gadgets

During the winter months, our windows have lots of condensation on them.

This gadget attaches to a a plastic bottle and while you squeegee the windows, it catches the water.

Then after you are finished, just removed the squeegee and dump out the water.

I was sad the other day, one of my favorite measuring spoons broke.

I was spooning out some hardened honey, and "snap" the handle broke off.

I figured the measuring part still "works" so I threw out only the handle.

Are you using any interesting gadgets in your house these days?

things I'm liking (disliking)

Last week, the weather got a little warm and then decided to go back towards winter, so for the next couple of days we're in the single digits....brr! In fact, yesterday, we had a little snow...woot!

Some random things I'm liking (disliking)....not really liking this green tea from Fauchon.

It tasted like the metal can...boo!

This version, had milk and sugar added to the green tea....blah!

Am liking these two throat drops by MUJI.

One is a yuzu (citron) & kinkan (kumquat) and the other is tien-cha (Chinese blackberry).

The citrus one was a bit on the sour side and the tien-cha had a menthal flavor.

During the winter I find having a little throat drop in my mouth is a great way to keep my throat from getting dry and scratchy.

MUJI's lemon baum kuchen...this was lemony and very moist.

I really liked this shop's window.

They put their "chocolate" watch on a plate to make it like a dessert.

Satoshi and I love this snack.

Iwatsuka Seika's Ebi-Kari (shrimp curry). Crunchy shrimp crackers are flavored with a spicy curry and a handful of roasted peanuts.

Perfect with beer.

Dominique Saibron's chicken quiche.

On the bottom, caramelized onions, and on top, pieces of peppery roast chicken...delicious.

Dominique Saibron's melon pan (a butter roll with a cookie topping).

They only make 200 of these a day, it was so-so.

Michel Chaudun's chocolat au lait (chocolate milk)...rich and creamy.

What have you been enjoying?

sobakiri masa

Friday, I met up with a friend that I hadn't seen for quite some time, Mari.

She took me to her neighborhood soba shop...Sobakiri Masa.

This shop seats about 20 and fills up fast during the lunch hour.

After ordering you need to wait awhile for your food, so if you're in a rush, it is probably not the place for you.

This shop makes their noodles by hand and cooks them after you order them.

While you wait, they give you some futomaki (a type of sushi), hand rolled by the owner.

I ordered the Tenzaru Kuro, this was soba (buckwheat noodles) was made not only from the ground buckwheat grains, but also the hulls, which gives it a darker color and nuttier flavor.

This came with assorted tempura, light and crispy eaten with sea salt.

Mari ordered the Tenzaru Shiro, this soba was made solely from the ground buckwheat grains, so her noodles were much lighter. Her noodles also came with an assortment of tempura.

Everything was delicious and it was nice to catch up with her.

Thank you for a great day and for lunch, Mari!

Sobakiri Masa
1-16-12 Utsubohonmachi
Nishi, Osaka
Phone: 06.6225.3030
Closed on Mondays
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11:30-14:00, 17:30-21:00
Sunday 11:30-14:00

faro d el poniente

The other day, I met up with Kazumi. She introduced me to her dentist, so now I plan to go to him instead of the one I've been going to, Kazumi's dentist has better rapport.

After our appointments, we decided to have some coffee then maybe dinner...

Instead of having coffee though, we did some of Kazumi's errands and ended up at a tapas bar near Yodoyabashi, Faro D el Poniente.

Choose daily tapas from their refrigerated cases, salads from another. And order hot items from their picture menus.

We started out with Banderilla...a slice of iwashi (sardine), cornichon, olive & sport pepper, salty & spicy...delicious.

Next, champiñones al ajillo...this came bubbling hot!

Mushrooms and slices of garlic soaking in bubbling olive oil, a little chili in there too.

Perfect with some sliced baguette.

Assorted tapas: (from left to right) fried squid with zucchini, fried olives with eggplant & red bell pepper, and crab salad.

I liked the fried olive one best.

Russian style potato salad...potato salad with tuna in it.

Tasty and sort of reminded me of something I've had in Hawaii.

Country style frittata, a fluffy omlette filled with potato, green beans, bits of chorizo...delicious!

A serving of cold rice salad, delicious and a great way to offset some of the oily foods.

Cinnamon sherbert for dessert.

This was unusual but delicious, cinnamon flavor and hints of citrus too.

Espresso to end.

We enjoyed all the items we chose, and it was nice chatting...total with a glass of wine and glass of sparkling wine, 6150 yen. Like most bars in Japan, they allow smoking, so this was the only part we didn't enjoy. (Thank you Kazumi!)

I told Satoshi about this place and he wants to check them out, so we'll be back.

Faro D el Poniente
4-3-1 Kitahama
Chuo, Osaka
Phone: 06.6223.2224
Closed on Mondays

wasteful

In 2008, our neighborhood convenience store closed down, which I wrote about here.

After they cleared away the building, it was turned into a parking lot.

Satoshi said that turning land into parking lots is a great way to "firm up" the soil.

So, most times while they wait for the land to "firm up" to build something else on top, they make temporary parking lots.

So...nearly 4 years later, I noticed that they were building something on the land...

Another convenience store...granted it was a different convenience store from the previous one, but still.

In Japan, I see a lot of construction, tearing down of buildings then rebuilding, sometimes they gut out the buildings too.

And sometimes there are really old buildings, that haven't been used in many years, just wasting away, waiting for someone to use them.

And while I realize it is work for construction workers to build and tear down these buildings, I think it is a waste of resources.

Do many shops in your town build things then tear it down soon after?

It's Friday here, I hope your weekend is a good one.

wasaizu

Located next to a fruit and vegetable stand is Wasaizu, a tiny restaurant. (Wasaizu literally means Japanese sized.)

Actually this restaurant and the fruit/veggies stand are related, family operated.

We've passed this place many times and always say we'll check them out, well, we finally did.

Satoshi chose their wagyu stamina set, this came with some rice, a salad, miso soup, a small dish of komatsuna (a kind of chinese cabbage), tsukemono (pickled veggies) and some fruit (banana & kumquats)...800 yen.

His main dish was thinly sliced wagyu sauteed with some mushrooms, carrots and other veggies.

He enjoyed it.

I ordered their yasai agebitashi set, this also came with the same sides like Satoshi's meal...800 yen.

Agebitashi means that the veggies are slightly fried then served in a sauce.

This reminded me of tempura without the batter.

There were all sorts of veggies (chinese yam, eggplant, kabocha, lotus root, eringi & green beans) topped with thinly sliced green onions and grated daikon (long white radish).

Light and delicious.

Except for them allowing smokers, we enjoyed their food, lots of vegetables and reasonable prices...we'll be back.

Wasaizu
6-4-46 Minoo
Minoo, Osaka
Phone: 072.725.6122

kanzashi

Well, I turned off the "prove you aren't a robot thingy" because I hate to have to "prove it" on other blogs and felt why should you have to on mine?!

Anyway...Satoshi recently brought back this sweet from Kochi, which is located in Shikoku.

It is called kanzashi and is made by Hamako. Apparently this sweet was created in 1972 for their Yosakoi festival and is the first one in Japan to be baked in foil.

Kanzashi is actually a decorative hair ornament. You can read more about it here.

The yellow cake is slightly favored with yuzu (citron) orange and is filled with a sweet white bean paste that has a slight cherry flavor.

On the outside, a picture of a kanzashi is stamped on it. A box of these also comes with a kanzashi lollipop.

Something different but delicious. (Thanks Satoshi!)