Marusei Butter Sandwich

Yesterday my co-worker gave me a souvenir from Hokkaido. It was in a silver package and looked really antique, so I didn't expect anything...

B-U-T

It was really amazingly delicious :D The rum raisin cream filling was really tasty! I searched about this cookie on the Net and found it was a famous sweet made by a store called Rokkatei in Hokkaido. The cream part is white chocolate with 100% raw milk Hokkaido butter! The cookie is named after the first butter made in Tokachi, subprefecture of Hokkaido.

Actually, I am gaining weight since the New Year! I think I gained 4 pounds for sure!!! Last time I said I lost 4 pounds but was a dream... Ha-ha-ha!!!

To lose 4 pounds, I heard I need to burn approx 7000kcal!
How can I?!?!

BTW this cookie was 167kcal per serving...
OMG I need to cook more than 3 Valentine's day recipe this weekend... Long way to go :(

I hope I can fit the dress tomorrow...
Seriously, Japanese dresses are too tight!!!

See you on Friday!

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Kichinto

This is something about Saturday.

For dinner, we've been to an Izakaya called "Kichinto" again! I love foods and drinks here because they are delicious and relatively cheap! We had the natto, yam, and fish mixture with nori again (left bottom image)! The grilled rice ball with sauteed vegetables soup was fablicious (right bottom image). It was still boiling when it's served! Warms us up in winter ;)

BTW, how often do you go back to your favorite restaurants?
I think we go back once in 3 months, since we only eat out on Saturdays.

It was freezing cold on this day but the high today is 68F (20C)! Unbelievably warm!!!

Have a good one :D

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Wedding Dress Show @ Zexy HAPPY PARTY!!

Yesterday, while I was cooking, my darling browsed the Net and found a special bridal event called "Zexy HAPPY PARTY" at Tokyo Midtown. Zexy is Japan's leading bridal glossy magazine. On this Saturday and Sunday, they held a wedding dress show at the event.

It wasn't in my plan, so I condensed my schedule and went to the event with my darling before the GYM! Thanks to my darling, I had a good time! It was worth it! White dresses were really beautiful :D Actually, this coming holiday (Thursday - National Foundation Day), I am going to try on wedding dresses, so it was a good preview!

Moreover, there was a bridal walking lesson by Duke Saraie. He is a walking specialist, who created the Duke’s Walk method to teach people how to walk correctly. He taught us how we stand, walk, and bow nicely at a wedding reception! My darling took a video of his lecture, so we can practice it anytime. Ha-ha ;)

Okay. This is all for today!

Talk to you later :D

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Magic Pot Pudding

Wow! I'm running out of time today... but wanna post this before I leave.

Yesterday, my darling went to Kobe for a business trip and bought me an interesting pudding called 魔法の壷プリン(Magic Pot Pudding)! It was introduced on TV and other media.

The caramel was bitter and it was really delicious with creamy pudding and fluffy fresh cream! Not sweet at all!!! Yummy :P I will translate the section image into English!


We have one more left in the fridge :)

Enjoy your weekend!

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Calorie-Saving Ehomaki

My darling was cooperative last night. He wore 鬼(devil) mask for me to throw the beans on Setsubun! How neat this mask is! Your nose pops out from a hole so it looks like 3D. I got this mask at the supermarket for free!





Of course, I made Ehomaki! This year, I partially used hanpen (white square shaped minced fish product) instead of rice to save calories ;D The recipe is in Japanese but I posted at Cookpad!

It's a busy day again today! But I am trying to post something while I have a break :P

How long does it take you to write a post? Me?! I think I use about 15 min to 1 hr... Depending on the content, I use too much time! Ha-ha!!! How about you? When do you write your post? (Don't ask me... you know!)

Okay, hula tonight ;)

Have a good one!!!

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Tea Leaves Baked Potatoes

Have you ever used tea dregs for your cooking?

Some tea leaves are too hard and bitter to use, but believe it or not, some are really soft and tasty that you can even eat them! For instance, Chinese 龍井茶 (ronjin tea) is known as the best grade tea which you can eat as is. In Japan, we have many of this kind, too. おぶぶ茶苑 (obubuchaen) in Kyoto produces tea leaves called かぶせ煎茶 (kabuse sencha) and you can eat them after enjoying drinking.

Here is the recipe using the かぶせ煎茶 (kabuse sencha) tea dregs. I won the highest prize at おぶぶ茶苑 (obubuchaen)'s contest :D

---------------------------------
Tea Leaves Baked Potatoes

Difficulty: Easy
Time: 20min
Number of servings: 2

Ingredients:
600g (1.3lb.) potatoes
1 tbsp. tea leaves (かぶせ煎茶)
A
* 2 tbsp. chirimenjyako (dried baby sardine)
* 1 tsp. soy sauce
* 1 tsp. mirin (sweet sake)
2 tbsp. cooking oil

Directions:
1. Soak tea leaves in boiling water and wait until the leaves get soft and sink to the bottom. Drain well and chop.
2. Simmer and roast tea leaves and A in a frying pan until water is almost gone.
3. Wash the potatoes well (peel if preferred) and cut them into wedges. Microwave them for about 3 minutes until soft and dress them with cooking oil.
4. Place potatoes onto a baking tray and bake in the oven until crisp and golden brown.
5. Add 2, toss lightly, and serve.

My original recipe in Japanese is here.
---------------------------------

Today is Setsubun, so I am thinking of making Eho-Maki tonight! The lucky direction this year is west-southwest. If you have iPhone, it is the direction of 255 degrees ;)

Enjoy your day :D

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Kushikatsu "Snack" Bowl

On Sunday, I made a funny dish for my darling. It's a rice bowl with cutlet snack! Have you ever tried this kind of cutlet snack?!


Kushikatsu (Japanese-style deep-fried kabob) is a local food in Osaka. My co-worker bought it for souvenior. Of course it is made with fake meat!

I cooked it like Katsudon: a popular Japanese food, a bowl of rice topped with a deep-fried pork cutlet, egg, and condiments. LOL ;P

It snowed about an inch last night, so the road was covered with slippy sherbet X( I left home early to walk slow... but damn Marunouchi line, it stopped right before my destination due to car trouble, not the snow!!!

I brought the pocket warmer (which I won the other day) with me but our office is heated well today...

How unlucky me...

Good luck!!!

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Garapon Drawing

It was a busy weekend. I worked through the night on the 29th (stayed awake 48 hours) to finish up projects due 1/31... whew X( I think I need to be more organized. I am not a last minute person, though...

Anyway, on such a busy weekend, I had one important thing to do... which was to draw lots at Ajinomingei. Since we go there very often, we had 5 tickets to play Garapon drawing...

But what is Garapon?!

Not knowing what the event is about, I had shrimp udon again. The "good luck shrimp tempura udon" was already over, so I had a regular shrimp udon. The shrimp was really small compared to the other one. Ha-ha!

We won 4 pocket warmers and 1 yogurt drink at the drawing. Yep! They are useful!

But what is Garapon?!

Now I just googled "Garapon" and knew it is a name of the drawing machine! I didn't even think it has such a funny name! It is actually a common drawing machine in Japan. You turn it around one time and a colored ball comes out from the hole. You get a prize depending on what the color of the ball is.

Is this common in your country as well?!

Okay, I think I gotta go now.

I can't believe January is already over...
Hope I won't be that busy this month X(

Bye for now :)

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Apple iPad VS Amazon Kindle

Did you see this news yesterday?! Apple has announced they will release iPad (tablet computer) in March! It is more like iPod Touch or iPhone than laptop computer (it can run all apple apps) and has an e-book reader like Amazon Kindle! It costs $830 with a function of 3G cellular and $499 without... (Image from New York Times)

My darling loves to read books on Kindle, so he was watching this news on TV with a twinkle in his eyes...

Compared to Kindle, iPad has a fragile glass screen... I'm afraid to carry it around with me. I mean... I'm afraid to hear my darling saying he wants to get one! What do you think?! It looks cool, though! Ha-ha!!!

Like I love to shop clothes and cute stuff, my darling loves to try new tools, so why don't I let him get one if he said he wants to?!

Have a good weekend :D

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Kobe Pudding Flavored Kit Kat

Do you remember me writing about Kobe Pudding?
I believe you don't. He-he!

Yesterday, my co-worker gave me a Kit Kat with Kobe Pudding flavor!!! It is a limited edition made in commemoration of the 15th anniversary of Kobe Pudding. It tasted like pudding but you won't realize it until you are told what the flavor is :P

BTW, I once found wasabi (Japanese horseradish) flavored Kit Kat at Tokyo station. Yuck, but wanna try that someday!!!

I am really busy these days. I wish I have more time... but I am writing my post! And I'm gonna attend the hula class tonight!!! They are something different, you know! jose understands me ;)

See ya :D

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OMG!

I made a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig mistake today!!!



Good luck to me... X(

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How Often Do You Eat a Cake?!

Hello! I'm falling asleep, so writing my post :P

How often do you eat a cake?

Since my darling doesn't like sweet stuff, I eat only once or less in a month. You know it is much happier when you eat it pleasantly with someone you can talk freely, so I don't eat it by myself. Anyway, I thank to him because I can avoid gaining weight from sweets!

However, at the year-end and New Year parties, I had so many chances to eat cakes!!! Like I said before, I gained a few pounds and still haven't burnt it :( The image is a cake buffet from my company year-end party. Wow! I saw a guy eating them in bites. I can't believe him not savoring them!!! My darling is the same, though... He eats cake really quick! Why don't guys take time?! So, I always cut a cake into half to save my piece when I share with him! Again, my darling doesn't like a cake... I don't understand why he makes his way into my piece...

Okay, coffee time (without a cake)!

Have a good day :D

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Yakiniku @ Gyutetsu

Hi! How is the weather at your place?!

It was cold in Tokyo this weekend, so my darling and I went out to eat yakiniku to warm up by the grill. He-he :D

We've been to a restaurant called 牛鉄 (Gyutetsu) near the station. 牛鉄 means iron cow... funny if I translate. Ha-ha! We knew the place for a long time, but it was our first time to eat there! Their grilled chicken and scallop were delicious! They were salt flavored and you dip them into fresh lemon juice :D Yummy!!!

The average budget was 2,500yen ($25) per person, but we spent 3,000yen ($30)... Did we eat a lot?!

Anyway, I wore wig bangs on this day. Little bit weird, but it is okay for a change :P

Busy Monday! Bye for now!!!

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My Accomplishments

Wow! Time flies! Before I forget, I will list my accomplishments for December.

On 12/3, my miso fried chicken won the prize at fundodai's recipe contest using their seasoning products. They nicely introduced my recipe on their site :D







On 12/4, my tea leaves baked potatoes won the highest prize at おぶぶ茶苑(obubuchaen) in Kyoto. I received many different kinds of Japanese teas as a prize! Great thanks!!!






On 12/7, my LOVE sushi won the February prize. I made it for Valentine's day ;)








On 12/7, my minced chicken simmered long yam awarded a grand prize! It was a contest using Kikkoman's soy sauce.








On 12/14, my Japanese style rolled cabbage nabe awarded the Asahi Off prize. Asahi Off is a healthy low-malt beer which reduced purines by 85% and carbohydrate by 70%!






On 12/14, my Buri Daikon (Japanese amberjack or yellowtail simmered with daikon) was introduced at Cookpad with P&G's Hi Wash Joy (dish soap).







On 12/14, my kelp steamed rice won the highest award at Asahi Food & Healthcare's diet recipe contest.




On 12/15, I received 10th photo report of my curry chicken fries.









On 12/20, my healthy yogurt soy mousse was printed on a recipe card of soy milk product called sugoidaizu.








On 12/20, I don't find the picture, but my beauty smoothie won outstanding performance award at Manbo Corporation's recipe contest. Their famous product is squid shumai. However, for my work I used their white sesame collagen pudding.

On 12/26, my pork and kimchi fried rice won the grand prize at Kyushu Asahi beer's recipe contest. I received 30,000yen ($300) travel coupons! I just took a snapshot of our quick dinner... so I didn't expect to win such a big prize! I think I was lucky!!!

On 12/31, my donut ring Christmas cake won the grand prize at Yodoran (iodine-enriched egg)'s contest. I received 20 egg coupons!






Also, I received many prizes for participation: creap recipe contest, Nagatsugawa recipe contest, nikka (whisky) recipe contest, cabbage recipe contest, kikkoman new year's food recipe contest, and Higashiharima healthy recipe contest. Plus, I won 2 dozens of Sukoyaka tea samples.

All for today!

Have a good weekend!!!

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