chocolate finds

Been finding new chocolates to try these days...

Green Dream, a Belgian fair trade chocolate...72% dark chocolate with cranberries, this one had a nice snap and was a little acidic.

People Tree, a Swiss fair trade chocolate, this one was a creamy milk with hazelnuts.

Both could have had a little more "stuff" in them.

From Dean & Deluca Japan, I tried the Mast Brothers 74% dark chocolate with organic almonds, olive oil and sea salt.

This is a bean to bar maker from New York. I really liked this one.

The hot chocolate ball was 60-65% and made for a rich hot chocolate.

Belgian Cafe-Tasse's chocolat noir au thé russe earl grey (a 60% dark chocolate with Russian Earl Grey) the earl grey flavor wasn't overly perfumy and I was trying to figure out if they add crispies to it or if there were actual earl grey tea leaves in there, I think it may be the latter.

I like this one too.

Valentine's Day is coming up, so hopefully there is more chocolate out there to be tasted.

whiz...brr

We had a mini snow storm the other afternoon. Nothing that stayed on the ground for too long, but it was fun to see (from my seat on the sofa).

It is still a bit too cold for smoothies, but since Satoshi was off on business, I made this one for my breakfast the other morning.

I've been seeing blueberries from Chile in the markets lately, and the local strawberries are in the markets too.

Here's what I put in it...10 blueberries, 5 strawberries, 1 small banana, 1/2 teaspoon ground flax seed, 4 tablespoons plain yogurt and 1/4 cup skim milk...whizzed together, even though it looks like only a cup worth, it was a little over, a very simple and delicious breakfast.

datemegane

(photo from the internet) I told you about the pin, and about their shoes...

Well, you'll see young girls/women here wearing big bulky glasses, without the actual lens in them called "datemegane" (dah-tay-may-gah-nay). (I've even seen guys wearing them too)

They apparently wear them because they supposedly make their faces look smaller...well, of course it would, the frames are so big and bulky anyone's face would look smaller.

Growing up, I must admit I used to envy those wearing glasses, because it looked different and "fun".

But now that I actually "need" to wear them, I wish I didn't have to...they fog up in the winter when you go from the cold places to warm. They hurt your ears when you wear them for too long, not to mention they leave marks on your face when the glasses sits on the bridge of your nose.

I think these girls are wearing these glasses for all the wrong reasons.

Oh and you may be wondering why they wear them without the lenses...it is so that they won't smash their long fake eyelashes...sigh!

It's Friday, it is also Setsubun, which I've written up here, have a nice weekend!

baked furikake sweet potatoes

I bought some sweet potatoes recently and wondered how I should cook them.

My "normal" way would be to steam them, but I wanted to try something different.

Bring in an easy recipe from the Peko Peko Charity Cookbook... (Have you bought your copy yet?! I hope so.)

The recipe comes from Barbara Kiebel, who has a beautiful blog (apparently, the blog is no longer online).

I didn't cut the potato into the "strips" like she instructed, my sweet potato was kind of small and skinny, so I just did relatively thin slices.

Here is her recipe: serves 2-3

2 large sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons nori komi furikake

1. Preheat the oven to 425F (220C)

2. Peel the sweet potatoes and slice into 1/4 inch wide slices then 1/4 inch wide strips. Cut the strips in half if they are longer than 3 inches. Transfer to a large bowl, add the oil and mix to coat evenly. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the furikake seasoning on the potato strips and mix carefully.

3. Lay the potato strips in a single layer on a baking sheet, do not over-crowd or they will steam and not crisp. Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning once to brown both sides.

4. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of furikake seasoning. Serve warm.

NOTES: Since my oven is small and everything has to fit on the turntable to bake evenly, I used one sweet potato which I didn't peel.

For the furikake, I used one of those small packets and divided it in half, sprinkling half before baking and the rest afterwards. Also, the furikake I used was an okaka gobo (bonito & burdock).

Instead of vegetable oil, I used olive and used 1 tablespoon, I think I could have used 1/2 a tablespoon.

They didn't crisp up too much, but they were tasty, and easy. I'm making this again, maybe with some curry furikake next time.

UPDATE: curry furikake on these potatoes are awesome!

ma-go-wa-ya-sa-shi-i

　I learned a new acronym recently...ma-go-wa-ya-sa-shi-i

In Japanese, literally, it means "grandchildren are kind", but when you look at each syllable, they stand for foods we should be eating.

Ma is Mame (mah-may = beans) especially soy and adzuki, for magnesium

Go is Goma (goh-mah = sesame seeds) this includes nuts like almonds & walnuts for vitamin E

Wa is Wakame (wah-kah-may = seaweed) like nori for iodine & calcium

Ya is Yasai (yah-sigh = vegetables) including root vegetables, for beta-carotene & vitamin C

Sa is Sakana (sah-kah-nah = fish) especially those with omega-3 oils

Shi is Shiitake (she-ee-tah-kay = mushrooms) and all other types of mushrooms for fiber

I is Imo (ee-mow = potatoes) including sweet potatoes for fiber and carbs

I think we eat quite a bit from this list already, but could see us upping our fish intake a little more.

standard bookstore

The last time I ate at Standard Bookstore, I tried their chili dog, which I wrote about here.

Since then, I sometimes hangout here when the Starbucks below is filled and I want to have a cup of coffee.

The other day I tried their Standard Dog...this was topped with lots of sauerkraut, some relish & red onions...yummy! with coffee...780 yen.

The hot dog also came with a salad and their delicious mashed potatoes.

Satoshi chose their épice curry, this also came with a salad and drink...1030 yen

He enjoyed this, but I think the portion was a little too small for him.

Both of our meals came with something a little sweet...I think it was caramel flavored.

I noticed they've added sandwiches to their menu which I wouldn't mind trying...I'll be back.

It's the end of January, how time flies!

funny

Saw this sign at the movies the other day..."Smoking Room, for adult smokers only", um, is there also one for children somewhere?!

I can't believe Japan wastes space to accommodate smokers. (I don't smoke so I am not empathetic.)

Good thing that I found at the movies, curry flavored popcorn.

Bad thing, they told me "once you enter the theatre, you aren't allowed to shake the box (it comes in)"...boo!

The curry flavored popcorn was good though, nice and spicy.

We had flurries on Saturday which lasted all of 10 minutes...how was your weekend?