Gone Trick Treating

Kids went Trick or Treating for Halloween dressed up as Toy Story's Jesse. Their costumes were handmade by....me! (took me 3am to finish lol).

It was a fun experience for them, going about the stores being given candies and treats. No one complained about the walking...

See, they smile ear to ear....afterwards we went to our favorite Baskin Robbins for some real treat.

---
for:

Read more...

@Denny's

Eating sweets with my sweeties at Denny's. 

Strawberry Cheesecake, Vanilla and Strawberry Ice cream and Vanilla Chocolate are our choices.

Read more...

Fresh Peaches

 

From Ojisan's farm. The perks of having farms - you get fruits, vegetables fresh. 

Read more...

Barbecue at Jiichan's

What better way to spend summer than have barbecue at the yard. We had beef, corn, chicken, shrimps, pork, mushroom and paprika (perhaps some more I overlooked). 

Papa was the willing "griller" - he boiled some of the meat before putting them on fire. Our little ones were patiently waiting for what they can munch. I sat with them as I have no idea when should the meat be turned. I do cook at home but that's a lot different.

And finally, Ittadakimasu! Looks like we would be well on our way to earning a culinary arts degree  from the prestigious Culinary Schools in Ohio, with a great meal creation as this. What do you say?

for:

Read more...

Colorful Donuts for Breakfast

How many times have I mentioned my want to learn baking? I can't remember anymore! I love to eat and so do my kids. We love everything, be it Japanese, American, Filipino or Italian. At home, mom-in-law does the cooking most of the time. I get my chance too but only the basics, nothing grand.

If there's one kind of food I'd like to learn how to make - donuts! I totally miss our local donuts at home but Japanese donuts have a lot more to choose from and are more say, creative and diverse in flavors! Green tea, orange, strawberry and chocolate of course, I won't say no...and yes, that's just breakfast. :)

Read more...

Gone Italian

They say that the best way to travel to a country or to know more about different places is through food. True enough, I've never been to Italy but my husband and I love pasta a lot that we've been to Italy, palate and stomach-wise a lot of times.

Not only pasta, hubby loves anything smothered with cheese (I unfortunately don't have photos at the moment). These were taken from our latest Italian rendezvous with the kids. We had the usual carbonara (not in photo), pomodoro, a fish dish and pizza.

Read more...

Ice Cream

I can't tell if that's mint on vanilla ice cream, it was dad-in-law's so I didn't come up to him to ask but I just took a photo. lol.

Read more...

翻訳サービス (translation service)

私は、食物に関してブログを作るのを逃します。 仕事を探すことで忙しく、重大に1つを見つけたいと思いました。 子供が1日あたりおよそ5時間学校にいるので、時間それらで何か生産的なことをしたいと思います。

友人は、私がしばらく一層の日本語を勉強することを提案しました。 それをすることによって、私は、良い職に就くために有能であって、自信があるかもしれません。 私は、また、それも有益であると思います。 私の求職でそうするだけではなくまた、家でも。 時々オンライン英語翻訳サービスを使用するので、私は、どの成分を使用するべきであるかを知っています。

私は、時々翻訳サービス を提供する会社で働くことを考えます。 私は、それを選ぶなら日本語に関する私の知識をよりよく処理するのが必要であることを知っています。 私は、本当にもう少し研究して、翻訳のためにおそらく講義を受ける必要があります。 およそ 翻訳会社 が大いにあります、そして、私はしばしば彼らが新しい翻訳者を雇う広告を提供しているのを見ます。 これは私の最良の選択肢であるかもしれません。

Read more...

Our Homemade Gyouza.

Homemade Gyouza I made with the kids.

Read more...

Kashiwa Mochi

Kashiwamochi are rice cakes wrapped in kashiwa (Japanese oak) leaves. Kashiwamochi are traditional Japanese sweets eaten on Japanese Children's Day which is May 5th. This day is Japanese boy's festival called tangonosekku. It's traditionally the day to celebrate and pray for the health of boys.

Yield: 6 pieces
Ingredients:
3/4 cup joshinko (rice flour)
2 Tbsp sugar
6 Tbsp hot water
1 Tbsp katakuriko (potato starch), mixed with 2 Tbsp water
3/4 cup anko (sweet azuki bean paste)
*for decoration
6 store-bought kashiwa leaves, if available

Preparation:

Put joshinko rice flour and sugar in a bowl. Add hot water gradually and knead the dough until becomes as soft as ear lobes. Place a wet thin cotton cloth in a steamer. 

Divide the dough into small pieces and place on the cloth. Steam the dough for about 15-20 minutes over medium heat. Remove the steamed dough to a bowl and mash with a wooden pestle. When it's cooled down, knead the dough by hands. 

Add katakuriko and water mixture in the dough little by little, kneading by hands. Divide the dough into 6 balls. 

Flat each dough by hands and place a small ball of anko filling on the dough. Fold the dough in half to make a semicircular cake, sealing the edge. Repeat the process to make more rice cakes. 

Again, steam the rice cakes over high heat for about 10 minutes. Remove the rice cakes from the steamer and let them cool. 

Wrap each rice cake with a kashiwa leaf if available. Unwrap before eating the rice cake. Kawashiwa leaves are used for decoration.

---

Read more...

Mushroom mix

This is how simple a dish can get....you'll need simple ingredients as well. Delicious and quick enough to make! 

• shiitake mushroom
• shimeji mushroom
• butter
• soysauce
• pepper
• green onions (optional)

1. In a wok on high heat, saute the shiitake mushrooms in butter until browned. Transfer mushrooms into a bowl.

2. In the same wok, saute shimeji mushrooms in butter.

3.Lower heat, pour in shiitake mushrooms and soy sauce. Mix, sprinkle with a dash of pepper and garnish with green onions (optional)....dekiagari!

---

Read more...

Sweets for heart's day

In Japan, it's common for Japanese women to give chocolate to men on Valentine's Day. Men  on the other hand, give various gifts to women on March 14th  which is called White Day. This tradition, sweet as it may sound started as a marketing tool for chocolate companies in Japan. Japanese women are encouraged to express love to men by giving chocolate and other gifts on February 14th. This doesn't mean just lovers, a daughter to a father or a sister to a brother can give chocolates too.

 

This year, the kids and I made some for Papa and the other men surrounding us. Lotte cocoa and white chocolate were our base chocolate flavoring and glaze. See what else we made here.

 Lamingtons for hubby. ♥

A Lamington is a sponge cake in the shape of a cuboid, coated in a layer of traditionally chocolate icing then desiccated coconut.They are easy to make, try this recipe.

Papa(ぱぱ) .I LOVE YOU. Sarina(さりな)

My 4-year-old daughter wrote this on the box for Papa. We made some more to be given to Ojisan (grandpa). We made mini sponge cakes, white chocolate hearts and chocoball sprinkles.

....a post for....

Read more...

We love BR! (Baskin Robbins)

Baskin robbins' Strawberry Girls festival!

We just love baskin robbins! Yummy!

check their site!

http://www.31ice.co.jp/

A_post_for:

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Read more...

Tuna toast

Two of my girls' favorite pizza are Tonno (tuna) and Salami. Tuna toast comes in as a favorite too! Easy-peasy recipe...

Spread mayonnaise on bread. Top with tuna bits, corn and onion.



Cover with layers of cheese strips. Place in mini-oven and let the cheese melt and the bread toasts. There's one yummy breakfast or merienda for you!

---Foodtripping with---

Read more...

Ōmisoka (大晦日) - Kagami mochi and noodles

The second most important day in Japan is the last day of the year, following New Year's day as the most important. It comes with the belief like most of us Filipinos do. Welcoming the new year with a clean house, a clean personality and there's abundant food at the table. It is also the busiest day around here. :D Cleaning up not just the houses but stores, school and everything. Hanging out the tatami mats, 

Above is "Kagami-mochi". It's made of mochi (Japanese rice cake) layered into 2 or 3 levels. There's a "mikan" (Mandarin orange) on top of 2 layers of mochi, used as a symbol of prosperity. There are also variations of kagami-mochi wth other figures on top.

Kagami mochi is actually a decorative item, but nowadays, they are edible. And this reminds me of Tikoy during Chinese new year...

(My girls posing with the cake.)

After cleaning, we'd have dinner. Around 11:00 pm on Ōmisoka at home, we gather for one last time in the old year to have a bowl of toshikoshi-soba (年越しそば) or toshikoshi-udon (年越しうどん) together—a tradition based on people's association of eating the long noodles with “crossing over from one year to the next,” which is the meaning of toshi-koshi. Much like how we believe pansit is.....While the noodles are often eaten plain, or with chopped scallions, we and some other people top them with tempura. :)

(My daughter with spinach caught in camera.)

---Foodtripping with---

Happy anniversary to all FTF participants!

Read more...

Of donuts and other things

 

Little girl's special day was celebrated with my mom (above photo). Yep, my mom, though when I introduce her as my mom, people are amazed maybe thinking we pass off as sisters. She's my best bud, the only one person I can run to when things get awry. We could talk about anything under the sun...from the kids to home decor, from car insurance to food and coffee, even tax return tips to perfume and make up. 

Mom and I  have been through a lot of happy and not so fond moments  that has help our bond strengthen through the years. At times, we would go out together for coffee and donuts just to be updated about each other lives. These "dates" are filled with conversations that could be emotional, funny yet sometimes doesn't really connect to anything in between. Like last time, after celebrating Ayana's birthday we went home with a box of Krispy Kreme donuts. We had coffee while munching on then and we were talking about tax extension form 2010 taxes. I have ,perhaps, the least idea on how to file taxes here in Japan so I listened as mom explained about property taxes, the differences with non-resident, non-permanent and permanent resident taxes and also where to get and file the  tax extension form 2010.

I know that she did talk much about it but I will still have to ask her about these things again. We then hopped to other topics surrounding the kids, school and home. We each  finished two donuts without noticing the time. Original glazed donut is my favorite after all. That's just how it is with us. We can go on talking for hours on end, it may sometimes take longer for us to see each other again, we sometimes get into petty fights but in the end, we would be there talking like the last time we chatted was just yesterday. This is the kind of bond that I want to have with my kids. By the way, Happy Mother's day mom. (UK celebration is today.) ;-)

Entry for:

Read more...