torakris

I can probably get some seeds in the stores (no more seedlings), but the thought of starting all over from scratch......

Just back from an all day BBQ at a friend's house: hamburgers and hotdogs various grilled vegetables (corn on the cob, sweet potato, potato, onions, peppers, eryngii followed by gazpacho crudite and dip plate fajitas (skirt steak and chicken) with onion and peppers guacamole and pico de gallo homemade flour tortillas dessert: pineapple

I can't say I ever recall sushi being a cousre per se. Normally sushi is eaten just as sushi, maybe with a bowl of soup. It is rarely (can almost say never) made and eaten at home, here I am talking nigiri (temaki and chirashi are often made at home) rahter it is a take-out, delivery, or eat in a restaurant food. The courses I gave an example of is not how most Japanese eat their daily meals in our out of the house, depending on the family either everything will be placed on the table at one time, from sahimi through rice and soup or else they will be served "drinking style" where a couple small bowls of different foods are put out to be nibbled on while enjoying alcohol, followed either by a main or directly bybte rice, pickles and soup. the example I gave is of how the meal would be served in a restaurant or at a home party if it was course style. I have a feeling kaiseki follows even more rigid rules, I never paid enough attention though............

nope they really existed, I even saw one once! Now it is more common to buy and sell underwear over the internet................

Well I have just spent the better part of the day crying over my garden..... A couple posts back I mentioned how I got rid of aphids by spraying them with diluted dish soap, well 2 days ago, Julia (age 5) decided to help me out in the garden by putting the "soap-medicine" on my plants. She took an entire bottle of dish soap and poured it straight onto my bed of baby leaf lettuces and 4 pepper plants. The plants are all completely dead and I fear I am going to have to get rid of all of the dirt they were in. I tried looking for new seedlings to buy, but the season for them is over and I can't find them anywhere. The arugula and baby leaf lettuces were from seed, so I can replant those, but those 4 bell pepper plants were all I had.... I couldn't even yell at her because she was really doing it out of the goodness of her heart, she really thought she was helping......

a Japanese meal (not kaiseki) normally consists of 3 parts appetizer clear soup sashimi grilled foods steamed foods simmered foods deep fried foods vinegared or dressed "salads" OR nabemono (one pot dish) rice pickles miso soup Except for the last group which are almost always served together, the other two groups can consist of anywhere from only one of the dishes to all of them, depending on the meal.

saturday dinner: roast pork with fennel seeds, rosemary , bay leaves, white wine and lots of garlic, the sauce alter thickened with butter and poured back on after slicing roasted carrots and onions spiced pink soup (beets with cumin, coriander and lime), nah, still don't like beets! french bread (to sop up all the juices!) Japanese rice (for those who wanted it)

let's rest our brains today and learn an easy word associated with food, word for 6/8: おなか onaka (oh-nah-kah) stomach, the everyday word unless you are getting technical, then it is 胃 i (ee)

In Japan, it is done by both methods, though cultivation is much more popular. There are even seaweed flats out in the middle of Tokyo Bay!

smallworld you explained it just fine! As I said in the previous thread, they are normally the pickles that are served with the rice at the end of the meal. In the US the takuan (yellow daikon) is by far the most popular and thus this is why most people think of this when they say oshinko. In Japan you are usually served 2 or more varieties and cucumbers (either shiozuke or nukazuke) seem to be the most popular. A great oshinko salad that I make is salt some cucumbers slivers and let them sit for a little bit, then sliver some takuan, rinse the cucumbers, mix with the takuan, add some sesame seeds and a drop of soy sauce.

my back issues just arrived! that was less then 48 hours! have a lot of reading to do now

oh yeah, those too!

more on Japanese vending amchines: http://jin.jcic.or.jp/nipponia/nipponia9/spot02.html

Varmint, I have been following your lead and though I don't have weight to lose, I have a body that is in desperate need of toning. I have been exercising 5 to 7 times a week now and yesterday I pulled out the pilates video that I had bought back in December and was still in its original wrapping. I have now just learned how not flexible I am, I fear I have a long way to go!

Friday dinner: had a sudden addition of 2 more children, sooo: chicken breasted sauteed with an ancho-orange sauce and red pepper and scallions avocado and red onion salad dressed with lime and EVOO cold kabocha cream soup Japanese rice Dessert: chocolate ice cream bars

I would have to say Fine Cooking at the moment, though I also enjoy Cook's and Eating Well. Right now my very favorite is Elle la table (the Japanese version), but since it is in Japnese and probably not readily available out of Japan it isn't a choice for everybody!

The Japanese seem to be copying the American style recently. This year has seen a rash of self service gas stations opening and I have even seen gas stations combined with other things. One is gas station/drive through dry cleaning. another is a gas station/coffee shop, and more and more gas stations are adding conbinis to their sides. The stupid thing about these self service gas stations here is that they charge the exact same price as the full service. Why pump your own if you can have someone do it for you?

Here is more information then you ever wanted about conbinis: http://jin.jcic.or.jp/nipponia/nipponia19/...ture/index.html It is about 10 pages, just keep clicking next at the bottom of the page. I found it fascinating and I live here!

word for 6/7: 風味 fuumi (foo-mee) This word means flavor or taste and is used in conjunction with another word to describe the "main" taste of the dish. here are some examples: 柚子風味yuzu (Japanese citron) fuumi カレー風味 curry fuumi 山椒風味　sansho (Japanese pepper) fuumi Fuumi is not used to describe the main element (protein/vegetable) of the dish but the rather the "garnish" (including herbs and spices) that gives it its overall flavor.

It doesn't seem to be a direct translation as most of it is Japan specific, but there does seem to be some part that are pulled from other Elle magazines, the currrent issue for example has a section on wedding cakes that was translated from a German edition. I am really loving this magazine and can't wait to try the recipes. I am also eagerly awaiting the arrival of all the back numbers! SusieQ Welcome to egullet! Hope to hear more from you!

A good piece of Kobe only needs a light sprinkling of salt and pepper!

I have been eating a lot of chicken recently (we have no money and it is really cheap) and am currently craving beef anything!

We had one of those kids in restaurant threads, it got REAL ugly, seems some people don't like dining with kids (other peoples kids that is!) As babysitting is pretty much an unknown concept in Japan, our 3 (ages 2 to 7) kids go every where with us and they have eaten the gamut, their favorite is sushi though! They have their good days and their bad days. I can probably count on one hand the # of times my husband and I have been out with out kids in the past 7 1/2 years!

doublespresso, welcome to egullet! We eat out about 1 to 2 times a month (and usually 1 or both is with my in-laws, who pay!), so for the most part we eat at home every day. In warm weather we normally BBQ with friends every Sunday.

some ways of serving horse meat in Japan: scroll to the bottom http://www.avis.ne.jp/~eiji1965/echiframehtmnew.htm