prasantrin

I finally picked up a box of these. I loved the green tea flavour. But I didn't care so much for the actual chocolate. It's not so much the chocolate's fault, it's because I don't like plain chocolate--I prefer chocolate with nuts, caramel, or something crunchy in it. I think these would have been great as a chocolate covered digestive cookies. (I've been eating a lot of McVitie's Green Tea cookies--I really love those! I've never seen the grape flavoured KitKat!! I saw the blueberry ones sold earlier this year, and I think I saw some banana ones. I didn't try either. I'm still pissed that they didn't bring back Matcha KitKats this year! I loved those!

I have, but it was at a Starbuck's in Tokyo. I thought it sucked, and would have much preferred a bacon 'n egger from A&W.

As someone who once dated a smoker (but never will again), I can relate to that! To any of you smokers with partners who don't smoke, just think about how much more they'll want to kiss you after you quit smoking. A smoker's mouth really does taste horrible--and french kissing a smoker is the worst!!

You could pm winefellow--or hop down to Kenaston Wine Market (that should give you a big hint to whom I am referring) and visit, since he hasn't been active in the eGullet in ages. No restaurant, but he has a lot of contacts in the industry and is a member of the Chaine de something...

Sure, but if you market it the right way, you can still promote local restaurants. For example, "If you liked the food at..., why not try... for lunch tomorrow?" Pavilions don't open until around 6, so most people coming in for Folklorama will still need to have lunch somewhere. Or, "Can't make it to the Indian Pavilion? Then try the food at one of these great Indian restaurants, instead." Actually, something like the last one might even work for locals. Again, put the right spin on it and it can be done. Most people going to the Folk Festival will probably be camping in or around Bird's Hill. So why not team up with hotels to create a Festival/Stay-over package to lengthen people's stays in the area? Tickets to the Festival, camping site reservation, plus two nights at a hotel in Winnipeg for before or after the Festival, and by the way, here are some restaurants you might be interested in.

Two of the Juniors are owned by a local family--Palestinean immigrants (I love their falafel, especially their homemade hot sauce that goes with it). As far as I know, they don't really work with the locals in a promotional sense. As kurtisk said, if Winnipeg wants to promote culinary tourism, they really are going to have to promote what they do best--and that's cheap ethnic foods. I think one place to start might be working with some of the universities nearby. A friend of mine went to Concordia College in the Fargo-Moorhead area and as part of one of his courses, they went up to Winnipeg to do a tour of the areas inhabited by some of the early Eastern European immigrants. They included that overrated pierogi place--I can't remember the name--as part of their tour. Contact the universities with the names of a few more similar places and I'm sure they'll add them to their lists (or at least make a list of places to eat for the students). It would also be great to market some of Winnipeg's festivals to go along with the food. Folklorama is an obvious choice, but it was already at one time the number one bus tour destination (to Canada from the US). The Folk Festival is already popular with many of our American neighbours, so again, packaging that along with restaurant suggestions might be a good way to start. I think one of the problems with marketing to the south (outside of Minneapolis, anyway), is that many of those being marketed to are not food-centric. North Dakota has some of the crappiest restaurants I've ever been to, and I seriously doubt many North Dakotans are very interested in the kind of food Winnipeg has to offer. University students are still a good target, as they're often more adventurous than the long-time residents, and since many of them make their way up to Winnipeg for booze, anyway.

I bought one of those once. It just wasn't the same. Like Kristen said, the ninjinimo looks pretty close. I wonder if I could grow potatoes in pots...if I could, I might try to grow some of those next season! (Whenver that might be--I can only read well enough to see that it's not available now.) I guess I'll have to wait till the next time I'm home, too. I usually only get cravings for sweet potatoes during fall/winter, though, and I only go home during summer. Bad luck for me! I might try to find a single can somewhere, just to get the craving out of my system. Who knows, if the canned stuff is really bad, I may never crave them again!

The subject of toilets is near and dear to my heart--or at least to my ass. Here are some of my favourite restaurant toilets. Some restaurant in Thailand--such pretty toilet paper! The rest of the toilet was nothing to write home about. The ceiling of the toilet at Steirereck in Vienna was the only thing good about the toilet. The toilet paper was like cardboard--I thought I restaurant like Steirereck might have better quality toilet paper than the average place, but apparently not. The sink at my favourite Teppanyaki restaurant in Kobe, called Lapin. There are little rabbit knicknacks all over the place (in the first picture you can see a blurry rabbit picture top right), but in the sink is a little turtle. Unfortunately, sometime in the last year some a**wipe stole it! A little blurry, but this is a child's toilet at the food court in Carrefour (sort of a restaurant, right?). It's teeny tiny, and the door is, too! (Not necessarily a good thing, because you can peep over the door at whatever child is using the stall.) The sink at one of my favourite coffee shop/cafe/place to hang out restaurants in Kobe. I think it's called Alo Aro. The decor above the toilet was nice, too. It changes every so often. I just realized that I mostly have a thing for sinks, not toilets. Oh well, they're still pretty! Edited to fix a picture.

I love Lee Valley--they have great workshops there, too, if you have one nearby. Did you see the mortar and pestle on their website? The pestle part (or is it the mortar part?) looks just like Fifi's little stainless steel mushroom, except it's made of marble is is bigger (and more expensive). But for those really wanting one of those mushrooms, this might be a good substitute until the mushrooms are produced again!

I've been planning on making pound cake since the start of these topic. I love a good pound cake, but have never had a good homemade one (at least not one made by me), so I've been quite happy with Sara Lee when available. Tonight I had intended to try Becca's pound cake recipe, but for some reason (I can't remember why now) I ended up making the Sour Cream and Lemon Pound Cake from Bon Appetit. I followed the recipe exactly, but I used Japanese sour cream since I'm in Japan. I find Japanese sour cream to be much thicker than US sour cream (or at least Canadian sour cream), and it seems to be richer, as well. I considered adding milk to it so the texture would be more similar to US sour cream, but decided against it. I baked it for 72 minutes instead of the suggested 90 (my tiny Japanese gas/convection oven bakes things quickly). This cake is perfect! I took some pictures, but left my card reader at work so they'll have to wait until tomorrow. The top crust on this cake is wonderfully caramelized, and the cake itself is very moist and very buttery, with a fine crumb. I cut into it when it was still warm. Mmmmmm, I just cannot express how much I love this cake. I would consider cutting the sugar a bit, but I liked the crust so much. I'm afraid cutting the sugar might ruin that slightly chewy crispy texture of it. I did notice that the inner circle of the cake (it's baked in a Bundt pan) is much lighter than the outer part. Is this normal for Bundt cakes? Or is there a way I can get it more evenly browned? Now, do I have another slice or go to bed? It's still warm....can I resist?

Oops. I sometimes got those, too. But I might have done them myself sometimes (it's been so long, it's difficult to remember). And thinking back, those oranges were only sometimes completely peeled. Sometimes the peel was just scored with a knife, so it was easier to peel. And as a very young child, I also got the peeled and seeded (doesn't that really mean put are being put in?), but I can't remember if it was mother or an aunt who used to do that. Just sometimes, as a treat. Personally, I'd pay a little more for any kind of fruit that's already peeled and portioned (that needs peeling, that is). Fresh pineapple, for example, is much easier to eat if it's already peeled, and in Japan, little tubs of it are readily available. I don't worry as much about waste since there's usually only enough for one or maybe two servings. And I'm more likely to eat it because it's already cubed and I don't have to do anything to it.

I know there's a satsumaimo thread, already, so if you think this belongs there, feel free to merge me! (I also posted in the Cooking thread, but no one wants to help me there ) I've been craving sweet potatoes for some time, now. But not satsumaimo--the bright orange ones sometimes called "yams" in the US and Canada. I have not been able to find raw ones, so it seems if I want some, I have to get canned. Has anyone here tried the canned ones? FBC has two types availalbe--Princella and Springfield. I'm going to have to buy a case regardless of which type I buy. I mostly just roast them with butter, brown sugar, and pecans or walnuts, or I mash them. Or has anyone ever found some of the raw ones here in Japan? I'd even consider finding my way to Tokyo to get some!!

I'm going to have to print out this blog when it's finished. Why use a guide book when you have Megan's virtual food tour? I'll just follow all the pictures to the places of interest (all food related, of course), and I'm all set! This is such a fabulous blog! Thanks for the Jacques Torres pics, and no pets? What kind of building doesn't allow pets!?!?!?!??!

I'd buy those! I hate getting my nails all orangey and plugged up with orange peel (I'm really just a girly girl at heart!). I just remembered, when I was in junior high, my mother used to peel, break (just the first one--not completely sectioned) and wrap my oranges whenever she made me lunch. She rarely ever made my lunches, so I think that was one of the ways she made up for it (not that a 14-year old can't make her own lunch, but most of the kids' lunches were made by their mothers). She used to make mayonnaise for our sandwiches, too.

I'm a woman and I do it. And not just with the refrigerator. The other day I walked into the office, stood at the door, and said, "Why am I here?" One of my co-workers looked at me and said, "Well, I think you work here..." To keep it food related, I finally remembered that I had gone back to the office to get my thermos of milk coffee. Supposedly caffeine helps stimulate your brain so you can think better and actually remember things.

Today I made an interesting observation. I didn't get much to eat this morning--just a bit of granola with milk for breakfast, then at 11-ish I had some cottage cheese with fresh pineapple. I didn't get to eat again after that, and went to work out at 2. There was a big difference in what I could lift. It was much more difficult for me to complete my 2 sets/12 reps, and I could only complete half a set of my last exercise (dumbbell fly--my muscles were trembling so I ended my first set very early on). This is hardly an observation based on scientific principles, but it seems to point to needing more sustenance before exercising--for me, at least. I just have to figure out if it was timing, quantity, quality, or a combination of any or all of the above that reduced my energy levels.

Single-serve bananas have been available in Japan forever, not only in convenience stores but at regular grocery stores. Maybe not forever, but for a long time. They do quite well here. Premium bananas (don't know exactly what that means, but the really expensive, perfect ones) usually come in single servings. edited to add: It should be noted that in Japan, bananas are sold by pre-determined bunches. You don't get to tear one or two off a bunch and just pay for what you want. You either buy a bunch (already weighed and complete with a bar code sticker), or you buy one of the more expensive single servings. All fruits and vegetables are sold that way (I've never seen a scale at a checkout counter here).

OK y'all. I'm getting desperate. I want some sweet potatoes/yams--the orange kind that is often eaten with Thanksgiving dinner in the US or Canada. In Japan, it's pretty much impossible to find them raw and the Japanese sweet potatoes just don't do it for me. I can order an entire case of Princella Cut Sweet Potatoes (12 cans of 40oz, not in syrup) or an entire case of Springfield Cut Yams (12 cans of 20oz, not in syrup). Here's the problem--I don't want to end up with a whole case of canned yams if they're not very good. I've never had canned yams, though, so I don't even know what to expect from them. I would most likely use them for mashed sweet potatoes or roasted sweet potatoes (just with a bit of butter, salt, and pepper). I might sometimes load them with butter and sprinkle them with brown sugar and pecans or walnuts and bake them like that. But that's pretty much the extent of my sweet potato repertoire. So for those of you with experience with canned sweet potatoes, not in syrup, can a sweet potato lover who's never had them love them, too? Or am I doomed to never eat another orange sweet potato for as long as I live in Japan?

Peppermint Sitck. Not some kind of chocolate peppermint crap, but just pure peppermint stick/candy cane ice cream. It's so hard to find nowadays, even at Christmastime, and I'm just a simple girl at heart...

Good idea. I have a history of inner ear infections, too. So far, so good, but sometimes (I'm still new at it) the water shoots to the back of my brain and gives me something like a brain freeze. About the salt--make sure it's sea salt or kosher. No iodine allowed. Has anyone asked you to go to Jacques Torres' chocolate shop, yet? I'd like to see that if it's anywhere near anywhere you'll be. I'm now going to back to see if there's any mention of pets we should be seeing pictures of...

That soup looks amazing! I think I'll pick up a bag of garlic tonight at Costco and make me some soup! About the head cold...ever try a neti pot? There's a very scary video here. It looks horrible, but it works really well for clearing out congestion!

That meal looked particularly Japanese-inspired, especially the above dish. Did Shola talk about his inspirations for this particular meal?

I'm still reading! And don't worry, I've not been scared off, nor am I accepting everything as truth for me. I had a general idea of what I needed, but was looking for specific examples of what people usually ate (knowing, of course, that each person would have a different answer). I like the idea of using other nut butters--they're a bit expensive in Japan, but alternating them with peanut butter will help prevent peanut butter overload. I've also started eating cottage cheese (also really expensive in Japan--I don't know why!) with some fruit (not just for workout days, but as a late afternoon snack, too). I love trail mix/granola/GORP, but I used to eat them as snacks all the time. I kind of fell of that wagon (I found some raisins and walnuts in my desk yesterday--they're probably from before summer!). It's portable and good to have around as a snack anytime of day. I'm going to start experimenting with different foods--see what helps me through a workout (cardio or otherwise) and what doesn't. What works for some people doesn't always work for others (as someone else mentioned). And a lot of the ideas are great quick breakfast ideas, too, so even if I can't use them as workout snacks, I can use them for breakfast. I'm actually trying to build up my muscle endurance, too, so I'm going to be increasing the number of reps/set using the same weightload, then probably end up with sets of 24 reps. Unless I get bored with my current circuit, that is. I do a form of supersetting (I do back-to-back opposing muscle groups, but I give myself a 15 second rest between sets). Thanks to everyone for their advice, and keep the food ideas coming! I might give in and try a whey mix one day, but I'd have to find them, first!

I stumbled across this school several months ago. It only teaches beginning Japanese cooking, but is reasonably priced, and Monday classes are in English.

My mother is on Lescol (fluvastatin) and she was told she could have grapefruit, but only after a certain number of hours after taking her medication. And from about.com (while not the best place for medical advice, it at least provides some food for thought).