青の洞窟 Award Ceremony

On 2/5 (Sat.), my darling and I attended the award ceremony of 青の洞窟 idea recipe contest. 青の洞窟 (Ao no Doukutsu - blue cave) is one of the pasta brands of Nissin Foods. The contest was to cook spaghetti in ONE pan using 青の洞窟 spaghetti and pasta sauce. I won the 2nd price!

The ceremony was held at an Italian restaurant called Mario i Sentieri in Nishiazabu. On this day, the owner Italian chef Mario Frittoli demonstrated his original carbonara with fruits! The sour taste of fruits gave an amazing touch to carbonara and was fabulous!



Then we enjoyed his authentic Italian lunch with wines! As seen in pictures, all dishes were beautifully presented. They were dainty with discreet seasonings.



Chef Mario said he always cooks from his heart. And contacts between people makes him enjoy cooking. Of course, we had a good time with the Chef and other contestants :D



Grazie!

Please click below and vote for me.

Aji no Mingei

Aji no Mingei is well known as a handmade udon restaurant. My darling and I go there once in a while because hot udon in winter warms us up. Also their Japanese style decors make us feel at home :D

As you can see, their dish is really huge. This is our favorite Mingei Salad. It comes with 3 different dressings: Wa-Fu (Japanese), Dai Dai (orange), and Shirogoma (white sesame).



On this day, I ordered Nagasaki Champon with Collagen!



From February, an extra buck adds extra veggies! Fabulous :D



However, one thing we regret is that our new home is quite distant. We have to go there again this month for the last time!

BTW, I prefer hot to cold for udon and cold to hot for soba.
How about you?!

Please click below and vote for me.

Eho-Maki

It's time to make a wish again :D

February 3rd is Setsubun. It is the day before the beginning of Risshun (spring season). On Setsubun, we cleanse away all the evil of the former year and drive away disease-bringing evil spirits for the year to come. This special ritual is called Mamemaki (bean scattering). On this day, it is customary now to eat uncut maki-zushi called Eho-Maki ("lucky direction roll") while facing the yearly lucky compass direction, determined by the zodiac symbol of that year.

The lucky direction of the year 2011 is south-southeast. If you eat Eho-Maki facing in that direction it will bring you luck. But just remember you have to eat all without speaking! You can speak after you complete it ;)

This year, since I was busy, I gave up cooking Eho-Maki and bought this gorgeous one last night. Luckily it was at half price!!!

I'm sorry but my darling always must wear the devil mask for the bean scattering. But one year, he was sleeping when I realized...
HEY!!! Wake up!!! LoL.



How to eat Eho-Maki.
He must close his eyes, though!



Good Luck :)

Please click below and vote for me.