sanrensho

Sheena, does your mom cook traditional Korean food almost all of the time? Or is it because her dear beloved first daughter is home?

I don't think you have to do anything. Strawberries are a perennial so they will keep multiplying provided you have the space.

I didn't consider the dough to be that slack, but I've gotten used to working with slack doughs (pourable like foccacia), so my perspective may be warped. I would say my dough was even slacker than pictured in your first photo. Did you knead in a mixer? I know that particular Pullman recipe is designed to be mixed using a bread machine (or mixer), so the slackness would be a non-issue. I didn't notice any more gassing or bubbles than usual, but the one loaf that I baked without a cover did have unwanted holes. Still, it looks like you got an even texture with your loaf, no? The kanimayo buns look great!

Can we see some pics from your mom's garden? I remember you had some questions about the greens growing in your mom's garden, so maybe some of the members can help with identification.

I don't remember that scene from Lon-Bake (natsukashii), but the grilled natto sounds intriguing. Do you move the natto around while frying it? In oil? I might be the only person in the world who likes to eat natto with a squeeze of lemon juice, so your recipe sounds good to me.

Perhaps cream (higher fat) would be better than milk. If not butter.

I use a deba for breaking down chickens, but it isn't ideal. I haven't used it, but the garasuki looks like a better choice for actually separating the meat from bones.

How about brushing with butter and a sprinkling of cheese and cracked pepper?

Yes, in that a raw shrimp that is peeled and killed moments ago is going to have different qualities compared with one that was peeled and has sat around for 6 hours. And I could feel the shrimp pulsing for a brief instant in my mouth.

Affirmative on the lack of Japanese ownership. To my knowledge, there are exactly zero Japanese restaurants on Lonsdale that are actually Japanese-owned and run. Ironic, considering the number of sushi places on the strip. The only two in North Vancouver are Hamaei and Yohachi, AFAIK.

^^^Somebody else posted a similar recipe. I would categorize these as a sub-set of shokupan, specifically "milk (cream) bread." The texture is a little different from what I associate with everyday shokupan, the results are much fluffier. Regular shokupan uses mostly water. Shinju, did you have any luck with your shokupan? My breadmaking has ground to a halt with the hot weather we've been experiencing.

Perhaps the Taiwanese government objected to the chef's poor/messy plating skills. As Peter Green mentions, presentations involving still twitching fish/shrimp are not uncommon in Japanese cuisine, such as plates of sashimi or a nigiri of iki ebi (still twitching shrimp). The difference is that these presentations actually look appetizing.

As far as vegetable seeds go, you could plant patches of lettuce every 30-45 days. This would keep you in lettuce well into fall. Most of my experience is with mesculin, but I recommend trying mesculin mixes from different vendors, as the actual lettuces can vary widely. Although not glamorous, you could also plant carrots. Broccoli as well from seed. Don't forget to pick up some chives, easy to grow and requires no maintenance whatsoever.

Anecdotally, I've also seen this with other people I know. That is to say, deprivation can have the opposite effect, making it seem more desirable. With my own kids, I try not to be a food fascist. Having junk food on rare occasions is OK. (My older daughter has only had one slurpee in her life). It's out there, and they will eventually have the choice to buy it on their own and eat it once they get older. However, when they do get to have junk food, we try to talk about choices and ingredients, as well as the importance of moderation. At the very least, I think my kids will be less inclined to eat the bad stuff when they get older. At least I hope...

It's definitely not too late to start. Herbs that you can plant and enjoy this season, and will generally survive over the winter, include the following: Winter savory Marjoram Bay Oregano Rosemary Thyme Sage There are others as well. You can also pick up a lot of this stuff at cut-rate prices when the garden centers (Rona, Canadian Tire) begin to clear out their stock at the end of summer. That is, if you can wait. I would browse around a few garden centers and see what they have left for vegetables. I'll post on that later.

You're right, they don't appear to have an English page up. I didn't see a contact e-mail, but the contact page is here: http://www.sushi.ne.jp/sushi_kyotsu/k002form/form.htm

The regular Wikipedia entry on boiling gives this explanation: So it would seem that my source is correct in his logic, but incorrect in terms of having a significant effect once brought to boil. Especially when you consider that even a tight-fitting lid does not act as a pressure cooker. The point about bringing the water back to boil more quickly is well-taken, however.

Here's my take on the pasta question. I watched a Japanese show quite a while ago on the subject of Italian food. (Japanese TV is full of this kind of stuff.) The show was filmed in Italy, and the Italian chef gave the specific advice to boil (dried) pasta in a covered pot. His reasoning was that a typical home cooktop does not have the same power as a commercial stove, so covering the pot keeps the water at a higher temperature. In practice, I don't have have a large enough pot to boil the quantities of pasta I need (350-400 grams), without causing the water to boil over if I cover the pot. However, I will cover the pot if I can get away with using a smaller quantity of water, such as when boiling smaller quantities of dried pasta. If I had a bigger pot that didn't require bringing the water level so high, I would definitely cover the pot whenever boiling (dried) pasta.

I see all of these programs as mere band-aid solutions, so it doesn't surprise me that most fail. The article itself pinpoints the real culprit--the parents/home environment. Quoted from the article: Parents. Experts agree that although most funding targets schools, parents have the greatest influence, even a biological influence, over what their children will eat. Zeitler says when children slim down, it's because "their families get religion about this and figure out what needs to happen." Also, late elementary is way too late to have an impact. You have to get at the kids earlier, such as at the preschool/kindergarten level.

Have you tried searching on Google? A quick search reveals that the Tokyo Sushi Academy has a 40-hour course on opening a yakitori restaurant. http://academy.sushi.ne.jp/a004moshikomi/yakitori.htm Having said that, I would think you want to do an apprenticeship with at least one restaurant in Japan...

True, but often I find my guests appreciate something familiar occasionally, instead of a steady diet of unfamiliar restaurants and food. It really depends on how adventurous the individual is. And I feel that sushi/sashimi can be a fine way to highlight local seafood that is in season. Something familiar, yet something different.

I guess I should clarify. I haven't been to every part of Japan searching for that type of dessert. But I think that most Japanese would know of it. A Google image search brings up pages and pages of such desserts. http://images.google.ca/images?q=%E3%82%B9...m=1&sa=N&tab=wi

That type of sweet potato dessert is quite common all across Japan.

David Lebovitz has several recipes that might fit the bill including a chocolate cherry fruitcake and chocolate cake with cherries in his book Ripe for Dessert. I haven't made either one, but hope to try the latter recipe in the next couple of weeks. EDIT: In reading your post again, I realized that you might be specifically asking for a cherry cake (not a chocolate cherry cake). It might be difficult to achieve a pleasing appearance unless you candy the cherries to prevent the juice from running into the batter. If you find a good technique for candying cherries while retaining their flavor and shape, I would definitely like to hear about it so I can suspend them in butter and chiffon cakes.

How is everyone doing with their vegetable/herb gardening? I have some successes and failures to report. On the positive side of things, my redcurrant bush is almost near its peak and I have enough mesculin and spinach to pick for salads every day. It's amazing what a couple of small patches can produce, as long as you're willing to go through all of the washing and slug-picking that is required. My sugar snap peas are starting to produce, but I wish we had double or triple the plants. Although not as sweet as some I've had, I was amazed to find that our fresh-picked snap peas required less than half the blanching time of regular store-bought snap peas. On the failure front, I had to rip out the savoy cabbage as they bolted early, only to find that they were also infested with slugs (despite my best efforts). I won't be planting them next year. The basil that I planted earlier in June is also in extremely poor shape. What a waste. Next year, I think I'll wait to buy and plant basil until close to Canada Day, to ensure best results. The basil that I planted last week is doing great.