Not by Bread Alone.....

Kamite Sister's Latin Dance Party

2010-03-18T19:44:00.001+09:00

Here are some pics of the event we attended the other evening. The Kamite Sisters organized this "dance party" for all their dance students to perform what they've learned. You can imagine the kids went bezerk with excitement. We added 2 princesses to our 6 (not so princessy offspring) & ended up with a van load of 8 excited kids taking turns singing their school anthems at the top of their lungs, starving for snackies & desperate to know the real question we all want to know in life "ARE WE THERE YEEEEEET?"

So yeah, we got there, & here's a few pics of how it went (stole some pics off of the Dancing Sister's blog, tx):

Hanging out in the dressing room, talking about important childhood issues no doubt.

Getting beautified!

Everyone including a super-dandy-coordinated-husband-of-friendliness-&-love learning some samba moves from the teachers.

A terribly excited Hunter watching everyone dance

Ryan & Nattie

Laner & Keith

Drinking ungodly amounts of juice for which they paid for dearly by doing the famous "I-gotta-go-pee-dance" & I practiced my old faithful dance better known as "how-many-kids-can-you-ferry-to-the-bathroom-in-an-hour".

Kids & their dance teachers. Some suspiciously tired looking smiles there. All in all it was a great memorable evening. And just for future reference if all 8 kids ask you if you if they can take off their shoes & socks in the van after a long sweaty day of dancing around......JUST SAY NO!

Am I serious.?.......course I am!

2010-03-16T22:28:00.001+09:00

I'm dedicating this one to a dear Chris-in-law. No doubt if you can tell me what this is on sight then you (like) me have a pure understanding at the simple intricacies that make the world go roun' n' roun'! What I'm talking 'bout of course, is good ol' fashion chicken cracklin'.

Now I'm not gonna beat around the bush here, there are plenty of people who would be totally grossed out by this but I'm gonna have to at least give it a shout. A friend of mine watching me de-skin chicken once told me that in China they chop chicken skins & deep fry them for snackies. Now, you know & I know in the back of our little kitchen brains that cracklin' is an actual dish people make & eat but the thought of actually eating chicken skin for the sake of chicken skin always leaves me feeling a little, how do you say......gross. But being the genius that I am (AKA, perpetual kitchen grazing munchie) tried & decided that it was indeed fantastic.

Now, why Chris? When we lived together & I'd be making chicken he'd weasle his way into the kitchen & beg me to make him a batch of these crunchies for him to snack on. Like seriously beg, in a whiny little way, and I of course would give in. (Model SIL, I know)

But anyway.......you gotta try it. There are only 3 rules here:

- Slice the skin into thin 1 cm strips (nothing worse than actually getting chewy fat)
- Put a little oil in the pan for starters, though most of the grease will come from the drippings
- Make sure your pan is not too hot & preferably in a cast iron skillet (to keep the heat at a regulated temp, I got me a tiny little one)
- Salt, serve & eat when they've just cooled enough to get that CRUNCH going!

So stone me, puritans if you must. But I gotta tell you, if you know someone who gripes & whines about "chicken fat", slip them a batch of these & then point your finger & laugh as they sit there munching away & you tell them what it is.

Go forth, brave cooks! Come on now, I know secretly that picture of those shiny, crispy, salt crystal covered babies look totally eatable.

Face care: Oatmeal & Almond scrub

2010-03-10T23:40:00.000+09:00

Well, if you know me I'm sure you saw this one coming. Having shamelessly tomboyed my way through the phase of my "girlyness" where you obsess about everything facial & beauty related I've just started to find some fun in making my own products in the kitchen. It would stand to reason if you're an aspiring cook with lots of ingredients in the kitchen that you'll find a lot of good ways to bash & mash things up to benefit your skin. Plus there's something very generic to making something from scratch that's useful & beautifying. So I may post more of these if you like or I may just get lost into my very own giant pile of dirty dishes and forget I have a face at all.

In any case I'm itching to share it, so here's how we roll. If you don't have a mortar & pestle like this (got it at Ikea) you can always use the Japanese type or blender even? Grab a tbsp or 2 of oatmeal & a few almonds. Bash it all up. If you want a face scrub leave it a little more coarse, if you want a face mask keep grinding it till it's powdery.

Now here' the part where you can add your liquid. I usually use milk but when my skin is really dry I use EV olive oil or grapeseed oil. Pour the liquid slowly cuz' it goes from goopy spread to runny difficult to use mess pretty quickly. If I u do add too much liquid & don't want to bother mashing up anymore oats, u can do what I always do & add sugar to thicken it up again.

So there you go. Wet your face & either use it as a scrub or leave on your face for a5-10 min as a mask. If you're using a mask console your children that you do not indeed have leprosy. Rinse off & finish your face off with some toner & moisturizer. You'll see that you're skin will be ridiculously soft & good looking.

And if you have any left over...don't forget to grab yourself an unsuspecting husband or wandering neighbor on the street & treat them to a good facial exfoliater. You may not want to exfoliate more than 2 times a week (of course it depends on your skin type) but too much of a good thing can leave you with skin stripped of natural oils and looking dull & dry. Ewww! Grosso!

So that's it for today, lovely followers. Hope you're making your "last soups" of the season before spring comes around.

Gaijin Friendly Hijiki Salad & Anchovy Dressing

2010-03-07T09:19:00.001+09:00

In each of my pregnancies I would more often than not turn up to be anemic & have fantastically dramatic kitchen/ofuro/jam-packed-train fainting spells so when it comes to hijiki it usually reminds me a little too much of being a substitute for iron supplements. Along with spinach & liver of course. I've only eaten it in the usual way simmered with thinly chopped abura-dofu, carrots, konyaku & soybeans.

I found this recipe in my "Harumi's Home Cooking" cookbook and finally tried it out. I think it's the perfect introduction to hijiki for anyone whose never tasted it & therapeutic for anyone who has bad memories of gritty smooshy black goop. It's so basic that when you think about it, all it really is comprised of is tossing a salad with hijiki. And the dressing is one that I'd definitely make for any other salad, thankfully all my kids love anchovies too. Here's the basic recipe:

10-20 grams of dried hijiki
a variety of vegitables, lettuce, celery, carrots, cucumbers & onions to taste

Anchovy Dressing:

10g anchovy fillets
2 tbsp sunflower/veg oil
1 tbsp wine vinegar
a little sugar (I put in a few pinches)
pepper
1 teaspoon soysauce

Soak the hijiki seaweed in warm water for about 10 min. Drain well and dry. Cut into short pieces if they are too long. Cut the vegetables into thin strips, soak them in cold water for 5 min. drain & pat dry.
Mince anchovy and mix it with the other ingredients for the dressing. Mix the hijiki and cut vegetables and put on a serving dish. Pour over the anchovy dressing just before eating.

That's all I got today....now, "ON TO THE THEATER!!!"

Crunchy Munchie!

2010-03-06T21:12:00.001+09:00

I'm not gonna get whiny about it or anything but seriously, if you ever feel like you're salad is just missing that "something" to make it something other than an obligatory food group, I'll tell you what I personally feel that something is. Ready?

All you need is CRUNCH!!!

Not kidding, if I had to choose between dressing & crunch. Close race, but I'd go for the crunch. I mean that really is what makes salad so boring, is the "samey-ness" of it all. Everything is sort of chewy and fiberous and before you know it you start feeling like the "Nom-nom-nom hamster". And if you're thinking, "well, veggies are crunchy, aren't they?", forget it, must be an oil filled crunchiness.

Isn't that just what the world needs more of? All we need is crunch.....and oil! Do you feeeeeeel me? (metaphorically)

And if you're gonna whine to me about how you have nothing in your kitchen that's crunchy. To that I say, "YOU LIE!!!". Check it out:

- Nuts & seeds like: pecans, almonds, cashews, walnuts, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds
(roast them up in a dry skillet till theu're just the tiniest brown, letm cool before chopping & serving)
- Croutons: use old bread, chop it/rip it, throw it in a bowl, drizzle a little EV olive oil, salt & dried spices, throwm' on some tinfoil in the grill or toaster & TADA!! Croutons!! And we can't leave out the mother of all Lebanese salads Fattoush with grilled/toasted day old pita or flat bread.
- Bacon: fry it & crumble it up....I'm telling you if you're in a kitchen crisis, there's almost NOTHING bacon won't fix. Or in a jiff I'm sure no one will squirm about commercial bacon bits.
- Bread crumbs: if you make Chicken Parmeasan or Penguin Chicken & have left over bread crumbs, throw them in a bowl
- Potato chips? SURELY without question! My DH has a special love for chips so I constantly & without question raid his stash for some extra crunch. The chips in the pic are those lovely spicy "karamucho" chips. But how good are tortilla chips too? Heck, I'm willing to try sembe or kakinotane.
- Don't forget the fried renkon chippies too.
- And we're not even wading into the "meats" territory because you can take any grilled, bbqed or fried meat or fish & top your salad with it and you're ready to rumble.

I mean it's really all a mind game, isn't it?. Because the truth is we'd probably all just rather down the bowl of crunch rather than eat our serving of salad....I literally make twice as much salad if I'm gonna add something like pecans & bacon to it.

Well, that's it for now. Hope you get inspired to ransack your pantry & dig out some salad worthy CRUNCH!!!!

On the horizon.....

2010-03-04T09:11:00.000+09:00

Moyashi Spring rolls
Fresh spring rolls
Pulao
Banana fritters in coconut batter
Macha ice cream
Nottingham coffee biscuits

Any suggestions of what I should tackle first?

Carrot Spice Muffins

2010-02-28T08:16:00.004+09:00

I started to feel like an impostor cook so yesterday I grabbed a cookbook & threw together these muffins for my kiddies. If you want an indication that your kids haven't had a home made baked snack in awhile observe how long they are willing to stand in front of the oven & count down the seconds till it's finished baking. Mine, stood there for 7 minutes counting it down......grim!

So, this recipe come from my reliable source Dorie Greenspan, I've even tagged all the recipes of hers that I've covered so far on this blog. They are generally WINNERS! So take heed. And here's the recipe for the muffins(changes I made in blue):

2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1/3 c light brown sugar (I only had brown sugar so I used a little less than 2/3 cup of sugar total)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 c flavorless oil, such as canola, safflower or corn
2 large eggs
3/4 whole milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 c shredded carrots
1/2 c shredded sweetened coconut (I didn't have these so I upped my carrots to 1 1/2 c)
1/3 c moist, plump currents or raisins
1/3 c pecans or walnuts, toasted, cooled & chopped

Center rack in the oven & preheat the oven to 375f (180c) grease 12 molds in a regular size muffin pan, or 6 jumbo muffin tins.

In a large bowl whisk together dry ingredients. In a large glass measuring cup of bowl whisk oil, eggs, milk & vanilla extract together until well combined. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients & with a whisk or rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don't worry about being thorough -- a few lumps are better than overmixing the batter. Stir in the carrots, coconuts, currants & nuts. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for about 20 min, or until a think knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from it's mold.
Note: These muffins are great warm but taste even better when they're given a little time to cool. Like many sweet spices the flavor intensifies with time. Best eaten the day they are made but if you keep them overnight, give them a toss into the oven for a few min, or split in the toaster.

And Goliath Said.......

2010-02-24T10:50:00.004+09:00

"Who Will fight Meeeeeeeee?!"

When I say that I am assaulted by this one on a regular basis, I am not kidding. His sister slept with a stuffed dog last night, he had a plastic power drill & hammer.
God save us all --- Everyone!

Of foodies & such!!

2010-02-17T11:11:00.008+09:00

Howdy ho! This weather has not been conducive to productivity, unless you count the work it takes to hunt down a fluffy blankie & make a warm drink to curl up on the couch & drink while watching old movies, so I've been putting off putting up something.

I've actually accumulated 5 new cookbooks in the last 2 month period & haven't even had time to go through them all.....just so many hours in the day & it's much to easy to just fly by the seat of your pants down the slippery slope of "daily bubble n' squeak" meals. I'd have to say about 99% of my cooking is just off the top of my head. Which seems a lot less like the magical improv & more & more like the bits of splintered broomstick that attack Mikey Mouse after he hacked them to death with the axe.

Well, here are some pics anyway of the little nibbles that did inspire me. Hope they make your rumbly in your tumbly this fine freezing day.

Heh....you got me, I'm a sellout. Had me a little snackie at the good old "bucks". I've always been a sucker for cinnamon rolls.
My offspring just about turned into collective "Popeyes" after eating this sauted spinach, an ungodly amount. I dare you, put this before a spinach hating whiner & see if they don't change their mind. The secret I will share: crumbled bacon, bacon drippings mixed with melted butter to saute it in. Salt & pepper. And if you don't live with a shroom hater like I do (cough-cough) then throw in a few of those too. Turn off the heat BEFORE it's fully wilted.

This was the one recipe I DID follow. I wanted to make a Chocolate mousse for a handsome French friend of ours who broke his poor arm. I found this recipe on the blog of the master of dessert, David Lebovitz. And he took to following none other than Julia Child's recipe for French Chocolate mousse, lemmie just say.......Oh-mai-Kyaaaaaaaaa! I loved it. Wish I used even darker chocolate though. This also turned out to be my excuse of a Valentines snackie for my DH. (I'm not much for Valentines Hooplah)
Oh, Brother! Double WOW!! My DH came home with these on Valentines day. He tried to pass it off as something he got for me. (heh, that lasted for about 5 seconds) A coworker of his gave them to him. When I saw the box & the perfect little squares I had a sneaking little suspicion that I was gonna be in taste bud Nirvana.
Kyaaaaaaa! There was one person that I wanted to share this with & that would be you, Elaina!

These little matcha dust covered matcha truffles turned out to be melty, bitter & sweet chunks of cacao butter induced love! In the middle of each of these squares were some little crunchy bits of popped mugi, and a plump azuki bean. I even lost my mind & cut up one into little bits & sprinkled it onto some Lady Borden Vanilla Ice Cream dancing on my tippie toes in my imaginary twinkly slippers. DOUBLE WIN!!!

Well, that's it fellas. I'm sorry if this blog has been a little dry & pathetic of late. Hope you'll forgive me. I'm on the threshhold of sending Mr. Travster to school & on the doorstep of my 4 year old Lefty Carmichael's insatiable desire to be educated at every possible opportunity. (How do you turn away a little girl crying over not being able to complete writing the alphabet cuz' she needs your "heeeeeeelp" when you're making dinner? Or begging you to give her a sponge & cleaning supplied so she can clean the toilet)

Not to mention my 2 year old is acting up again something awful. His great desire to be a somewhat deranged "tool weilding" meanie is really too much to bear at times. Do you remember that Richard Scary Dictionary with the little kitten named "Babykins" who walks around with a wrench or hammer all day long terrorizing his family.........this is the face of he!!

Yeah.....you can just tell from looking at him that he's a total bluffing evil door. So till I get things under a bit more control........Hope I'll be seeing you around these parts!

Sing with me now......"All is Vaaaaaniiiiityyyyyy"

2010-02-10T09:23:00.003+09:00

Spring is around the corner.

Shed the drab & get on with the color.

-- In case you're wondering....I never went through that phase as a teenager where I slathered on make up of many colors so I'm comin' into my own now!!

Anyone into the nitty gritty. It's light green on the inner eye, light blue on the outer, liquid black liner along the lash line covered by a dark mossy green shadow. Light blue on the bottom. White on the upper brow.

Chicken Katsu

2010-02-09T08:55:00.003+09:00

Now now, don't go stoning me....I'm not going to tell you how to make chicken katsu. But I have to say that the gigantic-ness of my success in making it last night was really just too good to not at least post a picture of.

I know it's a simple meal, I know it's deep fried, I know that people slather, tonkatsu sauce, mayo & what have you all over it but frankly I just didn't have the energy to be healthy. OK?

So what am I saying about chicken katsu? Well probably nothing you don't know but I'll say it anyway:

- Soak your chicken in a mixture of sake, shoyu & mirin for at least 2 hours ( I soaked mine for 8)

- Go through the pain of coating with FLOUR before egg & breadcrumbs. And if you want to practice fully letting your "control-freakish-ness" go, let your 2 & 4 year olds "help" you do this.

- SET your coated chicken for an hour or more in the fridge to let the crumbs adhere to the egg wash (ewww......I hate saying that, dreadful pictures arise) But this you MUST do! It'll keep the crust stuck beautifully to the chicken through the whole frying, handling, & cutting process.

And lastly of course........

KARASHI, or BUST!!!

Thank you my friends!!

Ol' Harry Rock Cakes: English Teatime Recipes

2010-01-31T14:10:00.008+09:00

Made these cute little Rock Cakes/Scones today they're my idea of a perfect Teatime accompaniment. I've found myself with a new taste for candied orange rind so these little babies hit the spot. Here's the recipe as I used it. The actual recipe uses weight for the measurements which, if you have a kitchen scale, is great. I personally prefer it. But I just changed it all to cups. I've only changed a few things like a little wholewheat flour for texture, shortening along with the butter, & cut the sugar back by 1/2.

The little "explain" about the name says:

"These traditional roughly-formed "rock-like" buns are named after the isolated chalk stacks near Studland on the Dorset coast."

(recipe called for 2 c "self raising flour" so I just made up the difference with salt & leavening agents)
1 3/4 c all purpose & 1/4 c whole wheat
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt)
1/2 tsp mixed spice (I just sorta improvised using nutmeg/clove/ginger)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c butter (the recipe measured it in weight which was 115g, so I had about 1/4 of that be shortening)
1/2 c light brown sugar (recipe called for demerara sugar/raw cane)

1/2 c mixed dried fruit (suggests: currents, sultanas, mixed peel, glace cherries etc..) I used candied orange peel & cranberries
grated rind of 1/2 lemon
1 medium egg
2 tbsp milk

Put flour, salt baking powder/soda, spices in bowl, rub butter into dry ingr till mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in sugar, mixewd dried friut & lemon rind. Add egg & milk & combine with dry to from a crumbly dough (don't worry it'll seem too dry at first) Form into 10-12 rough heaps (I love rustic cooking, it's makes us poor persons who have no time to cook seem incredibly cool) on GREASED baking tray. Bake for 20 min in 180c oven till lightly browned. Cool on baking tray for 5 minutes before moving to wire rack till cool. Best eaten on the day. But they also freeze well.

Well, friends if you've gotten this far then pray tell me. Whats new about this post?

If you've figured it out...you can thank my brah, Mas! He is the man & I am the proverbial NEWB!

Honest to God, if you come to my blog to harass me about photography or talk numbers & tactical photo-taking I shall stuff a scone in your mouth & tell you that I haven't time for such nonsense. Then of course secretly be on my itouch searching "what means ISO?" on google.

Wish me luck w/ my, as yet unnamed, sleek black baby & if you got any friendly advice just remember, if knew as much about cooking as I do about cameras I'd be blogging to you now about my exploits in scrambled egg making.

So, till you ring my doorbell for a free dinner hand out & lecture on my phototaking blunders-- hope you have a good one.

Northamptonshire Seed Cake: English Teatime Cakes

2010-01-27T17:26:00.004+09:00

My Good Friend Mr. McNair got me a few new cookbooks for my birthday. Two of these were cute little English cookbooks, one called: Traditional Puddings the other is English Teatime Recipes (Traditonal Cakes from around the Shires)

They're both done with the cutest little water color paintings on each page & recipes with names like: Kentish Cob-nut Cake, Yorkshire Sticky Parkins. I was so tickled with these downright homey sounding little treats. So I finally got around to making one the other day. It's so easy you gotta try it. The combination of caraway seeds & freshly ground nutmeg was just too good. Here's the recipe if you wanna try it. It says:

"A plain cake flavored with nutmeg & caraway seeds, traditionally served at sheep shearing time."

Northamptonshire Seed Cake:

- 8 oz butter (it's 230 g. of butter but one 200g block is fine. 1 cup)
- 8 oz sugar (about 1 cup, but it's waaaay to much so I cut it down to 1/2 a cup)
- 4 eggs
- 8 oz flour (230 g. flour, or 2 cups of flour)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tsp caraway seeds

Set oven to 350F (180c) Grease a 8 inch round cake tin. Cream butter & sugar & butter in a bowl till light & fluffy. Place eggs in a bowl & set over a saucepan of hot water & whisk until fluffy, whisk into the butter mixture. Sift the flour, b. powder together & nutmeg & fold into the egg/butter mixture. Add caraway seeds & combine well. Turn into the prepared tin & smooth over the top. Bake for 1 1/2 hr covering the top with a piece of kitchen foil if it appears to be browning too quickly. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack.

Renkon Chips

2010-01-22T07:51:00.003+09:00

Ooooh-la-la. Renkon is very much one of my favorite little veggie treats. I put up one recipe for Japanese simmered renkon ages ago. But recently I tried making renkon chips & it was so easy I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't try it sooner. Tooo easy, gotsa try it!

Step 1) Fill a pan with about 1/2 inch of frying oil & heat
Step 2) Using a mandolin (the straight edge grater thingie) grate off a peeled renkon straight into the hot oil. Spread them out so they brown evenly.
Step 3) Using a pair of cooking hashi, pullm out onto a paper towel lined dish when they're just starting to get golden. (in about 1-1 1/2 min) A little bonus is you won't have to flipm when frying, they're so thin they'll fry up nicely.
Step 4) Salt & munch the num nums!

And if you're a OCD like me about some things cooking related. Go crazy loading them onto your single hashi as you pullm' out of the oil till you have a nice little row of fried "wagon wheels" (as my daddyo would say).

AND THAT'S IT.

Now, I'm not kidding when I say that the first time I made these I did about 4 massive renkon pieces and had a huge bowl full of chips that got COMPLETELY devoured at the dinner table. With requests to make more for snack and the approving "smirky smirk whilst hogging the last of the bowl" from my DH.

Some ideas of how you can incorporate them:
- Add to salad for crunch
- Add it onto your tower of tofu toppings
- Sprinkle them on your hot udon
- They're a totally cute garnish for a fancy dinner dish.

Well, that's all I can think of for now......
Go forth & deep fry!

Mad for Breakfast

2010-01-21T06:37:00.003+09:00

If I were to open a restraunt or cafe it would be a breakfast joint. My DH doesn't seem to think that making an "all day breakfast" restaurant would really fly. Esp here in Japan.

This here is a breakfast that I made in a whirlwind. I don't often wake up with the urge to make something "big" but this day was different. I ran down to the kitchen & made a pretty classic whirlwind mess in the kitchen. Best breakfast creations for me have been made at breakneck speed.

The buscuits were "wing-ed" or "wung"?? I used shortening & a little butter & loved the flaky but buttery texture. Added tbsp of poppy seeds & roughly chopped cranberries.

Ohh....also, wanna ask you what are your thoughts on "apples n'onions"? If you've read the "Little House on the Prairie" books you couldn't help but be affected by the Pioneer Midwestern cooking style. I know I have, things like cornmeal, bacon & maple syrup just make me happy in my soul.

Well, the apples n'onions are just simply sauted in a cast iron skillet with butter on a low heat till they're caramelizing. Added some chopped pecans & salt/pepper. It has the sweet & savory hint of a reminder of stuffing.

Hoping to make tonjiru before the weather is too warm for it. See you at my place, bring a bowl.

MORE PICTURES: Filler Inners......just because

2010-01-17T12:56:00.007+09:00

It's not that I don't want to tell you about my terribly routine days, as I'm sure you're dying to hear all about it, but as mother's (I've heard) often do, I've become inundated with everything "offspring" related. Everything from my 4 yr old's new found spiritual contemplations "Daddy, did God make himself??", to my 6 year old's increasingly alarming experimental behavior "What? I just thought if I stood on the laundry basket then hung over the edge of the balcony that I could see the kids come home from school". Not to mention I'm now juggling 4 days of kids attending school & 2 days of home-school. (Only leaving 1 day to Napoleon-ish drunken weeping regarding lost worlds & other dribble )

All that aside, the desire to hibernate has overtaken me & most of my kitchen related activity has been sparse & half-baked. I'm even drinking my coffee black now cuz' I just can't be bothered with all the extra add-on's. It's fantastic really.

Does that mean I'm packing up shop & moving on to elementary knitting? Hardly! I swear if you give me a partridge & a pear tree (or either, as you see fit) I'll spring to life again & scheme a mighty scheme to make wine poached pears & lemon, laurel & rosemary stuffed partridge baked in a parmasean bread dough crust. See.....it don't take much, I'm inspired already!

So, here are some more December pictures, in case you're bored tonight. Ciao for now! Gimmie a shout, all you silent foodie fans....I know you're hungry. Come by & bring something to add to dinner. Till then, observe more of my DECEMBER:

I spent Christmas dinner recooping. NEXT YEAR--- Elaina & Chala make dinner. So let it be written......Turkey & potato fritatta with micro-arugula & feta salad. (3nd best thing about Christmas left overs)2nd best thing about Christmas left overs: massive amounts of left over whip cream to slather on pretty much everything you come in contact with. In this case Tripple berry galette.
1st place for Christmas left over bonus. Chilli Turkey & bean soup with garlic toast fried crisp with turkey drippings for dipping.
Awww......one more shot of the turkey, if you please. If you make this for me, we may end up with a case of elopement, go ahead I dare you.

Cute turkey sanwich in potato buscuit, not a bad little lunchie-munchie. Kids love it.
about 4 gallons of brine for 2 turkeys for my pals at Noda. Cooked one in a convection oven & one in my electric oven. If you can believe it, the one in the electric was the winner of the night as far as being succlently juicy. Cracked & hauled all the kids to a breakfast buffet at Coco's. (if you didn't know already, I'm really not a fan of "tabehodais" at all)yeeeeeaah, see?
But I have to hand it to them, the crossants were fresh, flakey & buttery.

My sweetest 4 year old, gave me a wonderful break when she declared for her birthday "You know Mom, you don't have to decorate my cake with a picture, as long as it's a strawberry shortcake, it's OK" That was so great, that I'm not even slightly ashamed to say this was my very first "typical Japanese" strawberry shortcake. I could barely eat one small piece. Good God! Sorry, this is NOT the cake for me.

Not the best pic, but I totally "winged it" for Mr. McNair's birthday. He wanted a "cream-based" pie. So I made this: "White chocolate, egg-nog spiked pie, with whipped cream & caramel sauce"
I was pretty tickled with the result. The white choco doubled the creaminess of an already lush custard pie with both fresh vanilla beans & freshly grated nutmeg & cloves, the alcohol was brandy & rum, wanted to give it enough of a taste.

That's it for pics, ppl. HUGS & LOVE, eat hearty!

Christmas Day pics 2#

2010-01-09T07:49:00.006+09:00

Happy 2010 to youes!

I've been off my computer for awhile now & been busy with "winter break" and all it entails. If you have kids you know this means that at the end of it all I can say with St. Paul the appostle, "And though I bestow all my time to go ice-skating, visiting, sleepover-ing, kite-flying, arcade gaming, stay up late making obentos & special snackies, ----- and have not done even ONE item of laundry or cleaning ------ I am nothing short of a large pile of denial.

And just for good measure I'll have you know that I have pronounced my good friend & uber-huge-footed friend Mark to be a regular "saver of my bakery"!! My DH & I had 48 hours of child free hanging out. Grabbed a hotel room in our old haunts and had a fabulous time doing as little as humanly possible.

We came home to a pristinly clean house & only one child with a self-inflicted black eye..."WHO? ME??"

Yeah, you know it.

So anyway, great times. But now I'm getting back into the game! And if you must know, I'm checking out my newly acquired massivonious of an ass the size of a small prefecture and alarmed -- not at the size of it.....but the fact that I'm instead focusing on the fact that there must be people who find big butts attractive.......right? Sadly the only thing that ever motivated me to exercise in life has been the proscpect of grunting forth spawn otherwise I counted upon my alien-like metabolism to take care of the rest. Gotta get some answers!

Well, lets do those pics already, Huh? Can't promise when I'll actually get around to posting about food again. So love & hugs to you till next time. Ciao!

Notice I was not invited to the party of pretty ladies pictures. I was excommed for my habitual foolish faces to the kitchen forever!
Now that's a Purrty Mama!

Waitin' for prezzies after one too many tootsie rolls for one child apparently.
Girls getting a typing game from Auntie Nina!
Ban IS the man!
Pictionary is SERIOUS business and the persons you want on your team are Nina & Mas!
Ah, yes I did some cooking too!

To Christmas & Back again.....

2009-12-30T15:56:00.000+09:00

Everyone's blogs are viral with pictures of Christmas so I thought I ought to get in the act. My whole family (minus one Krumping brother) came to visit and when I was handed a slew of photos on my hard drive at the end of it all. I had to vow to a) never post another picture taken with my camera & b) get myself a decent camera.

It's a wonder you've looked at any of these photos of food. It's akin to someone making a really really BAAAAD movie trailer and expecting anyone to be interested in watching the movie.

Last night I made 2 turkeys, gravy & stuffing for my friends in Noda....was definitely feeling under the weather & am now wrapped in blankies drinking turkey soup to nurse me back to sanity. (Not likely)

Well....here are some pics. I'll probably put up a few batches I'm just too fond of the photography & camera. Food pics first, family next!

Stuffing it with......stuff!! Can you see the slab of butter under his skin?
seducing my sisters' taste buds with tomato, micro arugula, EV olive oil, balsamico & flur de sel. They will never be the same!!
The 2nd stage of peppermint meringues.Fruity mess for my Rustic excuse of a gallette!But that buttery crust was a dream, baby!! Aww---ka-POW!!!
molasses spice cookies, peanutbutter cookies, & iced cardamom sugar cookies

That's it for now. Gotta go & be sick now, catch you later!

Eggnog Latte.....and that's what it's all about.

2009-12-23T10:30:00.004+09:00

The best thing about hosting an eggnog/cookie party for all your friends & their kiddos is.......
Eggnog latte in the morning, when all your kids are coming off of their cookie sugar high. This was premium eggnogg folksies. I'm not trying to brag here but seriously the custard was perfect in it's own right with vanilla beans speckling it with it's stamp of approval. I finally got my hands on nutmeg seeds to grate directly onto each portion. And a certain smart guest showed up and plunked down a tumbler on my kitchen counter when he walked in the door. "Merry Christmas, would you mind if I took some home with me?"

Needless to say, Eggnog was spilled, cookies were munched, prezzies were exchanged & it was a great noisy time!

I finally played around with icing sugar & did some of my cardamom sugar cookies with deco. I quickly found that I have the patience of a squirrel on Red Bull and raced through them uncerimoniously. Maybe I'll have the kids do them next year.
Hunter was trying to use the ice-cream scoop to scoop out my last bit of sanity.
Ah....Bruschetta for my husband who did indeed let me take off to Chiba. What a swell fellow he is. But then he's the one who got a plateful of these babies on his desk. I made these of prosciutto, tomatoes, baby arugula, EV olive oil, balsamico vinegar & grey sea salt.

Hope your Christmas cooking is turning out.......and remember when you're in a jam.......BUTTER WILL FIX IT!!

PS. Since I know this is coming, just wanna say, if you call me on Christmas with a foodie question........pretend like you called me to say Merry Christmas first & I'll be happy to help in whatever way I can.

I'm Alive.....again.......

2009-12-18T09:23:00.003+09:00

Somehow I was under the mistaken impression that celebrating my recovery from the H1N1 meant that I had gotten it......but NO!! It just meant that I was so exhausted from my kids being up all hours of the night for 2 weeks that I thought I had it & consequently got ridiculously sick after drinking 2 delicious hot buttered rum drinks at midday. (which BTW made for a very cheerful sedated day) so..........NOW, I'm better and thanks to my terribly capable & good looking husband I got a day & 1/2 off to go visit w/ my fam & silly sisters in Chiba (aka, home sweet home). Where I completed my Christmas cooking shopping with, molasses, fresh cardamom, poppy seeds, cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, and of course a huge bar of white chocolate for cookies.

Thanks to a viewing of "Julia & Julie" I'm trying to inject some inspiration into my Christmas cooking. ("Get the AED out.......CLEAR.......Zaaaaap!! I'm getting nothing.......turn it up to 400w, CLEAR...................ZZZZAAAP!!"). I'm all jacked up on double shots of espresso in my coffee so today I'm gonna tackle Christmas cookies & menus for Christmas dinner & the two turkeys & stuffing I'm putting together for friends who are mourning the loss of their oven.

Here's a few pics from Chiba.

It's tiring being the sister of a actor, those damn paparazzi can find you anywhere.
There they were stalking out the Uchibo line.

Amy getting heavy handed with'm. The price we pay for fame!! Sigh!

Chala needs some Christmas cheer.
Midnight Cowboy hamburger at Village Vanguard in Parco.........I'm making a plug for them. Best darn burgers in Chiba!

Hot Buttered Rum!!

2009-12-10T15:42:00.005+09:00

Yes, it's true!! I tried it & I did like it. And as you can see I didn't even have the decency to wait till happy hour. And why? Because when all your kids are over the dreaded flu of flus, & finished their 1st month of school....EVERY hour is happy hour!!

Here's a recap of the recipe:

Heat glass with hot water
3 heaping tsp of light brown sugar
Dash of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg
2 oz (a shot) of golden rum
top with hot water
1 pat (tbsp) butter

Stir &........Enjoy!!

For pre-made "sugar & spice butter" for 10-12 drinks worth
1 stick (1 c) butter
2 c light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
Dash of salt

mix till butter is softened & ingr. combined chill in freezer till needed to top drinks. Also great for topping toast/french toast etc....

Please be kind & if you please rate/subscribe/comment on my YouTube channel. And if you have a Christmas recipe request I'll do my best to buy yet MORE butter and demonstrate how to turn every recipe into a sucess. Nya ha ha!!!

Though next up will be some mulled wine or glogg, soon as I can get some good cheap wine!

FINALLY.....An EGGNOG recipe!!!

2009-12-08T16:42:00.000+09:00

I finally wanted to get around to posting a eggnog recipe for you. Mind you when I make this I really sort of "wing-ding" it because I feel that I can do no wrong when I put a ton of whip cream & rum into something & all mistakes will be forgiven when friends are walking around with nog-stashes & cookie crumbs on their sweaters.

But seriously.....I covered a few of the basic highlights & concepts of eggnog that I like to stick to, in a noggie post 2 years back.

But for anyone who wants an actual recipe this is as close as we'll get. I wanted to make some & take some pics but I fear that'll have to wait till later on as if I break out the cookies & nog now there'll be no stopping me.

So here we go:

4 cups of milk
1/4 c of cornstarch
1/2 c sugar
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract or (if you can 1/2 a vanilla pod's seeds scraped out)

1 cup of light rum (of course if you'd like more.......)
4 egg whites
2 cups whipped cream
1/3 c sugar
1/2 tsp (more or less) of nutmeg

Now listen up & remember the cardinal rule about eggnog is this:

As long as you put enough rum in no one will remember your eggnog sucked. Honestly, have you ever heard someone complain about eggnog being bad?

If you're acquainted with custard at all you'll get how to put together the first 5 ingr. with no trouble. There are a few standard custard methods (the traditional method of course, doens't use any cornstarch at all) I can't stand a curdled eggish mess so I usually stick with the cornstarch method.

First put aside the egg yolks in a medium size bowl & mix'm together. Next mix the sugar & cornstarch in a saucepan & mix in the milk. Stir on med/low heat till it start to bubble & simmer. Mix for about 1 minute & then swiftly (to avoid, again, egg curdled horrific mess) pour in about 1/2 or more of the mixture into the egg yolks whisking till blended then pour it back into the saucepan & bring back to a boil & simmer for another minute till thickened. If you want your nog NOW, place your saucepan into a bath of icewater & mix it till cooled then throw it into the freezer to cool quick (don't forget about it) while you're doing the rest. Or just cover with clear wrap (flush against the custard to stop a icky skin from forming, ewww) & put it in the fridge till you need it. It'll keep for at least 24 hrs.

Now for the fluff....remember if you're parinoid of raw eggs or you're wanting to make this the night before you probably don't want to have whipped egg whites sitting in your eggnog but if you're wanting a real creamy eggnog then I stand by this method. Beat the egg whites till stiff & whip the cream up adding sugar accordingly. Now pull out your custard & add the rum to it. Mixing thoroughly (it'll tend to settle to the bottom if you're not careful to mix as you pour. Fold in your egg whites then your cream. (the egg whites will deflate a bit but will lighten up the nog enough to take in the whipped cream without deflated completely)

Top with nutmeg & serve with cookies galore. I'd be going for something with extra spice like, 4 spice cookies or cardamom sugar cookies.

Birthday Ban!

2009-12-06T11:04:00.001+09:00

Belated & I can't promise (or don't want to) that I'll put up all pictures of birthday cakes (since some had fantastically "sell out" & "doomed for failure" themes like "Star Wars" etc...) but this one was too cute. Hunter's 2nd Birthday cake. A Kiki & Lala themed florescent cake of love!

My ultra-techincially profound way of decorating cake. AKA, slap it on baby!!

Busy mom's favorite cop out, wash charaters & smoosh them into icing.

Equals......Super duper happy little birthday boy!! TADA!!!!

Experimental video! --- FEEEDBACK please! :)

2009-12-05T21:01:00.004+09:00

Hey there friends. Been a little while. I'm still recovering from a cold, computer adapter fail moment, H1N1 sick kids & other such excuse making. Soooo, to make for it though really I'm still cringing from viewing this......here's a little video I made a while ago. I hope you'll forgive my humble stumble bumble attempt. I know I'm talking non-sense & looking at it now it's not as clear as I wanted (maybe I'll give it a thought before I start) . Plus I have no video editing program so that's something I wanna figure out too. Any suggestions? It's something I wanted to do & hope it'll at least make you smirk. Want to make another one soon. Any advice, tips & love coming my way is great.

Preempting your Thanksgiving L.O. problem

2009-11-24T22:21:00.000+09:00

Yummola-gamola!! Hope you all are having a good winter day & if you celebrate Thanksgiving or not, I'm sure a gratitude attitude will certainly make you feel more toasty than thinking about your ofuro drain hair clogging problem. Grossanization!

So, as I've said before I never really "did" Thanksgiving mainly because it seemed like another feast so close to Christmas -- which inevitably turns out to be the one that gets the biggest turn out. But this year I had the opportunity to wing one in style Simple friendly & kind for the friendly "man friends" of ours who brought forth a 13 lb (6 kg) turkey. And for anyone who's interested (.....or not) Here's what I did for our simple standard Thanksgiving dinner:

- Brined Turkey in apple/brown sugar/clove brine
- Baked the stuffed turkey (not my fav but don't have enough room in the oven for seperate stuffing)
- Cranberry sauce (by a miracle, tx Mark, and ONE'S MALL, for anyone who lives in Chiba)
- Gravy
- Mega cream potatoes (1 c of cream & 1 of butter, ewww but delish)
- Salad with nuts galore
- Whiskey caramelized carrots
- cornbread (last minute in the oven while the turkey set for 20 min)
- For desert Big Bill's Carrot cake and blueberry ice-cream (the biggest cheat of the day, mixing mashed frozen blueberries with storebought ice-cream. (I'm lazy --- sue me!)

Now as for left overs. I of course made a good gallon or so of turkey stock. And if you don't make even the simplest of stock with your left over turkey or chicken you deserve a spanking of spankings & for me to then confiscate your bones....that is to say -- the bones of your bird! MAKE YE STOCK!!

Anyway, I turned 1/2 of that stock into a simple turkey & kidney bean soup for the next night. The other 1/2 is stashed away in my freezer for later.

But I decided to try to make something yummy with the left over mashed potatoes. I don't know about you but I grow pretty fickle of mashed potatoes roughly 1 hr after they're mashed. (I know, I'm cold) So to make it short I found this recipe for Potato Biscuits on All recipes and slapped them together easily for lunch. (even spared 2 rashers of bacon for good measure)

Too lazy to shape them I just spooned them on the tray & baked. They were light, fluffy & crisp on the outside. Should've added some cheese but didn't think to. Next time. I do recommend these if you're stuck on what to do with the L.O. potatoes.

Next you'll think I'm coo-coo but I took what was left off the bone of the turkey giblet & neck bone (what is that called?) and shredded it up.

Then I threw together a fritatta of :

- 6 eggs, whipped with 1/2 c of milk
- 1 cup or so of stuffing & left over cornbread broken up
- a handful or so of cheese.
- sprigs of parsley

Fried up the stuffing & turkey, poured the egg & sprinkled the cheese & parsley along with salt & pepper. Covered & cooked for about 15 min or till pretty firm looking then flipped it over onto a plate. And this is it! Wasn't bad at all. Though the occasional dried cranberry was a little disconcertingly sweet. More on fritattas & Tortas another time. But as it so happens I gotta go to beddy bye! Lemmie know what you made for Thanksgiving!

Contemplating cookies & getting out Bruce the manly mixer for possible cookie giveaways!!

Boys will be.....

2009-11-22T14:21:00.002+09:00

Apparently swings are just not interesting enough if you were to merely swing on them. A more manly approach....

pretending to fall off swing
Crashing into the other guy till he falls off swing
Pretending to surf/skateboard/snowboard/be a jedi on swing
Have as little body contact with swing as possible
Join the circus because of cultivated swing styles

Boys will be....and that's why I love them

Alas alas......

2009-11-21T14:40:00.004+09:00

Hi there friendly friends!

I desperately wish I had something yummy & funky to post but as you can see I'm feeling a little under the weather as far as cooking goes. Now I know I shouldn't be getting all dramatic but I'm just feeling a little bit like Napoleon, looking at the little bit of culinary world that I have conquered & now I'm sitting on my heels drinking cheap box wine weeping bitter tears that there are NO new worlds & alas I must despair and die with my cooking laurel hanging off my left foot.

I dislike people saying I cook well, or that they are intimidated by my cooking. If I cook for you will you watch me doing it the wrong way & not say anything? Will you show me a faster way or yummier way?

There are so many things I don't know how to do I feel like I'm doing a mediocre job of imitating a cook. I made a thanksgiving dinner on the request of some hungry dude friends who supplied the turkey & with all it's good fun at the end of the long day of cooking, I found that it was all too smooth & without incident. There wasn't the least bit of thrill to be had in putting together all the components & as spoiled as it sounds I really did wish that each year's Holiday dinner called for a different theme or country's cuisine.

Am I being a doofus? Probably. I've been listening to podcasts about French cooking basics, which as all good things go, it seems the French set the standard for excelence. Through all the good things I'm learning I'm also getting an itch to try so many things I can't for lack of ingrdiants and kitchen ware.

I foresee the winter foodies coming upon me and all the usual goodies & goodness & the thing that I realized I'm not looking forward to is the fact that everyone wants to be rocked in the gentle arms of nastogia eating their favorites! And I end up making the same thing I've made every year. People don't want something new on their holidays, they want MEMORIES!!

Sigh, Oh that there was a whole goose, duck, pheasant (hint hint!!), or side of ham to stress about & discover.

Anyone have any good ideas for holiday goodness? I know how silly it is to insist I've done it all. Maybe I should solicit recipes and vow to try as many as I can. I'm esp. interested in soups, Christmas drinks, cookies, main meat courses, etc...

More cheerful days ahead. With 6 ltrs of chicken & turkey stock in my freezer, how can I go wrong?

PS. If it gets too cold drop by & we'll hunkerdown on the couch with some good chicken soup or mulled wine! Doors always open a crack!

Caramel Pumpkin Pie

2009-11-14T22:50:00.001+09:00

I promise to not do any more caramel after this but I had to give you this recipe in time for you Thanksgiving cooks.

This pie has a great way of making caramel that I think you "classroom scientific" type cooks will find fun. It involves smoking sugar in a pan & other such questionable behavior. But all in all quite interesting. Remember when they'd tell you that white sugar was brown sugar burnt? Well, caramel, apparently is white sugar burnt....and, gosh darn it.....somehow it's brown again. So, we're all good!

And the result is of course fantastic. The caramel will give your pie a really rich dark color (if you make your caramel right). And served at room temp with ice-cream. It was fantissimo! I'd say it's probably for a more grown up audience, esp if you let the caramel darken enough. I served it to my grandparents & was slightly embarrassed when Miss 2# announced, "Is that Rum? I knew I recognized the taste". heh!!

I've left the recipe in it's entirety as it's something you want to read through before you start.

You can also find my pie crust recipe here. Have fun!! And lemmie know what you're making for Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to my unique Thanksgiving & contemplating what to make that won't involve baking anything other than the turkey in the last 4 hours before dinner. Any ideas?

Caramel Pumpkin Pie

1 9 inch single pie crust Partially baked & cooled

1 c sugar
3/4 c heavy cream
2 tbsp dark rum or cognac
2 tbsp unsalted butter cut into 4 pieces
1 c pumpkin puree
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
pinch of nutmeg and allspice
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Getting ready:
Center rack in oven & preheat the oven to 350 f (175 c)

Sprinkley 1/2 c sugar evenly over the bottom of a large nonstick skillet. Place the skillet over medium heat & staying close cook until the sugar melts & starts to color. Once you see a little color gently swirl till it turns deep amber -- almost mahogany. The sugar will bubble up & foam & start to smoke. It's very dramatic & might make you think you've gone too far, but you want a dark (though not burned black) color; the darker the sugar the fuller the flavor. When the bubble s have gone from foamy to big & fat, you will probably have reached the right color. To check, drop a bit of the caramelized sugar on a white plate.

Lower the heat to medium, stand back & pour the cream into the skillet. The sugar will bubble & hiss &, if the cream was cold may even clump. Just continue to cook, stirring, and it will even out. Add the rum & butter & cook just until the caramel is smooth. Pour the caramel into a heatproof bowl or pitcher & cool for about 15 min.

Working with a whisk in a large bowl, beat the pumpkin to break it up & smooth it. Add the remaining 1/2 c of sugar & beat to blend. Whisk in the spices, salt, vanilla & eggs. beating until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the caramel. Rap the bowl against the counter a few times to de-bubble the filling then pour into the crust.

Bake for 45-50 min, or until the filling is puffed and set -- tap the pan gently and the filling won't giggle. A think knife inserted into the center of the pie will come out clean. It will also leave a gash in the filling but you'll be covering it with whipped cream.

Trasfer the pie to a rack & cool to room temp, or cool & refrigereate. When you are ready to serve. Spread the lightly whipped cream over the top of the pie.

GG & Papa's Visit

2009-11-12T06:06:00.001+09:00

Sorry it's been so long. I did not indeed drown in a vat of my own caramel sauce as you may have suspected. Instead I've been busy with Birthday & visiting season. My Grandparents came from Arizona & somehow survived flying in during Typhoon 20 whereupon 3 passengers on their plane were hospitalized due to injuries sustained on the way into Narita. We watched it on the news not realizing it was their flight.

We had the pleasure of having them visit us and the kids just loved having their GG (Great-Grandma) and Papa (Great-Grandpa) come & stay.

Highlights for me would be:

- My Grandma complimenting me on my gravy. You have NO idea how good of a compliment. I am audacious enough to tell other people (like a preening idiot) "My grandma said I make good gravy", I can't help it! She also saw me slip in some of my very own home made "consume". I swear it's the secret ingr.

- Watching my kids play games and hang out with my very easy going & fantastic G'parents

- The hilarity of my Grandma telling my dad when it was time to go, "Let's blow this joint!" Classic!

Here are a few pics I pulled. Enjoy

GG & Ashley with her birthday present. She was dying to show off her unicycle skills.

The blue eyes of the family

Sorry Chala, this was classic. Ready to eat. Dinner was: cream of celery & cauliflower soup, rosemary roast chicken, mashed potatoes & gravy, salad with creamy Gorgonzola/pesto dressing & caramel pumpkin pie with ice cream. (recipe forthcoming)
Boys working on their psychedelic masterpiece. Can you guess what 70's influenced Grandpa helped them conceive of this art form?

GG playing with the little guys. Hunter loved her dearly!

Here are the 4 generations. Ban would not be persuaded to take off my sunglasses.

That's it for now, more ACTUAL cooking soon. But with the prospect of my oldest 3 soon starting school next week things are busier than normal. (Is it possible? YES!!)

Try this for your carrots.....

2009-11-09T11:11:00.004+09:00

I looooove to peel potatoes & carrots. It's odd but true I would probably be content to be the guy on KP peeling a bag of spuds.

Mind you I like to use a Japanese veggie peeler cuz' those US ones are very bizarre & should be banished forever from kitchens.

So, basically what I sometimes do is just peel the entire carrots down to the nib & have a whole bowlful of shavings to add to the salad. Of course I think it'll initially freak some people out into thinking you're making a compost salad but personally I think it's purty & easier to eat than grated carrots. So there ya go!

PS. My kids love help peeling carrots this way since they end up doing it anyway.

Back from the ONSEN!! If you get it, you get it, if you don't --- go put your clothes back on & take a shower!!

2009-10-31T20:46:00.004+09:00

The simplicity of the rituals of water......visibly drawing out the roughness from the edges of my taunt nerves & replacing it with a hidden smile just waiting to explode if given the slightest provocation.

Who would think loosing myself could be so hard. From the moment I came here my mind keeps dragging me back to thoughts, speculation, the steady plodding hammer of chiding necessities.

But it all seems inconsequential when I'm breathing in white cypress & submerging myself in a tinder-dry wave of heat. My body is a canvas of shining droplets, the intensity of the heat drives me into the floor -- for when you're lying flat you can't fall any further but sink into a world of dizzying pulses pushing you deeper & deeper into yourself.

And when your lungs are bursting with dry burning air and drops of sweat trace paths down your arms & legs creating pools and trickles, you stumble out & drop into water so cold your breath catches in a way that grabs you around the throat.

Breathing deeper & deeper till you think it's not possible for your lungs to expand any further -- but they do and do and do. Then it's there...the impossible instant where exhaling ends & the instinct of taking another breath escapes you altogether.

My only connection to reality is the beating of my heart that strangely I can only feel in the tips of my fingers & toes. And in that moment I can't help but be terribly impressed with my ability to have mentally flatlined 100%. There evolves nothing in the way of traceable thoughts and words but I am instead full of ridiculous notions and senses.

I desperately want to be a tiny bubble of air trapped along my submerged skin. Growing, expanding & waiting for inevitable journey from the cold surface & contact the blasting heat of the world. I'm overloaded with a deranged & overcoming sense of beauty that I can only imagine is infantile -- finding amusement & a curious acceptance of beauty in every sphere of movement, sound & color.

Outside naked people milling should, by all means, remain naked, calm & undisturbed by the heaviness that comes with an existance in eternal textile bondage. Gangly naked legs & plump jello hips all at peace, beautifully released for their daily constraints. Tiny toddlers grasping rocks & drunkenly smiling as their wobbly legs step into the, not too distant memory & familiarity of water. White haired matriarchs sighing, whispering & easing their burdens into an enveloping steamy weightlessness.

I'm suspecting I'm not the only one who feels like we have all just come home?

Out here I'm embarrassingly giddy with the simplicity & extent of my composure. No reason to move, no appointment or attendance. No beginning & no end. Past present & future just floated off in the section of sky allotted me right here. MY section of autumn sky.

But before I can abandon all inhibitions & float downstream thinking mermaid thoughts, composing my epitaph & vowing an aquatic existence, I drag myself out -- Back to time, space & matter.

......Until I'm at the onsen again

Speaking of Caramel.......Try this! -- Caramel Peanut Topped Brownie Cake

2009-10-26T12:47:00.000+09:00

Caramel Peanut Topped Brownie Cake (by Dorie Greenspan)

I know this is going a bit far, but if you have a special occasion for a yummy little treat you've gotta try THIS one. It's chewy, it's goey & it's PERFECT for a caramel/chocolate lover. The recipe is long but result is well worth it. Lemmie know how it goes for you.

PS. I did cut out the white sugar in the cake but don't try cutting any sugar in the caramel sauce or you'll have a mess. Good Luck!

Pic & write up of recipe borrowed from wee treats by tammy's blog because mine looks like this....

Yeah, looks like someone overindulged in whip cream.

For the cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 stick(8 TBSP) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 large eggs
½ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
3 TBSP light corn syrup
½ tsp vanilla extract

For the topping:

2 cups sugar
½ cup water
1 ½ TBSP light corn syrup
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 TBSP unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup salted peanuts

Butter and flour a 8 inch springform pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Put the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

To make the cake: Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together. Melt chocolate and butter together using a double boiler.

In a large bowl whisk the eggs and sugars together until well blended. Whisk in the corn syrup, followed by the vanilla. Whisk in the melted butter and chocolate. Still working with a whisk, gently stir in the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. You will have a thick, smooth, shiny batter. Pour the batter into the pan and jiggle the pan a bit to even out the batter.

Bake the cake at 350F for 40-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out almost clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool he cake for 15 minutes, then run a knife between the cake and the pan and remove the sides of the pan. During baking the cake probably will have puffed to the top of the pan don’t be concerned if tit sinks a little or it if develops a crater in the center. Cool the cake to room temperature.

When the cake is completely cool, invert it, remove the base of the pan and peel off the paper. Wash and dry the springform pan, and return the cake to it right side up. Refasten the sides around the cake.

To make the topping:

Put the sugar, water and corn syrup in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan, stir just to combine the ingredients and then put the pan over medium-high heat. Heat, without stirring , until the caramel turns deep amber., 5-10 minutes. Lower the heat a bit and, standing back from the saucepan add the cream and butter. When the spatters are less vehement, stir to calm down the caramel and dissolve any lumps. Stir in the peanuts, and pour the caramel and peanuts into a 1-quart Pyrex measuring cup or heat proof bowl.

Spoon the peanuts on top of the cake. Then spoon the caramel on top of those. You’ll have a layer about ¼ inch high. Allow the topping to set to room temperature-about 20 minutes before serving.

To serve, run a blunt knife between the caramel and the pan and simply remove the sides of the springform. If this isn’t the case, hit the sides with some hot air from a hairdryer or wrap the sides in a towel moistened with hot water.

Take the Apple......bite the Apple......

2009-10-24T10:01:00.003+09:00

A SIMPLE STORY ABOUT AN APPLE Hunter: Mommy...Noook, NOOK! MOOOOMMY! Appos, nots & NOTS of APPOS! Daddy (mumble mumble) APPOS!

Mommy: (delinquently trying to get some me time on the computer, at the end of the day) Really Hunter, cool!

Hunter: NOTS & NOTS!!!

Mommy: Yes, maybe we can have some later....(continued delinquency on the computer)

Hunter: (long suspicious pause of silence)

Mommy: BAAAAAN?

Hunter: (running over & talking with a stuffed mouthful) num num nummy...

Mommy: (Dashing over to the apples & observing) BAAAAANTANMommy: (grabbing camera & trying to look disapproving) Baaan, what do you have to say for yourself???

Hunter: (obviously not sorry in the slightest bit) Sooorryyyyyyy! (Snicker Snicker)

THE END!!

..........the name the Caramel Jar is calling!

2009-10-23T10:00:00.005+09:00

With the use of my ultra-scientific method of throw the names into the mortor.....
The winner has been chosen

And the winner is.....

So there you have it. Congrat's Aich. And I wholeheartedly agree with your "Ojichan/Obachan" memories. New Years Rocks!

Thanks everyone for your super interesting smells. One part of me wishes I had a few lbs of butter sugar & cream to make a vat for everyone who participated. And if it wasn't for the fact that the caramel hardened in the fridge and would surely betray any stealthy snitches I'd be in there right now.

Note: I've been listening to a great podcast called the "free culinary school" and am learning heaps on the basics that I didn't ever know. Beware of possibly banal cooking details type posts coming your way.

Making of the Caramel Sauce

2009-10-21T08:32:00.001+09:00

Heya heya! I'm having a blasty-blast looking at everyone's "childhood nasal memories" and I gotta tell you, I think I can answer that question "What's wrong with Japan?"

It's the mothballs & kero, for sure!

Well, here's the part where I show you what I put into the "giveaway" winner's Jar of goodness.

It's all so straightforward but being the lunatic that I am my DH came to see me taking pictures of a saucepan like a mad scientist:

"Caramel great, what's it for?"
"I'm giving it away"
"Remind me why you do this again??"
"Because..........it makes me happy!"

......yeah.....I'm a deeeeep thinker, I know, but it's the truth. And since we're speaking of the truth, lets just be clear that this whole thing starts out with a whole cup of white sugar completely dissolved over a low flame with 1/4 a c of water. I know.....we all try to be in denial about what this sauce is all about but let's just gaze upon it for a moment,
Ok....good. Is everyone in touch with reality now? Great! Let's just shake it off & forget we ever saw that.

Oh.....but wait, more goodness you say? 1/2 a cup of butter? How could that be wrong
My, that looks so healthy & fine in a nice little square. But let's just take a look at it in it's pure unadulterated melted FAT CONTENT........
Gee......that's a lotta fat. What can you say, it takes pain to be beautiful.....& it takes butter to have caramel, so loadm' up!

Now the trick here is to melt the butter & give it a couple of good stirs with the spoon to incorporate it & then NOT MIXING IT keep your flame of medium/low leave it to bubble, splat & sputter till it slowly changes from this
to this
to this and so forth
If you stir it you'll find that the sugar will crystallize & gunk up your spoon & you'll possibly have some bits of gunky stuff at the end

Now when you're almost at your desired caramel color you'll have to lightly stir it to keep an eye on the color & of course burn your tongue FOR LIFE tasting it to see that it be good indeed.

There are still grown ups who wander the world with brown sugar caramel stuck to their roof of their mouths from pre-adolecent greed driven evenings of impatient caramel popcorn making fiascos. Not to mention the catastrophe that ensued when Almonzo tried to feed it to his poor pet pig. (Note: Farmer Boy= Best foodie lover book evaaaah!)
Now I personally like a more dark & burnt caramel flavor but I wasn't sure about you so I went ahead & kept it at a pretty reasonable golden brown medium.

Last but not least we do the fun part of adding........WHY LOOKIE THERE............yet more fat in the form of 1/4 a c real cream. Now don't go sticking your nose in there when you do this as it'll bubble up quite a bit
Give it a good mix-a-roo & there you go.

Glistening & calling the name of YOU!
Now a word on storage & usage. You wanna keep it in the fridge (good luck w/ keeping snitchers at bay) & you'll have to heat it up a little to loosen it. You can either put the whole jar in a saucepan of cool water & bring it to a simmer shut off the heat & leave it to heat up, or you could scoop out a bit & microwave it for a few secs.

PS. I hate to admit it but Kero is also on my list of childhood smells. Along with Obachan's oden, kotastu, sunscrean & the smell of the beach, stank & all, esp the "sex wax" the surfers would leave all over the place. And my dad's musk cologne that every man in the 80's must've also been wearing.

Autumn Giveaway of love & tenderness......

2009-10-16T11:32:00.001+09:00

Is it ever too soon to have another giveaway? I DON'T THINK SOooooo! Not when it involves caramelllllllllll.........aw--ka-powwww!

I made this caramel sauce for this splendid birthday lady's birthday cake and wasn't at all surprised that I had to guard it with my very life to keep it from getting stolen entirely by the shameless guests. So as I sat there the next morning shamelessly sipping on my very own super indulgent CARAMEL topped cappuccino, I realized that this would be the best autumn giveaway EVAH!

Something about autumn to me means smoke! Roasting, barbecuing, baking & especially creating a crispy, caramelized top to desserts. Consider for a moment the autumn harvest fruits: apples, pears, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, chestnuts etc... they all are great baked with crusts of some kind or at least with crunch, crumble, & that ever so slightly burnt taste we all love.

And so I present to you an uper-simple to make but oh-so-worth-it to eat, caramel sauce. Believe me you WANT to score this one.

After my last giveaway I'm not going to ask you WHAT you'd do with the caramel sauce but a few wholesome ideas are: top your coffee or cappuccino with it, drizzle it over your ice-cream or apple pie or just do like me & grab spoonfuls from the fridge when you're feeling needy.

Now the part you've all been waiting for: THE RULES OF THE GAME

to be eligible to win answer this question in the comment box: What pleasant smell or smells takes you back to my childhood.
Please only comment once unless it's your S.O. commenting, more power to you! (if you can get him/her is willing to share the prize with you, good luck w/ that!!)
I can only send these items to people within this country. (We still want to hear from you all though)
The comments will be closed & winner will be announced on Oct 23rd (Fri) A.M.!!

I'm gonna try to do a write up of the recipe soon, I hope. That's the deeeelio! Take care of yourselves. Steer clear of people with the sneezies & think caramelized thoughts.

PS. To my friendly friend of Taiwan who considers herself to be "unlucky" & therefore did not enter last giveaway I say: COMMENT NOW, you can't be unlucky unless you actually try it! ILY!

SOUP STOCK!!

2009-10-13T19:37:00.001+09:00

It's true....I'm big on soups. There's no denying. Though I only have roughly 5 soup recipes, I sure do love each one of them. I've come to realize that one major aspect of soup making that I've come to respect greatly and consider to be ESSENTIAL to a good soup is SOUP STOCK!!

Believe it or not my modern friendly followers, stock making consists of more than simply dropping a cube of bullion into a pot of boiling water. For shame! Of course I'm dreadfully guilty of doing this! But the difference between using bullion or even canned broth is equivalent of using margarine instead of butter, powdered milk instead of fresh or, God Forbid, freeze-dried mashed potato flakes instead of doing it yourself. EWWWWWWW!!!

If you're a long-time reader you might remember my midevial chicken salad in which I made a fantastic stock to to boil down 2 whole chickens & then soak them in a citrus & spiced vinaigrette for a day to make an unbelievable chicken salad. I agree those were rather elaborate preparations for a chicken salad that I only got to nibble on, but I felt like a winner taking home roughly a gallon of superb chicken stock. So, lets talk about the basics of soup stocks.

Basically what you're looking for is a base to build the rest of your soup flavors on. And for the most part using chicken in your stock is a pretty safe flavor for any soup including heavier stews if you're inclined. Or if you're a vegan then you can even make yourself a veggie broth easily too.

Now I'm not even sure why I'm making a whole post out of this because it's so straightforward. Basically you want a chicken carcass or bones (easy way to make use of whole turkey/chicken left overs). Here in Japan they sell for fairly cheaply a carved out chicken for roughly 100Y more or less. You might also be able to find chicken wing tips cheaply which are really good to use too. Basically you want BONE if you want to make a good chicken stock.

Next you're gonna add veggies. Some of the basics you want to add are onion, carrot, celery. Garlic, of course; but go easy on garlic cuz' you don't want to overpower it. Chop everything roughly.
So for a 6 qt pot full I'd add about:
- 2 onions
- 3-4 carrots
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 3-4 sticks of celery (leaves & all)

Now if you're making a vegetable broth you can really rock out with the vegetables & you'll want to use a LOT because the flavors are much more soft & subtle in flavor than chicken. Carrots give your stock a sweet flavor so be sure to add them. Soup stock is a great way to use older veggies that you wouldn't want to put upfront but they still have some "life" left. Don't be afraid to use negi too, the "Japanese" taste blends away into the stock nicely.

Of course you need to add spices too:

- about 10-20 whole black peppercorns
- 3-4 bay leaves
- if you have fresh herbs you can get real groovy & make a little bouquet de garni & tie it all up with some string to keep the bits & peices from falling off. I use about 6 or 7 sprigs of each herb. Herbs like: thyme, rosemary, Italian parsley, & oregano are standard. Fresh basil will go better if you add it at the very end of your simmering as if you put it in at the beginning you'll loose a lot of the flavor.
- If you're using dried herbs go easy as they can be overpowering. A tsp. here & there.

And then we'll just bring it to a boil & let it simmer covered for about 2-3 hours.

A few little extra tricks I like to do are:

- adding white wine (about 1 c or so)
- if you have any Parmesan rind (you know, the hard part that only guests who've drunk too much will attempt to eat from your fridge). Drop a slice in. I think that adds and incredibly romantic aroma to the stock & the times I've gotten rave reviews for a soup (yes, it has happened) have been when I added a Parmesan rind.
- I like to add salt at the end and not too much roughly (and I'm just estimating here) 1 1/2 tsp. I'd flavor it later when I'm making the actual soup.

So of course to finish up, after it's cooled off you'll need to strain it & store it. I save old ice-cream containers or sturdy zip-lock bags. (beware of curious kids who walk around your house with a tack to see "what will happen" when you stab holes in chairs, floaties & zip-lock bags full of your precious soup stock)

What you do with it after that is up to you of course. I've taken to making totally random soups with no rhyme or reason. But the good thing about stock is as long as you have a good BASE you can build your flavors on top of it as simply or complex as you like & you'll have good results.

Case in point. The soup on at the top of the post is one I made for lunch the other day (apparently a lunch a long time ago in my old kitchen, sniff). Chicken Broth, left over roasted red paprika from last night's dinner, left over broken lasagna noodles that I couldn't use for anything else, sugar peas, sliced cabbage, chives, whipped eggs, fresh Italian parsley & olive oil.

Well......that ended up being a long one. Of course the soup stock is just what I do! I'm sure some of you genius' probably have great tips & tricks of which I'd love to hear. Leave any good ideas in the comments, OK??

Ever learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth! Catch you soon.

Random....

2009-10-12T10:00:00.000+09:00

.........but then I miss you most of all my darling,

when autumn leaves begin to fall

Mr. Nat King Cole

Birthday Bang!!

2009-10-09T14:10:00.003+09:00

Hey my genuinely fierce followers! Sorry it's been so long, honestly I've been recovering from a cross between the flu & a double dosage of birthday mania. So bear with me now & I will give you a little recap of my ultra-cool birthday.

I'm sure I'm not the only mom who practically bypasses her birthday. There just doesn't seem to be enough time to do anything celebratory esp when your daughter has her birthday the day after. I'm usually busy making a cake for her anyway.

So on my birthday of birthdays, my friendly family from the far regions of Chiba came for a visit (a rarity as it is). I threw together a mean chilli and enjoyed the company of my fairly normal family. I must admit that I am of a suspicous nature & can sniff out a scheme like a stanky diaper. But I totally didn't see this one coming.

I didn't even get it when I asked DH to run to the store for lemons so I could start on Miss#1's birthday cake. He basically turned me down by weirdly saying, "The don't have lemons at that store, I'll get them tomorrow". Next thing I know a crowd of happy looking friends are tearing through my geinkan bringing cakes with them.....like, ACTUAL CAKES!! For MY birthday! Seriously I know this is juvinille but I haven't had a cake since I don't know when.
It was frankly one of the cutest things that ever happened to me. I was ordered large doses of beer & shoved unceremoniously out of my kitchen where they took over decorating the cakes
This was really the funniest thing ever even DH got in on the action.

Really now, is thta not just the sweetest! It was a darling cake, thank you Aich. I really can't remember the last time anyone's made a cake for me. But that's not the best of it. The best of it is that the whirlwind that came in so suddenly, also suddenly left -- dragging my 4 oldest kids out the door with them. They had schemed with my DH to have a sleep over with all their friends & I got to have 75% of my kids taken off my hands! FANTASTIC PREZZIE that only a parent would think of. Thanks Oli, Lilly, Aich & Mike!
So the next morning I get to treat myself to indulgent breakfast & hang out time with my sistahs! Yeah, this is the "motherload" breakfast, a grilled cheddar & camembert egg muffin with pesto mayo and french mustard!
DUUUUDE! That looks good! I am seriouly going to need to do that again. And I actually made it just for myself!

Cousins played in PJ's while I churned out coffees & capachinnos for the big peoples. You have no idea how brilliant it was to have only the 2 youngest kids. BRILLIANT!

Cousin Shelly occupied Mr. Ban while my dear techno-savy Daddio set up my new birthday IPod touch.   THANK YOU DADDY!! All the while grumbling all the way about how my poor ancient computer should be flushed down the nearest toilet.

Let me just say that, after that things started getting pretty loud pretty fast. Kids came home along with my birthday girl whose 12 now!! (Good God!! I'm a mother of a preteen!) Along with yet more friends who dropped by so, heck why not have them all over for dinner & of course throw together a cake of love!
Vanilla Angel food cake with whipped cream & decadent caramel sauce. And when I say VANILLA....I mean VANILLA!! I ground 1 empty vanilla bean pod with 3/4 a c of sugar in my blender to make a vanilla sugar! Good stuff. As for the caramel guests were seen attempting to BE the spoon & "physically" dive right into the bowl of left overs.

If you're thinking the cake was big...you're right. It actually fed 12 adults & 13 kids. I KID YOU NOT!!

After this fun filled day I promptly collapsed into a happiness induced coma. Could also be the fact that I was (literally) in the kitchen ALL day!

But, it was great. Kids, Chaos & Cake, just the way it should be!
And, I'm I am told, also a happy birthday for Laner-bananer-fi-fi-fi-laner-baner!
So thanks everyone for a great birthday. I've got lots of food I want to blog about & I'm gonna be having a great FOODIE give away soon. Already told some of you what it is so stay tuned!

Lova lova you!

WHY ESPRESSO!!!

2009-09-30T10:06:00.004+09:00

THIS ONE GOES OUT TO ALL YOU BUSY MOMMIES!

a) TIME SAVING: You can down it like a shot

b) SIMPLE: you don't need to add milk & coffee

c) INDULGENT: you can console yourself with a piece of chocolate to balance the bitter espresso & calm your borderline freak-out session when you see your 2 boys trying to empty daddy's wallet content into their sock drawer & your 3 year old girl trying to cut her own bangs.

d) PRACTICAL: no kids will dare ask you for a sip for fear you'll actually let them have one & photograph the horrific face they make when they do.

And the winner is.....

2009-09-26T18:57:00.005+09:00

Hey Fantastic Followers! (Arg, that has an odd repressed childhood ring to it)

I'm terribly tickled by your "Giveaway" comments. I'm just having a blasty-blast reading through some of the more ghastly home remedies ever. (If I could give the prize for genuinely terrifying home remedies, Silver Princess wins, hands down!)

Seeing as I got so much feedback & enjoyed your great comments & great ideas (and not so great ideas) I've decided to pick 2 winners, so here you go.

I dragged this fresh looking young man out of bed & forced him to rummage around in a hat while he was eating breakfast, for some reason unknown to him.

"K-a-r-i" & "R-y-a-n"

There ya go! Congratulations! Kari & Ryan! Hope you like your humble little prize (100% homemade & free of alligator urine) Ryan, lemmie know how would be best to get you your prize. And Kari, I'll be seeing you soon hopefully.

Thanks everyone. I've got some spiffy foodie ideas for another giveaway soon so stay tuned!

Fragrant Giveaway!

2009-09-20T13:04:00.003+09:00

So maybe you don't know this about me but I'm a bit trippy when it comes to natural beauty products. I suppose it's the fact that so many wonderful things in the kitchen can be put in your mouth & smeared all over your body. (Hurrah for messy eaters). I'm not a vigilante about natural health products but you have to be daft to not know that there's a load of crap in consumer beauty products.

I used to think my sister was out of her mind when she'd walk around with banana & oatmeal smeared on her face like a freakin' alien but reeeeally, you can't deny the joy in smashing stuff up, grinding it up & the walking around looking like Frankenstien much to the horror of your DH, who you then hold down & force to don the same concoction.

The more you look into it the more you realize that you can start a whole spa in your kitchen. (minus the L.O. pasta).

So in celebration of God's green earth I'm gonna give away 1 of my favorite winter body products. Lavender & TeaTree Salt & Sugar body scrub.

Anyone who gets dry skin in the winter months will love it. It's the easiest thing to make:

cup of sugar or salt (I used both cuz' salt is a bit too coarse for my liking)
enough carrier oil to turn it into a slushy paste, don't overdo it on the oil. (I used grapeseed but you can use whatever you like, probably not EV olive or cooking oil, ewwww)
10 drops or so of your favorite essential oil (or a blend of oils) I used 7 lavender 3 tea tree

Voila!!

SO! If you wanna take a swing at this giveaway, here's the dealio:

1) Leave a comment answering two questions. What homemade natural product do you use or make & what's the weirdest homemade/natural product you've used or know of someone using (no enema stories please, tx)

2) Significant other can comment for you (or for themselves) to up your chances.

3) Come back on Mon morning on the 28th to see one of my kids randomly picked your name.

4) Sorry but I can only ship within the country :( But we'd still love to hear your whacky ideas

That's it folkies! Comments are now open!

Things we must contemplate.......

2009-09-19T21:24:00.002+09:00

- Why didn't I just resist the temptation to start watching "Top Chef"?

- How hard would it be to start a micro-green garden on my window sill?

- What kind of a person would actually enjoy cooking using "molecular gastronomy"? My personal guess is, MASA!!

- Why does composting seem like it's a two faced evil-doer, on one hand it has the ability to be extremely eco-friendly & simple yet also have the potential to be a huge steamy pile of stinkin' mess?

- If my kitchen mixer is named 'Bruce the Mighty Mixer', what shall my sleek blue & translucent glow in the dark blender be called?

- As a cook should I speak up when someone puts mayo on a meal I made that did not call for MAYO as a condiment? (let's just not go here)

- Why am I blogging when I'm supposed to be making bread for tomorrow?

- What would I need to do to get one of you to sneak off with me to Italy....har har! (seriously, if you have any super plausible getaway plans & elaborate cover ups lemmie know....you're my new best friend)

One last contemplation:

Giveaway coming soon..........as soon as I figure out who keeps stuffing marbles into my boots!

--- Ciao

Blessed Bread ALONE: Focaccia

2009-09-09T14:00:00.000+09:00

Recently someone asked me how to make Focaccia & I directed them to my blog saying that I had posted the recipe. But after searching I realized that I had NO such recipe posted yet. I mean.....REALLY? I've been making this recipe nearly as long as I've been making pancakes! Great balls of steaming ooger! The time to post is now. (though technically this draft has been sitting on my dashboard for months)

Now, If I may let you in on a little secret:

You have permission to be a mediocre cook but if you can bake a loaf of bread you'll pass as a kitchen genius.

Try it, next big meal take a little time to try out some bread and you'll have guests grabbing hold of your ankles refusing to leave. How do I know this? I am yet trying to shake off ankle holders now. (they are roughly between the ages of 5-1)

Honestly, people. This bread was one of the first breads I tried making & believe me, there's nothing like being hailed a genius when the only things you can actually make in the kitchen is scrambled eggs & focaccia. Observe:
Here I am posing as an impostor cook, looking smug, & mismatched. It's pretty obvious the only thing I've actually accomplished in the kitchen is drink several beers, make bread & successfully convince people I can cook. I admit I even pulled this on my boyfriend and he is yet still my boyfriend.

So please, pretend that you're not paranoid of yeast & get cracking: (Hint, the secret to a good focaccia is in the triple raising)

5 c of bread flour or all purpose flour (use 1/2 extra tsp of salt if using all purpose flour)
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
2/3 c olive oil (You only need 3-4 tbsp for the actual dough, rest is for topping)
2 c warm water (40 c) (Set aside 1/4 of the water for yeast)

Dissolve sugar in warm water in a bowl sprinkle yeast on top & leave undisturbed for 10 min. Sift flour, salt together in large bowl. Make a well in the center pour yeast/water in & mix till blended (there will be lumps & crumbliness) then make another well & add olive oil & remaining 1 3/4 c warm water. Mix with wooden spoon till it comes together then turn out onto floured surface & knead for 10 min. (If you have a stand mixer you can knead for 6-8 min)

The dough should be soft but not too soft to handle. Add more flour as needed. Turn the dough into a oiled large bowl & set in the oven or warm place (covered with towel) for 1 1/2 hrs till it's doubled in size.

Lightly oil two baking trays, or of you like use two 9" cake pans (this will give you a much fluffier, thicker focaccia), punch dough down shape into two balls roll or press into the pans, cover the pans with towels & let it rise again for 30 min. Preheat oven for 200c (400f)

Using your fingertips press dimples all over the dough's surface. Drizzle the remaining oil over the bread. Sprinkle generously with seasalt.

The most traditional topping is rosemary sprigs. But there are heaps of toppings that you can choose from & or improvise with some ideas are:

sliced red onion
coarsely ground walnuts or pecans
black olives halved
sun-dried tomatoes
cherry tomato halves
sprinkling dried basil
fresh basil leaves
brown sugar (about 1 tsp per loaf)
bits of anchovies
parmesan cheese

Let the dough sit again for another 30 min then bake for 20-25 min till golden brown. And that's about it. Cut & serve warm.

I try not to let my foccacia get too "busy" with toppings. Usually pick 2 or 3, max, besides the olive oil. Of course if you add a pizza sauce & cheese before the toppings then "BAM" the evolution of pizza.

Also if you have a bread maker you can set it to "dough" and put the ingr. in according to the maker's instructions till the first rising

Well, that's it & as you can see I have no actual picture of the finished product & that is because no matter how much I make there is almost no left overs at all. EVER! Sneaky guests have been observed sneaking back into the kitchen at midnight with their head in the fridge eating left over focaccia straight out of a ziplock bag. (yeah, you didn't think I knew it was you, didja?)

Afterthought about bread sticks:

PS. If you wanna make bread sticks divide the dough after the first rising into walnut sized balls & roll out to about 10 in sticks. Leave to rise for 30 min, then brush with olive oil & sprinkle with whatever topping you like. (caraway, dried basil, oregano, sesame seeds, poppy seeds etc..) & bake for 15-20 min till golden.

PPS. A simpler option to toppings on bread sticks is to add seasoning to the dough before kneading.

FAIL.........

2009-09-08T04:16:00.002+09:00

Just thought I should share......yeah! So that's curry! What am I saying....that WAS curry a LONG LONG time ago. Just when you think you have all your bases covered & you've slapped together the best "cheat" meal ever (Japanese curry) so you can take the kids out to play. Just for the record "Curry" (that comes in blocks) is made in this house about as frequently as we go to McDonalds ---- only when absolutely necessary.

Let's just say someone did not turn the burner off.

Well just thought I should share. In case your wondering......sadly, it was edible enough for us to have to consume. It was like eating horrible-burnt-curry-humble-pie. -- And yeah, I was about as thrilled as I looked in the picture that I had one of my girls take. Just for you! Cuz' it's important that you know that I can burn it like a pro. :)

Well, gotta run, meals to burn, kids to chase.

Opening Birthday Season.....

2009-09-07T11:30:00.001+09:00

This handsome firstborn son turned 8 and we are happy to ring in "birthday season" as it's become known. Unfortunately we weren't as prepared as we should've been. (eg. only 1 candle for the cake) other minor hickups in our otherwise "spotless" birthday record. (eye rolls)but it wasn't a bad cake. Simple cheesecake using no recipe in particular & adding little extras & my own midnight spins (after all no one really likes baking at midnight when they should be asleep) This is a good old fashioned "Cheese Monkey" picture from us two Cheese Monkeys...with our cheese cake, no less. I'm not sure why Ryan wanted cheesecake but he sure was happy with the outcome, glory be!As you can see we're really "big" on birthday hats here. (Don't ask me why) Someone felt compassion for the poor little guy who couldn't make his own & (literally) slapped one together for him before the final crucial "cake-bringing-out-song-singing" moment when all who are not wearing birthday hats will be banished forever from the party. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but this man is REALLY big on food.

Maybe you can tell now. This is after we tried to hide the left over cake. Someone needs to learn how to take rejection.

That's it for now.

Oh...afterthought. I tiny little speckle in my brain is contemplating the idea of putting up some cooking videos. Not as glorious as SBJ but....it's a thought, -- we'll let it simmer for a bit.

Playdough Dinner with LOVE!

2009-09-06T13:34:00.004+09:00

Don'tcha just miss playdough? The smell the feel & the way it would linger under your fingernails for weeks esp if you came from a large family & didn't get your nails cut that often.

I was deeply impressed by the imagination of my not terribly artistic 5 year old man. This is no ordinary pile of play dough. This is a full course dinner he made for me choosing what he thought was my favorite foods. And he took time explaining each thing to me in GREAT detail. And I will in turn explain to you in great detail because apparently that's what mothers do at times. So that is what I shall do. READY?

(Snail looking thingie) Cinnamon Bread roll, (flat thingies, riddled with holes) sourdough flatbread, (pile of business) mashed potatoes with butter, (long skinny thingies) lady finger biscuits, (little marble thinga-ma-bobs) cucumber/tomato salad, (balls in crumpled up tissue) apple cinnamon raisin muffins.

Ain't that just the sweetest thing? If I coulda eaten it I woulda!

Lemon Mint Green Tea

2009-08-30T09:26:00.000+09:00

Listen up all you men-folkie. If you wanna score great big brownie points with your lady-fair give this simple drink the once over.

I already talked about my mint mojito kick a bit but I also wanted to try something a little more "AM-ish" with the mojito mix. I tried this out first on my whiny little sister who wouldn't let go of my green tea cookbook but paced back & forth in front of the me in the kitchen waving, pointing & smiling like a doofus till I promised to try it out. I didn't get the lemon/green tea ratio right the first time but the 2nd time around I think I got it pretty good. Here's how:

1 tbsp sugar
15-20 mint leaves (a few good sprigs)
1 tbsp lemon or lime juice
1 tbsp dried green tea leaves steeped in 1/3 c of boiling water (cool)
ICE

use a muddler/ wooden pestle or the end of a wooden rolling pin (what I used cuz' my mug was pretty deep) to crush the mint into the sugar. At this point you must restrain yourself from just licking up all the minted sugar from the bottom of your mug like a total sugar addict. Add the lemon mix well to dissolve the sugar. Add ice.Strain the cooled green tea into the glass & garnish with lemon/lime wedge & mint sprig & loose your mind completely while you relax sipping on this total refreshing summer treat.

The girly-ness of this drink is too wonderful to describe......if you are of the female variety I promise to make one of these for you when you come & visit. :)

Enjoy your last days of August.

Vanilla Poppy Seed Cake

2009-08-29T08:40:00.007+09:00

Good Morning Everyone. Sorry it's been ages since I last posted. Nothing like a summer school break with lots of action to keep me exhausted.

These mornings have been cool but still sunny. This morning I even had a hot coffee on the patio taking a moment to stand under the trumpet blossoms & hang out with the latest tenant turtle dove whose built his nest in our trumpet vine about how things are going in his part of town. Somehow his red eye with that little beady black dot in the center makes me think he's got insomnia. And he never seems to leave the nest or I'd climb up there & sneak a peek.

I haven't baked in ages n' ages. I'm not sure why. I just don't feel like firing up the oven if I at all possible but birthday season is upon us next week starting with the #3's 8th Birthday on the 4th of Sept. So I'm trying to scratch my brain for ideas.

And...as promised a recipe. I made this one awhile ago & would certainly make it again. Reducing the sugar from 1 1/3 c to 1 made it passable as breakfast fare esp when served with fresh berries or fruit. Course if you start with adding cream then I feel you're venturing into the "coffee break num-nums" territory.

In anycase....hope you enjoy it the way a hoard of hungry children did when they scarfed it down. :)
Vanilla Poppy Seed Cake (from my beloved "Joy of Coffee" book)

1/2 c poppy seeds
3/4 c milk
1/2 c plain yogurt
2 1/3 c all purpose flour
1 tbsp b. powder
1/2 tsp b. soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c butter, softened
1 c sugar
3 large eggs seperated
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F (165 c) Grease & flour 10" tube pan

In small bowl stir poppy seeds, milk & yogurt set aside.

Stir together flour/b. powder/b. soda/salt in medium bowl.

In large bowl with electric mixer cream together butter & sugar till well blended, @ 2 min. (stand mixer works fine too)

Add egg yolks & vanilla blend thoroughly about a minute.

Add flour mixture alternating with poppy seed mixture, starting & ending w/ flour.

In separate bowl whisk egg whites till stiff, stir spoonful of whites into batter to lighten it gently stir in the rest

Pour batter into pan. Bake 50 min till cake is golden & toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on wire rack completely before removing from pan. Serve sliced at room temp. Refrigerate covered for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 4 mo.

Voila!

Lazy I AM!

2009-08-19T15:32:00.004+09:00

Heya heya! Howz business on this fine roasty toasty day? As promised foodie pics, and now I shall deliver. Beware if you were expecting details & recipes for each picture below because I just don't think I can pull it off. I'm clean & cool sittin' here in my airconed dining room smelling my bread bake & my tummy rumble because I believe I contracted some kind of a bug-thingie that has been causing my stomach to speak to me in dark menacing tones & cause my 3 year old to give me a equally sad, detailed description of her toilet happenings. (and she can get VERY descriptive)

But I do feel a little bad that recently I have thrown out so much food pics & not much in the way of links/recipes etc... I'm gonna try to just post more tidbits esp in the way of recipes I've stumbled upon & quit trying to only post recipes here.

But for now here are the pics, some from the visit some of food:
Erika feasting on her very own temaki-zushi. I will give this restaurant two thumbs up. BEST IDEA for a kids meal. All of her own tiny utensils had her sitting there making her lunch till well after we adults were done.
I rustled up this basic recipe for Mint Mojitos. I think it speaks of summer perfectly & will be caught drinking one at happy hour (aka: roughly starting 1/2 hr before the kids get home from their afternoon fiesta of energy burning w/ DH) If you don't have this GODLY weed growing somewhere in your garden YOU OUGHT TO!
Proof of a successful visit!
Salad idea that made my day today: Ordinary salad of lettuce, tomatoes & cucumber sauted kuri-kabocha (those tiny, extra sweet & nutty tasting goodies) then mushrooms in butter, cooled & tossed in salad with olive oil & lots of freshly ground pepper & sea salt. If I had pumpkin seeds I belive it would have been too wonderful & I would've just cried. Unfortunately my poor DH nearly cried when he saw it on the lunch table.

Foccacia my faithful friend....I can't believe I don't have a recipe for this on here, gotta do that soon. Simplest bread with great power to impress at a pasta meal.
Apple sauce in it's embryonic stage, spiced with cinnamon/clove & cardamom. My attempt at a non-sugar applesauce cake was mediocre. I would actually have to classify it a bread rather than a cake. I followed this simple allrecipe.com recipe but didn't use any sugar substitute so naturally even though the applesauce by itself was like candy -- mixed into the double sifted whole wheat & other ingr. seemed to loose it's sweetness. Also beat the egg whites to keep it's body but I probably should have done an extra 2 egg whites. My kind sister approved but I'm still miffed about how anyone can survive on a "sugar/refined flour/dairy product-less" diet. I salute you!
My (quite frankly) pitiful attempt to record the fact that we ever had a barbecue at all. I was (not surprisingly) the only one who seemed amused by my "placenta" jokes about the raspberry & fruit jello. (Come on', at least Mr & Mrs Marrington would be laughing, right?) Maybe ya'll already knew this but if you soak corn (in the husks) for 2 hrs in salty water you can throwm' right on the coal & wait till the husks are near blackened & the inside will be pristine & perfect.

More hasty foodie business soon. Till then, be genki!

Alive & kicking one leg

2009-08-17T21:09:00.002+09:00

Hey stranger! In case you thought that I've taken the long walk off the short blogging pier, sadly you're mistaken. This certain actor came to my house to stay.

Along with most of my siblings & parents. (actually all of my parents --that I know of came) And with a whirlwind of positive energy & lots of silly games we managed to have a ballistic time of fun & foolishness. I've learned some handy new skills such as essential lavender oil sniffing & h0w to make whole wheat & rye bread a weapon of mass destruction.

Once I get some time I shall bombard you with unwanted & irrelevant pics of our time together because that is what I must do.

As always a majority of my time was spent in the kitchen doing deeds of kindness like sorting through the trash because I never bothered labeling them & everyone kept mixing them up or keeping the coffee bar open so various persons could get their fix of disserono laced cappuccinos.

Ooooh, I did a lot of firsts actually. Because who better to experament on than members of your immediate family:
- I finally got to pull off my big lebanese dinner (you'd be so proud Ves) falafels, tabuleh, kebabs, hummus, labne & flat bread. I was genuinely loving it.
- crushed mint/lemon/green tea
- non sugar & whole wheat applesauce cake
- Fattoush with my own pita

Being the sheer genius that I am I of course did not take any actual photographic evidence of any of these events but hopefully something will turn up soon from some of the other cameras. And I will also try to post some links to some of my new found & favorite recipes.

But for now I shall bask in the glow of my newly developed beer belly & try to appease my greedy sleep debt which seems to be taking over my last marble of sanity.

-- Ciao!

At Home with Nature & other nonsence.

2009-08-03T15:03:00.008+09:00

Chocolate Mousse Pie: a belated act of love for my DH. Dark bitter chocolate bomb of happiness & indulgence.
The Muncher concurs! (note the glisten of a tear after he begged for just one more bite, I gave in, hence the smile)
This not so little buggie made it's way into our home so we fed him melon & he became Hunter's new pet & he walked around all evening with the container. (though he wouldn't dare touch it).

I was actually not expecting him to burst into tears the way he did when we had to let the poor thing go. Here he's explaining the torture of letting his "buggy" go.

Mr 4#. AKA: The Travster has gotten on a writing kick. He took the liberty of labeling our "Curious George" video cassette. (Yes, some people still use those)

And in case there's any question on who should be the one to record Curious George on Saturday mornings, just a little clarification.

Another puzzling sample of his handywork. Apparently this is a menu of dinner. It (supposedly) reads, "Lettuce/Salad/buscuits/ketchup". Gotta work on that spelling. But anyone who knows Trav will testify that this is a massive step of litterary progress.

We've been spying on a birds nest outside our window. The wary parents seem to fly away no matter how stealthily we try to peek out the window. Of course to get a good shot I get to hang out the window like a lunatic mother doing a flying arabesque to her doom with a camera in one hand & pulling back branches with the other.

I try to warn the kids about peeking in on them too often but the mother in me can't seem to help checking on how things are going. Are birds psychic? Everytime I even get close to the window even if it's closed & the curtains drawn I see the mom's eye looking at me & she flies a second later. Then just this morning....

They hatched! Trav spotted an open mouth. Must be brand spankin' new cuz' they don't even cry aloud yet. I had to hold a broom out the window to pull the branches back & put each kid in positon one at a time to take a look. I'm hating the cornyness but I must admit I'm terribly happy & proud of our little babies.

The other two sibs hatched somewhere between lunch & naptime & don't they just look like a perfect little pile of blind bald & nekid birdies?
Sweet Lil' Baby Jesus! That has to be one of the cutest things EVER!!! And I'm sure my sista Elaina will concur. :) Unfortunately my 3 yr old doesn't think so. She just walked in here, "Eww, that's just so yuck. They're just hugging their naked little bodies till they're stuck together, isn't that just so gross?"

More later. Ciao, my roasty toasty friends!

HOW TO VIDEO w/ SBJ: Cup Lamen

2009-07-31T20:11:00.004+09:00

May I introduce the very first video clip on my bloggie, EVER!!

This was just too good to pass up. Brought to you by the very talented very cheese loving SBJ crew, more than ever I would love to see them do another. Steve's sincerity is most appealing & Mas' "easy" method of water pouring is pure genius. So get on your aprons & get cooking with SBJ.

The Christening of the Crock Pot: Lebanese Lamb Stew with labne & za'atar

2009-07-31T08:50:00.008+09:00

Behold my new gadget. The crock pot. This is a 6qt size crock pot & personally I feel like if you happen to be feeding a family of 8 and spend much of your day hyperventilating & cleaning up after your kids unsuccessful attempts to water-paint with milk on the floor you will most likely squeal for joy much like I did upon it's arrival.

One nice thing about it is you can take out the inside crockery & put it directly on the table to serve. It also came with it's handy dandy little feature that I like to call "the probe factor"

Observe the probe. It's a little thermometer thingie to check the temperature of what's cooking. And of course in case you didn't know how to "probe"-- on the lid there's this little clarification.....

Japlish is fun but there's nothing like good ol' straightforward english.

In my eagerness to try it out I made a Lebanese lamb stew on probably one of the hottest days of the year so far. Started it out around 11 in the morning & set the timer & temperature. And yes I did insert the probe.

I was happy with the recipe. The ingrediants were simple & though I was a little suspicious about the amount of cinnamon it called for in the long run it seemed to blend in quite well. It was a full flavored stew, served it with plain rice (1/2 brown) but I have to admit in our as yet, non-airconed dining room it was a rather foolish idea & we ended up sweating it out in a self-inflicted sauna, yet somehow no one could stop themselves & we nearly finished the whole thing.

I also threw together a little batch of labne (Lebanese cheese) I didn't have time to make it overnight but let it set for about 6 hours, hense a rather thinner than normal result.

A few spoonfuls of olive oil & a few spoonfuls of za'atar. Which is a stunning lovely mixture of spices and I'm quite serious when I say I could eat it by the spoonful.

Finished product.
The DH sure seemed to love this stuff though he couldn't ever manage to say it right --- so cute!

All in all, I'm really happy about the crockpot but probably won't be using it often (besides perhaps sphagetti sauce) till autumn.

Summer Snippet: Frozen Bananananana

2009-07-29T11:35:00.006+09:00

Call me immature but I always in the back of my tiny brain I couldn't quite conceive of eating bananas frozen --- as is! Somehow it seemed like some kind of pre-schooler project with a name like "frozen-banana-monkey-doo-surprise-of-science"!

But upon the death of my Bauer blender (God rest his tired motor) I had a slew of frozen zip-locked bananas. So my in a moment of genius (and you know I'm saying that with a massive tablespoon of sarcasm because I'm sure that everyone who has freezers and bananas has probably already discovered this when they were preschoolers) -- I found that the kids would devour twice as many bananas when I'd just cutm' up & throw them in a bowl. But then again they'd have to break out singing an U.Ken/Masa song "I like banana's cuz' they have no bones" (song starts at 1:28)

Of course when DH took the kids out to play & I was alone (nya ha ha) I decided it was time to break out the Sundae Syrup (yes, that chemical laden stuff that's sure to give us brain cancer)

.......And by golly it was fantastic. I AM A BELIVER! And if you can feeeeel the spirit I think you'll be a believer tooooo!

PS. Though I vouch wholy for this snack, I equally vouch for the horrificness of having your kid drop a few of these frozen banana bombs under their chair & then getting to step on one later when it's desinagrated to a pile of mush under a puddle of juicey business. (just thought I should leave you with that visual to keep you on your toes!!)

Random Stuffies!

2009-07-28T09:58:00.000+09:00

I have realized something & I hope you'll lend me your inner ear. This blog has become quite the skeletal blog of cooking and not even hopping with many new recipes. Furthermore it contains close to zero snippets of pointless personal information. Is this an area worth cultivating? Probably not, but since I'm feeling beat -- in no particular order & for no particular reason, here are a few things that you probably didn't need to know:

- I watched some of Jamie Oliver for the first time yesterday (Gasp!! Shock). And in a moment of honesty I must say that I don't really care what a man looks like, when I watch a guy do a controlled dance of slicing, mixing, kneading, & flipping & "talking shop" at a kitchen counter....my heart has been stolen out from underneath my apron. I fear if a man could cook like that for me I might just keel over & elope presently.

- My 1 year old son's only mathematical word is "9". So my kids have taken to bombarding him with ridiculous questions like: "How old will Erika be in 6 years?", "What's 3 squared?", "How many times does 9 go into 81?", and everyone predictably cheers when he magically comes up with the right answer. And he's pleased to be the perpetual genius. Except for when you ask him his age.

- I can't seem to remember the last time I bought Mascara. I know it's awful but I have a SIL who keeps me supplied with a healthy dose and she seems to always have more (I would too with lashes like hers). Unfortunately with the turning of a new leaf (aka "there's no reason to look like a tired ol' mom just cuz' you are one") I realized I was getting stys like crazy in the course of a month and finally ended up with a small chalazion on my eyelid. Ewww....Panic attack. Hoping it'll just go away & not leave me looking like the Elephant Lady. And YEEEEAH, you don't have to tell me what I am now VERY aware of --- Apparently someone wasn't exactly listening when they talked about not using other ppl's mascara or old mascara. This AM I just threw away all 6 of mine. My fav being the Lancome Hypnose & Estee Lauder MagnaScopic. It's time to do a little shopping.

- My Sistah is coming next month just to spice things up tells me she's not eating sugar, white flour or dairy products. Dang!! Do you hear that...................that is the sound of my very small brain trying to figure out what on earth I should cook for dinner when she comes.

- If you are still reading this post I feel I should also add that if there is anything I love about cooking, it's being shown something new in the kitchen, told I'm doing something wrong, given a new idea or recipe.
Basically, I love the feeling of being a "beginner". I love it when someone says, "What, you haven't ever made ____?" or "Is that how you do it?......Interesting (translation: bizarre)!" Call this coincidence but the most feedback I get seem to be from the lovely Aussie ladies (or residing in Aussie ladies) who dish out ideas suggestions & snickers at the wrong way I do thing. Nothing more attractive....keep it comin'.

Well that's it folksies. Crank that noisy fan up to full blast & kick back & hopefully I'll have some good foodie talk next time around.

Ciao!

Summer snippits: Pesto/Mayo

2009-07-16T21:15:00.004+09:00

Hey Ya'll! Are you feelin' the heat like I'm feeling the heat? Seems like summer suddenly ran up behind us & dumped a bucket of warm jello on us.

If there's anything that surmises the way I feel about summer meals there are two words: COLD/FAST

If you can't get in & out of the kitchen in under an hour you may as well forget it. Words like, "gentle simmer", "deep fry" and God forbid, "stir for 1 hr on high heat" are phrases that shall be banished from this blog for the next 2 months.

And being the busy soul that I am I'm gonna have to settle for keeping this blog alive with short snippets & ideas for easy, fast, occasional "cheat", but most of all COLD summer food items. (Note I say "food ITEMS" because I'm feeling so lazy that I may not even get around to posting an actual complete recipe)

Today's quicky: Pesto & Mayo

What's in it you say?

Let's think--- ah yes.....Pesto & Mayo.

I would put about 2 tbsp pesto to 1/2 a c. of mayo but to each his own. And frankly, I never measure anyway, so I just made that up on the fly!

There's no sandwich that couldn't stand a little of this (except perhap PB & J) no, veggies that wouldn't be proud to have it as a dip. A cold pototo salad would definetly be dressed up, and what a riot you'd have serving a dollop on crackers with cheese. (Like, literal riot........in your living room, (esp if there was a McNair) scratch the cheese, just serve the crackers & pesto. Passable as a dip for grilled or bbq'd fish or chicken. And if you really want a good cheat throw in a little vinegar & water to thin it out & call it salad dressing. Voila! Pat yourself on the sweaty back, you're a culinary genius!

I've covered Pesto previously & extolled it's virtues in with a rather suspicious devotion that may not refect well on my (eh-hum) priorities in life. Aaanyway, I've descovered the perfection (out of necessity) of pesto made with a morter & pestle. I even made a whole jar full for the lovely Ken & Tacha. I do hope it was enjoyed. As the story goes, "Long time smashing basil leaves and splatting self with green oil --- Part of gift!"

Well, that's all folkies. Enjoy your cool summer night!

The New House....come on by...bring your own oven!

2009-07-12T22:02:00.000+09:00

In case you were wondering (which I'm sure you weren't) what our new place looks like here's a little look. If you're too busy to come on by this way just go ahead & send us a nice housewarming gift like....oh, say.......a lawn mower......air cons & maybe an tandoori oven. (Yeah, didn't think I heard that you've got one, did you?!!)

These pics are as random as they come, so breeze through & then go along your way, oh faithful follower!!

The vines on the porch are blooming. (Dunno the names of these) but they sure are purrty.

Some are doing school....some are on an early vaca!

Our cute little porch & the 1/2 of the yard that is still in "God's Hands"!

Yikes, how'd this one get in here?

I suppose this depicts the consistency of children, they will get in trouble no matter where they live. Miss #2 snapped a pic of poor Mr#6 when she followed the screams, evidently he got himself stuck in a box in DH's office somehow or another.

Ready to feed an army...so come on by! Near table is for school, far table is for dining. Kitchen to the far left

This is the part of the kitchen I'm most pleased with.....if I had it my way a kitchen should be covered from ceiling to floor with hooks & shelves so it would look like the "bag lady" came to stay in your kitchen forever & ever.

Drowning the herbs with care!

Finally a big enough bedroom to turn into a proper railroad.

And so ends my measly photos!

PS. Still waitin' for your foodie suggestions, so......come on now!

Pioneer Woman's Corn Fritters

2009-07-10T14:21:00.001+09:00

If you're a regular here you'll know already that breakfast is my favorite meal to expend energy on. And on this blessed day of days I happened to score some great blueberries for ultra-reasonable. Berry season is upon us, glory be!!

But today's real showstopper goes to these dudes.....

Behold the Corn Fritters!

Now now, I know what you're going to say & before you start pelting me with streaming toilet paper rolls -- my 13 followers -- bear in mind the state of confusion that I am presently experiencing.

(Tune up the cello & violins) Everything that I've known & loved about cooking has been yanked out from underneath me. My oven is gone. My blender of 4 years has broken. Even my handy wooden spoon has split down the middle & had to be thrown out. I've found that I'm neither a kitchen genius nor am I skilled at using a frying pan or grill. I'm finding myself seriously wandering around my kitchen a little lost for ideas. I'm a mess & YES, I'm resorting to deep frying, and first thing in the morning no less. But before you lash out I want you to try to whip up some of these babies.

The recipe is from my ever favorite, albeit slightly overly indulgent in the good things dept, Pioneer Woman. If nothing else her food photography is fantastic.

And you'll find the recipe here.

You can prepare the batter the night before & then slap it together in the morning. And to be frank & dreadfully honest, I think I ate 1/2 of these babies before the kids ever came down for breakfast.
PS. Any great food ideas are more than welcome. Do your part to save me from myself & my vat of deep frying oil.

A Wedding to Remember

2009-07-09T14:25:00.005+09:00

I had a grand ol' time at a wedding this week. One of those once in a blue moon things since the last wedding I was at was my own about 7 years ago. I had a great time though it took a long time to sort out those mixed feelings of guilt & slight awkwardness of not having anyone to hold. So if you happened to see the disheveled lady rocking her purse to sleep or chasing kids around saying, "Lemmie hold you!"....yeah, that was me.

I was genuinely impressed with the thought, planning & detail that Ken & Tacha put into their wedding considering they are a LOK family. Case in point: At the first dance I mentioned to someone that if they broke out in a choreographed song & dance I'd be forever impressed. And sure enough they did. And THAT was entertainment. Good job you two!

So here are a few pics. I was determined to not just take pics but see it from my 'real eyes'.

Did my sister's make up in a hot room full of hot ladies.

These adorable cousins were dolling each other up too. Awww......

The bride/groom & family. Their two youngest put the room in an uproar when the walked up the aisle so perfectly holding hands....you have to understand people, the littlest one is like...1 foot tall.

Good musicAnd good food.

My latest sister-in-law also happens to be a professional quality caterer. I had the pleasure of having her work her skills at our last Christmas dinner. I tried to help out in the kitchen a bit & was kinda worried I was gonna put my unwanted "rustic" spin (AKA: flying food & 'healthy' plops of whipped cream) on the food unless I slowed down & got that same zen calmness she had.

I don't know if she chose the menu but whomever did, did an excellent job. It was considerate of the time of year, the food was light, simple, mess free, & full of variety & color.

I love to learn new things from other cooks & I am positively impressed by Yosh's style, efficiancy & calmness throughout the ordeal. At no point was their too little food, and the plates just seemed to keep coming with not repeats but new items. Food was served in small enough portions, & plated beautifully. Good stuff.

I mean seriously, now? Pregnant? Limited time & budget? Directing cooking for more than 100? With only a few extra hands? She might kill me for saying this but if you're gonna get married & need a caterer........you know who I'M recommending. Nuff said!

Gosh & that cake was adorable too. As far as I understand Tasha designed it & Marie Claire put it together. Talk about brave. To be honest if someone asked me to do a wedding cake I'd probably do like St. Peter & deny I ever knew how to decorate.

And though the cake itself was a bit heavy I got some to take home (Tx Josh) & had me a rockin' black Italian coffee with a slice of Disaronno soaked wedding cake. (It's little wonder I drank 3 cups of coffee yesterday, eh-hum)
My party crashin' nephew Dilly-boy. (who quite literally got crashed into & ended up being doused with soda from head to toe) The boy will grow to be a warrior, or a contemporary dancer.
And 3 of the 5 sistahz!

That's it on the pics...but ovenless/blenderless recipes comin' your way soon.

Watermelon Sorbet

2009-06-28T21:33:00.000+09:00

Somehow I'm hoping I don't get anymore 'followers' there's something just loveable about opening my Dashboard & seeing my 12 disciples!

If you must know, I haven't had any time to cook anything inventive. I'm sure to turn my grill into the gateway to creative desperation but as it stands I'm still knee deep in empty boxes, scrunched up newspaper & odd sockies.

So I give you this:

If I could find words to describe my affection for watermelon I would, but suffice it to say it is in my opinion the Queen of fruit. (Albeit a fat queen, but Queen nonetheless)

If it wasn't for slices of ice cold, crisp, juicy, dripping, red goodness we may as well just fold up & lie in the baking sun being bitten relentlessly by mosquitos whist having our eardrums rendered useless by the semis.

My heart was nearly stolen forever when friendly pal of mine walked a mile to bring me home a watermelon one day. Though come to think of it he probobly rolled it all the way to my doorstep. Could life get any better than having a watermelon in the fridge with your name on it? I THINK NOT!!

So here's how it works. Grab 1/2 a watermelon & cut it into chunks & de-seed it. Beware of your children lest one stick a seed up their nose & it sprouts forth a watermelon shoot making for an embarassing trip to the doctor. (No laughing, it happened to my Bro-in-law, it could happen to you!!)

Try despeartely to not snitch too much & then blend it with 2 or 3 tbsp of vodka & if your inclined 3 tbsp-1/4 a c of sugar. Remind yourself you're not making a frozen coctail & so you are NOT going to add more vodka & down it in a moment of weakness.

Put it back in fridge for at least 2 hrs or freezer for 1/2 an hr to get reeeeally cold again.

If you have a ice-cream maker you can at this point (following the makers instructions) churn the watermelon from slushy juice to freezing goodness.

If you don't have an ice-cream maker have no fear, you can always make this a granita by pouring it into a 8-11" baking tray (or other suitable tray) and freezing it for an hr or 2 (till it's hard but not rock solid) then scraping it with a fork into a bowl for a nice Kakigori-ish feel.

Now if you're want to get into the asthetics you may want to put some little mini choco-chips too but personally I think frozen chocolate has an awful texture so I didn't bother.

A little word of warning. Don't overdo it with the vodka as the alcohol will prevent it from getting solid. But keep a look out for "Massive Indulgence of WHOLE Vodka soaked Watermelon" experience, coming as soon as I can get my hands on one. And you better be at my house when I make it or I will have to polish it off myself

Aaaaand......that's all that she wrote.....catch youes later!!

Around the block.......

2009-06-25T22:30:00.008+09:00

Hey ho my 11 followers, been awhile but I'm still alive & kicking....quite often my left leg when my 1 year old keeps trying to bite me to show me how very much he loves me.

For any of you who didn't know I was moving....I moved! And if you thought I was ignoring you.....I was!! Of course I was also steeped in rooms of boxes, manly men doing manly things like lifting, hurling & otherwise moving 5 unromantic 2 ton trucks worth of the ever ambiguous "STUFF". Not to mention giddy children enjoying the melodious sounds of their grimy feet soiling my freshly waxed naked house & thoroughly echoing it onto the next prefecture. Needless to say the week has been long.

Huge thank you's to everyone who helped us out. Mr. McNair who never ceases to amaze me with his ability to work overtime and survive on a combination of happiness & CC lemon. Oli & Mr. D who took time on their day off to unload boxes with DH, & last of all the terribly efficient Navi who navigated himself swimmingly through the ocean of furniture on our first day here & virtually saved me from being stuck with the 6 hoodlums in a "Tarzan/Jane" situation.

Any of you who have moved recently can testify with me that it takes awhile to recover so as much as I'd like to beat my brain for 2 or 3 really exciting things to tell you. I'm going to have to settle for a few pics from our move.

Moon mental season is upon us & I'm actually sensing either a moment of pure genius or complete stupidity coming on for a non-baked birthday treat for my dear Cancer Husband of love & fantastic truck packing skills.

On with the pictures now, shall we?:
I know this is dumb....but this pic hurts..........BAD!! Baking ware that is packed away yet!

I just knew there was something missing from my pre-teen floor waxing adventures......RED BULL!!

PS. Two words that make me cringe like no other: "CLEANING SUPPLIES!"

An empty house & my Libra children.

Good bye old house (& lawyer boy, who shall not be missed much)

Kids will find anywhere to play. One of 6 rooms in the "war zone".

A moment w/ DH. Bloody Marys & smoked salmon hours de vours.

Ritz/Parmesan/smoked salmon/(cough cough, mayo)/dill & capers.

In the words of Steve Irwin, "Ain't she a beauty, mate?"

What we have in common.....

2009-06-07T22:19:00.002+09:00

Well....since I have a moment to myself I think I need to share the issue that has been dragging it's sorry self through my mind. I'd like you to take a moment to observe these pictures.......

Baked potatoes, tortas, pot roast, muffins, rolls, quiche, focaccia, pies, cakes, buscuits, casseroles, crusts, turkey, cookies & buns....................

I'm sure you know what they all have in common. (Besides from the obvious fact that most of them are an unattractive shade of brown)

Each of these items have spent time in an oven.

...........And frankly I don't think I can say anymore about it or I may just get too wracked with emotion. Seriously, if you're quiet you will hear me now as I weep over my keyboard like a pathetic cooking niney.

Though I won't deny some tiny part of me likes the challenge of going at it without one. I already foresee a greater desire to be in the garden & focus more on fresh foods, grilling, BBQing, possibly even canning. But for the most part I'm just a sort of in denial. I don't have much energy to go on a baking binge before we leave. I just take little mini-moments throughout the day to stare at my oven whistfully & sigh in an audible & possibly alarming way to the occasional offspring who catch me mooning over it.

But who knows perhaps there will be a massive breakthroughs in electric oven technology in the next month that will enable electric ovens to blast to a healthy 200c in 5 min or less.

Not likely, but if not....who needs cake,there's always sushi, right?

Cooking with Jamie: Sticky Saucepan Carrots

2009-06-04T23:48:00.005+09:00

.....well not personally cooking with him but I figured since I took the time to pick up the book at the library, pick out & scan recipes to try I better post some as well. I get finicky about posting recipes according to when the fruits or veggies are in season & as you may have heard me rant already, carrots are best in winter -- but hey let's not be too picky.

But (as you may already know) we're going to be moving house soon. And as well as wiping noses & chasing half nekid hoodlems & packing boxes, I'm also trying to come to grips with the fact that I will not have a convection oven in our next house. (breath in...breath out). More on that later.

So since I haven't posted a reasonable recipe (unless you include Lemonade with Maple syrup & Cayanne pepper, eww). I give to you the mighty Naked Chef's Sticky Saucepan Carrots! (somehow I loathe to say that in one streaming sentence and if you can without cringing a little in your soul there's something wrong with you).

Lazy me has scanned the recipe for your viewing pleasure. Die hards will click on the picture. Die-not-so-hards....I'm sure I've lost you already:

Cute little babies B4

Cute little babies after!!

Not bad for a simple recipe. I think it goes great with steak/hamburgers & potatoes.

Mini-Photographer strikes

2009-06-03T16:41:00.003+09:00

Miss #2 loves to take pics...I'm sure she's got an eye for it.

This is probably one of 10 photos of DH & I --- EVER.

Many hours were NOT spent styling my hair to look "just so" --- Wind blown & free-spirited. Secret to psychotic mother hair style.......JUST WAKE UP IN THE MORNING & don't really care enough to try. Promise, you too can own this super-duper-bed-head special!!

The Cleanse (Day 5 & 6)

2009-05-28T22:43:00.003+09:00

Day 5: Nothing really spectacular, feeling a bit better, getting the hang of this & feel like I've been doing it forever. Frankly I'm on a bit of a high, I'm spaced out & a bit tired half the day but on the flip side I don't have the energy to get cranky.

Strange & possibly horrible happening today, the coffee my husband made today smelled very very bad for some reason, no longer that aromatic attraction seducing my nasal cavity --- somehow it just smelled wrong.

After looking at how long it's going to take to get back to eating "normal" food again, I think I'm gonna call it quits tomorrow. I've got to start packing in earnest for our coming move. I'll need to back out the same way I got into this. By going back to freshly squeezed juice for 2 days & then wrapping up day 2 with a vegetable soup. (I'm scheming already)

Day 6: Good thing I'm stopping tomorrow because I'm out of lemons & frankly don't have the energy to get up & go walking in the rain for some more. The girls came home from Camp tonight & their energy level is making my lack of it painfully obvious.

Today I made cookies with the kids (to give to my friendly friends who took Mr 3# for a few days). This must've been the first time I've done it without snitching. Seemed odd, but then....really....all cookie batter practically tastes the same, doesn't it?

Did my last SWF tonight....Glory be! I feel the pain of some of my sibs who suffer from IBS. You poor poor things! I lova lova you!

As you can see my ability to post a string of intelligent sentences is slipping quickly from my grasp so I'm just gonna bail & see you when I'm a "normal" again!

3 Cheers for Detoxing!!!

(a tinsy part of me just can't wait to drink beer & see how cheap of a drunk I'll be NOW!!)

The Cleanse (Day 3 & 4)

2009-05-26T22:41:00.005+09:00

Day 3: Being busy all day with your kids doesn't leave much time to really notice that you're surviving on about 900cal of fluid. I'm not sure if it's the freedom from a lack of preoccupation with food (not that I think about it all day long) or it could be that I don't have much energy but I find that I'm spending a lot more time just hanging out with my kids instead of running around like crazy doing.....stuff. (let's you & I pretend that laundry doesn't exist)

Today's moment of massive food tease came when I made my husband a ramen. All my craving was thrown into the making of that baby (dang, he better have loved it). Miso lamen with two eggs, pile of moyashi, 4 sheets of nori, plie of negi, and 2 garlics sliced & fried crisp in goma oil with freshly ground black pepper. "Sigh no more lady, Sigh no more!"

I'm noticing a kind of achy feeling in the bones of my upper back when I walk up the stairs & frankly by the end of the day I had a naaaaasty head ache but somehow exhaustion took over.

Day 4: I woke up & made waffles, cheese omelets & tomato/basil salad for breakfast and somehow survived.

An unexpected intense craving came upon me suddenly when I had to feed my 1 yr old an onigiri & I so very much wanted to have just one bite of that white white rice.

My DH's mixture of amusement & curiosity has it's annoying moments. He's taken to calling me "Maple Syrup Lady". And repeatedly forgets & asks me if he should make me a plate at meals. His morbid fascination with the SWF has lost it's humor by day 4. Boys will be boys!

In researching today is supposed to be or begin the peak of physical discomfort as your body is seriously flushing your body of toxins. And I concur....that ache in my bones is jarring every step I take now, I'm all stuffy like I have a cold, my tounge is white (grosso), and I'm expecting pretty much anything awful right about now.

Considering stopping the Cleanse earlier than 10 days as I don't think I'll have the energy needed to keep track of the kids & start packing in earnest. Plus I'm not wanting to loose too much weight & it seems like it's going pretty fast. Might settle for 6 or 7 days, in time for the girls coming home from their camp.

The Cleanse Day 1 & 2 (Lemonade time)

2009-05-25T08:44:00.004+09:00

Day 1: Today wasn't as hard as I expected. Frankly it might be the "morbid" factor of me but I was mighty curious about how the Salt water flush (SWF) would go so I did it in the morning. Piece of cake....well....not really. Worst part is chugging a whole liter of salt water but now I know what they mean when they say drinking ocean water will make you sick. :) Any one living near the beach want a clean digestive tract you know where to go.

Most trying moments...dealing with left over food & feeding the little guys. I have come to realize I am the human garbage disposal any food that needs to be taken care of automatically ends up being eaten by me.

Day 2: I feel like the impulsive "hunger" is leaving though I can't believe how distinct each food's aroma is to me. One whiff & I can systematically categorize the memory of taste, texture & palette of that one piece of food. When I get through with this I know I'm going to savor each bite of food so much slower.

I'm starting to notice that I'm suffering from that syndrome that has no name but strikes me often when I'm preggo.....SPACE CASE BRAIN FREEZE -- I think it's called? Forgetting basic words has caused one too many incomplete incoherent sentences.

Physically, I feel OK but a bit slow & tired for sure. But I'm taking into account that I'm not drinking any coffee & home alone with 6 kids & trying to help my 3 oldest get ready for camp & staying over at friends -- what did I expect.

The Cleanse (Ease in Day 1 & 2)

2009-05-23T22:00:00.000+09:00

So...the time has come....no better time than the present

I personally find it easier to just jump into things that are unpleasant & just get it over with. (Case in point: Poo diapers! Why let it simmer while you get up the guts...you know?)

Apparently, though it seems to be easier to sorta slide into giving your digestive system a break instead of doing that "last supper" routine where you gorge yourself on your favorite Jumbo cup lamen wash it down with a tall beer or two & your favorite crunch munchie snack from the 100Y store. Thus the term "ease in". Which frankly still gives me a bit of the heebies....but whatever.

In case you're into this sort of thing, a lurker, a faithful follower (bless your gullible hearts) or you naughties who simply wanna see me crack like a watermelon over this. I'll try to put up a little something about each day.

Ease in Day 1:

This was basically a vegan diet for a day, raw fruits & veggies. Not bad because I had a lot of variety due to DH's shopping the day before. Bad news was he happened to be feeling in the mood to bring home a load of snackies. I wonder how much of a problem it's going to be to see them in the cupboard everyday & a couple of chu-hi's in the fridge.

To be honest, I had a NASSSTY head ache nearly all day but since I'm pretty sure it's from not drinking any coffee I just ignored it all together. I deliberately made a massive salad & ate to my hearts content but making dinner wasn't as easy as easy as I thought it would be honestly. I'm in the habit of being very generous with the term "TESTING" the food. I think it could border on grazing. And when I'm spaced out my right hand doesn't seem to know that my left hand is about to pop a piece of dinner in my mouth.

Ease in Day 2:

Today I'm just drinking 3 l of orange/grapefruit juice & as much water as I want. It's actually quite interesting that I think I can already tell the difference between hunger in my stomach & craving in my soul. Unfortunately there seems to be more of the latter. But as long as my stomach is full it's not too bad. Being in the kitchen is actually not that bad since I make myself look at cooking pretty scientifically, each item of food is just an object needed to complete the process.

Thankfully I only had a hint of a headache today & feel a lot less hopeless feeling than yesterday. Tomorrow is Day 1 on the 'real deal' & I'm actually feeling quite positive about it.

That's it for now.....catch me if I don't shrivel up into a little lemon tomorrow! Ciao

Benny was a Pup!

2009-05-19T06:26:00.000+09:00

In loving memory of Benny/Bean/Mr. Fern/Friendly Fern/Stinky Bean

Benny was a pup
And a little pup was he
With fuzzy yellow furries
As cute as he could be

He lived down the road
In a house not far away
And when we'd go to see him this is what he'd say

Ruff Ruff (ruff ruff)
It seemed he always knew
The way that I was feeling
His love was always true

And when I was feeling sad
He always made me glad with a ruff (ruff ruff)

He was like my best friend
And after school or play
Benny would be waiting
To sniff me every day

I'd take him in a sanpo
And I'd give him a snack
I'd tell him all my secrets & he would answer back

One day Mr. Fern-guy got sick
And though I tried
To make him feel better
Mr. Benny died

But I see my Mr. Benny
When I go to bed & pray
He's playing up in Heaven
I'll be with him there some day

We love you Benny....we're glad you're happy now.

Cookie Time: Pistachio Cookies

2009-05-17T20:55:00.005+09:00

Been awhile since I actually took the time to photograph something I made. Perhaps it's just the soon coming adjustments I'll be making but I've been itching to make something with pistachios for awhile now. It's mainly because of this wonderful business:

This my friends is pistachio butter, given to me by my fantastic friend, Kari. I'm slightly ashamed to say all I've done with it until now is snitch from the jar & spread a little on some left over tortillas (don't ask me what possessed me to do that!) It's very much the same consistancy of goma paste. And it has the most unbelievable nutty flavor almost like.....I dunno......say....PISTACHIOS, maybe! (Been a long day & I'm running out of adjectives!)

So....I scrounged around & threw all hopes of finding a reliable recipe to the wind & do what amaturs do best....totally freaking wingin' it. I took from a little of this & a little of that. And if you must know, the product wasn't half bad.

Here's what I did:

Creamed together 1/3 c of shortning, 3 tbsp of pistachio butter & 1/2 c of both brown & white sugar.

I put together my "drys" in another bowl & whisked them to mix: 1 c flour, 1/4 tsp b. soda, 1/2 tsp b. powder & a few shakes of salt (I could've stood to add more salt in hindsight)

I then proceeded to add a tbsp of my much loved & cherished sexy friend Disaronno. (aww-ka-pooow!)
Mixed the dry in with the wet & it kneaded with my hand till it was well blended. Rolled into a log. :) (Sorry, can't type that, w/o getting a bit pre-schoolish) Wrapped in wax paper & set it in the freezer for 1/2 an hr. Meanwhile I preheat the oven to 200c (400f).

Cut the dough into 1/4" slices & topped with roughly chopped shelled pistachios. Loaded them onto wax paper and start handing over the snitches of cookie dough to the kids for dear life before there's an ugly "Kitchen coup".

Baked for approximately 6-8 min & cooled immidiately on a wire rack.

And there you have it. Not half bad tasting if I do say so myself. The consistancy was closer to shortbread than cookie but that's fine for me. I probobly could've stood to put....I dunno an egg yolk? But then maybe that would've turned it a bit too cakey. And I'm sure if I had used butter instead of shortning the texture wouldn't have been as flakey. Call me old school but the little brown sugar lumps that wouldn't be smashed were like little drops of caramel goodness in there & I was a happy camper. (even though my 3 year old dumped my ice coffee in the sink so she could drink water from my glass!!)

Yes Sir, somethings put a smile on my face & make my little world go round!!

Can I?

2009-05-16T13:25:00.004+09:00

There are a million and one things I could say to preface this but let's just say it's what I gotta do.

I've always wanted this blog to be a happy food loving place. Somewhere I could post my findings, record my favorite recipes & kitchen successes & failures & a little of my daily life too. (though a little less of the latter).

Let's be honest, I'm all about the foodies! Could it be a byproduct of needing to keep a family of 6 active kids & one DH with a voracious appetite fed? Maybe. Could it be that I have an inclination to be indulgant? I've never been one to skimp on the goodness if a recipe says slather with butter, I'm it's ALL about the butter!! If it says, "will go great with Naan bread" I'm gonna go build a clay tandoor in my backyard. Whatever the reasons, I'm glad I love to be in the kitchen & I'm not ashamed of it.

There is another facet of my foodie life that I need to stop & ponder for a moment. Face the facts with me for a moment if you will: I've been pregnant & or nursing since I was 17. There has been the occasional 1 month break between stopping nursing & getting pregant but that's about 11 years.

What this means is that for 9 months I'm eating what I want (or get outta the way for an angry preggo), and then the next year & 1/2 I'm nursing I'm eating what I want & defying every law of gravity & everything they told you in Health class about metabolism. I was a Snacking Superhero. My super-power being, I could eat non-stop ALL DAY LONG! (I know some of you nursing mom's know what I'm talking about too....you closet snackers, you!!) choosing the heighest in carbs & protien foods & sadly at times not the healthiest food choices either, and all that would happen was that the weight would come off. (repeat this process 6 times & we end up here!!)

I've realized now that I am neither nursing nor preggo that I have a sad & somewhat addicted lifestyle of eating almost soley for pleasure rather than for nutritional value. And it doesn't stop at the food, I don't think so. I'm not too trusty with the drink either...alcohol & caffine are both old buddies of mine. And though I've found that my body has balanced itself out to a pretty normal weight, my eating habits are a bit of a concern to me. I have to face that my eating rules go a little something like this: "EAT IT ALL......NOW.....BEFORE THE KIDS WAKE UP......YIPPIE!!" or equally sad, "DRINK IT NOW........BECAUSE THE KIDS ARE ASLEEP...YIPPIE!!". Yeah, I know, not the coolest.

So, not surprisingly the thought of doing some kind of "detox" has been more & more appealing to me over the last few months.

Now, hopefully without offending, I must be clear and say that I've never been one to think much of diets or dieting. Also since I've always easily lost weight I've never been interested in weight loss either. Don't get me wrong, I'm always shocked with the self control some people have. But I've just never found it within myself. Besides, looking in the fridge over & over again is just too much fun of a habit to give up. (hmmm) But the thought of toxins building up in my body after years & years of virtual carefree grazing is just too horrible a thought to ignore. The thought of having a clean digestive tract just seems sooo wonderful. Doesn't it? Come to think about it, it's something I love about sqeaky clean newborns, their breath is clean because their whole body is free of any food & polutants. Sigh!!

So I'm a little mortified to be saying it but I'm going to be doing the what's come to be known as the "Master cleanse" or "lemonade diet". For anyone who doesn't know that's basically consisting of only drinking a mixture of lemon, cayanne pepper, maple syrup & water throughout the day for 10 days. Along with doing what's called a salt water flush daily(consisting of drinking a liter of salt water in one shot & you can imagine the rest....eh-hum).

I'm not sure if I wanna be posting my experience but hopefully it'll be a good one. I'm really not in anyway trying to advertise or condone fasting, dieting or detoxing. I know it's just right for me right now for a few reasons: 1) I'm not nursing, 2) It's not "birthday season" 3) My TMJ syndrome has flaired up so badly that it's painful to eat anyway.

I'm planning on starting sometime around the 25 or 26th of May. I'm imagining it's not going to be the easiest as if you know me at all....I'm a real wuss when it comes to self control. And since I'll still have to be shopping & cooking I'll be facing a lot of yummy looking opposition.

So...that's it. We'll see how it goes & if I'm capable of posting anything related to food w/o munching on my screen. Catch you later!!!

For the love of Breaky!

2009-05-13T14:46:00.003+09:00

Been awhile since we had a big breakfast truth is the oldest 3 kids have been making breakfast basically every morning. And it seems to be a much coveted job. (They do it in pairs). This morning I decieded I started making breakfast & enjoyed it thoroughly. After all there's something to celebrate.

The harvesting of the first basil & Italian parsely. Glory Be!!

Hey you should try this one. Serve your eggs with tomatoes heavily drenched in EV olive oil, dash of red wine or sherry vinegar, & generous amount of course ground sea salt. Now pair the two together in a bite & you can practically believe the egg is a soft mozzarella. Don't forget to soak up your tomato sauce with some hot toast. Go on & try it.

Hope you enjoy your cool mornings now before summer comes & steals it away.

Proof of life...there's a point (wait for it)

2009-05-10T23:03:00.002+09:00

So, thanks to my DH & self sufficient gang of "naughties", tonight I've given leave & been marching around old stomping grounds (like places I hung out when I was 11) with a beer in one hand & a permanent smirk affixed to my face & honestly I can't help but wonder what all the fuss is about "Mother's Day".

I hope it's not offensive to say, I always get a little creeped out by corny poems & flowery business as the primary way to express affection for one's mother. Doesn't it kinda send the wrong signals? Are you supposed to like poems & flowers when you become a mother? Similar to when you go to a maternity clothing store & see hidious knee length dresses in ugly pokadot patterns. Does being pregnant suddenly give you a raging desire to wear the ugliest clothes ever?? I'm hoping this is just a "Japan" thing.

As for me, I'm perfectly happy with a night off and a good beer or two.

OK, so point being this. As far as I'm concerned mother's day should (in my opinion) be renamed "Universal Belly Button Day"! Yeah, you heard it here first. Spread it like wild fire.

I mean, really what is a belly button but proof that some lady somewhere was in pain for you. And no matter what your relationship to that lady might be presently....I think anyone who goes through something like that for you deserves their own "day", don't you think?

So take a moment if you will to pull up your shirt & take a look at that funky looking thing there...you probably need to clean out a little lint anyway. Chances are if you have one....you have a mother and if nothing else take a moment to contemplate what kind of crazy person would grunt out something like you? You & I both know, only your mama would!

Peanut Butter Torte

2009-05-02T14:29:00.006+09:00

I finally got a chance to try out this torte at our birthday party for all the little Aries kids.

This tasty was for the mommies & the daddies who nursed a coffee in one hand, nursed a baby in the other & stuffed a bite of THIS baby in between.

The best thing about making this was the fact that Peter (a genuine French man) grabbed my arm & muttered to me in his soothing French accent about how his "Mama" would make him a similar Chocolate Torte & this took him back, "Ow, did you make iiit?". That just warmed my heart!

This has all the elements of adult tasty goodness, it's rich, creamy, nutty & certainly got a bit of an edge with the bitter chocolate ganache. So if you want something new to try for a birthday, try it!!

So, Peter, this is how I made it. Though I didn't follow the recipe word for word (I'll show my changes in Blue) it still turned out great for me. For anyone who cares this is another Dorie Greenspan recipe.

Munchi-munch!
Thanks for the pics Merch!

PS. If anyone thinks this recipe doesn't make very many servings (it says 6-8), you've got to be kidding. It's much too rich for more than a small slice with a good cup of coffee.
---------------

Peanut Butter Torte

1 ¼ c. finely chopped salted peanuts (for the filling, crunch and topping) I only ended up using about 3/4 a c.

2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon instant espresso powder (or finely ground instant coffee)
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
½ c. mini chocolate chips (or finely chopped semi sweet chocolate)

24 Oreo (or other brand) cookies, finely crumbed or ground in a food processor or blender (I just used cookies from the 100Y store & added 3 tbsp cocoa to give it more color)
½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Small pinch of salt (I skipped this)

2 ½ c. heavy cream (Don't skimp on the cream, I did accidentally & mixed 1/2 milk 1/2 cream for the ganache....BIG BOO BOO...it nearly curdled!)
1 + ¼ c (114 g + 28 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted (I don't remember now, but I didn't use quite that much sugar at all I believe I only used 1/4 c for the cream & 1/2 c for the cream cheese)
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 ½ c (385 g) salted peanut butter –- crunchy or smooth (not natural; I use Skippy) (So DID I!!)
2 tablespoons whole milk
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (The bitter, the better!)

Getting ready:
center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch Springform pan and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. (I just buttered my springform pan, gotta keep it simple)

Toss ½ cup of the chopped peanuts, the sugar, espresso powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate chops together in a small bowl. Set aside. (I ended up not adding any peanuts to this partially because I didn't read the recipe correctly but also I was using crunchy P.B. so I figured we could do w/o the extra crunch)

Crust:
Put the Oreo crumbs, melted butter and salt in another small bowl and stir with a fork just until crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the spring form pan (they should go up about 2 inches on the sides). Freeze the crust for 10 minutes.

Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a rack and let it cool completely before filling.

Filling:
Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, whip 2 cups of the cream until it holds medium peaks. Beat in ¼ cup of the confectioners’ sugar and whip until the cream holds medium-firm peaks. Scrape the cream into a bowl and refrigerate until needed.

Wipe out (do not wash) the bowl, fit the stand mixer with the paddle attachment if you have one, or continue with the hand mixer, and beat the cream cheese with the remaining 1 cup confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until the cream cheese is satiny smooth. Beat in the peanut butter, ¼ cup of the chopped peanuts and the milk.

Using a large rubber spatula, gently stir in about one quarter of the whipped cream, just to lighten the mousse. Still working with the spatula, stir in the crunchy peanut mixture, then gingerly fold in the remaining whipped cream.

Scrape the mouse into the crust, mounding and smoothing the top. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight; cover with plastic wrap as soon as the mousse firms.

Ganache:
Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Leave the bowl over the water just until the chocolate softens and starts to melt, about 3 minutes; remove the bowl from the saucepan.

Bring the remaining ½ cup cream to a full boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and , working with a a rubber spatula, very gently stir together until the ganache is completely blended and glossy.

Pour the ganache over the torte, smoothing it with a metal icing spatula. Scatter the remaining ½ cup peanuts over the top and chill to set the topping, about 20 minutes.

When the ganache is firm, remove the sides of the Springform pan; it’s easiest to warm the pan with a hairdryer, and then remove the sides, but you can also wrap a kitchen towel damped with hot water around the pan and leave it there for 10 seconds. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Forget not the takenoko

2009-04-24T15:20:00.004+09:00

Heads up all you friends in Japan, spring has sprung & takenoko is in full swing. If you know anything about me you'll know I am MOST fond of takenoko. If you're blessed enough to get a couple of these fresh, don't be intimidated by the hairy covering, these are a wonderful & fantastic food. Just be sure to pre-boil them to get rid of the bitter taste. (test it before you shut off the flame) And store in water in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

So for my friends who I just visited & had an excessive amount, I will direct you again to my Takenoko Pasta recipe, Takenoko rice & of course the simple-dimple & lovely sauteed takenoko with BUTTER, salt pepper & shoyu. Which I fried up late one evening for us to sample with generous helpings of beer.

And BTW, I learned from the ever wise & genius cook "Fay-the-speedy-crafty-muti-tasking-woman-of-wonder", that peeling the takenoko one layer at a time is akin to cutting hair one strand at a time. She demonstrated to me that slicing the whole thing (peels & all) down the middle & then ripping off each half of the hairy coat at a time.

Sigh......I love learning new things. That Lady needs to come to my house & teach me a thing or two.

Anyone got any good takenoko ideas? I'm all ears!

And the indulgent coffee drinker is......

2009-04-22T09:16:00.003+09:00

......as chosen by a 3 year old in her Boots the Monkey PJ's (you can thank her later)...

Maryheart!

So....happy day. Hope you enjoy your coffee beans. Send me your address & I'll send you the coffee beans tomorrow. Ground for paper coffee filter/mild blend/Guatemalan beans!

(PS. I'm sure Joan is thanking you right about now, eh, Joan?) :)

Time for another Giveaway

2009-04-19T14:21:00.007+09:00

So as promised here's my next giveaway.

But before that I feel it's time to talk Coffee. And I must warn you, I might be talking about this for awhile, it's too late.......I've already gotten started. Where could I possibly start but at the beginning. This book is where it begins for me:

Well, no that's not entirely true, it actually started when after my 5th baby I decided that I would have to finally give in to coffee. Not that it never seemed appealing. But honestly, paranoias involving stained teeth & bad breath & that alarming, crazed look in certain individual's eyes when you'd mention the blessed brew sorta made me want to remain one of the un-addicted.

But, hey when you're running a 5 ring circus, you barely have time to brush your teeth & have that crazed look in your eye anyway, so heeeeey, why not get started on the coffee?

So, long story short. For the last 5 years my knowledge of coffee went as far as understanding that they were a roasted bean that should be drunk regularly & at Starbucks on special occasions. That is until I got the above mentioned book for 100Y at a 2nd hand store.

The author takes you through the coffee farms, the growth of the tree, harvesting, roasting, cupping (method for sampling the roast to determine it's grade & thus it's value in the Coffee world). And if that wasn't enough information it then goes on to give a thorough explanation of methods of grinding/storing/brewing, not to mention the dreamy land of espresso. Dear Lordy Lord! At the end he also reviews coffee country by country. Not a bad read.

OK, this is not very short is it? Let's get down to business. I am DEEPLY saddened by the mediocre name coffee has been given, not so much even because of the quality of bean as much as the way in which it's handled.

- Overdoing it on the amount of beans used
- Pouring boiling water over it
- killing the taste with brown sugar, or any sugar
- leaving a pot of coffee hot for hours & hours on end (waaaaa)

RESPECT THE BEAN, YO!!! I know it's not realistic to have top grade coffee beans on hand at all times, not to mention the taste degrades considerably after the first week after it's been roasted & every moment it's exposed to aroma robbing oxygen.

But consider this.....about 400Y for a tall coffee (possibly flavored artificially & or topped with cream), 1000Y (give or take) for a bag of beans that will last you over 20 cups of delicious coffee. I admit a hand grinder might be a bit of an investment (a few more thousand yen) but if you are a coffee lover already, why not make it count?

So if you've gotten this far into my coffee post, chances are you're gonna want to take part in this giveaway.

I'm going to be giving away one bag of 200g of coffee beans from my favorite coffee store here in Chiba.

And I promise you that this coffee will be sent to you THE DAY it has been roasted. (provided I get your address in time)

The rules are simple:

- Again, only those in Japan are eligible. (Sorry, gaijins!)
- Giveaway starts NOW and ends at 12:00am April 22nd, Wednesday.
- to be eligible leave a comment telling us 2 things, 1) how you like your coffee. If you tell me what kind of roast you like, I'll be better able to pick something you'll like. (eg: mild/medium, body/dark, or light) 2) if you have a electric or hand grinder.
- If you have a significant other, you can up your chances if you both comment. :)
- Winner will be decided using the scientific method of "names in a hat" & picked out by one of my kiddos.
- You must vow to consume this coffee within at LEAST 2-3 weeks of receiving it. (Come on...you can do it)

Well...what are you waiting for? Go forth & comment! I'm gonna go grab me a cup of coffee. Kiss-a-lova!

PS. Winner will be announced 9:00 am, April 22nd, Wednesday. (Happy B'day, Mike)

My Milkshake brings.....

2009-04-18T15:47:00.005+09:00

....all the kids running to surround me in the kitchen with their cups in hand and their "hungry for shake" faces on.

I've said it before & I'll say it again:

Avocado Milkshakes ROCK!!

Scarcely rocket science, not cutting edge cooking to say the least. Grab a couple of bananas & an avocado or 2 (I personally feel strongly about milkshake Bananas needing to be frozen but, yeah...) a few cups of milk & a few handfuls of ice, a squirt of honey or two (or ten....if you're so inclined)...some even feel that a squeeze of lemon juice brings out the flavor of the avocado but you can be the judge of that

And then..........BLEND AWAY, FRIEND! (No, David, stop sniveling, the blender is not eating your bananas!)

TA-Daaaaa! Deki-agari!

Stay tuned for the unveiling of my next passionate giveaway starting tomorrow at a computer near you....and now what to make for dinner. (sigh)

Thank Youes!

2009-04-16T09:58:00.003+09:00

This is the face of a happy relaxed mommy who is so thankful for a full day of rest and a dandy new hair cut. Long overdue for the latter. Who comes to your house bringing playmates for your kids & elbow grease to clean your unspeakable "mold of many colors" laden ofuro, & enough energy to keep your 5 year old on his toes?

My very own Mark & Elaina! I am as always just very happy and still discovering areas of my house you cleaned for me. I am ashamed (yet somehow just a little pleased too!)

PS. This straight business is merely temporary (just ironed out) I am true to the creed of the "bed head". I'm of course, not sure what that creed is but it should have something to do with turning up our noses to all the "straights" and vowing that curly hair is the next best thing God made. (fitting snugly between large amounts of body hair & outie belly buttons, on the "practical anatomical jokes" list)

In case you think I've forgotten what this blog is all about HAVE NO FEAR!!! There are recipes brewing...and further more stay tuned for another aromatic give away coming soon.

Love, Peace & Chicken Grease!

Stepping out with Bento Fare Ideas

2009-04-10T15:31:00.006+09:00

I don't have any grand Sakura pics to post but I tell you spring makes me feel like fresh food & good clean dirt for gardening in. Time to get a late start on the herbs.

I get tired of the same old "bento" fare for picnics & like to keep it fresh with salads, breads or cold pastas. My present obesession is to have a Lebanese picnic with the whole deal of flat bread w/ Zaatar, tabbouleh, hummus & labneh etc...

Here are a couple favorites I featured many moons ago. I'm not very tall but I stand by them all:

Cold red pepper soup

Tomato Torta (this is great cold too)

Fresh Tomato & basil pasta

Basil Rice & Balsamic Soy-sauce chicken

Greek Salad. (no link, but baby, if you haven't had feta you haven't lived!!)

Macha o' le
Blood Orange Iced Tea

Tomato Mozzarella Salad (I always bring whole tomatoes & a knife if I want to use them for a picnic)

What'd you have for your sakura picnic? Besides chu-his & happo-shu, I mean.

Gotsta get a move on dinner, have a lovely spring day, friend.

Family Time #3: Disney Day 2

2009-04-09T09:03:00.004+09:00

Day 2 of Disneyland:

The ever-excited offspring of ours who are incapable of sleeping in woke us up bright & early. Everyone was thrilled that the clouds were rolling away and the ever elusive Mt. Fuji was peeking out behind the Cinderella Castle. Not a bad view.

Kids made feeble attempts to eat slowly the granola that I whipped together before we left. Meanwhile I set up camp by the window announced my intention to "HAVE A MOMMY MOMENT.....so...SHHHHHHH".
Room Service Coffee & Home made Granola....(a small moment, if you, please)

..........that is until someone spills a drippy granola mess on the floor & cries over spilt milk, aaaaaand, we're back.

Everyone ready to go for round 2?

Apparently!

Despite our best laid plains, one thing that we didn't plan was the freezing weather & Spring break and it didn't help that Disneyland was celebrating it's 25th anniversary that during that time as well. Though seriously people? Do we ALL have to go to celebrate the magic of Disneyland packed like little sardines, waiting in obscenely long lines wearing the most absurd Disney attire available? Apparently! But when you think about it where else can you see so many people in a small space? It must be MAGIC!!

Case point: Auntie Becky held down the fort (benches) for the 2 hours before the parade started. She bravely withstood the onslaught of the (affectionately dubbed) "Disney Street Nazi Ladies" who repeatedly attempted to force us to fold our strollers, let strangers sit on our bench and repeatedly shouted loud announcements reinforcing their protocols while staring menacingly at us.
Praise be to God for naptime & snackies, or else the poor toddies, would have been totally stir crazy.

Thank God also for the patches of green ever once in awhile with little 'quack quack's here & there. Despite Disney's best intentions with all their "These are wild animals" signs, it was pretty obvious feeding the ducks caramel corn was a main attraction for little kids. I bet if you cooked one of these they'd taste sorta caramelish.

By the time Parade time came along we were sooo glad we stood our ground. We had great seats!

Check out the thighs of foam (Grrr), & the hoards of people.

The dancers performances were so enjoyable. Their plastic smiles were painfully perfect & could not have been wiped off their faces if they tried. The obvious theme of crazy wigs & even crazier make up just TOTALLY made my day.

I totally need one of these "giraffe go carts".

The moment the "Disney Couples" were carted through I was sure I was "feeling the magic" big time. I could hardly contain my excitement. For a few minutes I desperately wished all my sisters were there, scratch that, ALL my siblings were there because you just couldn't have enough people to exchange sidelong/alarmed/knowing/smirking glances at, while you enjoyed the spectical of sincere looking gaijin men with their eye brows raised just so, their coiffed wigs looking so "FIIIIINE" and their index fingers separated from the rest of their glove clad hand (Just the way I used to practice in the mirror when when I dreamt of a sucessful carrier in figure-skating, but that's another story) as they pointed to no one in particular whilst proudly singing the words of their perspective theme songs. It was such an experience that I swear I can barely contain my laughter now while writing.

The other thing I loved is how there was a whole sea of people waving at these guys, like they knew them personally, like there was some kind of a "connection" there......I don't know why but it was to me the ultimate in the Japanese "oneness" of spirit.

Sooo, that's about where my Disney experinece ended as we again realized that the little ones were getting cold & bored so we left DH & Amy-in-law to it with the big kids to spend the rest of the day there.

And of course, as you've suspected & as Mikey, Miney, Belle & Ariel know.....we went home & lived happily ever after.

Family time Pics 2# (Disney time)

2009-04-03T12:44:00.001+09:00

I'm gonna go ahead & spare you my 2 cents on Disneyland, since anyone who knows me well will already know about my ongoing issues with full-body-suit-people at amusement parks (Retch!!). But when you have kids you gotta make sacrifices, eh? Here's how Day 1 went down:

If you ask me, Amy-in-law came up with one of the best Birthday ideas of all time. It was Lady Charlotte's very 1st birthday and we contemplated buying a cake at the hotel then thought we'd make one & bring it with us......but get this Amy in a moment of sheer genius (probably somewhere between making a cappuccino & snitching what I was making for dinner) suggested we eat it for breakfast.
What a lovely idea and what a lovely little lady. We probably sang to her 10 times that morning alone, would you be able to restrain yourself?. Look at that, she's in her PJ's and everything! Awww!
And did she eat it? YES, She did! (There really is no failure like a kid tossing their very first birthday cake, the cake you toiled over on the floor, I think that's my ultimate Birthday cake fear)

And if you're a regular here, I'm sure you recognize what cake we went for. (Big-bill's without the walnuts) The frosting though was somewhat of a (temporary) nightmare.

Let's put it this way. Marscapone does not act in the same way that cream cheese does & does not mix with butter & icing sugar. I tried everything and if I hadn't had a few cocktails with Amy I might have just settled for curdled frosting. I let Bruce have a go with it on full blast. I dumped it in the blender & woke Lawyer boy at 11:30 with my blending, and just when I was about to admit defeat....I decieded to try......(come on, cooks you know what I did right?) I threw an egg yolk in the blender & VOILA!! (Whew!) Folded in 1 cup of whip cream & 1 tbsp of lime juice & 1 tsp lime zest. I think the stress was definately worth the results though. The frosting was true Awesomeness.

Well, since I somehow forgot to add pictures of all of us crammed into one van like the "good old days" (???) of professional "van-cramming", I'll just show you this! The kids happy to be in "their" hotel, The Ambassador.

This was just too classic, doesn't she look just like a little Muslim girl. Once the rain started to realized that we forgot our "back up" umbrellas in the van at the hotel. So try as we might to bundle the kids up in their hoods & jackets it was clear we'd need some extra protection.

Some were thrilled about the rain coats......some.....were not!

Just making themselves at home in the hotel lobby as they wait for check in. As you can imagine the little people didn't last in Disneyland for very long so the mommies bailed back to the hotel for an early check in.
Ah....nothing like running around in your diaper in your own hotel room. While the kids ran around frolicing in the land where dreams really "DOOOOOooo come truuuuuue" (yeah, if you dream about giant Mickey Mice trying to hug you. Arrrggg)

Despite long lines & the off & on rain, they trooped back to the hotel predicictably with energy left to recount the important little details of their adventures. NEXT, we were off to eat dinner.

Becky & I discovered this restaurant called "Rainforest Cafe". And what a perfect place it was.

Besides being totally covered top to bottom in green leafy vegetation & tangled vines the life sized & extra large animal replicas kept the kids just looking around the restaurant for half the time we were there. We were seated by a massive cylinder fish-tank with tropical fish for the kids to look at while we waited for our order. We also discovered that every 1/2 hr or so the lights were practically turned out for a "thunderstorm" complete with flashes of lighting & crazy animal sounds. I contemplated the idea of threatening "naughties" with the "tornado feature" that strings them up by their toenails to the ceiling as an example for all the other kids in the restaurant.

Awww....here's my cocktails whose name I forgot but I do remember that it was a frozen mango & Malibu liquor mix. Yummmmola!

Here's the pic of us all after our table sang Happy Birthday to Charlotte so loudly that we got 1/2 the restaurant singing along. That pile of fudge brownies & ice cream was somehow tucked away & then we headed back to the hotel.

Kids were thrilled about being in their own hotel beds & new bathtub to splash in. The classic moment for me was when they were about to jump in the bathtub but someone saw the fireworks going off above the Cinderella castle & 4 nekid little kids jumped up & down in front of their window watching their own hanabi show.

Happy Ending to a long day!

Family time Pics 1#

2009-04-02T08:15:00.005+09:00

If you're interested in what our family has been up to last month I shall be posting a series of posts doing just that. Of course....foodie pics will always be involved for what is a foodie blog without food? Forgive me if they are not chronological or are at times totally abstract & non-nonsensical but I'm often blogging with a spatula in one hand & a text book in the other.

I had planned to have a pasta dinner so I made up 2 loaves of Focaccia. The toppings were brown sugar, rosemary, sea salt, freshly grated Parmesan & EV Olive oil. But at the last minute my savior (AKA: imaginative twin sister in law) ordered Indian (You will always be my hero!!!)

So instead we got to have had this for our picnic:

Focaccia Ham & Cheese sandwiches

This may have been the only authentic lovely SPRING day of our whole visit. The rest of them were lovely freezing cold rainy spring days. (Note the "sandwich in the bib look" Erika is sporting)

This is my tree-hugger son. He is most tender indeed!

Sibling time.

Miss 3 years old declared in her own cute little way: "Mom, going on a boat is what I've wanted to do for my WHOOOOOLE life".

Don't we just love Chiba Koen?