sanrensho

Oregano re-seeds itself so I very much doubt that you will be able to kill it. In fact, I think it may be even harder to kill than mint.

Only on special order?!? I think I grew up on the Bon Ton Black Forest Cakes... The Thomas Haas BFC sounds very promising. Is it a straightforward BFC?

The other thing to remember is that rice bowls (as well as other china) eventually break over time, for one reason or another. Even if you start with a set, if you have more than a few household members, you'll eventually need to buy more non-matching rice bowls to replace the ones that break.

I think it's pretty common, if not the norm, to have different styles (sizes) of rice bowls for each person. In our household (two adults and two kids aged 5 and 8), each person eats a different amount of rice so we each have a different size of rice bowl. The concept is the same as chopsticks, where each person has their own set. OTOH, we have a set of uniform rice bowls that we reserve for guests.

A simple tempura dish might be fun and would add some color, but you might not want to deal with the mess. The Japanese side of me says one teriyaki dish is enough, although I do understand its attraction to a large part of the population. I second the recommendation for spinach goma-ae. How about some edamame to snack on? You can show her how simple it is to perepare from frozen edamame. Another classic would be a hijiki dish. You could incorporate some carrot into that as well for color.

I would vary the proteins and add some hiyayakko (cold tofu). I also think you need some more color with your menu. Perhaps work in some carrot or daikon. Matchstick daikon salad with a Japanese-style dressing? Takikomi gohan (rice cooked w/vegetables and/or meat)? All of the above would be simple to execute. Threads can be found in the Japan forum.

Based on the name, I see these all the time here in Vancouver. Ours are imported from China. It's been awhile since I had any, so no comments on the taste. Wait, it's coming back to me. The texture and taste resembles the round Asian nashi pears (crisp, like a cross between apple and pear). Shaped like a Bartlett but yellow and smaller?

The Banana Gugelhupf looks excellent. I just noticed that the recipe is posted on the author's Web site. I might have to make this soon, with some of the vanilla beans that I recently picked up. http://www.rickrodgers.com/recipes/banana_gugelhupf.html

For a few hours, I wouldn't bother sticking it in the fridge at all.

My layman's take is that Japanese chefs are simply accustomed to sharpening with stones, so they tend to skip the steeling and go straight to stone. Hence, culturally, there is a general emphasis on sharpening with stones as opposed to steeling + stones.

As usual, thanks Bob. I like the control I get with my stones (particularly blade angle), so I think I'll stick with them for now. The sharpening angles shown on, for example, the Japanese Chefs Knife site are much shallower than even I expected.

It's "joshinko." You should be able to find it at any Japanese grocer. It's very common.

Those are some great looking desserts! I'm especially intrigued by the cheesecake, and the red currant cake looks fantastic. I think I'll have to try my hand at a meringue current tart, from Ferber's Mes Tartes book.

Thanks for your comments. I understand the distinction and their respective purposes, but I always thought that steels were traditionally not a part of maintaining Japanese knives, going directly to the stone instead. I'm certainly open to picking up a fine ceramic steel if it will be useful as a quick touch-up for my Japanese knives before each cutting session.

Octaveman, I am correct in interpreting this to mean that the C-14 might be acceptable for a Japanese knife. My (non-expert) understanding is that stones are traditionally the way to go for a Japanese knife, and barely more work than a steel.

You can also make mochi in a breadmaker (after steaming the sticky rice). You should be able to find rice flour for making dango at a Japanese grocer. Yes, yomogi is mugwort. We have a few plants in the yard, but I have yet to make anything with it.

My parents didn't really have a choice, since they neglected to acquire citizenship and always intended to move back. (The high cost of living in Honolulu didn't help, and they are both avowed urbanites so moving elsewhere in Hawaii wasn't an option.) It's been quite a few years since I had to shop for an IH cooker, so maybe others can comment on which brands they prefer. They all seem pretty reliable, as I've never had a unit fail on me nor do I know anyone who has. More often than not, the owner is ready to move on to a newer model with the latest features before the rice cooker itself fails. I haven't steamed veg in a rice cooker, we pretty much use ours only for rice.

Too cold! Try living in Toronto or Nagano. Actually, I know what you mean. My parents moved back to Vancouver after two decades in Honolulu. They're always cold and bundled up during the fall/winter/spring. We have to turn up the heaters in our house whenever they visit (then turn them down again). Go for the IH cooker. You won't regret it.

After-school snack is definitely a must in our household. It doesn't help that the kids are forced to scarf down their lunches in 15-20 minutes before they are scooted out of the classrooms. (That is definitely sending the wrong message to kids...) We generally let the kids have a snack of fresh fruit, finger sandwiches, home-baked goods or sometimes steamed BBQ pork buns. Possibly a slice of cake/tart in lieu of dessert in the evening (but not on a regular basis).

IH models will definitely be available in Oahu. Hawaii is generally the first place I would expect any Japanese item to be available. You're luck to live there!

Andisenji, could you tell me a little more about your rice pudding recipe? Using sticky rice for rice pudding sounds a lot more appealing to me, probably due to my Asian heritage. Western rice pudding made with regular rice (long or short grain) rarely does it for me, so I wouldn't mind trying out your variation. Apologies for the thread divergence, Ono Loa!

This type of ramen is called "tsuke-men."　That's the term I'm familiar with, although I do see some online citations for "zura-men" and "zaru ramen." The "tsuke" refers to dipping the noodles in the sauce.

Along the same lines, a mascarpone-whipping cream filling (your choice of flavor) would offset the chocolate cake nicely. Or you could make the same filling with either white or dark chocolate to up the chocolate factor.

Thanks for posting your method, Alanamoana! I will definitely be putting this into practice once I get my beans.

Let me know what you think of the beans. I was looking at purchasing from the same seller, primarily due to their reasonable shipping costs to Canada.