tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84213372024-03-07T17:37:17.790+09:00Obachan's Kitchen & Balcony GardenClumsy with chopsticks but can't live without them... ** I don't post English translations of Japanese recipes without permissions from the recipe authors. But feel free to contact me about the dishes you're interested in.obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.comBlogger680125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-25757127293963779232009-04-30T22:02:00.004+09:002009-05-05T09:46:12.434+09:00This Is The Last Post On This BlogThe Last Look at Obachan's Kitchen (I took this shot with my cell phone cameraright before I left my apartment for good.)Dear Readers,I arrived at my parents' house safely this afternoon. There's a lot to tell you about the move and how I'm feeling here now, but I'm dead tired. For now, I just want to tell you that I made it alive and I still have access to the Internet.So, I'll see you soon whenobachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com54tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-67231923457288148562009-04-26T15:46:00.005+09:002009-04-27T12:36:54.785+09:00Okara Quiche With BroccoliOkara Quiche With BroccoliI tried out a couple of okara recipes in the beginning of this month, but I wasn't going to post about them because I didn't think many English speaking people knew okara, and also because I wasn't too happy with what I made. However, the other day I heard from someone who was looking for some okara recipes, and I thought this would be a good chance to post about my obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-16033179834259395072009-04-26T13:46:00.008+09:002009-04-28T18:56:06.897+09:00Okara CookiesOkara CookiesFollowing the okara quiche experiment posted above, I tried out a few "okara sweets" such as cookies and pound cakes. And there were good ones like "okara and azuki cake" and "okara and fruit pound cake" (both in Japanese). They have favorable reviews and I did like the taste of those cakes. At the first bite, I agreed with some of the reviews that said "I like the texture of okara obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-32572418013635880582009-04-18T16:52:00.005+09:002009-04-18T17:52:25.004+09:00Flooded But Tasted GoodCherry PieI used EXPENSIVE canned dark cherries, and maybe I shouldn't have added the juice in the can. But this filling recipe called for it and I was unusually(?) obedient today. Haha...Then when I peeked into the oven after 20 minutes or so, about half of the surface of the pie was covered with cherry juice that came out from those heart-shaped holes. It didn't look too good, to be honest. (Iobachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-20298096510535491652009-04-16T18:02:00.005+09:002009-04-16T19:22:17.541+09:00Tomato Spinach and Tuna SaladTomato and Spinach Salad with Tuna Dressing(I can't see much tuna in this photo, though)Mmmmm... I think I like this salad better than the cabbage and tuna salad I posted about before. For this one, lemon juice is the key. The original recipe is here (in Japanese).I'm feeling a little down today. I started practicing driving at a driving school yesterday because I haven't driven any cars with obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-90560557841173360892009-04-13T19:05:00.008+09:002009-04-13T20:22:51.603+09:00Could Be My Last Time To Eat Delivered Pizza"Chicago Pizza"Phew! F-I-N-A-L-L-Y it's over!I was really stressed out yesterday, being buried under empty cans, bottles and nonburnable garbage that had accumulated in my kitchen in the past years. If you heard a scream from the direction of Shikoku Island, Japan yesterday, it was me. :PToday I got up early and took recyclable and/or nonburnable garbage to the designated place. Starting at 6:30 obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-12190871155335357442009-04-09T15:10:00.000+09:002009-04-10T09:00:35.643+09:00Improved...?!Soft French Bread (Malt Flour Added)Well, you can't tell if this bread is better or worse compared to the one I baked before without malt flour because I didn't show you inside of the bread then, right? Only I can tell the difference, I guess. Hahaha...OK. Being as fair as possible, I say that this bread is better than the previous one. The crust tastes better and the texture is better. (Still Iobachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-58680210852534062982009-04-05T13:01:00.002+09:002009-04-06T13:31:33.671+09:00Test BatchSmall Double-Crust Apple PieFollowing the trans-fat free margarine I posted about the other day, I finally got trans-fat free shortening, too! :D Now I have enough stuff to replace butter with and I can enjoy cooking/baking with MUCH less concern about cholesterol and trans fat! (But I'm not giving up butter completely. I think butter flavor is crucial for some sweets ...) Organic Trans Fat Free obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-26849560276026595772009-03-28T12:57:00.007+09:002009-04-01T12:57:40.885+09:00"Sad and Sweet" FarewellFarewell Presents Given to Me Yesterdayプレゼント、本当に本当にありがとうございました!(^^)My last day at the language school is coming closer, and I've been saying goodbye to the students who I'm not going to see again. That is not something I truly enjoy, but it has its sweetness, too. Most of them kindly thanked me for my humble contribution there. Some of them looked shocked and said they would really miss me. And, obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-90593072676469204012009-03-28T01:15:00.002+09:002009-03-29T15:56:26.425+09:00Inexpensive FunHomemade strawberry Jam, Apple Preserves andleftover Hassaku MarmaladeI don't know about other areas in Japan, but around here the price of strawberries is relatively low now. Or maybe the price itself is not very different but I see so many packs of strawberries on a wagon that says "for fruit juice." Yeah, those are overripe ones, almost rotten. Maybe berries are plentiful this year? Even my obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-41175025086802998402009-03-25T14:22:00.010+09:002009-03-25T23:17:24.405+09:00One Year Wiser... HopefullyWell, I'm not really sure if I'm one year wiser, and that's why you can't see that part of the text very clearly in the photo above. (How humble!) :PBut I'm happy to tell you that I have made a progress.In the past, I used this kouglof mold only a few times. My first attempt in 2005 was close to a disaster, and on the second one, still the sides of the cake didn't turn brown almost at all. I obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-70705404803710314492009-03-22T15:34:00.004+09:002009-03-22T17:30:06.063+09:00On A Gorgeous Sunny DayHome-Baked French BreadIt was such a gorgeous day yesterday!The day before yesterday (Mar. 20th) was my last day at the daytime job. No more waking up at 5 am to rush to work. Yay! So yesterday, I was almost going for a bento lunch under cherry blossoms as a celebration. But after taking a few photos in the nearby park, I finally decided against it, because only a few trees were blooming there obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-51669508616789647272009-03-17T14:12:00.009+09:002009-03-18T08:45:38.596+09:00Simple and Tasty"Addictive" Tuna and Cabbage Salad?Another recipe from a Japanese recipe site. It really appealed to my curiosity because the combination of the seasoning ingredients looked strange and too simple to me but so many reviews there were almost worshipping it. Yes, it's just honey, soy sauce and raa-yu (hot sesame oil or chili oil) that are used to season this salad. All you need to do is to heat obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-20496661438088409492009-03-15T16:18:00.013+09:002009-03-18T11:17:37.294+09:00Things I Wish I Knew EarlierWhole Wheat Biscuits with Trans-Fat Free Margarineand Maple Syrup/ Strawberry JamGoing through my previous posts, it was 2003 when I first heard (read) about trans fat. Since then I had been looking for trans-fat free vegetable oil products, especially margarine, because that's what I wanted to have on my breakfast toast almost every day, and substitute butter with when baking. Unfortunately, obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-44091239229575075432009-03-10T22:48:00.002+09:002009-03-10T21:59:48.302+09:00Tasting The Bitterness Of Life...Hassaku MarmaladeOne of the students of the language school I work for gave me a few hassaku oranges the other day. Now, I hate to say this but I'm not too crazy about hassaku. It's not easy to peel it like tangerine, and the white part can be quite bitter. Unless the fruit is very ripe and sweet, the bitterness from the pulp can really ruin the overall taste, and I often get disappointed.So, obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-29744278138147275482009-03-08T13:39:00.001+09:002009-03-08T13:39:31.978+09:00Garden Report - March 2009 -Mizuna, bloomingI didn't know what mizuna flowers look like, because my mizuna didn't survive the winter last year. I wonder if these leaves are too strong or too bitter to eat now...I enjoyed mizuna in various hotpot dishes and stir-fries several times last winter. It's such a shame that I was too lazy to post about them. Haha... :PBlueberry (Sunshine Blue)I'm taking my sunshine blue with me toobachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-42833181161477830502009-03-06T22:29:00.003+09:002009-03-06T22:47:40.048+09:00New Owner Has Been Chosen!A new owner of my small donabe has been chosen! :DThank you for your interest and sorry to those who emailed me but did not get this donabe. I felt so happy to hear from you.I might do something like this again before I move out this apartment, so stay tuned! ;)obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-43660174680606783902009-02-28T19:23:00.006+09:002009-02-28T20:05:56.829+09:00Savory Waffles...?I tried out Mora's wine cream sauce recipe and used it on my savory waffles today. (Yeah, my waffle maker has been abused lately, hasn't it?) On the waffles, I put some slices of lemon-herb chicken with sauteed zucchini and mushrooms, then poured the sauce over them. I guess I made the sauce a little too thick.Honestly, the sauce was great with the chicken and vegetables. But I just thought... obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-10707315312471072952009-02-26T10:23:00.013+09:002009-02-26T15:55:07.437+09:00Look! More Moffles! -1-Moffles with Matcha Ice Cream and Azuki An (Sweetened Azuki Bean Paste)Mentaiko (Spicy Pollock Roe) and Shiso(Green Perilla) MofflesJust a couple more experimental batches to follow my previous moffle post. To make these two types of moffles, I used thin mochi (rice cakes) and VERY thin ones.Thin rice cakes (back) and Very Thin rice cakes (front)The dessert moffle in the first photo was made by obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-73832726576575834472009-02-23T21:09:00.006+09:002009-02-24T09:33:36.694+09:00One Step At A TimeFrench Baguettes (My Second Try)My second time making French Baguettes based on this recipe. My twist this time was some black sesame seeds sprinkled on top.The bread tasted much better than the last time, because I had enough time to leaven the dough. But I couldn't slash the top deep enough and I was not satisfied with the way the bread looked. OK. Deeper slashing next time. ;)(I ate half of obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-5985943176995750202009-02-15T11:25:00.021+09:002009-02-19T16:20:51.296+09:00Soy Milk MayonnaiseSoy Milk MayonnaiseMaybe some of you have heard of macrobiotic diet or macrobiotics? It's becoming more and more popular here in Japan. I don't know much about it at the moment, and probably would not go too deeply into it in the future, either. But macrobiotics seems to suggest many healthier substitution ideas, which I welcome very, very much. Recently I have been doing a net search on such obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-90775931781954462532009-02-14T13:13:00.025+09:002009-02-15T08:04:34.409+09:00More Than WordsFrom Obachan to You All on Feb. 14, 2009Often photos can say much more than words ever will.And what these photos are saying to you on this Valentine's Day is...... that obachan failed to bake heart-shaped chocolate cupcakes and made a heart with ribbon instead.LOLYeah, right. Those paper cups did not look firm enough at the store, but I was optimistic. Unfortunately the optimism didn't pay off, obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-79323908680816595572009-02-12T23:20:00.013+09:002009-02-15T00:07:59.697+09:00Daikon and Hakusai GyozaDaikon & Hakusai Gyoza (a recipe from "Lettuce Club" )Another recipe from the Jan. 25, 2009 issue of Lettuce Club. It's a low-cal dish that uses thinly sliced daikon radish as gyoza (potstickers) skin and more minced hakusai (Chinese cabbage) than ground meat for the filling. Good recipe for those who can slice daikon in 3 mm thick disks or who have a vegetable slicer like this one.I loved obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-4742391183196158132009-02-10T15:48:00.010+09:002009-02-12T15:52:50.750+09:00Pickled Cherry TomatoesPickled Cherry TomatoesSome of you might remember what I wrote about my experience with cucumber pickles before. It was a little -- well, VERY -- disappointing experience. Actually it was almost traumatic, considering the amount of time I spent on the conversion. (It was an American recipe I found on the net.) Since then, I had avoided thinking about pickling again, until I saw a real tempting obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421337.post-6793144823023729502009-02-04T10:46:00.007+09:002009-02-04T23:31:52.379+09:00Tea BreakBlack Sesame Seed Cookies with Green TeaThe fact that I'm posting this at this time of the day means that I'm not at work this morning. Yep, I only need to work at night today, and as you can probably figure out from these photos, it's a nice, sunny day. I finished doing my laundry and now I'm going to spend the rest of the morning and early afternoon posting this and responding to the comments obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com11