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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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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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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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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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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Long Layer Jewel Strawberry Shortcake

This morning, I changed my shoes to sneakers.
I didn't feel any pain, so I was in a happy mood :)
However, what made me mad was happened on the train...
I was standing with my back against the rail of the seats.
The men seated behind suddenly gave a tug at my hair!!!
Can you believe it?!
It seems like he was annoyed by my long hair, but he shouldn't do such a thing without notice!!!
I was going to warn him but didn't...
He looks like a normal corporate employee but could be a freak!
I didn't want to haggle over so I kept my temper.
I hate to commute by train!

Anyway, back to my cooking :)
As I said yesterday, I have a gorgeous Christmas cake recipe!
I garnished a long layer strawberry shortcake with cookies decorated with silver and pink argent.
This is my taste!
I love pink and glittering stuff.

Here is the recipe.
Again in Japanese, sorry.
I will write in English if anyone wants.

Okay! See you next week!

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Triple-Layer Christmas Chocolate Cake

Every morning, since few weeks ago, I feel pain in between my toes (fourth finger and pinkie).
I thought it might be a hard corn, but seems like callus...
Anyway, I shouldn't wear shoes that pinch my toes :(

Christmas is coming! So today, I will present one of my Christmas cakes: Triple-Layer Christmas Chocolate Cake!
This is not that difficult.
I used chocolate, coffee, and plain buttercream fillings for the thin chocolate sponge cakes.
Then I covered the cake in a chocolate coating, garnished with edible flowers (roses), and dusted them lightly with powdered sugar.

I posted this recipe at Lettuceclub (one of the sites I post recipes).
Few months ago, they put out a call for Christmas cake recipes.
There were more other themes as well and I created more than 40 recipes to challenge all, but none of them won prizes...
Ooops!!! Just moaning about it...

Here is the recipe.
Sorry in Japanese.
I will write in English if anyone wants.

Tomorrow I will show you my gorgeous Christmas cake :)
Bye Bye!

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Potato and Almond Potage

Hi!
Luckily, it's not that cold today :)

The new blog I mentioned yesterday is still having a problem with it's trackback function...
I don't know what to do, but I guess I will keep this up since I took time to set the layout!

Anyway, I posted a soup recipe there: Potato and Almond Potage!
The recipe is in Japanese... sorry.
I will write in English if anyone wants.

Almonds are a premier source of vitamin E. They are said as effective if taken with vitamin C, so I cooked with potatoes!
Vitamin E is an important antioxidant that may play a role in the prevention of many chronic diseases. One ounce of almonds (about 23 almonds) contains 35% of the Daily Value for vitamin E.

Actually, I have been on the "online almond program" in May an learned a little about almonds.
Since then, I use the almonds by necessity.
You can learn about the almonds here!

This is all for today!
See you tomorrow.

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Christmas Tofu

This morning, I saw a high-school girl handing a love letter to a boy at the train station!
She ran away with the other girl romping around.
How young are they!!!
I was sooooo excited, remembering my high school days :)
And what was funny is that I found many people (especially women) were staring at them like me!

Anyway, on Friday, my Christmas Tofu was introduced at Megami's Recipes site again!
I used nutmeg, soy sauce, grated ginger, black vinegar and black pepper to season the spinach. Then I topped it on tofu, and decorated with colored peppers.
Recipe in Japanese is here.
I will write in English if anyone wants.

Sorry I am always talking about the recipes couple of days ago...
I have a lot to present!

Different story.
Today, I created a new blog to enter the contest held at Recipe Blog (they mainly trackback the recipe related articles.)
Actually, I don't have a Japanese blog since I have so many places to post my work, such as Cookpad, Lettuceclub etc...
But this time, participants were limited to the blog author, so I created one.
However, blogspot doesn't have trackback feature, so I needed to make an account at Haloscan to send a trackback ping.
It seems like not working properly though...
I have to solve the problem...
It's a long way...

Anyway, I hope I can manage all and I shouldn't increase my work any more.

Bye for now!

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Spicy Meat Pumpkin for Christmas

I didn't oversleep this morning :)
But I did it again on Saturday... my boyfriend had an appointment with his dentist and I had promised him to wake him up but I overslept...

Anyway, on Saturday (instead of Sunday) I created 5 new recipes!
Last time I said 6 is my quota, but I reduced it to 5 to concentrate on my photo framework!
Compared to last week, it wasn't that bad.
I think I should take time.

One of the recipes I created is Spicy Meat Pumpkin for Christmas.
I layered nutmeg flavored ground beef & pork and cinnamon flavored Japanese pumpkin. I used holly shaped cookie cutter to cut the pumpkin skin to resemble holly leaf. To resemble holly fruit, I used pink pepper (Brazilian pepper).
My boyfriend loved the combination of those spices!
I hope this gives you an idea for your Christmas menu :)

Monday after the holidays is always busy, so I gotta go!
Will come back tomorrow!

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

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