sakura walks

Monday I went walking around and checked on the huge cherry tree in Sakurai.

It was beautiful.

There were also some weeping cherry. I liked this one, bright pink.

Most of the other cherry blossoms look almost white.

Tuesday, I went to Mukogawa.

Yesterday, I walked to Sakurai and on the way, came across a tree near an apartment building.

I like when I can capture a sun beam.

The area in front of the Hankyu Minoo station was fixed up. Really nice now.

The roof of the bus/taxi area has a nice design of fall foliage, a symbol of Minoo.

Next to the Hankyu Minoo station is a new information office and an area for "ashi-yu" (foot bath).

When I passed by these ladies were happily chatting away.

Been interested in shooting shadows recently. Love the shadows that the sakura trees cast.

The neighborhood near the Hankyu Minoo station is about 70% in bloom.

Then in the afternoon, I went to the area above our apartment where every house has a sakura tree in front of it, Asahigaoka.

This area is always beautiful, never disappoints.

Lots of walking, lots of bonding with nature.

after french class

Yesterday after French class, I went to check out some cherry blossoms.

The weather is supposed to be sunny until Friday, so I wanted to see a new area, Mukogawa which boasts 2000 cherry trees.

I packed a bento before going to class...tamagoyaki (rolled omlette), shimeji with tonkatsu butter sauce, spinach carrot goma-ae, some pari-pari-zuke (a type of pickle), an amaou strawberry & a musubi with yukari (ground salted perilla). I also packed some water.

There were many groups at the park, mostly university students. Luckily there was an empty bench for me to eat my lunch.

From the Hanshin Mukogawa station, I walked to the Hankyu Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi station...5.7 kilometers (3.5 miles).

I was bummed though, there weren't many trees.

At least the weather was nice and "hot". Walking next to the Mukogawa (Muko river), was good because that was cool.

Near the end of my "walk" there was a small field of nanohana (rape blossoms).

It was nice to see all that yellow.

My feet were tired and I was kind of hungry, so I went to Starbucks in the ACTA building and had an earl grey roll with a short dark mocha chip frappuccino.

I liked the flavor of the earl grey roll but think the icing is kind of "fake" tasting.

When I came back, I re-read the article and realized that the 2000 trees are apparently spread out over 7 kilometers along the river! (sigh)

Hope to see more blooms in the coming days.

nikumiso ra-yu

This recently caught my eye at the supermarket.

Nikumiso ra-yu. Nikumiso is made by combining pork with miso and other condiments. I've seen it used in musubi or eaten as is.

This particular product is combined with ra-yu (chili oil).

It is similar to gu-iri ra-yu, but with some pork in there.

The weather is still a bit too cold for hiyayakko (cold tofu), but this is delicious.

some "me" time

Friday the weather was beautiful, so I headed to Suigetsu Park after lunch.

The ume has since finished flowering and the Edohigan cherry tree was in full bloom. It was nice to get out and about.

Most days I do have a lot of "me" time, and I'm not complaining, I use the time to try new recipes, go for walks, explore (as well as do chores).

But on Saturday, Satoshi had to work. He also needed to attend a co-worker's funeral in the evening, so he didn't need dinner and I ended up with a "lot" more "me" time than usual.

Since the weather was sunny but hazy (think it is that dust cloud from China that comes around every year, blah!), I threw together a bento and went back to Suigetsu Park for lunch.

A tamagoyaki (rolled omlette) with shiofuki kombu (seasoned dried kelp), horenso goma-ae, rakkyo (pickled scallions), a musubi with ume (pickled apricot) and a musubi with tororo konbu (thinly shaved kelp), a strawberry and some green tea.

It was nice to get out of the house and get close with nature for awhile.

So like I said, Satoshi didn't need dinner. Usually I buy something pre-made, because who wants to cook for one?! This time though, I put together these "gourmet dogs".

I've been seeing the "Japa-dog" around the blogosphere, lately. I don't really care for the name and kind of find it offensive, so I'm calling mine a Japan dog...lettuce, arabiki (coarsely ground) hot dog, some tonkatsu sauce, some kewpie mayo, green onions and shredded nori.　Tonkatsu sauce really matches with weiners, maybe because tonkatsu and weiners are made from pork?!

And since I had some leftover seasoned meat for taco rice, I added it to an arabiki hot dog with some lettuce and salsa for a taco dog. (wish I had had some cheese to sprinkle on top too)

I couldn't find long hot dogs, so there are actually 2 small ones in the bun. I like the hot dogs in Japan, they have a really nice crisp snap when you bite into them, though they aren't as "thick" as the ones you find in the States.

Also a must is toasting the bun before assembling.

I had this with some Minoo Stout...I wonder what Satoshi had for dinner tonight?

What have you been up to?

sesame yuzu mochi muffins

The other day, I needed something for my afternoon snack, so I made these "muffins".

The recipe actually calls for mochiko (sweet rice flour), so it actually turned out to a texture similar to this recipe.

Sesame yuzu mochi muffins : makes 6 :adapted from "She Knows Muffin"
147 grams mochiko (sweet rice flour)
3 grams all purpose flour
6 grams baking powder
20 grams ground black sesame seeds
1 egg
40 grams sugar
40 grams yuzu marmalade
50 grams olive oil
70 mililiters milk

In a bowl, sift the flour and baking powder. Add the sesame seeds and set aside.
In another bowl, beat the egg, sugar and marmalade together until almost fluffy.
Put the oil and milk into the egg mixture and stir.
Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture.
Mix well.
Divide evenly into 6 muffin holders.
Heat your oven to 180C (350F). Bake for 25 minutes.
Check the 2 middle muffins for doneness with a toothpick.
Enjoy!

NOTES: The original recipe called for 150 grams of mochiko, but I didn't have the full amount, so I subbed regular flour. It also called for 60 grams of ground sesame seeds, but I thought that was too much, so I cut it back to 20 grams.

Also, the original recipe calls for 40 grams of honey, but I subbed yuzu marmalade instead. I guess I could've chopped up the yuzu, but didn't.

The batter was quite "dry" and baked with cracks, but this was good, not too sweet, the sesame flavor not too overpowering and it was quite moist. It went nicely with green tea on one day and vietnamese coffee on another.

MIL UPDATE: Yesterday, MIL excitedly called to tell me that she was finally able to take a "bath". For the past six months, she was having sponge baths, but the other day when the nurse came to check on her at home, she helped MIL get "into" the furo (bath). Apparently the areas where she had the skin grafts are still tender, so she can't actually sit and soak in the furo, but she said it just felt nice to stand in the furo instead of just getting wiped down. Guess it will take a little while for her to get back to her normal routines.

okara

One morning I saw someone making okara patties on television and it reminded me that I hadn't made them in awhile.

Okara are the "leftovers" after making tofu, the lees, it is also called "u-no-hana".

After going to the market, I sort of followed this recipe, this time adding a little minced chicken to make the patties.

After cooking them in some oil to brown, I made the thick sauce.

I sauteed some veggies (eringi, carrot, red bell pepper, spinach) in a non-stick pan without oil, then added the ingredients for the sauce, and thickened it up with a slurry then spooned the sauce over the patties.

It was so good with rice that Satoshi had seconds.

Whenever I buy okara, it comes with two 120 gram packages, so on another night, I made another okara recipe this time using this recipe.

Using similar ingredients as the patties, this turned out to be an okara scramble, of sorts.

I sauteed some minced chicken, diced onion, hijiki, carrot, red bell pepper, eringi and okara in some sesame oil.

When the minced chicken was cooked through and everything was broken up, I added a scrambled egg, some lettuce and some oyster sauce.

Okara is quite "sand"-like, so we ate this with a spoon. I think putting this over rice, like a donburi, would have been a better way to eat this than keeping the rice and scramble separate.

What have you been eating?

sisterhood of world bloggers award

I made a new friend recently.

Her name is Nami and she is the author of Just One Cookbook, her blog has delicious recipes and yummy photos too.

We actually "met" through Foodbuzz.

She is actually from Japan and now lives in the States.

She recently presented me with the Sisterhood of World Bloggers Award.

Part of the award is that you have to share 7 random things about yourself. I've done something similar like this before, so I'm going to "re-share" these answers (if you don't mind...)

1. I like to wash my dishes in a particular order (cups, dishes, utensils) and stack them to dry so they look neat and organized.

2. I used to save my favorite food to eat last, but have since changed my ways and now eat it first, so I won't be totally full at the end of the meal not to eat it.

3. If I want something, like a cookbook, gadget or book, on the market, I usually cannot sleep and will hunt all over for it until I get it. (OCD? maybe.)

4. Most people think I'm "type A" (in Japan they consider this blood type to have characteristics of be quite controlling and anal) blood type, but I think I'm actually "type B" (in Japan they consider this blood type to be quite relaxed and easy going). (I actually don't know my blood type, do you know yours?)

5. I can usually wake up without an alarm clock at the same time every day. (changing of the seasons usually jams me up)

6. Only when I used to drive my father's Buick did the odometer go backwards.

7. I love tuna with kim chee sandwiches.

I usually don't pass on these awards, but I think we all need some "virtual hugs" these days, here are some great blogging women:

Deb of Kahakai Kitchen
Jalna of Photos by Jalna
Rowena of Rubber Slippers in Italy
Kathy of A Passion for Food (her site is now called "Kathy YL Chan")
Manju of Three Tastes
Barbara of Winos and Foodies
Su-Lin of Tamarind and Thyme
Paz of Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz

Just because I didn't list you, you can participate too, just write 7 random things about yourself and pass the award onto 15 people and link your post to this one.

To end this post, I want to share with you a recipe that I tried from Nami's site...horenso goma-ae (spinach with sesame sauce).

I didn't follow her preparation method, just the measurements for her sauce because I usually don't boil spinach, instead I wilt them in a non-stick pan.

So, I pre-cut my spinach, washed it well then wilted it in the pan. The water helps "steam" and wilt it.

Then to stop the cooking I blanched them in cold water and squeezed the water out with my hands.

I then coated the spinach with the sesame sauce.

This was delicious. I'm pretty sure you can use the sauce for other veggies as well.

Thanks Nami for a great recipe and for the award.

It is Friday here, hope your weekend is a nice one.