prasantrin

I like the bottom left and middle ones. I'm a sucker for anything that looks like it might be meringue (bottom-middle one--though it's probably more like ladyfingers). The purple thing near the top is certainly fugly, though! I never made it to Lime Tree Cafe--we had planned to go, but never got there. I did make it to the Boat House or Marina or some sort of place like that, and I kind of thought it sucked (but it's very popular with the ex-pat crowd, probably because you can order very watered-down drinks there). I'll let my friends know about the Lebanese place in RAK. I'm sure they'd love to try it!

For $50/night, you can do quite well as far as hotels are concerned--not 5-star, but clean and safe. I've stayed at the Ambassador, and if you stay there definitely go for the newer tower (not new by any means, and not so much more expensive--it's still cheap). The older tower smells like mould. Or stay at the Manhattan a few blocks down--cheaper than the Ambassador, though older, but probably a better value and it's just as clean. At both hotels, though, male guests bring their "companions" in for overnight stays. So if you're sensitive to that kind of stuff, stay away (and from all other hotels in and around that price bracket, which means you'll probably end up in a 5-star). (On Sukhumvit at the corner of the soi the Manhattan Hotel is on, you'll see a restaurant with ducks hanging in the window. According to my food-loving cousin (aren't all Thais food loving?), it's a very good restaurant, but I've never been able to try it.) You'll find a lot of Thais eating at food courts, too, not just farangs (at MBK or others). I don't find most food court food to be particularly good, but they're not bad, either. They're just good places to go to sort out what's what, since they usually have a large variety of foods. But they don't necessarily cater to farangs. I think if you're unfamiliar with Thai food, a food court is a good place to start, just to see what's available. Sometimes you'll find English speaking staff, too, so if you see something interesting, you can ask questions about it, then search for it elsewhere.

I'm not Verjuice, but...Dates! The ones from Bateel stuffed with almonds or pistachio paste! And the spicy cashews from Lulu's (supermarket). They were gooooooood! I just did a search and they have Bateel in KL, so maybe you don't need the dates...but the spicy cashews from Lulu's are still highly recommended!

Interestingly, we very rarely eat Italian food in Canada, not even at home, and my mother has always said doesn't really care for it too much. When I was younger, we would have spaghetti every so often, but as an adult, I would sometimes go out for Italian with friends, but it wasn't something I often craved. In Japan, though, I tend to eat pasta more because it's easy to make, and easy to transport (for my bento when I'm working). But my mother almost never eats Italian. We had Italian once last summer, but that was it for the entire two months I was home. We ate at Trattoria Ihatovo three times in 8 days! That's more than we've eaten at Italian restaurants in Winnipeg over the last 2 or 3 years! This restaurant, along with many Italian restaurants in Japan, is so very different from what is available in most of Canada (and perhaps even in the US). While I've never been to Italy, I think good Italian restaurants in Japan are closer to what one would get in the country of origin--fresh ingredients, simple dishes with the flavours of the ingredients really shining. In most of Canada, Italian food is what one gets at the Olive Garden (chain restaurant). Even the restaurants owned by Italian families serve food similar to Olive Garden food. Heavy on the sauce (either tomato or very heavy cream sauces), overcooked pasta--that's Italian food most Canadians are used to. We usually eat rice and foods that go well with rice. When my mom's alone, she eats a lot of fish and vegetables, and simple soups. In Japan, I often make easy foods that will last me a week--mac&cheese or lasagne, chicken (roast or oven-fried), Chinese dishes like sweet and sour pork or mabodofu... When my dad was alive, we ate more Thai food, but it's rare that we eat that at home now. We do often dine at our friend's Thai restaurant, so we get our Thai fix that way. We also eat a lot of Chinese food when we go out to eat. One of the things I love about Japan, and that I miss when I'm not here, is the variety and quality of the foods and pastries one can get. Even when I lived in Ujiie (Tochigi-ken), we had a little Italian restaurant that had a wood-burning oven for making pizzas that most Canadians would not think of eating (the average Canadian would balk at having potatoes and gorgonzola on pizza!). The cakes and pastries, too, are far and above the quality and variety I can get in Winnipeg. Of course, when I'm in Japan, I miss Old Dutch potato chips, Greek food (which I don't eat very often, but I like it), and good Cantonese food (especially dim sum!). And sweet potatoes!

On the 17th, my mother and I made an impulse decision to have dinner at a new Italian restaurant near my apartment. We didn't take any pictures of the food that night, since I didn't have my camera with me (or the batteries were dead), but we had some really wonderful food. We started with ouefs en cocotte, which of course aren't called that at this restaurant, but the Italian name wasn't given, just the Japanese (of which I could only read part). Words cannot express how wonderful we found this dish. I've had ouefs en cocotte before, but the flavours of this version were so simple, yet so very delicious. Out only complaint was that it didn't come with bread, so we lingered while eating the last of it, and then when our pizza arrived, we tore off parts of the crust and used them to wipe the cocotte clean. It was a bit embarrassing--how clean our cocotte was--but at least they knew we enjoyed it! Our pizza was small, and when I saw the crust my heart sank. It looked like supermarket crust from the refrigerated section, sold parbaked. "What a let-down from our cocotte," I thought. Our pizza had black olives, anchovies, and capers, I think. Then I tried it. Wow! Like the cocotte, the flavours were fresh and simple, but this was really delicious. And the crust was no supermarket crust. It wasn't the kind of crust you can get from a wood-burning oven, but for what it was, it was light yet chewy. We also ordered spaghetti bolognese. It was also very very good. I'm not sure what was different from my own version (which I quite like), but it was unlike the bolognese I've had at many other Italian restaurants in Japan. It wasn't too sweet, and I could actually taste the meat in the dish. Often, bolognese mostly tastes of sweetness and tomato, but this was so perfectly balanced that no one flavour outshone the others. We also had a lemon cake (similar to a chiffon cake, but with pudding blended into the batter) for dessert. This was the one restaurant we've been to (in Japan) to which my mother has wanted to return. So we did, for lunch three days later, this time armed with my camera. We both ordered lunch specials, which came with bread, salad, and coffee or tea. My mother had some kind of pasta with clams. This was very very good. When she had finished all her pasta, I used some of my bread to soak up the delicious broth at the bottom. She was embarrassed, but I didn't care. It had just a hint of spice and white wine, but neither was overpowering. I had the linguine with anchovies and eggplant. I don't know what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting what I got. This, too, was delicious, and different from anything I had ever had at an Italian restaurant (I've never been to Italy, though). No dessert this time, as we were stuffed and my mother had a shiatsu appointment a few hours later. Trattoria Ihatovo has only been open since July, and they don't seem to have much business, yet (I pass by every day on my bike, as it's on my way to and from work). The first time we ate there, we arrived at 6:30 (they open at 5:30, I think), and we left after 8:00 (last order is 9:00), and we were the only ones in the place. They were a little busier at lunch (4 other customers), but still not near what they should be, given the quality of the food. The prices are not bad, either. Most pizzas and pastas are about Y900, meat and fish dishes are probably around Y1500, desserts are Y400 (they usually only have one or two desserts available), and my mother's lunch set was Y1000 while mine was Y1200. Very reasonably priced, I think. So if you're ever in my neighbourhood (near Mondoyakujin Station in Nishinomiya), I encourage you to eat at Trattoria Ihatovo. They're open for lunch and dinner, but are closed Wednesdays.

The recipe I use is this one, which I got from a children's book about maple syrup: 250 mL all-purpose flour (1 cup) 10 mL baking powder (2 teaspoons) a pinch of salt 5 mL sugar (1 teaspoon) 1 egg 175 mL milk (about 3/4 cup) 15 mL melted butter (1 tablespoon) 10 mL vegetable oil Mix dry ingredients and make a well. Mix wet ingredients together, and dump in the well of the dry ingredients. Don't overmix. I find this produces a very thick batter, and the resulting pancakes are very fluffy. I can usually only get 2 or 3 pancakes of what I consider to be average-size out of this recipe, which is fine with me since I usually only eat one. One tip my dad taught me was to let the batter sit for a bit. He said it would make the pancakes fluffier. I like to use oil in the pan--it makes the pancakes even lighter, and also gives the pancakes a crunchier exterior (which i like). I always eat pancakes with more butter and some maple syrup, even when I've added cheese to the pancake (but batter in the pan, add slices of cheese, then cover the cheese with a bit more batter). To add a few more recipes, this topic was started just a couple of weeks ago, and includes people's favourite pancake recipes. spaghetttti and I have almost the same recipe (and I think she likes to use oil in the pan, too!).

Beautiful pastries, but were they any good? I almost went to the Burj Al-Arab for afternoon tea, but couldn't be bothered making a reservation (plus I figured by the time I would have wanted to go, I would have been too pooped from sitting through Dubai traffic!). More questions about food--what do you think of the restaurant scene in Dubai? I wasn't that impressed with what I had, but I didn't make it to the higher-end places.

Lee Kum Kee has two sauces that might be tenmenjan--Black Bean Sauce and Ground Bean Sauce. The ground bean sauce looks too light to be tenmenjan, but the black bean sauce seems to be more liquidy than pastey. Neither have the exact kanji as tenmenjan, though. Maybe the next time your at a grocery store, you could check ingredient lists and choose the one that best matches tenmenjan. Or, if all else fails, substitute.

I agree! Emirati recipes! When I was there I browsed through cookbooks looking for any kind of information on Emirati food, but I couldn't find much of anything. Are there any special Emirati foods, or is there a cookbook that you might suggest? My friends there tell me there isn't really a distinct Emirati cuisine...is that true? When my mother and I go to NM (in a couple of years, not days--my mistake!), we'll either start in Santa Fe or Albuquerque and drive down and around. We're mostly interested in food, but also arts and crafts, so I'd be happy to see pretty much anything you have to offer! Hope the leg of lamb turned out well!

Does the depachika at Hankyu Department Store count? We just went to pick up dinner, and then went home. We were going to have sushi at my favourite sushi place, but decided not to. My mother gets tired easily, so we tend not to stay out too late (I get tired easily, too, but it's easier to blame early nights on a 71-year old!). But I'm sure we'll get back out to Osaka at least once more before she leaves on the 7th!

Mikage! That's practically in my 'hood! Well, not quite, but it's only a 25 minute train ride from my place. A lot of great restaurants in that area, I hear, but I have yet to make it out there to try any of them. I've always wanted to go to the Mexican one they have there. Maybe next summer! True, and these were very freshly candied (we watched the guy making them), but since I usually get my nuts at Costco, sticker shock set in quickly! Just in case y'all think I never cook, Grilled cheese (cheddar and pepper jack) with thrice-cooked fries made for a very late lunch. I was so full after that I couldn't go to yoga class three hours later. To let you know how far behind I am, the Christmas market was on the 18th, and the grilled cheese was from the 19th. I'll get to the end eventually!

Thanks for sharing your wonderful trip to Osaka. I don't know much about Osaka, so I had to google to find out what German Christmas Market. You have to pay to go to the "Floating Garden Observatory", right? According to their official site, the admission fee is 700 yen for adults and 500 yen for seniors. Did you actually pay 1000 yen? And, thanks for posting a photo of yourself! ← Hmmmm....now I'm thinking, maybe it was Y700. I only remember thinking it was a lot of money given we weren't planning to stay very long, and it was more expensive than what I read it would be. But maybe I read it would be Y500 and Y300, but then it was Y700 and Y500?? It was nice, though. We tried to make it up to the top before the sun set (it was still light out when we entered the building), but by the time we got to the top the sun had just about set. At least we got a taste of the sunset!

This is great! You're everything I'm interested in, rolled into one package! I spent some time in the UAE last spring. Much to my regret, I never made it to Abu Dhabi, but I stayed mostly in Sharjah and took day trips to Dubai (which I hated). I also passed through Ras al-Khaimah, and I agree, it's a great emirate. I thought I wouldn't mind living there if I ever moved to the UAE. My friends work for HCT, so I was lucky enough to go to the Women's College to meet some Emirati women, too. Maybe in 10 years time, I'll head back to work there for a bit. I'll ask you a similar question I've asked other ex-pats--what do you miss most from the UAE (foodwise or otherwise), and what do you miss from the US when you're in the UAE? I'm also very interested in New Mexico--my parents met and married there (Las Cruces), so I'm hoping to get some travel hints from your blog. My mother and I are planning to head down there within the next few years to visit all my parents' old haunts. Are you going to take us anywhere outside of Santa Fe?

They had a pretty big Christmas tree there. I asked my mother if she wanted me to take her picture in front of it, and she gave me a look, which I interpreted as, "Are you kidding? How many pictures of me are you going to take? " But then she walked to the tree, turned around, and posed. Apparently her look meant, "Are you kidding? How many more pictures of me are you going to take? " The market was actually kind of pitiful. They had maybe a dozen food stalls, but some were duplicates, and maybe a dozen stalls selling other goods, not all of which were German (do they sell pipes of pan from Guatemala at real German Christmas markets?). This guy was making "German potatoes", which from what I could tell, were just potatoes cooked with "butter" and onions. The candied nuts were tasty, but expensive. Y1000 for 220g of candied almonds? This stall had German candies of all sorts, and decorated gingerbread cookies. At the bottom far right, they had long coloured candies. I didn't know what they were, but they looked like wax. It was family night, so all food was 10% off! Lucky us! For Y450, we shared an herb sausage. It wasn't very good, and tasted like Japanese sausage to me. But maybe German sausage is more similar to Japanese sausage? Then for another Y450, we shared a Nutella crepe. Not a good shot, but it looks like it's sticking it's tongue out! Santa Claus plays the harp! Look how happy my mother is with some Glühwein and crepe! The Glühwein was actually mine--Y800, but it included a souvenir cup! I could have returned the cup and gotten Y300 back, but I kind of liked it.

Needing more lights, we went to Germany last week. Nothing says Christmas in Japan like a German Christmas Market! Before browsing around the market, we headed up to the rooftop garden of the Umeda Sky Building. It's a looooong way up! Osaka is actually quite lovely at night. And note that my mother can finally do the "peace sign" properly! (In the picture from Arashiyama, she just raised her hand and sort of waved.) And we all need a bit of love at Christmas, and a skimpy Charlie Brown Christmas tree, too! The picture of me is a wee bit blurry, but it was the best of the lot. This is why you won't see too many more (if any) pictures of me. My mother is a bit of a technophobe, and she takes lousy pictures! (She once managed to cut the head off every single person in a group shot of about 10 or more people!) Now back to food, if you're ever in the Umeda Sky Building, you can pick up some souvenirs for the folks back home. Sazae fan, anyone? For the teenaged boy in your life (it comes in packs of two, of course, just in case you're worried about lop-sidedness), Not quite as nice, but for the woman in your life, We took the long trip down and they thanked us heartily for parting with Y1000 each for a 10-minute visit (Y500 for seniors!). We had a nice time up there, but it wasn't that nice! I swear!

Mix in some mayo and finely diced red peppers into that mayo, and you've got some extra calories and nutrition! You mentioned not craving carbs, so if you're not in the mood for bread, Ryvita crackers or similar-style crackers can help add crunch, calories, and fiber to your snack! But it's a lot messier to eat egg salad than a hard-boiled egg!

Nutritionists can be great, but some are just clueless about how to work with anyone who does not eat a "standard" diet. A nutritionist I went to encouraged me to buy more processed foods (soy cheese, fake meats, etc.). I'd rather have eaten less of what I was already eating than more of that crap. My mother was told by a nutritionist to eat Rice Krispies for a good breakfast, though she is a life-long eater of oatmeal! Can you imagine? Along with what mizducky was saying, it might be a good idea to get a physical done, just to make sure there isn't anything else contributing to your weight loss. Your doctor is also in a better position to determine if your weight loss is a concern to your health, and s/he can recommend a nutritionist or other paths for you to look into.

You could sneak vegetables, etc. into your protein--add chopped vegetables and breadcrumbs into your meatloaf or burgers, etc. If you're eating breakfast, try fattening them up. Add a lot of cheese (and vegetables) to eggs, make a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon and tomatoes, make smoothies with half-and-half, etc. Multi-vitamins are, as I understand it, supposed to augment whatever you're getting through food, rather than replace. Plus despite what vitamin companies say, many of the nutrients in vitamins are not readily accessible to the human body. One final thing that might help is to stop thinking about your situation in terms of weight, but think about it in terms of body fat percentage. You're probably still in a healthy range, and if you're really worried, have your bfp done (most gyms and even some university recreation departments will do a fitness assessment including bfp for a price). I had mine done a few years ago, and was suprised to find out what I though was an "ideal weight" for me would be downright unhealthy for me now (I was shooting for 110, which was about what I was in high school, but I found out that my non-fat body weight alone is 103lbs). I almost wish I had your problem, except I'm too lazy to work at a car wash! (And start doing some squats to get that butt back!)

Oops... I kind of thought it wasn't a good thing, but I went ahead because I was too lazy to do anything else! Next time I guess I'll have to clean my tub! (And there will definitely be a next time--I still have some lotus leaves to use up! ) Thanks for the tips about freezing and reheating. The easier the better! About filling, do you sort of squeeze the rice together to make it more compact? Even my more tightly rolled ones aren't as compact as the ones we get in dim sum. The rice is kind of loose, but I think I'd like it to be a little tighter. That would mean squishing the rice more, though. And I just have to add...my mother and I had a good laugh because she did not make anything with me! She kept warm in my Tempur futon bed (which isn't even her bed while she's here!) watching TV while I slaved over all the dim sum stuff! Sometimes when I wanted her to taste something, I'd have to bring it over to her, so she wouldn't have to get out of my bed! She's really spoiled!

If your program is a not-for-profit one, it may have something to do with tax deductions, etc. when they do their taxes at the end of the year. Many Canadian tax deductions are there to benefit those who spend money in Canada, rather than outside Canada, so if you're buying stuff in the US, it may disqualify them from receiving certain deductions. I would think, though, that you'd have to be buying a fair percentage of your goods in the US, which I don't think you are, but management probably just wants to keep things easy. If you were to continue buying from the US, they'd have to start calculation what percentage of your goods are US vs. Canadian, etc. If my theory is correct, that is. I'm sure they'd still be willing to accept the occasional donation of jiffy muffins, though! Or re-package in clear plastic bags and pretend it's from the bulk-food store!

What's in the HK-style club sandwich? It looks like egg, pickles, thin luncheon ham, and processed cheese in the lower layer, but I can only recognize what I think are tomatoes in the upper layer. An acquaintance originally from India used to joke that all good Indians know that any food with western origins (samosas--fried food probably originated with the Portuguese) should be served with ketchup.

Bread pudding--both savoury and sweet?

My mom did bring them, and the edges crumbled a bit, but it wasn't too bad. Most of them were split it spots, though, and that's what cause the trouble. The first two I made, I rolled them in such a way that exposed some of the rice through the splits. But the next morning (fresh from a good night's sleep?), I figured out how I should be rolling them to get them tighter, and to prevent the rice from peeping out through the splits. Oh, I did soak them in hot water first. The recipe I had said to only soak them for an hour, and I soaked them for maybe 3 hours with hot water (not boiling, but 60C which is the hottest my tap water gets). They were quite pliable, but maybe I should be getting them more pliable. I think, though, that the bucket I used for soaking may have contributed to the splitting, because I had to sort of cram them in. I should have used my tub, but I didn't feel like cleaning it. And I'll have you know, I used all the rice from the second batch! And all my filling, too, so no leftovers to eat on their own! I really like my sticky rice. The flavour of the first two was great, the only problem was the looseness of the rice. But I think my remaining 6 will be spot on. Now I just have to figure out how to freeze them. Kathy Man said in her class (according to my mother) that they could be frozen, just thaw and resteam, but I read somewhere (here probably) that they shouldn't be frozen. Do I dare? One more question...is it nor mai gai or lor mai gai? I found both names, but there didn't seem to be a difference between the recipes.

My cup is a standard 250mL cup, and I thought my nor mai gai were the usual size! But maybe I'm super-sizing them--I've never made them before, so what do I know? I have pictures of the two I made last night (pre-steamed), and am steaming more rice as I type. I'm making 3 more cups of raw rice, which should give me enough for the remaining 6 leaves I soaked. I hope! I'm having problems with lotus leaf breakage, though, so I might have to eat some of that rice plain. Poor me! The things I suffer for eGullet! My pictures of my first two nor mai gai. As you can see, I needed help with wrapping the first two--I kind of sucked at it, and my rice isn't nearly as tightly packed as it should be. But the subsequent 6 I made this morning are much better. I haven't steamed them, yet, but will do so tonight after we get back from Kyoto. My mise--the filling is a combination of Tepee's chicken bao filling and leftover hum sui gok filling, along with 1/8th piece of Chinese sausage. There's only 1/8 piece because they're too precious to use up in nor mai gai. I should have made more slices from that one sausage, though, because I didn't get any in my share! The first layer of rice with filling. Topped with another layer of rice (is this how you're supposed to fill them?). My two very sloppily wrapped nor mai gai. I steam in my tamais (tamis?) because that's all I have). Unwrapped--you can see how loose the rice is. Innards--gee, that sausage looks a bit..ummm... It tasted much better than it looks! Off to Kyoto now.

These weren't technically "sembei", I think, because I don't think they were made with rice flour at all, and "sembei" are usually translated as "rice crackers", but I didn't know what else to call them. These were more like hard cookies made with a batter, with chunks of peanuts (or soy beans) in them. It's not like peanut brittle at all, but if you're familiar with Arrowroot Cookies (just a very plain cookie), they taste a bit like those. I'll post a picture of the peanut ones we bought once I find them again. I haven't seen them since we got back, which makes me wonder if my mother has been partaking while I've been at work!