Jack-o'-Lantern Cookies

Good morning! Yesterday was raining all day as predicted :( Hopefully it will clear up by this noon. I couldn't post this last night because my drowsiness depends on the weather, you know!!!

Here is another Halloween recipe! But a lazy one.
3 years ago, I bought an "Autumn Cookie kit" that had cookie mix, cookie cutters, and autumn sprinkles!

I tried the sprinkles, but those didn't look good. I think it's very difficult to use them nicely! I guess kids are better than me! So I ended up making faces on the cookies. I added cocoa powder to half of the cookie dough to make brown chocolate dough.

I hope I can create something better this year!!!

You know what!? I'm losing the big contests... :( I'm not even winning the highest awards at all... I shouldn't expect much, right!?

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Jack-o'-Lantern: Philadelphia Sushi Balls

Here is another Halloween idea! I made sushi balls using Philadelphia cream cheese. I added the cheese in sushi rice, made balls, sprinkled tobiko (flying fish roe), and drew their faces by cutting nori sheet.
You can dip it in soy sauce when you eat. It goes good with cream cheese!

The weather is nice and clear today! I didn't want to go to work... Also this weekend is going to be fine with a high of about 73F (23C)! We have three-day weekends this weekend because Monday is National Sports Day, so I'm glad that the weather will be fine :)

Yesterday I had a headache but luckily it wasn't a cold! I need to get a flu shot someday soon... Take care you all!!!
Have a good weekend ;)

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Halloween Frankenstein: Stuffed Green Peppers

Hi! It's raining again here in Tokyo.
Yesterday, I had a nice chat with my high-school friend for about 5 hours! However, it wasn't enough for us! We had so much more to talk, you know!!!

Halloween is coming soon, so I will show you my scary stuffed green peppers.

You can cook stuffed green peppers in your style! When you remove the tops, don't discard them and cook them together. They are going to be part of Frankenstein heads! When done, draw their faces by cutting nori sheet and using mayonnaise. Pour ketchup on top and sandwich with tops!

Might be too scary for small kids... make them cuter then ;)



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Miso Cheese Simmered Eggplant Witch

Hello! It rained yesterday and the high was 78F (26C). It was little cool outside, but going up to 86F (30C) from today for about a week again. High temp low humidity is bearable, you know!

Today, as I said before, I will translate my eggplant recipe. I'm ahead of the season but it's a great Halloween recipe idea ;)



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Miso Cheese Simmered Eggplant Witch

Difficulty: Medium
Time: 30min
Number of servings: 4

Ingredients:
4 eggplants (5-6 inches long)
50g (1.8oz.) cream cheese
A
* 1 tbsp. miso (preferably red miso)
* 1 tbsp. mirin (sweet sake)
* 1 tbsp. sugar
* 1 tbsp. sake
200cc dashi broth (using packaged dashi powder saves time)
4 star-shaped thick carrot slices

Directions:
1. Cut cream cheese into small pieces.
2. Make "Chasen Nasu" and soak in water to remove the oxalic acid. The procedure for "Chasen Nasu" is HERE.
3. Microwave cream cheese on Medium 500 W (50-60%) for about 30 seconds until softened. Then add A and mix well.
4. Heat 3. in a pan and add dashi broth little by little. Keep stirring once every few times until dissolved.
5. Add Chasen Nasu and carrot slices, then cook on low heat for 20 minutes. Keep flipping eggplants once every few minutes until done and sauce thickens.
6. Pour the sauce on a dish, twist and press the eggplant by hand to form the witch shape.
5. Attach carrot slices with a toothpick (like a magic stick) and stick it on to the eggplant witch.

My original recipe in Japanese is here.
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Actually, I was going to post this last night, but again I dozed off...
Monday is a holiday: Respect-for-the-Aged Day! On Wednesday, my boyfriend was busy and we couldn't go out for a dinner. Hope we could this weekend.

Have a good weekend :)

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Fun Halloween Recipes

<-- CLICK HERE to view this recipe.

Happy Halloween :)

Last year, I created a lot of fun Halloween recipes since there were many Halloween campaigns at Cookpad (the site I explained before).

One of the fun recipes is "Shrimp Tempura Udon Mummy".
Udon is a type of thick wheat-based noodle popular in Japanese cuisine.
When Udon gets dry, it's gluten gets strong.
I wrapped Udon around Shrimp Tempura in that instant.
You pour dipping sauce over and eat.
It's fun, isn't it?

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