wedding

Saturday morning I got to meet up with Phil, his wife and a friend.

Yup, Phil got married!

His wife is so nice, and his friend so funny.

It was nice chatting with all of them and also catching up with Phil.

Phil was nice to give us some items from his wedding.

A couple of strawberry crunch chocolates.

And an orange cake...both heart shaped, of course!

According to the language of flowers, oranges mean "a bride's happiness"

And did you know that the symbol for weddings are oranges and the blossoms? I didn't.

According to the little note included with the Juchheim orange pound cake, when Zeus married Hera, he gave her some oranges and from that day on, oranges and its blossoms were considered symbols of weddings and the tradition is still upheld.

All the best Phil & R!

on a walk

Today we had sun! After a couple of grey and rainy days, it was nice to get out for a walk...except that the wind was super strong and icy!

After we tried the sausage with yuzu in it, I researched and found out it was made by Minoo Sausage.

I had seen it at a local supermarket, but when I went back to buy some, they had already sold out.

Fast forward to today, on my walk, I found it at a touristy shop along the trail to the Minoo Falls...800 yen (tax included).

I froze it and we'll eat it as pupu (appetizers) this winter.

Along the trail, I also found some yuzu...Todoromi yuzu is grown in the Minoo mountains.

1 kilo was 320 yen (tax included).

I was so happy to find some.

When I got home, I started prepping to make some yuzu marmalade.

And wouldn't you know, I ran out of sugar, so I ran out to the store and picked up some.

This year's marmalade is darker because I used brown sugar.

I still have a bottle that I made last year, and can't wait to try this year's batch.

Have a nice weekend!

happy thanksgiving

Sorry it's been quiet here, not much happening.

Well, the temps they took a dive and it is kinda fahreezing. The sun hasn't been around either so it has been really grey.

We don't really celebrate Thanksgiving here, in fact, Satoshi has to work late tonight, so I'll be having dinner alone.

I did make some glazed kabocha for dinner using this recipe.

I also made some Japanese cole slaw.

Later on today, I plan to pick up some grilled chicken from a yakitori shop in our shopping arcade, to be eaten with cranberry chutney.

It's the time of the year that I miss family and friends the most.

I hope you are spending your Thanksgiving with the ones you love.

I'm grateful for the good days (and the bad ones) and appreciate you being a part of all of it.

Enjoy the holidays!

meh

Saturday, after Satoshi's German class, we went back to Sakamoto to check out their fall foliage. The forecast was "migoro" meaning the peak of viewing.

Unfortunately with the warm days and sparse cool nights, the leaves have not changed much, in fact, most have just dried up and fallen. We even waited for dusk to see the light-up at Hiyoshi Shrine, but that was a bust also.

No trees that had reddish leaves to be lit up...

We did enjoy some yomogi mochi at Sankuro though.

Sunday, we headed over to Sanshikisaido to see their fall colors. It was pretty but a bit muted.

So we headed to see the fall colors on the trail to the Minoo Falls...major disappointment.

Barely any trees have changed and like in Sakamoto, most leaves have just dried up and fallen.

We cheered ourselves up by sharing a Minoh beer and a sausage that was filled with bits of yuzu.

The weather dude has been saying that Autumn will be longer...Satoshi is happy with this as it prolongs him suffering with the cold weather, me I'm ready for flurries.

Have a nice week!

carrot ginger miso soup

The past couple of days were kinda gloomy.

One day, it rained all.day.long.

Yesterday it was just cloudy, so I got out and about and went to pick up a few groceries.

As I was walking to the store, I was thinking of soup, but wanted some color too.

I made this soup up...carrot ginger miso soup.

Make some dashi (I used one of those "tea bag" types)

Add some carrots (cook until soft)

Add some ginger (grated)

Then turn off the heat add some miso and whizz with food processor.

This really hit the spot with the color and flavor.

I'm making this again.

We have a 3-day weekend but the weather is supposed to be kinda iffy, hope we get a chance to see some fall foliage.

Hope you have a nice weekend.

akakabu pickles

The other day at the market we came across akakabu (red turnips). If I'm not mistaken this variety is usually found in the Northern parts of Japan.

Satoshi likes these as tsukemono (pickles), so I bought one to try making some.

When I cut it, I was surprised by the light pink and white insides.

I used this recipe and doubled it. In place of the salt I instead used a seasoned salt (salt, rosemary, chili, parsley and oregano).

I put everything into a ziploc bag and let it sit in the refridge for a couple of hours.

I love the deep pinkish color.

We tried this with breakfast the next day and these passed the Satoshi test.

If I come across akakabu at the market again, I'm making this.

croissant

We tried a relatively new bakery called Croissant.

The owner/baker used to be the pastry chef at Epinard, which I've written about, here.

Most of the baked items use butter which I'm happy about because with the price of it getting higher, a lot of bakeries have switched to margarine...

I tried the pain au chocolat and egg danish, while Satoshi went with the curry pan and marron danish.

The egg danish was like a custard pie with a flaky puff pastry crust...love!

The pain au chocolat had a nice ratio of chocolate.

Satoshi enjoyed his choices too. The marron danish was impressive with large chestnuts on top.

I'm glad we finally got to try this place, every time I've gone past they weren't open.

We'll be back.

Croissant
6-1-21 Minoo
Minoo, Osaka
Phone: 072.721.9603
Hours: 10:00-17:00
Closed Wednesdays & Thursdays