Homemade ----

This week I got some vegetables my friends grow; nice rhubarb, cucumbers, and strawberry jam.

As I told you, I have liked rubarbs since last year. And now my husband also like rhubarbs. It is an unusual thing that he's intereseted in "vegetables". What makes him intereseted was "rhubarb pie". He likes the sour taste.

And the cucumbers; I pickled them with SHOUCYU(kind of SAKE) , sugar, and salt. (I don't use vinegar).

And the strawberry jam; this morning I baked pastry with the jam and rubarbs. Some of them were our breakfast, and the others are going to served for today's adult students.

Father's Day and rainy season

Yesterday, it was Father's Day. Our daughters came back to celebrate the day, though only 5 hours staying. He looked really happy. When our daughters stayed with us, he used to calim for free-Sunday. So our daughters have presented him one-day-free chicket for tennis.

But yesterday, he canceled his usualy schedul (playing golf and tennis), he stayed home to share the daytime with his daughters. I understood that not only I but also he feels lonly after his daughters left home. At night when they returned to TOKYO, he said heartily "it was a really good day today".

And I understood, these days he often contacts with his mother by himself. Now he seems to understand that "it is happy to get call from her or his child.".

Well, now in Japan it is rainy season, though today it is fine so I dry FUTON up.

And my friend sent her homemade pickled shallots. Can you see two bins? The shallots are from different area. One is from TOTTORI, they look a little bit small and young. So the taste is sour and sweet. Another one is from KAGOSHIMA, they look a big. So the taste is sour and hard. Both of them are yummy. I'm really happy to get her pickled shallots every year. I'll overcome humid rainyseason, and humid and hot summer eating these shallots.

And I change the entrance home. What do you image hearing rainy season. snails and hydrangeas are typical thins in Japan, I think. The day before yesterday I went to MOTEGI to make this woody work.

My husband and I had a full weenend, and really we were realy happy.

One trouble thing is --- I had to do house chorse more than usual. (It was a usual thing until 2 years ago.)

A pro is a pro.

Yesterday , a woman came to my house, though it was just one-hour stay.

Did I tell you?

My friends (including my husband ) and I are going to hold a concert at the tea room KARAKU in August. ( The memberas are called or called themselves almost last in our 40's .)

And now I go to TOKYO twice a month to take English pronoune lessons.

As you know I've studying English for many years, and what is my goal?

Probably I don't have a goal. But these days I'm rearlly intereseted in reading picturebooks in English to others. Now I have a job to teach English. But when I'm in my 60's, what can I do? what makes me intereseted? I thought if I were AUNT-MIEKO who loves to read picture books to others.

So I started to take pronouce lessons in TOKYO. I'm not sure, I will be able to continue, because of my health condition and budget. Anyway I go as much as I can.
And the teacher comes to my house yesterday.

She is going to join the concert as a reader. a kind of a staff meeting.
We arranged music, books, and other thing for the concert. And my husband joined us, of coure he is going to play the bass at the concert.
It was the first time for him to read picturebooks to him in English.

He understood, what I wanted to do.
Though he doesn't deny what I do, he often says "is it enough to study Enligh?"
He worries my health condition, and buddget.
But after the meeting, he said.
Hang in there, we have little chance to inveset mony in ourselves.

He encouraged me.
And he also said
I also put "some"money in myself to participate in senior golf tournamnet when I'm in my 60's.
Well---- the biggest thing that makes me worried is ---- money.(big sigh)
I found a caterpillar in the garden.
and
suddenly yesterday my younger daughter came to my house , she said "I dond't nothing, I want to do without anything."

According to her, on weenends she is always busy to do house chores. It's OK to do nothing in my house. But next ween she is also coming back to celebrate Father's day. And lastend week she went out with us. When she (and her sister) does house chores (especailly wasing clothes and cleaning a room.)?
Anyway she stayed untill evening, so I baked chiffon cake, and she took most of them as today's breakfast.

Rhubarb

Anyway I got some "thin" rhubarb from my garden. (Probably I put more fertilizer in the garden to make them bigger.) And I cut and put them into the dough of butter cake directly.

Though they sank, they keep the green color and taste "yummy".

Today I served it to my adults students. They seemed to enjoy and to be intereseted in "rhubarb".

We went to TOKYO

We went to TOKYO.

At first in the morning I went to an exhibiition what was held by my friend. She loves handmade works. When I met her, she was just a lover of handmade works. And one day one of her works was on the magaine, and she was asked to sell her works. She sent some works to some shops, and started her shop on the net. And finally she held an exhibition and one-week-shop with her friends.

And in the afternoon I went to my elder daughter's first exhibiton (though it was held with 10 her friends). She is a student in solid-art (3-D art?), and now her speciality is paper. This time she showed three big works made by paper that she made or she processed. Of corse al works were good. But I was impressed that she made "big works". Her height is only 146cm (though she said "I didn't have any complains.) But I was really worried about her heigt. (And I was also really worried about my younger daughter's atopic dermatitis.) Now she deals with big things. I'm really surprised.

All members went to see her works; my husband, my mother-in-law, my mother, my younger daughter , me and my next-door neighbor's daughter. We had a good time.

Tokyo is far, and a big city. And I'm a housewife (though there is only two members in my house.) My husband and I dropped by a depertment store to buy "expencive" and "unusual" (it means we can't buy at a depertment store in this town) Delitatessen (including cake.) We enjoyed "wonderful" dinner at home. (If there are 4 members, I probably will cook dinner or buy inexpencive OBENTOU for all members.)

Actaully I feel realy lonly these days, but sometimes I enjoy being with only my husband.

Anyway I had a good time in TOKYO.

coming Father's Day

Now I'm stay home. This week is the fifth week in May, so I have no plans to go out in the morning. I'm preparing for next week's lesson. They (my students) are going to celebrate for Father's day making crafts.

I've kept some things for my kids' presents to their fahter. The wooden doll, the wooden tie tack were made when they were in kindergarten. The one-day free tickets for playing tennis was made when they were elementary school students. At that time their father (my husband) was into playing tennis.

Now he is into playing golf. So I have to make some one-day free tickets for playing golf.

Anyway Father's Day is coming. I let my students make such wooden dolls and cards.

I usualy read this book. It's funny, and the thinking way is really American.

He can eat like a horse. -- Probably we say "he can eat like a pig".

He can swim like a fish. --I agree with it.

He's as strong as a gorilla. --I agree with it.

He's as happy as a hippo.-- That's really an American thinking way. Probably we say "he's as serious as a ?????".

He's as big as a house. -- Probably we say "He's as big as a tree."

He's as soft as my deddy. -- Interesting.

and he's as wise as an owl. -- I know owls are descrubed as smart animals in America, but in Japan owls are not so typical. What are smart animals in Japan????

Reading picture books is fun.

Yummy!

As you know, these days I'm into herb.

Yesterday I made herb spring roll. The ingrdients are herb, parsley which are growing in my garden, and dry-tomatoes preserved in oil. I rolled them with spring roll crust, and deep fried.

Delicious!

And I also cooked string bean TENPURA. It was also delicious.

Today, I'm holding a meeting. 4 guests comes to enjoy my story telling and food.

The theme is "green". So I'm going to serve these herb spring rolls.

Don't you think it's a good idea?

homemade quick sausage

Now in my garden sages grow up. I picked some leaves and made quick sausage using aluminium foil instead of bowels. Now some herbs are growing. We(my husband and I) love to try eat them.

This time my husband mixed ground pork and spices with "his" hand.

Well, I said to you that " these days our common hobby is eating strange foods.".

One of my frined sent us these "MISO"rapped with Hoohba.

The other day we ate it with leek and Shitake mashroom, tasting good SAKE.

Last week I was worried about dizziness. Twice I got a shot. So last weekend I stayed home without doing things. --- but I was boared. So I started to cook with my husband. He mixed grand meat, and preapred these leaves. It was a good thing. But both of them didn't wash the dishes. This monring I did it. Now I'm getting better. I said to my self "Let's enjoy this week".

I have some questions. --- Mother's Day ---

Last Sunday, it was Mother's Day. Did you enjoy the day? I did. My daughers came back with flowers and presents. We had a good time.They came at noon, and came back to TOKYO at 4;30.
I rearlly thought Tokyo was far from here.

I was to happy to call my mother and my mother-in-law.
Next day I called to them. (My mother is OK, because she had late supper with my dauhgters.)
My mother-in-law ----??? It's OK. She is going to come and stay here two weeks later to play golf with "her son".

I read an intereseting picture book. The title is "Celebratint Mother's Day".
I have some questions.
One bear will give a present-box to her mother to show her love.
In the box, she puts in a teddy bear.
She said "it shows how we love to bear hug." --- I understand.
She puts in a piece of gum.
She said "it shows how we always stick together".-- I understand. And it's a good idea.
She puts in some nuts.
She said "it shows how we silly we like to be."
I don't understand. Why putting nuts means "silly" ?
Please someone tell me.

And another quesion is
Is it usual thing to present such a box fulled of gifts on Mother's Day in your country.

In Japan, usually kids present a bunch of carnation.
(BUT on this day carnations are really expencive, so many kids present "a" carnation.)

Golden week has finished.

First we went to a concert in TOKYO. Have you heard "La Folle Journée A superb festival of classical music"? It first held in 1995 in Nantes, a port town in the northwest of France. Every classical concert is inexpensive and easy to anti-classical music people like my husband.

We went there with my mother and my mother-in-law. It was held at a big place, so there are some different concerts on the same time. When my mother and I were listening to Shanghai pilharmonic, my husband and his mother were listening to YOMIURI pilharmonic, and my daughters were listening to a piano concert. Of course concerts are pay concerts, but in the square always free concerts were held. It was really fun.

And after concerts my husband and I came TOCHIGI. Then my husband real vacation started, it means he went golf three days. He left home at 5:30 and came home 4:00. ME? Unfortunately I gave up! Bad headche and dizziness attakced me. I couldn't get up. Accroding to the doctor, I'm not good of releasing stress. So when I have nothing to do and I'm not tensed, I tend to be attcaked such symptom.

Now I'm fine, because the day before yesterday I had to attend a meeing, and I was able to do, I recovered, or I'm tensed up as usual.

And from today my usual day has started. I cooked breakfast. Now my husband and my favorite dish is sauted cabbage with caraway.

And from today my lesson has started. This week my young students make cards for their mothers. Because this Sunday is "Mother's Day".

It is the first time to spend "Mother's day" without kids.

Golden Week

Now I'm in Golden Week, it means I have 1-week-dayoff. And my husband also has 1-week-dayoff. So we can have dinner together. (Usualy he has dinner at his office, and I have it at home alone--- since April)

So we enjoy "foods".

This Monday I had a meeting. The theme was "strawberry".

A friend of mine brought a big straberry plant pot. While we were seeing it, we reading books, listening to music, discussing, and "eating". I prepared some dishes and sweets for this meeting.

Strawberry dumplihgs, Strawberry madeleine, Strawberry gratin, and Straberry noodle. and I baked Strawberry bread.

The other day my neighbor brought bamboo shoots. My husband I love them. It is really seasonal food. Some of them I cooked, and the others I sent to my daughters and my mother with other spring vegetables produced in this area.

And, do you remember what is our (my husband and my) new hobby. "eating strange food".

This time I got this brown thing. Can you guess what it is? It is a pupa of silkworm. Of corse it is a strange food". IT is boiled down with soy sauce ( We call the food cooked by this way "tsukudani"Taste? strange. I'm sorry it is enough for a bite. And my husband is too,Fortunately my neigor loves them, he ate them --munch, munch.

The day after tomorrow we'll go to TOKYO to meet our daughters and our mothers.

go driving

Yesterday my husband and I went out to drive almost all the day.

We left home at 8:40, and at first we went to the dentist.

(We go to the dentist once a month to keep our tooth healthy.)

And -- start our driving for--

looking for seasonal food, and searching golf park (recently my husband started playing golf, and this area seems to be one of them that have most numbers of golf parks in Japan.)

We went northward, we found a small local vegetable stall, and I bouhgt FUKINOTOU (butterbur scapes.) At night I made TEMPURA and this FUKI-paste. TEMPURA was of course yummy, and eating hog rice topping with FUKI-paste, was also yummy.

We went southward to dropp by his favorite golf shop. While he was browsing in the shop, I was in a rice-craker shop. They served coffee free, so I was waiting for him drinking coffee & eating a rice crakker. There I bouhgt this WASABI-crackers. At night these crackers got a good snack.

Next we went eastward to my favorite big local vegetable shop. There I bouhgt fresh SHITAKI mashroom. At night we grilled them on the "heater". (Yesterday and also today, it is cold and windy) And I found the strange brown things. Can you guess what it is.

They are kind of grasshopeers. In Japan this thing which is roasted and seasoned with soy sauce and suger is said to be a delicacy. So we bought it, though it is mainly sold from fall to winter.

Looks bad, but the taste was not so bad. "much" is a suitable word when we eat them.

He searched 3 golf parks, and we bouhgt lots of intereseting ingredients.

make, cook, and eat

Last Saturday and Sunday, I really enjoyed "my " time.

Do you remember I made marquetry of SAKURA last month? Last month I knew one craft small school, and I'm a little bit into marquetry. So this month I went to make another thing again. This time I made hand mirror of turlip. Do you see a wood turlip in the photo? There is small mirror on the back. And I also made a small turip charm.

Well, as I told you, strawberries are now in the season. And this area it is famous for planintg strawberris. Probably the output is the higest in Japan. I often make strawberry jam. And yesterday I put some jam into the dough of bread directly and I baked. Looks is a little bit pink. and the taste is a little bit sour, sweet and great. I gave half of them to my friend who visited me yesterday.

And when I went to a library, I found an intreseting book. In the book about 70 strange foods (most are Japanese food) are introduced. To be surrprised I knew of most of them. My father didn't drink, but he loved food. So I have seen them. (BUT I don't remember the taste, probably most of them were expensive, so he didn't give me, or if I have had it, it must have been bad for the young MIEKO.) I showed the book to my husband. He really showed interest. And we decided to taste all of them in this year for our common plaesure.

What we tried first was "smoked and oiled oyster with flakes of SAKURA tree". He was really saitsfied. Me? It was strange.

But we enjoyed with SAKE. What shall we try next?

My new recipe

Do you know GOBOU? It is burdock. Now burdock is in season.
The other day a friend sent a bag of spcie as a suvenior of her trip to Indonesia. So I tried to use them. Today I used whole clove. Usualy I use clove powder for pork dishes, but it is the first time to use whole clove. I quick sauted them with olive oil and simmered chiken and burdock pouring red wine.. Adding balsamico vinegar made them really soft. And I seasoned them with whole clove, salt &pepper and more olive oil. I wanted to add some garic, but the smell seems to cause trouble for others to eat them for breakfast, so I didn't add it. To make the color clear I added some leek.
Tastes "great".

Today's menus is that;
black:simmered sea weed with vegetables seasoned by say souce.
brown;quick sauted and simmered chicken and burdock seasoned with clove
orange; marinated lettcue and carrots.

I'm looking forward to using other spice.

Spring meals

These days there are lots of spring meals around me. I'm really happy.

My friend sent homemade Japanese apricot jam. So I baked cookies with it. It tastes a little bit sour, I love the taste and smell.

And yesterday I went to the cafe "KARAKU" to play the piano. They served horsetail quiche, and I took it. It is the brown round thing in the middle photo. Do you know or remember what horsetails are. They are sort of field grass. They come out in this season. The master and his wife picked them up and baked them. They really bring "spring" on the table.

And now I'm making oragne peels using Chinese oragnes (in Japanese we called them NATSU MIKAN--summer orange), which were sent from another my friend.

I'm really happy surrounding such spring meals, and having good friends.

What spring foods are you enjoying now?

Rhubarb

This is the Rhubarb.

Did you remember? Last year when I visited my friend, I was into Rhubarb. And she gave me some seedlings.

Now they came out.

Can I get some good stalks of them?

I heard, to get good stalks we should wait for 2 years.

Anwway, though I'm a lazy person I'm beging into gardening little by little.

Today it is raining badly, but not so cold.

This afternoon I'l go to a usual cafe to play the piano. Today I'm a pianist.

cherry blossoms

Now we are in spring, we enjoy cherry blossoms, here and there this weekend cherry blossom festivals are held.

Last night I went to a park near here with my young friend. We enjoyed seeing illuminated cherry blossomes. Can you see somthing pink? It's a tower. There is a small tower in the park. The power is also illuminated by light, and I heard the color changes everyday. Last night it was pink.

This morning my husand and I went to another park. Before opeing stand stalls there were not many people. We enjoyed cherry blossomes having coffee ( I bought a thermos with coffee.)

We used to go there every spring since our daughters were born. Today many kids were playing with equipments my daughters loved. When my younger daughter was little, she was too scared of them to play with them, and cried. --- We talked about our kids' memory. --- We are really a senior couple.

Anyway we couled enjoy short-lived cherry blossoms. Probably next week they will get into green leaves.

I'll introduce a Japanese typcil song about cherry blossoms (SAKURA), though it is a part of it.

Sakura, Sakura

have you seen the old cherry tree blossoming so breathtakingly?

It's a very glorious thing

fragrant flowers seem to sing

Come and see, come and see

see what joy they bring

Itarian pickles???

The other day I was taught specail "Japanese" pickle sauce, using soy sauce MIRIN, vineger and Japanese sugar. As soon as I wanted try, but some seasonings lacked. though there is a fresh big Japanese radish (Daikoy) in front of me.

So I used balsamco-vineger instead of usual Japanese rice vineger,

I used wine instead of MIRIN.

I made Itarian Japanese pickles.

Tastes? not bad.

cherry blossoms cookies

Yesterday I baked these cherry blossoms cookies. It is easy, just I put cherry blossoms preserved with wine for a while, and ressons as topping.

Today I have a lesson with some adults. It is the first lesson of this term. The theme of this year is "enjoying and eating English", though I just decided it.

So at first we'll listen to SAKURA (it is a really typical Japanese song) and tranlate them into English, and eat them.

If you know some "easy" English picture book or song or just book related with some sweets , please tell me with the recipe.

April first

Today , yes , it is April first. It is April Fool's Day. Unfortunately I don't have any kids I enjoy the day with. Well, I may delights in teasing my students who come today.

BUT, suddenly a few minutes ago I got a bouquet of flower. From where? From my husband's company.

He has worked at the company for "25" years in this term. (In Japan April is also the first term for office workers.) So they sent it to me with a message "Thank you for your helping for 25 years. Thanks of you Mr.**** (my husband) is able to work with us."

Is it a Japanese thinking way? I don't know single people who has also worked for 25 years got this present. Anyway 25 years passed.

This year is a turnining point for me and my husband.

Well, can you guess what it is.

This morning I sent a photo of today's breakfast to my daughters, and my younger daughter sent back this photo to me. Today she made this breakfast. The menu ( I didn't know the menu from the photo, so I called her) is pancake and boiled spinich seasoned with sesame. They have only a few spring vacaion days, but they seem to relax "together".