"Wagashi" or Japanese sweets can be charming as well as sweet! These are special for the season. Best wishes for a happy Christmas!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Buckwheat noodles in curry soup
"Soba" is buckwheat noodles and a favorite of mine. This is from a shop on the bypass in Tateyama. It's one of several "mom & pop" shops that I love to visit.
"Mom and Pop" shops a vanishing treasure.
The year seems determined to finish as its has presented itself so far, unseasonably warm. Yesterday we made the 2 plus hour trek to Makuhari, between Chiba and Tokyo, to see the movie “Tron”. After the movie, which exceeded my expectations and introduced me to the music of Daf Punk, we had coffee al fresco on the patio of a little Italian restaurant,”Pinocchio”, in the outlet mall next to Makuhari station. The pleasure of having a civilized coffee outdoors in December is hard to measure, especially considering that one of my Twitter friends in Miami was complaining about the cold. Today, so far, the weather has been fabulous with flowers that normally bloom in Spring bursting forth. This strange weather could play havoc with the seasonal trade in flowers in nearby Shirahama. Normally tours from Tokyo and Yokohama come here by bus after the New Year holidays to pick flowers along the beach(and strawberries behind our house). If the flowers bloom too soon and then get hit by a normal cold spell it could be a very disappointing ride for the senior set.
Recently I have re-discovered the joy of avoiding the 2 nearby “super” markets to patronize some of the locally owned specialty shops, a meat market, a fish mongers.
In this area it is almost needless to use the term “mom and pop” to describe any shop that isn’t part of a regional or national chain. There are many shops that have closed their shutters for good for various reasons, primarily old age and competition away from the center of town on the major “bypass”. It is sad that the personal attention, friendliness and service that these “mom and pop” run stores provide will soon be a faint memory.
In a few minutes, my son and I will take advantage of this fine weather to have some wonderful buckwheat noodles at a local, you guessed it, “mom and pop”, soba shop.
Recently I have re-discovered the joy of avoiding the 2 nearby “super” markets to patronize some of the locally owned specialty shops, a meat market, a fish mongers.
In this area it is almost needless to use the term “mom and pop” to describe any shop that isn’t part of a regional or national chain. There are many shops that have closed their shutters for good for various reasons, primarily old age and competition away from the center of town on the major “bypass”. It is sad that the personal attention, friendliness and service that these “mom and pop” run stores provide will soon be a faint memory.
In a few minutes, my son and I will take advantage of this fine weather to have some wonderful buckwheat noodles at a local, you guessed it, “mom and pop”, soba shop.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Christmas Hearts.
I'm taking the opportunity afforded by the arrival of a great seasonal photo on Flickr by Toshihide Sato to try out posting to this blog directly from Flickr. If it works as hoped, it should be a great way to quickly blog pictures, a welcome alternative to Tweeter.
If you have time you should visit Toshi's photo stream. He has some very nice night photography going on there and autumn foliage in Kyoto.
Let's see how this works.
If you have time you should visit Toshi's photo stream. He has some very nice night photography going on there and autumn foliage in Kyoto.
Let's see how this works.
Friday, December 17, 2010
From JFK to Obama; why I'm done.
It’s no secret that we go through stages in life, most of them segue seamlessly; yet we all have climactic moments that we can pinpoint; the birth of a child, death of a loved one, war. We also have currents that run throughout our lives, our passions, our fears and hopes. I have been a political animal, espouser of causes, a would-be world saver since my senior year in high school when I attended a campaign rally for John Kennedy and had the great fortune to meet him and Mrs Kennedy. I spent part of one, long, very hot summer during university in Montgomery, Alabama much to the distress of my mother. Those were exciting times and you could almost feel a change was coming, not the current “change” of a glib, charming charlatan.
Recently, I’ve made some major lifestyle changes best characterized by the country western icon Willie Nelson when queried as to why he quit drinking; “I got sick and tired of waking up feeling sick and tired.” I have had more lucid moments in the last 3 months than in the last 20 years. There were several events during the summer that formed a perfect storm for a new stage and I realized what I could do to make my life more harmonious.
As I look at world events over the past 50 years I feel that all my involvement, all the arguing with conservatives, all the ranting on Twitter and even the tear gas inhaled has basically come to naught. We all preach to our own choirs and seldom sway opinion. The truth is that I don’t want to waste anymore time trying to save the world. I’ll leave that to the “bright-eyed and bushy tailed”-as we were called by our wonderful civics teacher my senior year in high school.
It’s time now to be at peace for the rest of my life, enjoying my passions for music, baseball, food, prose and poetry. Of course, I mean my own personal peace. I have little hope for humanity to stop doing what it has done since the first human cracked open the skull of another.
So I have decided to retire my “political” Twitter account, @GGMMX, to concentrate on blog posts. Twitter has introduced me to some great folks and I hope they will continue to follow me on my protected, non-political account and/or read my blog. The caveat being, if you start ranting about politics or religion, you are gone! So, if you are a campaigner or activist, I wish you more success than those who have gone before you and I urge you not to darken my door.
Recently, I’ve made some major lifestyle changes best characterized by the country western icon Willie Nelson when queried as to why he quit drinking; “I got sick and tired of waking up feeling sick and tired.” I have had more lucid moments in the last 3 months than in the last 20 years. There were several events during the summer that formed a perfect storm for a new stage and I realized what I could do to make my life more harmonious.
As I look at world events over the past 50 years I feel that all my involvement, all the arguing with conservatives, all the ranting on Twitter and even the tear gas inhaled has basically come to naught. We all preach to our own choirs and seldom sway opinion. The truth is that I don’t want to waste anymore time trying to save the world. I’ll leave that to the “bright-eyed and bushy tailed”-as we were called by our wonderful civics teacher my senior year in high school.
It’s time now to be at peace for the rest of my life, enjoying my passions for music, baseball, food, prose and poetry. Of course, I mean my own personal peace. I have little hope for humanity to stop doing what it has done since the first human cracked open the skull of another.
So I have decided to retire my “political” Twitter account, @GGMMX, to concentrate on blog posts. Twitter has introduced me to some great folks and I hope they will continue to follow me on my protected, non-political account and/or read my blog. The caveat being, if you start ranting about politics or religion, you are gone! So, if you are a campaigner or activist, I wish you more success than those who have gone before you and I urge you not to darken my door.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
New Year's Priorities!
We are now just 2 weeks from the end of another year and time to start contemplating what one would like to accomplish in the coming year. I got a late start on my "resolution" for this year, but have managed to lose a significant amount of weight; thanks mainly to my wife's cooking and co-operation. But, let's put this year to rest and ramble on about next year.
I feel that I need to Twitter less and blog more. I mean, after all, wasn't the original idea behind "web logs", to express yourself, share ideas, recipes, .etc with those who find they share your interests. I can't promise you that every post will have pictures of Japanese food. In fact that is the purpose of my Tumblr photo blog which has a link on this very page. I intend to revert to the original web log concept. When something worth sharing occurs I will share it here. I intend to completely eschew politics and world affairs. I have had my fill.
My goal for the coming year is to learn to sew. My wife is quite a talented seamstress and she has already deigned to teach me. I hope to be making my own shirts by this time next year. I'm already on a learning project to take 4 inches out of the waist and seat of an old pair of jeans. I told you I lost a significant amount of weight. This brings to the front my primary goal of maintaining the lifestyle I have adopted over the last three months.
Resolutions made on new year's eve often fade quickly from memory. So, maybe we should just call it "prioritizing".
I will post another blog about closing my main Twitter account soon.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Mayo and Miso dressing for Grilled Avocado and Pita Sandwiches.
My wife finally wrote down the recipe for the dressing/dipping sauce for the grilled avocados.
1/2 cup of mayo (Japanese -Kewpi- is the best.)
1.5 tablespoon of Miso. Avoid using heavy dark type.
1 teaspoon of grated garlic.
2 tablespoons of olive oil or grape seed oil.
pinch of freshly ground pepper.
Mix all together with a whisk or spoon. Apply liberally to avocados after grilling. I also like it very much in fried egg and eggplant pita bread sandwiches. Just fry up what ever fresh veggies you have and put them in pita with a fried egg.
1/2 cup of mayo (Japanese -Kewpi- is the best.)
1.5 tablespoon of Miso. Avoid using heavy dark type.
1 teaspoon of grated garlic.
2 tablespoons of olive oil or grape seed oil.
pinch of freshly ground pepper.
Mix all together with a whisk or spoon. Apply liberally to avocados after grilling. I also like it very much in fried egg and eggplant pita bread sandwiches. Just fry up what ever fresh veggies you have and put them in pita with a fried egg.
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