese took the Pon from Poona and kan from the Japanese word for citrus, kankitsu and made up their own word for this citrus fruit, which is similar to an orange, and called it ponkan. So, why is it called dekopon? Deko means bump. I think when they crossbred it the new fruit had a little bump at the top, so they named it dekopon. I combined it with some other fruits for a fruit salad.

I also wanted to share with you what Satoshi gave to me for Girl's Day. A hinamatsuri card and also these sweet treats called "Gaufre" (I think it is short for Gaufrettes) These thin wafer-like cookies have flavored cream in the middle. In a package, there is strawberry, vanilla and chocolate. Made by Kobe Fugetsudo , they are sold in these colorful tins(so the cookies don't break). They often have different themes decorating their tins.

relaxing = tea & incense time

What do you do to relax? I usually turn off the TV, put in a CD and listen to something like "Josh Groban" or "Jake Shimabukuro", read a book/magazine or look through a glossy cookbook. Since coming to Japan though, I've added a few new things to do. Burn incense, have tea.

Living in Hawaii, I rarely had tea and rarely drank anything hot for that matter. Everything was iced this or that or just water. But one thing that I noticed in Japan is that a lot of women drink tea. All kinds of tea. I guess this is why my addiction to buying cookbooks is accompanied by buying all kinds of tea (among other addictions...). I had previously written about BOH tea here.

Well, while roaming an import grocery store this past weekend, I found 2 more flavored teas by BOH. Lime with Ginger & Lychee with Rose. Lime with Ginger has a very light lime-citrus taste, the spice of ginger comes to "zap" you awake towards the end of your cup. Lychee with Rose was also nice. The lychee fragrance is very delicate and doesn't overpower the rose flavor of the tea. They were both really nice cups of tea.

A little off this subject, my parents (who live on Oahu) are now travelling with a group in Okinawa, they landed in Osaka and left for Okinawa over the weekend. Although we didn't get to visit with them (you should see their itinerary!), my mom sent some cookies and coffee for my in-laws, my host-family & of course, some for us!
The cookies she sent to us were from the Honolulu Cookie Company. These shortbread cookies have pieces of dried fruit, or a coffee bean, some are dipped in milk or white chocolate. I like these cookies, but my favorite is the "king" of the dipped cookies, Big Island Candies. Big Island candies was the first in the Hawaiian Islands to come up with the idea to dip shortbread cookies in different chocolates (they have a dark chocolate dipped cookie!) When my grandmother lived on the Big Island (the island of Hawaii), we used to religiously stop at Big Island Candies to "stock up". Now that she lives on the island of Oahu (the island with Waikiki), we don't get to the Big Island as often. If only Big Island Candies would lower their shipping rates. (hint, hint!!) Anyway, having tea with a little sweet treat is definitely a way to relax and just "veg".

Another way I like to relax is to burn a little incense. Incense is called O-ko or senko here. Senko is usually what you see at Buddhist temples and is burned to "take your prayers up" through the smoke from the incense. O-ko is burned more for relaxation and fragrance (or that's how I understand the two). I looked on the internet to see how incense was made: they are often made with essential oils, plant matter and intended to release a fragrance for religion, therapy or aesthetics. There are different forms and uses for incense, coil shaped-the mosquito repellants, cone shaped, cored sticks-these have a piece of bamboo or sandalwood in the center and solid-sticks-these have no wood in the center but are made entirely of the incense materials. If you do try burning incense as a way to relax, please remember to watch where you burn it so that you won't have a fire on your hands. Also, try to have a window open, so that you won't breathe in the smoke from the incense. Still, it is a way to relax and clear your mind of things. I really enjoy the citrus-y and flowery fragrances such as freesia, lavender, rose and orange.

If you'd like, it would be nice to hear about how you like to relax.

Have a nice week.

sharing

After a great sunny weekend, the rain is back...

I just got through reading the summer edition of Crema Magazine. It is a magazine for "Australia's pre-eminent coffee lifestyle". It was filled with all kinds of articles about...coffee, travel & wine (my favorites!) I particularly enjoyed reading a little about the history of the espresso machine, Berlin's cafes & cakes (kaffee & kuchen) and of course, Australia's cafe scene.

I'm always taking down cafe, restaurant & dessert/food info of places around Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe & Tokyo from magazines, television and the internet and am slowly making my way around to try them. The Japanese call getting information this way, kuchikomi (by word of mouth or through the grapevine). Also before travelling, I tend to surf the net for info on places to eat, what to eat and foodie things to buy.

While reading this magazine, I also took down the cafe info from this magazine (just in case I go to Australia...) I wanted to share the cafe info (for those of you living in Australia):
KAFA
224 Commonwealth St, Surry Hills, NSW 2010
Phone: (02)9280-2624
Coffee by: Boutique Sydney roaster-Campos

Butterfly
25 Cookson St, Camberwell, VIC 3124
Phone: (03)9882-1649
Coffee by: Gravity
Breakfast served all day.
Pides and baguettes are popular at lunchtime. (By the way, what are pides?)

Bite
24A Ralph St, Alexandria, NSW 2015
Phone: (02) 9669-2412
Coffee by: Allpress Espresso
"Breakfast promises to become an institution-come by early for fresh fruit salad with coconut sorbet or toasted brioche with goa's cure, poached pears and rocket!"

lb2
Shop2, 1-3 Carre St, Elsternwick, VIC 3185
Phone: (03) 9528-6440
Coffee by: Gravity
Black Sesame Tuna Salad is most popular item at lunchtime.

Pulse
Shop2, 332 Kent St, Sydney
Phone: (02)9290-2137
Coffee by: Sydney's Voodoo Coffee-the organic blend, Sacred Grounds
Specialty: organic burgers

Also, if you are in search of a job at an Aussie cafe, here's a website that gives job info:
www.cafescene.com.au

It is intriguing to read an Australian English magazine. Although it is in English, I realized that American English and Australian English are very different. There are so many terms I don't know, like the pides which I mentioned previously. Also, I came across rashers and lovage. I went to the dictionary to see if I could find a meaning and only came across meanings for the latter two. I'm hoping my Australian friends will let me know what pides are!

Enjoy!

foodie saturday

Today was a beautiful sunny day. After my lesson, I met Satoshi and we walked to a nearby park, Suigetsu park. I had only known about the hanashobu (irises) that are beautifully grown and displayed in June. And only had learned about the ume (plum)grove, recently through a local newsletter. I had walked through the park a week earlier and the buds of the plum trees were just beginning to form. This weekend, there were a few trees that had bloomed. Here they are.

After walking through Suigetsu park, we stopped into MOS burger for a snack. (MOS stands for mountain, ocean and sun. I really like this fast food restaurant because they use vegetables grown in Japan (they have a chalkboard which they list the farms and areas that they got their veggies from). Plus, they make your burger or food item only after they recieve your order. This means it is always fresh and HOT!) They have a new item called, katsu-curry rice burger. Katsu (fried pork) with a curry sauce, shredded cabbage, and a little pasta salad all between two "patties" of rice (sorry no photo). We shared this and it was really good and really hit the spot.

After our little snack, we walked to the Hankyu Ikeda station. It is about 1 km from our station, Hankyu Ishibashi. From Ikeda, we caught the train to a station called Nakayama. At Nakayama, they have a community of temples for different praying purposes, but they also have an ume grove. During our first winter in Japan, we had a picnic breakfast at this grove amongst the ume blossoms. The weather was still very cold, but to be amongst the blooms was still very nice. Unfortunately, they weren't in bloom yet.

We decided to stop in for tea at Factory Nakata. The Aramaki shop is about half-way between the Hankyu Yamamoto station and the Nakayama station. They only have about 10 seats, so if you want to eat your cake there, be prepared to wait.

When you walk in, you see a huge showcase filled with assorted cakes. And as you walk further into the store there are many displays of the awards that the pastry chef/owner, Hiroshi Nakata, has recieved over the years, as well as different boxed gifts for purchase.

I had the Charlotte Chocolat which was a chocolate sponge cake filled with chocolate whipped cream and chopped almonds then covered with sliced almonds and topped with namachoco (chocolate truffle sticks) and an oatmeal cookie (this came free). Satoshi had the Pudding tart which was a yellow sponge cake filled with whipped cream and fruits and topped with a layer of custard flan and a shortbread cookie. The only gripe I have about this cafe is that they allow smoking. I understand that smokers have to have a smoke after eating, but I would like to enjoy my cake and coffee too!! I think the next time we enjoy these sweets would be to take out. (UPDATE: all Nakata shops are out of business)

Suigetsu Park
3-6-1 Hachizuka
Ikeda city, Osaka Prefecture

Factory Nakata-Main shop (UPDATE: no longer in business)
2-10-8 Hiuchi
Kawanishi city, Hyogo Prefecture
Phone: 072-740-3336

Aramaki shop
4-2-10 Aramaki
Itami city, Hyogo Prefecture
Phone: 072-778-0501

Kawanishi Hankyu counter
Aste Kawanishi Hankyu Department store B1 dessert area

Satoshi is working today, hope you are enjoying your weekend!

hair cut

Today I went to have my hair cut. 

I dread this because I don't know the right words to get the cut or look that I want.

And I cringe when I want to get a perm (this is why I haven't had one in months!).

Even bringing in a picture of the style that I want has left me with a hairstyle that I don't particularly care for. 

Most of the stylists don't like to be left up to the task of creating a look for you either. 

Most like to be told. 

They do sometimes take things into their own hands and that's when I end up with a cut/perm that I didn't request. 

One technique they do on their own is thinning the hair. 

They put a scissor that cuts only in a couple of areas at a time to "thin" out your hair. 

I don't like when they do this because after a month or two my hair looks like a bush (because it grows back to the volume it was). 

So, I think to remedy this layered hair, I may have to stay away from the salons for a year or two!

Other than that, it was a very nice sunny day (for the morning part anyway). 

I wanted to share with you, our cyclamen plant. 

This plant is very hearty. 

It looks like it's dead during the summer, but come autumn, the leaves start to sprout and gets to be very leafy and bushy. 

I was amazed at this plant. 

I mean, look how many blooms it has! 

I've seen other cyclamen plants around in the area, but they don't have as many flowers as ours does.

Actually, this plant has a little story behind it. 

About 4 years ago, we bought it for Satoshi's grandma, when she was in the hospital. 

We were so happy with it, because it had some blooms and looked very cheery. 

But after Satoshi's mom saw it, she said, "You can't give her that." I asked, "Why?", but didn't get an answer. And we ended up buying her a bouquet of cut flowers.

The reason why you shouldn't give a person in the hospital a potted plant is because it has roots. 

In Japanese, this is called "ne-tsuke". 

It is a play-on words but they believe that if you receive a potted plant, you will "root" yourself in bed. In other words, you'll be in the hospital for a LONG time.

This year, I cut back the leaves a little too much, so it looked bald until the flowers started to bloom. 

The golden crest tree in the background is our Christmas tree (since they don't sell real cut ones here at Christmastime), it is the second one since we've lived here.

The other plants were bought at the dollar store (100 yen shop). I've found that these plants are the most heartiest and if it dies, it was only a dollar, right??

Well, enough rambling. 

I wanted to share with you another food item of Hinamatsuri, it's called Hina-arare (Girl's Day rice crackers). 

They are colored in the pink, white and green, the chocolate ones are arare covered with chocolate. 

The hina-arare and mochi were bought at the following shop:
Matsuyahonpo
Hankyu Ishibashi shopping arcade
Phone: 072-761-8168

I also bought this pastry at a bakery, Taro pan, in our shopping arcade. 

It's name is Caramel almond. 

It is puff pastry with a dollop of cake batter baked in the middle, caramel and almonds cover the bottom. 

They display it upside down with the caramel side up. 

It was really good, and it wasn't really sweet. 

It really went well with green tea.

Hope you have a great weekend.

hinamatsuri

Today is Hinamatsuri (Girl's Day). In Japan, they also call it momo-no-sekku (peach blossom festival). When a girl is born, her parents or grandparents buy an elaborate set of hina dolls (Girl's Day dolls) unless they are passing their own set down to her.

The hina dolls are dressed in traditional kimono (wear) and are displayed on a terraced stand that is covered with red carpet. Peach blossoms, shiro-zake (white rice wine) and hishi-mochi (diamond shaped rice cakes) are also placed on the stand with the hina dolls. The hishi-mochi are colored pink, white and green. Pink represents the peach flowers, white represents snow of winter and green represents the new green that will come with spring. The dolls are displayed from the end of February until March 3rd. It is believed that the dolls should be taken down soon after the festival otherwide the daughter's marriage may be delayed. It is a day which the family prays for the happiness and health of their daughter.

There are some foods that are eaten on this day. One is chirashi-zushi (rice seasoned with vinegar and sugar with a variety of colorful toppings). Another is sakura mochi (a rice cake flavored with sakura (cherry blossoms)), inside is an (sweet bean paste) and it is wrapped with a salted sakura leaf which can also be eaten).

Today, for breakfast we had chirashizushi, assorted Japanese sweets (hanamidango or san-shoku-dango (tri-colored mochi on a skewer usually seen at hanami (cherry blossom viewing)), sakura mochi, and manju (steamed black bean bun) , kushi-katsu (deep fried kisu (sillago), uzura tamago (boiled quail eggs) and bacon wrapped asparagus on a skewer) and green tea.

In 2002, I was fortunate to be able to see an elaborate display of hinaningyo (Girl's day dolls). Instead of the usual tiered stand, this display was housed in a real doll house! The owner, Ms. Hosoda, dressed each doll herself and decorated the doll house too. This household follows the Lunar calendar, so her display is usually put up in April. Her home was over 400 years old and sat on over 2 acres of land (very rare in Japan!) It was an excellent opportunity. This is a photo of the display.

Since I haven't seen many ume (plum) blossoms or momo (peach) blossoms yet, I'm using photos that I took in 2002. This one was from the Osaka castle's peach grove.

Chirashizushi is quite tedious to make, if you can find a ready-made mix (like I did), it will definitely save you some time. But, if you want to try to make this from scratch, I'll attach the recipe:
Chirashizushi from Orange Page #8: Serves 4
3 cups of rice (540 cc)
1-8x10cm sheet of konbu (kelp)
2 Tbsp. sake (rice wine)
*Cook the rice with the konbu and sake

Awase-zu (seasoning for rice)
3.5 Tbsp. vinegar (preferably rice vinegar)
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/3 tsp. salt
*Mix these ingredients and leave aside

Veggies
6~7 dried or fresh shiitake mushroom
250 cm (15g) kanpyo (dried gourd)
3 cm carrot, sliced into sticks
*Cook these veggies for 13~14 minutes in 1.5 Tbsp. shoyu (soy sauce)
1.5 Tbsp. sugar
2 cups (400cc) dashi (fish, seaweed stock)
leave aside

Ama-zu renkon (sweet-sour lotus root)
100g (2/3 of a lotus root) lotus root
a little salt
a little vinegar
Sweet sour seasoning for lotus root:
3 Tbsp. vinegar (preferably rice vinegar)
1.5 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. dashi (fish, seaweed stock) OR water

Nishiki tamago (scrambled egg crepe)
2 eggs
*Seasoning:
pinch of salt
1.5 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. sake (rice wine)
1 Tbsp. oil
*Put 2 eggs in a bowl with the seasoning (except the oil) and scramble.
Put 1 Tbsp. oil into a pan and heat.
Put 1/3 of the egg into the pan and cook
Remove from pan
Repeat until all egg is used.
Roll all egg and thinly slice-chiffonade, set aside

Other veggies to decorate:
50g kinusaya (green beans)
Cook until tender
in 1/3 cup (65cc) dashi (fish, seaweed stock)
pinch of salt, leave aside

other items to decorate:
thinly sliced yakinori (roasted seaweed)
kinome (leaf of Japanese pepper)

Putting the chirashizushi together:
After the rice is cooked, put out into a big, flat bowl
Use the awase-zu to season the rice while fanning (need a person to fan)
Add in your seasoned veggies and mix.
Put the ama-zu renkon, nishiki tamago, and other items and veggies to decorate onto the top of the the sushi.

*if you don't have these ingredients readily at hand, just make the seasoned rice and put your favorite foods on top.

Enjoy!

hawaiian chili by max

What a way to start March...the weather forecasted rain ALL DAY, after hearing the forecast, I planned ahead (so I didn't have to go grocery shopping) to stay indoors, ALL DAY. I spent most of the morning doing some bead crafts. Then ate leftovers for lunch. Read part of a book and took a nap. After my short nap, I started making dinner...chili.

I bought this packet at the supermarket the last time I went home to Hawaii. The package is a little bigger than most chili spice packets you buy in the markets. It is made locally on the Big Island of Hawaii. Open the packet up carefully because on the inside of the packet is an application form to order more spice packets. The instructions when ordering the packet instructs you to make sure you add postage or else it will be "shipped via CANOE"! (I thought that was pretty funny...)

Anyway, here's the recipe on the back of the package: (from Hawaiian Chili by Max)
1 package of CHILI by MAX (hot or mild)
a medium size pot
1 lb. of Hamburger (Ground turkey, chicken, pork, moose, bear, venison or rattlesnake)
1/2 cup freshly diced onions
2 fresh ripe tomatoes
1 cup water

Brown 1 lb. hamburger in a medium size pot.
If you like fresh onions, add 1/2 cup of diced onions and brown with the hamburger.
Next get 2 fresh ripe tomatoes and cut them in half, use a spoon and scoop the insides into your chili and throw away the skins, and add 1 cup of water.
Now add the reddish-brown packet of spices and blend in well, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Finally mix the white packet of wheat flour with a little water to form a watery paste, now add the paste to your chili a little at a time until your desired thickness is achieved.
Cover and simmer for 5 more minutes.

*For chili & beans add canned or cooked beans of your choice now.

Now serve, enjoy and be amazed!

Note: I added 2 cups of water instead of the 1 cup and added a can of chopped tomatoes instead of the 2 ripe tomatoes.

This chili was very easy to make. I bought the HOT (mainly because they ran out of MILD). Growing up we had our chili over rice with slices of weiner. That's how I had it tonight (although my photo doesn't show the weiners). I don't know about you, but my nose runs whenever I eat spicy foods (boy, was it running!), it was really good, though!!

If you'd like to order your own spice packets here's the info that's inside the packet:
Make check or money order payable to MAX
Mail to:
MAX
P.O. Box 2892
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96745
Phone: 808-334-0644
Fax: 808-334-0351

Chili by Max Seasonings
6 packages = $9.00
1 dozen packages = $17.50
2 dozen packages = $34.00
3 dozen packages = $50.00
Please specify HOT or MILD or HALF & HALF

Shipping & Handling:
All orders are shipped via airmail. To avoid delay, be sure to include these charges:
under $24.99 ...add $5.00
$25.00-$44.99... add $6.00
$45.00-$59.99... add $8.00
over $60.00 ...add $10.00
(WARNING: If you don't include postage, your order will be shipped via CANOE) US$ only...foreign orders, please call or write!
Please allow up to 14 days delivery, Hawaii residents ADD 4% tax.

Enjoy!