torakris

I would have to say that 7-11's in Japan are definitely smaller than those in the US, but I would never refer to them as jam packed. You can really buy almost anything you need at a convenience store but if you are inside (and I just was today) it really doesn't look like they have that much. I guess it is more like small amounts of everything.

Despite the fact that I live in Japan my favorite ramen is the wonderfuly spicy Shin ramen followed closely by tom yum flavor from Thailand, the brand I have forgotten. Japanese ramens don't have enough kick for me.

I decided to choose pages at random as well. For the Zuni cookbook I picked my birthday, 327, and will now be making monkfish braised with white beans, fennel and tomato. I may have to skip the fennel if I can't find it though. For Seasoned in the South I had Julia pick a number and she gave me 32 which took me to a Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise. I was going to try a different one instead but the monkfish recipe calls for aioli as a garnish and I think I will use it there. I decided to let Mia pick out any recipe she wanted and I will let the kids do it, with adult supervision of course. She picked out the Turkish shish kebabs served in a pita. Now I need to figure out where to put them into my weekly menu...

Oh I hate this!! I don't mind cake and ice cream on the same dish but the cake CAN NOT be warm and even then I will have to devour the plate in less than 60 seconds. Any slower than that and the melting ice cram will move on to the cake and make it soggy.

According to KFC's FAQ page: ある日、日本に住む外国人の方が青山店で「日本ではターキーが手に入らないので、 ＫＦＣのチキンでクリスマスを祝おうと思う」とおっしゃって来店されました。これにヒントを得た営業担当者が『クリスマスにはケンタッキー』を広くアピールしようと考えたのです。 そうして、初のクリスマスキャンペーンは１９７４年１２月１日に開始、以降、ＫＦ Ｃでは毎年全店でクリスマスキャンペーンを実施しています。 KFC's idea for promoting their chicken at Christmas came from a foreigner in one of their Tokyo shops who made a comment that since it was impossible to find turkeys in Japan maybe they would celebrate with Kentucky Fried chicken instead. The first Christmas campaign took off in 1974 and has continued ever since.

Yes, you can starting placing your orders for Christmas cakes now! Here are the ones 7-11 is offering this year. and don't forget your dog at Christmas, 7-11 is also selling special dessert/cookie sets just for the dogs. While you are at it keep scrolling down and you will see that you can buy an osechi (traditional new years dishes) set for the pooch as well.

I just had to smile at that... I have made numerous reading mistakes like that in the past as well..

Well now I have 3 cookbooks to work from, each kid wanted to pick one.... Hide (5) picked The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, I have only made one recipe from here. Julia (8) picked Seasoned in the South: Recipes from Crook's Corner and from Home, I bought this after reading about it in an eGullet thread but have not used it yet Mia (10) picked the Children's World Cookbook, this actually a kid's book and I am pretty sure we have not yet used it. Maybe I will find something that the kids can help me with or if I am lucky they can do by themselves.

Torakris, Do you eat in sequence too? I have to eat in food sequence. For instance a standard turkey dinner - a bite of turkey, a smidge of mashed potatoes, a bit of cranberry, topped off by a nugget of stuffing. Repeat until all the food is gone. ← Oh my God! Isn't that how everyone eats??? Is there a different way?

I want to play too! Unfortunately since I know the exact location of all my 300+ cookbooks on my shelves I will have to wait until my kids come home from school. I will probably cook it this weekend as I will have to rearrange my menu. I have the dinner menu decided for the next 8 days....

and for those that are unfamiliar with the Japanese oni.... (kawa refers to the skin or shell)

Unfortunately the curry bath was a limited time only and ended on 9/30. The current limited edition bath is a milk bath... Yunessan is great! we had a wonderful trip there earlier this year and plan to go back again in December or January. Here is a previous thread on the various baths at Yunessan

Andie, I am not even close to that bad. The kind of flavors I really hate mixing are things like sauces and salads. Growing up we always had salads at the end of the meal and everyone would just place their salad on their dinner plate even it it still had traces of tomato sauce (or other sauce) on it. I was the only one of 8 children who would get up to wash my dish before salad. My dad also made the comment that mixing your oil and vinegar dressed salad with tomato sauce you essentially had French dressing (well, the American French). Well if I wanted French I would have asked to dress it with French! I also spent some time on Maui with my husband and one plate meals are the staple in most restaurants. They are almost always certain to contain macaroni salad, the combination of the cold mayo based salad and hot soy sauce based meats always bothered me. I would leat around the foods that were touching and then let my husband finish my plate... Maybe it is mostly salads?

My oldest daughter is a 5th grader and she also has spent the past year harvesting a rice field. pictures can be seen here, on her school's website. The page doesn't load directly so look for where it says みたけ米 on the left.

Susan, I am so glad I am not alone!! This was starting to turn into Kristin is a freak thread. I never really thought of this as very odd. I have this other food thing that is 100 times worse but Steven has suggested I never speak of it in public aymore....

If they were all in a cassoulet it would be no problem but if the beans were seasoned with a flavor that I considered not to be complimentary to the duck and sausage and would not want them to touch. For example a Brazilian style black bean stew and Bratwurst would never be on the same plate.

I found this Kit Kat yesterday I think they are trying to hard.. Matcha, kinako (roasted soy bean powder) and Ume (pickled plum) all together? All I could taste was the matcha...

So I can blame this on my heritage? My grandfather is from Bari and my grandmother is from a tiny town called Baranello in the Campobasso Province of Molise. This makes me feel a little better...

The reason I started this thread was that just a bit ago I was looking at this picture that ChryZ posted in the doburi thread. Now all 3 foods look wonderful to me, but the thought of them being so close together like that freaks me out. The flavors are so different that I wouldn't want the sauces to touch. I love donburis (and things like stews/soups/etc) when there is basically one flavor used for a couple ingredients, like this donburi I made a little bit ago.

Yes they do! Japanese meals also tend to be served in individual dishes as well, I am starting to think this may be one of the reasons I enjoy living in Japan so much... Judy, I don't drink wine at all...

Absolutely! I think that sounds like a great idea, Nancy. ← Make sure you post photos!!

From the Nipponia article I linked to above, the history of oden: The word oden comes from dengaku, which is a medieval recipe that calls for tofu to be pierced with bamboo skewers, grilled, then coated with miso bean paste. In an 18th-century variation (mid-Edo period), the tofu is simmered in a konbu broth with ingredients like konnyaku, daikon and potatoes. These ingredients too are coated with miso, to add flavor. This dish is called miso oden. In the 19th century, at the end of the Edo period, soy sauce was added to the broth for extra flavor, and the simmered ingredients were eaten with a pinch of hot mustard. This variation, which began in Edo (present-day Tokyo), developed into the popular oden of today.

This is a great example of joubi sai, like we discussed in that thread. It should keep for quite a while in the refrigerator. Let us know how it freezes though. The long cooking of the daizu (soy beans) is usually why I omit them most of the time. In a pinch I use canned but I don't really care for their flavor as much. Beautiful picture by the way.

Hello My name is Kristin and I am 36 years old. I can not stand the thought of my foods touching each other on my plate. Please tell me I am not alone.... The thought of flavors mixing together either on my plate or in my mouth just freaks me out. I can only drink water with my meals because the taste of other drinks would mix with my food.... My husband thinks I should check into a hospital for a bit....

ChryZ, It looks delicious! I am curious if you eat it more bibimbap style (mixing it all together) or eat each piece seperately. I am one of those odd adults who still doesn't like my food to touch.