Zoni Soup

Hello. Today is the last day at work!
From tomorrow till the 6th, we have new year's holidays! Yay!!!

But unfortunately, it gonna rain tonight.
It seems like to last for few days, but I hope not, since I haven't finished the window cleaning yet...
It is said that the clean window brings in the happiness!

Anyway, yesterday, I showed you my Osechi-Ryori, so today I will show you my Zoni Soup.
My recipe is here.
"Zoni soup is a Japanese soup meal mainly eaten with rice cakes (mochi), and is nowadays generally eaten on New Year's Day and at least in the following two days.(shogatsu).
As for ways of cooking the soup, different regions in Japan spot many variations, but in most cases it is either a clear soup (sumashi-jiru) flavoured with dashi (stock usually made from flakes of dried bonito) and soy sauce, generally preferred in eastern parts of the country, or a miso soup generally preferred in the western parts. "
Mine is the miso soup.
I used white miso which is a specialty in Shiga prefecture.

Stay warm and enjoy your holidays!!!
See you next year!

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Osechi-Ryori

Yesterday, I didn't attend the second party after the year-end-party and went home.
It was still 9pm so I called my boyfriend since he said he's gonna be late at work.
He was in his office so we went home together.
But sometimes when he is hungry and tired, he talks impatiently.
I don't like him to do so! So, we ended up arguing...

Anyway, today I will show you my Osechi-Ryori.
My recipe is here.
Osechi-Ryori are traditional Japanese new year foods!

Ooops!
I'm running out of time!
See you tomorrow, hopefully!!!

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Suica

Tonight, I have another company year-end-party...
I have forgotten about this so I don't feel like attending this year... but I have to.

Anyway, yesterday, I didn't get any present from my boyfriend :(
He was sorry about it but I'm very shocked!!!
So, this weekend, when we hold our year-end-party in Ginza, I will ask him to get something!

Me? I bought him a hand strap for cell-phone that has a logo of penguin: Suica (rechargeable contactless smart card used as a fare card on train lines in Japan.) I remembered that he said he switched to mobile Suica (which is the mobile version of Suica) and he wants the penguin strap that goes with his mobile Suica installed cell-phone. So I looked for it all over Shinjuku station. Finally, I found not the strap but the Suica card case with a cute penguin icon chain at kiosk. He attached the chain to the cell and he was satisfied with it. I wish I could get the strap, but surprisingly, none of the station staff knew about the Suica character goods store so I couldn't even look for it...

Okay. I gotta go now.
See you tomorrow!!!

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Heart-Shaped Corn Dogs

Hello!
Yesterday was a holiday, so I skipped writing my diary.
It was a Christmas Eve but I did a thorough house cleaning with my boyfriend, since the next day was a garbage collection day.
(In Japan, we have a tradition of doing a thorough house cleaning at the end of each year.)
Since we work until the 28th, we couldn't miss this garbage collection day.
Otherwise, we have to live with the garbage until 1/8!!!

Anyway, today I am kind of busy, so I can't write much.
I will show you my cute Heart-Shaped Corn Dogs.
The recipe is in Japanese, but you can see how I made this heart shape in the photographed procedures.
I colored them green using green juice.
They are very healthy:)

I gotta go now.
Happy Merry Christmas!!!
xoxo

P.S.
I didn't get a Christmas present from my boyfriend!
Should I give it to him?
I'm thinking...

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Company Year-End-Party

My company year-end-party will be held at a hotel in the city today.
Every year the same hotel.
We play bingo every year but I have never won anything good...
Also, the food there is not that good.
It is a stand-up buffet so we can't really eat a lot.

This year our department won a chief executive's prize, so I can't skip the party. My boss is going to be commended by the chief executive, so I have to attend.

Christmas is coming, so I will show you my pretty Christmas tree pasta :)
I used cherry tomatoes to resemble Christmas ornaments.
I have a recipe, but in Japanese... sorry.

Have a romantic Christmas!
xoxo

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Christmas Rum Raisin Banana Jewel Cake

This morning there was a mess in the living room.
My boyfriend... again!!!
I wrote about it before.
He doesn't ask me to do something, so he doesn't like me to ask him to do something...
Which means I have to tidy up!!!
I was little mad this morning, so I ignored him.

There is another reason that I got mad.
Last night, I used Tenmenjyan, which is sweet miso of China, to cook dinner.
I knew he doesn't like sweet stuff but he didn't even like sweet miso!!!
He left almost all of the dish.
I loved it though...
He said it is something like the "New Year's food".
In other words, he doesn't like the New Year's food!!!
Really upsetting...
Since the New Year's food is very beautiful, I cook it every year, but he made me upset...

On Sunday, I made a Christmas cake using a riped banana.
It is a banana cake with fresh cream and rum-soaked raisin filling.
I found sky-blue argent the other day and wanted to make something similar to the pink one!
I am satisfied with it, though my boyfriend don't like sweet thing!!!
I have a recipe here, but in Japanese... sorry.

Okay, I gotta go.
See you tomorrow!!!

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Mini Cup Chinese Vermicelli Salad for Christmas

As I wrote yesterday, today, my Christmas salad recipe is introduced at Megami's Recipes site!
The recipe introduced is Mini Cup Chinese Vermicelli Salad for Christmas. We usually make this salad in summer using cucumber.
However, I used zucchini to give a warm taste.
Since we mainly eat western dishes in Christmas, I thought Chinese salad might be good to spice up the menu.

Changing my story, my boss is off today.
He said his home PC is infected by viruses...
The thing is he didn't install the anti-virus software on his PC.
He said he found hundred thousands of viruses after installing the anti-virus soft...
Sometimes, by installing the anti-virus soft that includes anti-spam, firewall and many others, the performance of PC gets really bad so I used to think it just bothers the PC, but not in fact.
I learned it is necessary!

Today, it is very cold outside.
I'm gonna run home!

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Healthy Pork Nabe with Root Vegetables and Mixed Grain Kiritanpo

Today, my nabe recipe is introduced at Megami's Recipes site!
I used to write about this site for many times, so please search my diary if you want to know about it in detail.

The recipe introduced is "Healthy Pork Nabe with Root Vegetables and Mixed Grain Kiritanpo".
Please take a look:)
It will be on there until the end of February 2008.
Kiritanpo is mashed rice put on a chopstick. Akita Prefecture is particularly well-known for it.
I cooked Kiritanpo and a lot of root vegetables in a miso nabe with thin slices of pork back ribs.
The taste of delicious pork broth gives the miso soup an added richness.
This is my boyfriend's favorite taste!
To try it out, simply add thin slices of pork rib in your miso soup and you will know!!!
Be careful not to add a chunk though!

Different story.
Tomorrow, my new Christmas salad recipe will be introduced at Megami's Recipes site!
I received an e-mail announcement yesterday.
Be sure to check it out :)
http://www.cooking-megami.com

This is all for today.
Bye for now.

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White Christmas Eel Roll

Yesterday, we moved into a new office.
Since we worked on Sunday, our lunch expenses were on the company! Yay!!!
Also we bought a lot of snacks for our coffee break :)
It was a pain to move, but was a nice day at the end.
In addition, our office is brand new and beautiful!
Especially the ladies' room, it is like a first-class hotel!!!

Writing about my recipe, today I won the "I see prize" (<- Sorry I don't know how to translate this prize in English) at the Fresh Cream contest organized by Cookpad.
It is avocado and tomato roll with eel on top.
I served it over the sauce made with fresh cream, mayonnaise, mustard and salt & pepper. Then I lightly dusted it with Sichuan pepper.
The combination of all is great!
I want everyone to try it out :)

I gotta go now.
Have a good day!

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Christmas Sushi

Hello!
Unexpectedly, I finished packing by noon, so I am writing my diary :)

Christmas is coming, so I will show you my pretty Christmas Sushi!
This I created for Sea Food Cooking Contest which was held in 2006.
I couldn't win the prize, but I met Yukio Hattori!!!

The recipe, I have it in Japanese.
Sorry every time.
But briefly writing in English, I piled minced tuna on top of sushi rice, and coated it with avocado paste, then topped with mayonnaise, scallion, and salmon roe for decoration. The star is made of cheese!



It is raining after a long time.
What a bad luck!
It is not a good day to move :(

Okay, I gotta go now.
See you again next week!

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Office Relocation

Hi!
This Friday, my company is going to move to a new building.
So from today, I am packing my stuff.
It is pretty messy everywhere...

Anyway, due to the relocation, we will be closed on Friday. In other words, it will become a holiday! Yay!
So, I am thinking of cooking nabe for my boyfriend, which I promised :)
(But instead, I have to go to work on Sunday though...)

I don't think I can write something this week.
So hopefully, I'll come back on Monday!

I will post a photo of cute sushi!
I decorated heart-shaped sushi with salmon roe.
Those pink flakes inside are seasoned shredded cod fish "Sakura Denbu".
Hope you like this idea :)

See you then!

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Croquette

Hi!
This morning I forgot to wear my scarf.
It wasn't that cold, so I didn't go back to get it. I hope it won't get cold when I go home.

Writing about my cooking, croquette (a parcel of food such as minced meat or vegetables, shaped into a cylinder or circle, encased in breadcrumbs and deep fried) is one of my boyfriend's favorite dishes!
He loves potato croquette with minced meat.
I mix some boiled eggs to add richness.
This is how my mother cook.

Here, I have the recipe in Japanese.
As you can see in the procedure, I made 16 croquettes on that day and my boyfriend ate almost all of them!!!
I was afraid that he ate too much, but he was fine :)
I haven't made it for a long time , so he might wanna eat sometime soon.

But this weekend I promised him to cook nabe using Mizkan's limited-time dashi product that he has chosen. Last week when we went shopping he placed it in the shopping cart. Seems like mandatory!
I will write about this after we tried!

Okay, this is all for today.
See you again!

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Princess Night

Hello!
As I wrote last time, I went out with my boyfriend for my birthday on Friday and had a wonderful night!
He took me to a Japanese French restaurant in Shinagawa.
http://www.thedining.jp/english/index.html
I took photos of all the dishes we had!
Oh my god, the lobster I had was delicious!!! (My boyfriend had a beef fillet .)
It was nice and quiet there and I enjoyed a conversation with my boyfriend.
Before we leave, we had a commemorative photo taken.
It was a very memorable dinner.

The restaurant was located in the InterContinental hotel.
Surprisingly, he had reserved a room for me!!!
http://www.intercontinental-strings.jp/english/index.html
The night view from the room was beautiful!
I enjoyed taking a relaxing long bath and felt like a princess for a while :)

The next day, we woke up early since I had an appointment with the orthodontist.
We had a breakfast at the hotel, which was also nice and comfortable.

After the appointment, it was Saturday as usual.

On Sunday (on my birthday), I created 5 new recipes.
It was Sunday as usual.
My boyfriend bought me a petit bouquet though :)

That Friday was like a dream!
I had a great time!

I will write about my cooking tomorrow.
Bye for now!

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Do My Best But Take It Easy!

Hello!
Thanks for visiting my blog.
Actually, I don't know how many people are reading though.

This morning was a burnable garbage day. I was collecting garbage at home and realized that my boyfriend hasn't thrown away trash in a garbage can.
There is a reason to this.
In Japan, as you might know, we take of our shoes before entering the house. So, some people (like us) lay a carpet on a floor and put a low dining table and sit on the carpet.
For that reason, you tend to put things (such as garbage) next to you...
I think we need a table and chairs someday.
Then you won't drop things from high place!

Anyway, my birthday is coming soon.
My resolution for the next year is to do my best, but take it easy!
I should remind myself that being perfect is impossible, but don't get lazy about doing something.

Tonight I am going out with my boyfriend!
I can't wait!!!
I will talk to you about it next week if I have a chance :)

Oops, I'm not writing about my cooking.
Instead, I will post an image of a big strawberry shortcake that I created last year.
The recipe is here.
Sorry, in Japanese...

See you next week!

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The Art of the Bento

Hello!
It's cold again.
But luckily it's not raining!
Also, it will be much warmer tomorrow :)
As I wrote before, tomorrow I am going out for dinner with my boyfriend.
He said he made a reservation at a restaurant! Yay!!!

Do you want to hear a funny story?
Yesterday, my boyfriend and I were planning to eat Udon for dinner out at a noodle shop.
However, I couldn't go out because I was waiting for the redelivery at home.
The package was important since it was a questionnaire for my boyfriend's health checkup which was held today.
Even worth, he needed to eat by 8pm to have a blood test.
So we gave up eating out and bought bento (bento is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine) at "Origin Bento" (it's a famous bento shop).
We fight over chili shrimp and stir-fried broccoli and finished our meal.
And what was funny is that today I talked about this to my co-worker and he said that the Origin Bento was on the news yesterday, have been serving outdated food to customers in the Tokyo area...
How bad timing!
I always cook at home and it was an unusual plan to eat bento...
Also, I didn't need to fight over our food...

Anyway, back to my cooking.
I will show you my bento art!
This I created for Kibun Foods (they mainly produce fishcake products).
I used their products to create this bento.
The menu is posted at their website :)

I gotta go now!
See you again!


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Soymilk Tofu Burdock Potage

Hi there!

This morning there was something wrong with my private Japanese blog. If I ever need someone to talk to about anything, I write there, so I was shocked...
But now it seems fine.
I hope it never happens again since I need a place to complain. Ha-ha!

Today, as I mentioned yesterday, my recipe is introduced at Megami's Recipes site :)
Here is the recipe: Soymilk Tofu Burdock Potage.
I simmered thin sliced burdock in consomme. Then put it together with soft/silken tofu into a blender and processed until smooth. The reason why I used the soft/silken tofu is because its texture is similar to that of very fine custard. It adds thickness to the soup!
Don't you think it's healthier than using fresh cream?!
I will write a detailed recipe in English if anyone wants.

Again, it is cold today.
Stay warm everybody!

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4 Advantages Using Japanese Rice Vinegar

Hello!
It is very cold today.
I couldn’t get out of my bed.
I thought about getting a day off from work.
Just kidding! (But was serious in the morning though...)

As I said yesterday, I will write about another collagen-related recipe.
The recipe is "Chicken Drumsticks Simmered in Tomato Vinegar Sauce".
I used Mizkan's rice vinegar (and diced tomato can, sake, chopped garlics and onions, mustard, bouquet garni...) to simmer the chicken drumsticks.

There are 4 advantages using Japanese rice vinegar when simmering:
1. Cook meat less greasy.
2. Meat can be more easily separated from the bone.
3. Increase of amino acid gives the meat rich taste.
4. When simmering "chicken with bone", the acid of the vinegar act directly on the connective tissue of the chicken bone and the meat. As a result, collagen and calcium can seep into the broth.

Don't you think #4 is quite interesting?!
I don't prefer to eat bony chicken, but now I changed my mind :)

The recipe in Japanese is here.
I will write in English if anyone wants.

Tomorrow, my new recipe will be introduced at Megami's Recipes site again! I don't know why but this time I received an e-mail announcement in advance.
Be sure to check it out :)

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