torakris

we have finished lunch, today we had yakisoba, which despite the name are not really soba but rather a Chinese style noodle that is usually stirfried with meat and vegetables with a non-descript boring sauce. I don't really care for yakisoba, but it is a cheap and easy lunch for a family The yakisoba sort of comes as a set with the noodles that need just minutes in the fry pan with a little water to soften and package of powdered sauce that mixes with the water. I added sausages, cabbage, bean sprouts and onions, I usually add carrots but I don't have any in the house. before cooking after cooking my husband has taken the kids to the store (oops now they are back! ) so I was enjoying some time a lone with my tumbler of iced coffee and the speakers cranked up with Uncle Kracker's Follow Me (this is my song of the moment, love this song!) I was about to put on some Bon Jovi.....

Well according to the ingredients it is made from 4 kinds of sugar , coffee, brandy, cointreau (sp?), flavoring and preservatives. Basically it is an espresso flavored syrup that is meant to be poured onto the marscapone for a quick tiramisu, they also suggest sprinkling on some cocoa. It is really good! looks like this

the kimchee some of the ingredients that went into it, not shown is an apple, sugar and salt and dashi a close up of the ika no shiokara (squid and guts) for those who were curious the finished product (well it still has to ferment) This what I call a quick kimchee, it will be ready to eat for dinner tonight and does not keep as long as "real" kimchee and it is also really easy to throw together.

Since I have last wrote, the kids and I had a mid morning snack of leftover melon and strawberries, then some Cheetos (which my husband joined us for). Then I was off to the store to get some ingredients for kimchee making, I used it more as an excuse to get out of the house and have some time alone.... It has been a long week and our place is just too small. So anyway I wandered around the supermarket, not really needing anything but I ended up spending $15 and my basket looked like this: butter low fat milk (was 50% off) masacrpone cheese (was 20% off), this is a Japanese brand that is sold with a packet of espresso sauce kinako (roasted soy bean powder) pine nuts ika no shio-kara (squid fermented in its own guts) for the kimchee hazelnut snickers bar (this was scarfed down in the car on the way home, I wanted the espresso snickers but they didn't have it ) I am not normally a big snacker, but this morning I was really hungry.....

Thanks everybody!

What is that building on the far right that looks like an eighth of watermelon standing cut side down? It's very cool looking. Kristin, how long did it take for you to become fully accustomed to the Japanese diet? Were there any foods that turned you off in the beginning? That building is the Grand Intercontinental Hotel. By the way, the tall building on the left is Landmark tower the tallest building in Japan at 70 floors. I didn't have too many problems with Japanese foods but teh two things that i couldn't stomach at first were anko (a sweetened red bean paste) and shiso (the perilla leaf). I just couldn't handle sweet beans, and these are just lightly sweetened they are heavily sweetened and the worst thing was they would show up in unexpected places, places where you would be expecting chocolate! My hatred for shiso (which is now one of my favorite foods) was so bad that I couldn't eat anything that had even gotten close to it on a plate (it is often used for garnish).

we have just finished breakfast. Husband and son had large bowls of rice topped with natto, the girls had rice topped with furikake andi finished up the carrots and green beans from Friday. I have also downed a huge tumbler of iced coffee and need to make some more. I have a long day ahead of me as I have put off the laundry for 4 days. I usually try to do it everyday or at least every other day because like most people in Japan we don't have a dryer and it needs to be hung outside. And I don' have the space to hang out more than 3 loads..... I also picked up a nice head of Chinese cabbage yesterday and will probably be making kimchee.

yes it is difficult which is why I almost never do it! I just had a huge 2lb block of cream cheese that I needed to use.

Saturday night dinner My husband pulled out the dutch oven, set up the fire and fro 3 hours over a low heat cooked pork, onions, potatoes, carrots and cabbage (except for half the onions the other vegetables were added at later stages). The pork was so tender it could be cut easily with a fork, we make something similar every now and then and it is really wonderful, we eat it with prepared horseradish. It tastes so much better than it looks!! my contribution a strawberry cream cheese tart (from All Butter Fresh Cream Sugar Packed No-Holds Barred Backing Book by Judy Rosenberg) I had a bunch of cream cheese I wanted to use up and I got a really good deal on the strawberries, my family loved it. I only had a tiny piece because I HATE cheesecake.

I think I have one more day left, but the blog will live on in the Japan Forum!!!! Feel free to ask any questions you might have over there or in my bio thread.

Who knew you could get a pastrami sandwich in Japan? That's a riot. Does it come on rye bread with mustard? Please don't get your hopes up about finding a good pastrami sandwich in Japan! Unfortunately where we were eating had a big sign of no taking photos, so I couldn't get a picture. Apparently you are not allowed to take pictures anywhere inside World Porters the pastrami sandwich looked like some kind of chipped, peppery beef mixed with chopped onions and what appeared to be a bottled French dressing (Japanese French dressing is a clear white and mild flavored) and was served on a hot dog roll.... So, I'm guessing good pastrami sandwiches might be something you miss?? Actually no because I don't like pastrami!

Very good question!!! When I first came over here, I had these incredible cravings for Taco Bell!! Everytime I went back to the states I would hit the drive thru on the way home from the airport.... It took about three years for me to realize that Taco Bell tastes like crap and I can't even recall the last time I ate it. I do miss Tex-Mex style food though, it can be hard to find though there are a couple places. I also really (and still do) miss sandwiches, REAL sandwiches. When I first came to Japan sandwiches could only be bought in convenience stores, wher one of the most popular ones was a potato salad sandwich, two slices of white bread with potato salad inside! or you could go to a kissaten (a coffee/tea shop) where you could pay $10 for a thin slice of ham and a piece of wimpy lettuce on white...... When I was pregnant with my first, they opened Subway. I personally kept them in business for a couple months, eating a spicy Italian everyday for lunch (with all the toppings including jalapenos, no mayo or dressing just mustard). Subway didn't do too well here (I guess because they didn't offer potato salad as an option) and occasionally we will run across a branch and stop in (the one by my house closed about 5 years ago ) There are also certain foods that I really miss like sweet yellow peaches, granny smith appples, rasperries, blackberries, artichokes (you can find these here but they cost like $6 a piece!), American sweet potatos (the deep orange fleshed ones), t-bone steaks, thick cut pork chops, need I go on........ The food I miss the absolute most? I may lose my foodie status here by saying this sour patch kids......

Who knew you could get a pastrami sandwich in Japan? That's a riot. Does it come on rye bread with mustard? Please don't get your hopes up about finding a good pastrami sandwich in Japan! Unfortunately where we were eating had a big sign of no taking photos, so I couldn't get a picture. Apparently you are not allowed to take pictures anywhere inside World Porters the pastrami sandwich looked like some kind of chipped, peppery beef mixed with chopped onions and what appeared to be a bottled French dressing (Japanese French dressing is a clear white and mild flavored) and was served on a hot dog roll....

Mont Blancs are immensely popular here. Normally made with chestnuts they are probably one of the most popular sellers in cake shops and convenience stores!

That is an interesting question. I read your original question a couple days a go and was waitng to here some responses as Iw as curious as to when that traditional started in the islands. As far as I know sashimi is not part of the traditional osechi per se, but it does seem to be popular. Sushi restaurants are also on double time during the holidays. When I spent my first New Years in Japan (1993) at my ex-boyfriends house his family ate fugu sashimi for New Years dinner..... My FIL has done a sashimi platter for as long as we have had new years together. I wonder where the Hawaiian tradition came from....

for 2004 I want to try to wean myself from my reliance on recipes and just get more creative in the kitchen.

After breakfast my husband decided he wanted to go look for a hat, he had seen one at Odaiba (an area of Tokyo) that we were at 2 weeks ago. We decided to go look at World Porters, a shopping and restaurant complex in Yokohama. When we got there we also decided to check out the Aka Renga (or red brick) Warehouse that opened a little while ago and we hadn't been to yet. Some pictures of the Mianto Mirai area of Yokohama (one of my favorite places on earth) Yokohama Bay with a Japan Coast Guard boat Aka Renga Warehouse these two building look like nothing but the insides are gorgeous! It has a fascinating mix of shops and a lot of antique type places as well as Yokohama glass, it isn't exactly the best place to take children...... We had some ice cream at Yokohama Bashamichi Ice. Ice cream first went on sale in Japan in 1869 on Bashamichi Street (Bashamichi Dori ) in Yokohama, bashamichi means horse drawn carriage road as this was where the first horse drawn carriage station was. Becasue of its popular port, Yokohama was the entry point for a lot of "Western" things. This is the old fashioned ice cream with just milk, sugar and eggs, I had one of their seasonal specials the matcha (green tea) mont blanc with chocolate ice cream inside, the kids had the special kids sundae. We then went into World Porters where I found a gorgeous necklace for $10, the girls picked up some Power Puff Girls goods, Hide got a Thomas the tank engine top (like a spinning top) and my husband bought nothing..... we had a snack kind of lunch of hotdogs for the kids a spicy dog (hot dog topped with salsa) for me and my husband had a pastrami sandwich. We all drank water. We are now home and my husband is preparing dinner otanoshimi..... that means something like " I am looking foward to it" I guess I can work on something for dessert, I got a really good deal on some strawberries.

Ok working on breakfast here. I am drinking my iced coffee, nibbling on honeydew melon (served cutting board style ) and am about to make toast and scrambled eggs.

Actually this is what I did to my 3 kids almost 2 years ago. My friends daughter had just come down and it was perfect timing as they would be starting sprink break in a couple weeks and wouldn't have to miss any school. It worked out perfectly and they didn't miss a day of school, they all had pretty mild cases with no fevers and few spots (they were countable).

really? If you are referring to the osechi dishes that was all done by my MIL.... I serve most of my food in the pan it was made in. lazy, lazy mom!

Ponzu sauce is basically just a mix of soy and some type of citrus usually yuzu, sudachi, daidai or a mix. It can be made with lemon or lime juice though and is found pre-made in Asian stores. Like Sinbad said there is really no worry about serving sashimi in the homes, the Japanese demand and expect top quality fish and any supermarket you go into the fish section is usually divided into two. You have the sashimi-you (pronounced yoh) fish and you have the fish for cooking. In the sashimi you section there will be blocks of fish, there will be a block of fish pre-sliced and there will be platters of sashimi with a variety of fish. The fish is good and can be quite cheap, I can get a platter of 6 kinds of fish (4 to 5 slices each) for about $10. No one here even gives a second thought to preparing sashimi at home. My FIL really takes pride in his sashimi cutting skills, it isn't as easy as it looks!

Japan stoped giving the MMR vaccine many years back when they noticed some kids having problems with it. Most vaccines here are not mandatory (you can go to school with out them) but are recommended. The recommended ones are free, and mumps is not one of them, along with chicken pox, and hepatitis. They also have some here that they don't do in other places such as TB and Kawasaki disease. The Japanese vaccination schedule is much slower then in the US and stretches over about 3 years. I would rather my kids get natural immunization to things like the mumps, but if my son doesn't get it by the time he starts elementary school I will have him vaccinated. This is the same way most of my Japanese friends feel. And the same reason most people don't vaccinate against chicken pox here. By the way she seems fine now....

Friday dinner parmasean souffle (from Jack Bishop's Italian Vegetarian), liver toscani (from Babbo - a liver paste to be spread on toast), and slow simmered carrots, green beans, onions and tomatoes with EVOO and lemon juice. Later we will have chocolate pudding for dessert (cook and serve instant kind) I made a fairly soft meal because I thought my daughter Julia might have the mumps. She woke up this morning with pain in front of her ear, after we came back from karaoke she said it still hurt and she felt warm but not feverish and took a nap. In the meantime I did some searching on mumps since I knew it had been going around her class at kindergarten before break started. She woke up around 5:00pm and said she felt better and it didn't hurt any more, I gave her some grapefruit juice since I read it was painful to drink acidy citrus juices (yes I am a cruel mom!) but she drank it fine and asked for more. She seems fine now so maybe it was just the start of a cold, we will have to watch her tomorrow.

bibimnaengmyun is one of my favorite dishes, thanks for the gorgeous pictures!

Here is the place we go to Cote d' Azur http://www.cotedazur.jp/space/index.html some nice pictures of their various rooms, menu, etc