torakris

I only own 2, Forever Summer and Nigella Bites. Forever Summer is one of my favorite books and I really recommend it. Nigella Bites was a bit of a disappointment, there just isn't too much that catches my eye. I borrowed Domestic Goddess from a friend a while back and found it focused too much on baking, for which I neither have the time nor the desire. Express sounds wonderful, this is the kind of cooking I do recently. I hadn't heard of this and have now popped it into my cart at Amazon. Thanks!

Traveling with kids! I can be of help here. It is going to be cold, windy and rainy today add a 4 year old to that mix and Kappabashi may not be a good idea. If you don't mind spending a little bit more but keep your 4 year old both happy and warm I would suggest heading to Tokyu Hands. There are a couple Tokyo locations, you should be able to find everything you need here as well as a many things you never imagined you needed. My 3 kids can spend hours here. Saturday is going to beautiful so if you still need to head out to Kappabashi I would do it then, though I am not sure of their weekend hours.

I bought it.

We had okonomiyaki for dinner last night as well! Not nearly as fancy as yours though as our was a last minute throw-together meal. We had two NTT guys in our house for 6 hours trying to switch our phones (we have 3 lines) and internet (3 computers) from cable to fiber optic. They had to leave without finishing the job. At least my computer works. Good for you for keeping a kakeibo (budget book), I have been doing one since 1996. I have used American style computer software as well as Japanese style notebooks and found out what works best for me is to just make my own from scratch. I use a blank notebook and make categories that I like. I found the pre-written versions had either too many categories I didn't need or else left out something I found important.

Another American here who can't stand the American mass produced supermarket strawberries, they taste like cotton! I am sure there are good ones in the US somewhere... I rarely buy strawberries here, maybe once or twice a season. With 5 people going at them we end up with 3 possibly 4 a piece. Every couple of years my in-laws take us for an ichigo-gari (strawberry picking/eat on the spot) outing. We just went a couple weeks ago and I posted about it in the winter foods thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...dpost&p=1527820 There is nothing like eating strawberries fresh from the greenhouse! I can't stand refrigerated strawberries they are best eaten slightly warm from the sun.

Sort of, more so than regular tofu but in a good way. Actually that sounds weird, if regular tofu was slimey it would be a very bad thing. It had a slightly slimey texture to it but even if you don't like the sliminess of yamaimo/nagaimo this wouldn't bother you.

What kind of magazine/book is it? Is it about hamburger places or a cookbook? I can't even remember the last time I was in a book store it has been that long... I think it is time to check one out. Rona, that hamburger is mouthwatering! it is 11:51 am and I am starving and have I feel like eating in the house. That picture is torture.

I also let my sit in the refrigerator. Now I need to get myself some expensive salt!

I tried this technique for some buri kama I picked up and it was the best collar I have had! Thanks! We started eating before I remembered to take the picture...

This was an interesting find for me. Yamaimo tofu (tofu with grated mountain yam) had a wonderful texture and flavor.

This year's chirashi zushi for girl's day I went for a very simple chunky look this year. I teach from 2 to 7pm on Mondays in addition to a morning class, so am really pressed for time. I used a prepared mix to add to the rice add topped it with omelet pieces (made earlier in the day) and nanohana (rapini) and salmon sashimi.

I knew I had a picture of those smoked mussels in one of my old foodblogs Is this what you are craving???

Wow! That was a long time ago wasn't it! We really need to get together again! I stretched myself paper thin this year between work and two different school committees. I have something on my calendar every day until 3/28 but once the new school year starts in April I am going to slow down and get to work on more eGullet Tokyo events! I can wait to see the rest of this blog. By the way, I just ate smoked mussels on Sunday Are you looking for the fresh ones or tinned ones? I have purchased the tinned ones at Yamaya, the fresh ones I eat at the New Sanno Hotel in Hiroo. Unfortunately it is a US military hotel so you can't get in without connections....

Thank you! I just came back from the store and I bought the mango flavored Pure, it was really good. I looked for the KitKats but all they had was the original flavor..

Connie, It will be wonderful to see you and Dance again! If it is the same fresh dead fish as last year, I am sure we can do something with it!

These sound interesting, especially with milk chocolate instead of white. I haven't seen them yet. Actually I have seen any new things recently at all. I am always checking for KitKats, Pocky and Hi-Chu but none have come up with anything interesting recently.... I am glad to see the banana hi-chu is finally disappearing from the shelves.

I actually had forgotten about this until just now! The registration page is confusing me, do we really have to pay this year? The best day for me would also be that Friday.

Count me in for the Saturday dinner! (just me )

Yes it is cheaper to buy them in the store, yesterday I picked up a pack of 30 (smallish) strawberries for 298 yen (US$2.80). This is why we have only done this 3 times, twice with my in-laws (who paid) and once with friends at the end of the season when the price had dropped to 500 yen (US$4.70) a person.

Coming from the US it is hard for me to think of strawberries as a winter food, but it does give us something fun to do in the winter! 2 weeks ago we went ichigo gari (gari-ing?) or strawberry picking. All you can eat strawberries for 30 minutes at 1500 yen a person (US$14). They were beauties and very good! They give you a plastic holder with a small cup filled with condensed milk and another cup into which you place the hulls. These green houses are quite big and the area we went to had about 30 to 40 of them practically side by side.

I had the same questions when I first saw them and it isn't until you actually make (preferably with someone who has done it before) that it makes sense. The following observations are completely my own so if anyone else knows better please speak up! The important thing is too overfill the molds this way the batter goes onto the hot plate part in between the mold and starts to cook. When the bottoms have cooked you turn the takoyaki over (we used bamboo skewers) scraping the cooked bits into the underside as you turn them. This gives them a little more 'filling' and when they are flipped some of the uncooked batter on the inside falls back into the mold giving the off half a nice round shape as well. Once the round shape is formed you can turn them a couple times to get the outside as browned as you like.

We had a takoyaki party at a friend's house two weeks ago, 3 families (14 people) and 200+ takoyaki. (sorry, cell phone photos)

Wow! I am shocked. I wonder if the menu will change. CC's was also one the the major highlights of my summer trips to Cleveland...

I also thought he was referring to probiotics as well, then I found this. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that can be found in various foods. When you eat probiotics, you will add these healthy bacteria to your intestinal tract. Common strains include Lactobacillis and Bifidobacterium families of bacteria. Prebiotics are non-digestible foods that make their way through our digestive system and help good bacteria grow and flourish. Prebiotics keep beneficial bacteria healthy. I guess they sort of work together. So if you eat prebiotics but no probiotics do you get any benefits?

I hope it was typed as Oshinko on the menu and is just a typo here. (I did make a change in the thread title though) As Jason said without the n it becomes the word for pee.... お新香　Oshinko literally means "new fragrance" and can basically refer to any Japanese pickled product, though in many places in the US it is synonymous with takuan, the yellow pickled daikon. Apparently the term "new fragrance" came about as pickles were no longer made only to preserve fresh foods, but to cultivate a special flavor, texture, and aroma.