Cutlery Shaped Cookies

Hello everyone! I'm keeping my words, updating more quickly :D


These cookie cutters are my favorites. Spoon and folk, cutlery shaped cutters. They are miniature size, too, so very cute when they finish baking.

It is easier to cut out cookies if you dip them in flour before cutting them out. Don't forget to do so every time you cut a shape!

I baked well over fifty of them, and people who received them as mini gifts really liked them :)

This cookies are gingerbread flavor, and even though it's not Christmas, I still love munching them. Yummmmm.


I got these cutters in Japan a few years ago, and maybe will bring back some more when I visit there next time. I'm not sure when, but I am starting to miss seeing my friends and family, so hope it will happen soon.


Have a good evening everyone!

Tasty gifts from Japan

Good afternoon everyone. It's the last day of the Memorial weekend. Have you been having fun?


My husband and I have been enjoying our long weekend. As we planned sharing good food with good friends, we are doing so, and being very happy :D


Today, my husband and his buddy have gone to play golf, so I am taking it easy,  updating my blog and working on some desk work I need to get done with. 

A little while ago, I received a couple of sweet packages from Japan. One of them was from my high school teacher, Ms. Hibino.  I sent her my hand made orange marmalade when I made some, and Ms. Hibino was nice enough to write me a thank you note with these tasty Japanese preserved seaweed cooked in soy and spicy young sardine. Both of them are very tasty when sprinkled over freshly cooked rice. 


It is nice to have something like these during busy time when I only want to finish my lunch simple and easy. Today is not a very busy day, but after the rich BBQ we had last night, this would be a perfect lunch for me.

Ms. Hibino, thank you very much for the delicious gifts and your thoughtful kindness! Both my husband and I are enjoying them :)

The second package was from one of my best friends, Kiyo. The main gift was packages of Dashi. Dashi is very important when you cook Japanese cuisine, and even though the best way is to make it from scratch, it is difficult and a little expensive doing so living in abroad. This one contains no MSG, and it does taste very good! Two thumbs up.

Several fun snacks were in this package, too. Some of them had seasonal special flavor, and was really fun to taste them.


Kiyo, thanks so much for your tasty and fun package, too. Hope you get to visit us one day soon :D


I am grateful to have special people in my life who care about us. Friends know what I like, too. Tasty food. Happy happy!


I have to go now, and will try to update the next one sooner than this time. (Do I say that every time? I mean it this time :D) Take care everyone.

Annular Solar Eclipse

Wow, another weekend is about to start. And it's a long weekend! :D


Do you have any fun plans for the weekend? My husband and I will just take it easy, maybe eat good food with our friends.


Last Sunday, did you get to see the annular solar eclipse? In Japan, everyone was excited about this, and TV programs were talking about it a lot. I could feel the excitement in Japan through skyping with my family, and seeing friends talking about it on facebook. On the day at 6pm, my brother in law couple who live in midwest texted me saying "We are in New Mexico on top of the mountain to watch the annular solar eclipse. You guys can see it there, too?"

To be honest, I didn't know we could see it in the US as well. I ran to my husband, and he suggested that we go up the mountain close by to take a look. So we did, and on the way, I looked up, and the sun was sooooo bright that I felt scared that my eyes may get hurt. Not only we didn't own that special glasses, but I even forgot to take my sunglasses with me. Oh no! It doesn't show clear in the photo, but part of the sun had dark shade and it was not round. 

Luckily, as we drove up the hill, the clouds came out, and the sun was covered but thin enough for us to see through the sun. It wasn't a perfect ring shape, but like a crescent moon. The photo on the top is the one I took with my iPhone.












The dark ones are taken by my husband with his Android phone.


The top photo with the round one was taken by our sister-in-law. She took the photo through her special glasses. Beautiful and exciting! 


I heard the next one we will be able to see it in LA will be in 59 years! It was an pretty exciting event. Thank you sister for letting us know : D
Have a fun weekend everyone.

Cupcake and Cookie Decoration

Good afternoon, everyone.
Did you get to see the annular eclipse of the sun yesterday? I'll try to write about it in my next one.


The other day, I baked some carrot cupcakes. It turned out very moist and tasty. Without the icing, it's good for breakfast, and with the cream cheese icing, will become a perfect afternoon dessert : ) 

Colored some marzipan and made different shapes with the cutters I had in my storage. 


The same day, also baked and decorated some gingerbread cookies.

They turned out pretty well, exactly how I wanted them to be. The gingerbread cookie I bake is less sweet than what you usually get at the store, so with the icing, the sweetness will be perfect.
With the colorful flowers on the table, I am enjoying the spring / early summer season. Hope you are, too! :D

9th Anniversary Dinner @ n/naka

 

Good morning :)
My husband and I went out for our 9th wedding anniversary dinner over the weekend. We had a few places we had in mind, and decided to go to n/naka this time because I enjoyed the dinner there when I went for my friend's birthday in February.


n/naka serves modern Japanese Kaiseki course menu. The authentic Japanese cuisine with French flare was just what both of us felt like, and was a perfect choice for the evening.


Enjoy the photos of the Chef's Tasting Course we had :D You can read the menu in their home page.

   

 The servers are very nice, and the chef comes to your table after the dinner. That is sweet, isn't it?


They also ask you if you dined there before to make sure the dishes won't overlap from your last experience. Very impressed.


If you get a chance, please make a reservation and dine at this cozy, but elegant restaurant. Bon appetite!

Luncheon with guests on a cloudy day

This past weekend had been a little hectic for me, but how was yours, everyone? Everything ended fine so far, so I am now starting my new week with a smile :)

Today, I would like to write about the luncheon I hosted on a cloudy day a little while ago. We were hoping that the weather would be nice so we could enjoy our lunch time in the back yard, but unfortunately, it didn't happen, so I ended up setting up the table at the dining area. To make my guests happy, I picked up some pink Gerbera to brighten up the table and the window area. It worked, right?

 The outside temperature had been pretty low for a while, and since I was busy the day before, I've decided to cook Coq au Van, a Frensh style poultry dish that is able to be prepared in advance as a main dish. The photo on the left is before I started braising it. Reduced red wine, fresh rosemary and thyme from the garden adds extra flavor to the dish.

 Served it with quinoa with colorful vegetables on the side. The chicken was so tender that we didn't need to use knives at all. A fresh sprig of lemon thyme used as a garnish made my guests smile. Very nice aroma!


The guests brought some salad, cheese, and olives, and they made the table very colorful and happy.


Freshly baked baguette and the organic salted butter from the farmer's market was a perfect combination, too. Yumm!

For dessert, I had a roll of green tea cake filled with golden sweet potato cream ready to be cut. The cream is the same one from the Koguma cake I introduced the other day. The combination wasn't bad, but maybe the sweet potato cream will stand out more with regular sponge cake. Will try it out again next time.

This turned into a farewell luncheon since one of the guests has to move to abroad in a month, and because we had been talking about getting together at my place for a while, I was very glad that at least it happened before she left. Last minute!


Although the weather wasn't perfect, we had a great time talking, eating, and laughing together, and I always appreciate the precious time like this. It is like refilling some gas to enable myself to go on.


Dear guests, thank you for driving a long distance to visit me, and sharing a good time together. Thank you for the lovely gifts as well. My husband and I enjoyed them together. Hope to see you soon again :D

May Table Setting

Hello everyone. Another weekend has started, and things are keeping me pretty busy.


Every month, I come up with a table centerpiece, and try to decorated with a seasonal theme.


Birds have been singing everyday in the back yard for the past few weeks, so I've decided to use my porcelain birds in this month's setting.

There are two mini glass birds sitting inside the imitation nest placed next to a white bird. They are so tiny that I'm not sure if my guests will even recognize them, but I think it's pretty cute.

The pink Gerbera flowers are adding pretty color to the setting. The mini cups and basket set I purchased at a coffee shop a couple of years ago does a pretty good job, and is one of my favorites. I hope I get to find another pink bunches since it's about time to replace the flowers to fresh ones.

Another part I like about this month's setting is the white rose and the greens I picked from our garden. While taking care of the roses, I ended up picking some fresh ones by accident, and thought they might add some good accent to the decoration. 


I hope I get to enjoy this table setting of the month with my guests and have good time with them :D

"Tango no Sekku" Children's Day Meal

Hello everyone. Time passes so quickly that I didn't notice it's been a while since I last updated this blog. Hope you all enjoyed your week and the weekend :)


May 5th is called "Tango no Sekku" which means children's day in Japanese culture. Since we don't have any children, didn't do anything special on the day, but I got to enjoy a special meal at the Japanese cuisine lesson I attended a few days ago.

 

I always enjoy attending this private Japanese cuisine class because I get to feel  both the Japanese culture and the seasonal taste through the dishes I learn.


After receiving the Culinary Arts degree and the Baking Certificate in the US, I gradually started to wish that I have studied more Japanese cooking method properly before I left my country. Now I've found a very special private teacher, and am grateful for that. I thank my friend who introduced me to the teacher, and thank the teacher who accepted my offer even though she wasn't up to it at the beginning. Thank you :D

This time, the main dish was "Tempura", a Japanese style fritter. The Tempura batter is lighter than the one used in usual fritter you taste in American or European cuisine. The tip is to use ice cold water to make the batter. 


We deep fried many different kinds of ingredients, and I found the apple and tomato tempura very interesting. Surprisingly, both of them tasted good and refreshing!


Another new dish to me was "Ume Kanten", pickled plum in agar agar. It looks like a dessert dish, but is actually savory with soy dashi soup poured around it. This would be a nice intermezzo dish during the meal.


Since the teacher was visiting Japan for a while, it had been a little while before we last met, and had so much to talk about. Before started cooking, during cooking, while eating, and after finishing, our talking was endless and very fun! It is always nice to have mentors who gives you advise in your life, and this teacher is one of them for me :) 

Thank you again for visiting this blog, and I will try to update the next one soon again. Have a nice day everyone :D

Ocean View Potluck Party

My husband and I were invited to a Potluck Party during the weekend, so we took the "Koguma Cake" I wrote about last time and some beverages.


This was the first time to visit our friends'  house where the party was held at, and I was very excited to see the beautiful settings and the ocean view from the window!

This is a true Californian life with a nice view, don't you think?  :D 

Sunset with Palm trees.

Table with natural lighting.

 

Of course, all the food tasted awsome.
Shrimp coated with Mayonnaise sauce, Bagna Cauda sauce with fresh organic vegetables, "Norimaki" thin sushi rolls, and "Okonomiyaki" which is a Japanese savory pancake.


 I truly loved this pancake made in Osaka style, so I'll definitely try this method next time making it at home : ) I think the secret is to use less flour, and add "Yamaimo", a Japanese yam potato.

Everyone also liked my "Koguma Cake" for dessert, and that made my night.


With this group of people, we always have lots of fun, and by the end of the night, tears came out of our eyes from laughing too much.


Somehow, we ended up drawing some pictures, and competed who could draw well. Unfortunately, I was one of the worst ones out of the eight, but that's okay because it was a lot of fun, and that's the most important part, right?
Next time, it'll be our turn to host a party, and thinking of having our first BBQ of the season. See you soon everyone :D