The First Snow and Miso Making

It snowed today!!  It was the first snow in this winter and snowed a lot!  It must have been 10cm.
So, we basically stayed home and made some miso for this year.

This is my 3rd year to make miso at home.  People usually make miso in Jan or Feb for the year and so do we!  We already ordered 5 kg of soybeans and 4 kg of koji and had them delivered the other day.  We saved them for today since I knew it would be a bad weather.
 

Take a look at the amount of soybeans and koji!

There are 2kg of rice-made koji and 2kg of wheat-made koji, and 5kg of soybeans.  I left 1kg of soybeans for making soy milk.


Soybeans are soaked in water overnight, and boiled them in a pressure-cooker for 15mins. Then, they are mashed.

Salt and koji are mixed well in a bowl.

Then, I mixed mashed soybeans and the koji mixture together and place them in a clean pot.  It needs to be rested at least for 4 months.

Now I can't wait for the miso!!

Cherry Blossoms

Before you read...
the number of bags is now over 20,000! It's so amazing, isn't it? Thanks for donating everyone! I heard bags were sent from Canada and other countries!


It's been really nice these days. Cherry blossom trees are so beautiful so that everybody stops under the trees and takes a photo of the beautiful petals.

On Monday, I had lunch with my daughter at one of my favorite bakeries near the station. Up the hill, actually, there is a nice park but it was too steep to go up for me that day. The road is a little bumpy and it is too heavy to push the stroller!

So, I decided to have the sandwiches at the table outside the bakery instead of getting them and bringing up the hill. There were still some cherry blossom trees right in front of the bakery! You can see it.

This is the prettiest season of all! It's not too hot but not too cold. No humid at all.

After lunch we stopped by the park on the way home. She was walking happily!

Thanks for reading!

The Earthquakes

It was a horrifying day yesterday. We are fortunately fine here but scared.

We live in Kawasaki, which is a few hundred kilometers away from Miyagi and Fukushima, where the severe damages are left. Still, the waves made me feel it would be the last day!! You know if a quake occurs right underneath mantle plate, the wave goes up and down which gives severe damages to houses and buildings. However, if it occurs a distance away, the wave is more horizontal.

The waves were horizontal, so I knew the epicenter is somewhere different. But it was still big enough to scare me. The first wave and the two secondary waves were long. I mean it was about one minute but I felt longer. My daughter and I stayed under the dining table.

During the first wave we lost electricity. It went out! and we didn't have water either! We got power back at night.

We lit candles at our dinner table. My husband and I were ok but our 1 year and 6 months old daughter was scared of darkness! But she went to bed quickly so that it wasn't a big problem.

So, I didn't have anything to do without lights, so I just took pictures of some candles.

Quick Update

It snowed all day long on Friday. It rarely snows in Kawasaki all day but yesterday was different. Snow tended to have more moisture and didn't stay on the ground, but it was freezing cold. My plants in the pots were siting on the veranda and watching the snow falling down on the ground.

Somehow it is really quite when it snows. Does the snow absorb all the noise? I feel like it's holly or pure moments when I see outside. It's just beautiful!

When I was in Iowa, it snowed a lot. Well, the amount wasn't much but I should call it COLD!!! You can't compare Iowa and Kawasaki! I still don't know how I survived two winters that the average temperature was negative 15 or so every day... I couldn't walk without my had, gloves, and the warm jacket. Under the jacket I had to put on my fleece... I can't spend a winter there any more... But it was my good experience and time!

Anyways, here are my plants survived the first snow in this winter.


Wild strawberries in front, rosemary behind.

Wild strawberries and some mint leaves.

Jasmine

Snow!

Where do you keep your yarns and fabrics?

Poor my yarns and fabrics... They had been piled up in an ugly box for a while! Since we moved in here in Dec '09, my yarns and fabrics had been in one big paper box. Well, actually I didn't have lots back then, but slowly I learned how to manage my time with one small baby. So, slowly I started knitting and sewing again like before I had her.

You know it's hard to do things with a baby. My daughter was only 3 or 4 months old and she drove me quite crazy then. Now I know how to "control" myself and her.

Anyway, I got this basket to put both my yarns and fabrics last weekend. I thought it was big enough to contain all of them! However, the basket became full only with the yarns!! Ouch! So, I had to call the store and order one more... I should have known that...

But I think having two baskets is better than putting everything in one. I can just choose which one to open depending on my mood. "Do I want to knit today or sew something?" I haven't picked up the other one yet, but I'll get it this coming weekend.

Here is my yarn basket. One thing I wondered is if I will use up all the yarns or not... Am I just satisfied with the situation that I have lots of variations??? haha!

Kawasaki Daishi

We visited Kawasaki Daishi in Kawasaki city on Sunday. It's one of famous Buddhist temples throughout Japan. Even it was really cold, there were many people both inside and outside the temple.

This is the entrance of Omote Sando Street.

It was hard to walk! Look at those people! People were buying gifts along the street.

I saw lots of daruma shops today.

If I'm right, draw an eye of your daruma when you make your new year resolutions in the beginning of a year. Then, if your resolutions come true by the end of the year, draw the other eye.

Tulips

My niece give me two tulip bulbs before and I left them in the kitchen to plant them later. They were in a plastic bag and I was going to wait until spring; however, I saw shoots from the bulbs!!! So, quickly I pulled out little wine glasses out of my cupboard and placed them in each glass. I heard putting tree blanches in a container if you plant them in water keeps the bulbs fresh. If the bulbs is soaked in water all the time, the bulb gets rotten or something. I just got the information and ran to a park and picked up small branches. Some are already placed in the glasses.

Saving Your Time and Money

We got new cookwares last weekend. They are a pressure cooker and a frying pan from Fissler.  Is it famous brand?  I'd never heard of it until I bought.  Ok, we had a really small pressure cooker but had never used it for a long time for some reasons.  Even though it was a pressure cooker, it took time to be well-cooked.  I always thought "It isn't right!  A pressure cooker shouldn't take that long to cooooookkkkk!!!!" And it was too small for three of us now; however, it was just better than nothing.

The big difference between the old one and the new one is whether you use a weight or not. This new cooker doesn't need a weight at all.  So, I'll get burned less!!  According to the book I got, it only takes 5 minutes to cook 4 servings of rice.  It's so amazing...

My regular rice cooker (electric) takes 40 minutes to cook the same amount of rice, so it's way short!  I can save my electric bill and my time.  I can spend more time on crafting. hahaha.
Anyway, I believe cheapness is not always good.  Probably you'll need to buy new one more frequently than buying a nice one.  There are lots of 5 dollar frying pans at a supermarket but in my opinion, it isn't worth buying unless you are lucky.  From now on, hopefully I can save my time and electricity!


This is the new frying pan. I have a frying pan from Tefal but it's not good for high heat cooking like Chinese dumplings because it'll damage the surface of the pan. When you fry dumplings, you pour water, right?  And my husband and I like dumplings so much(oh...we can't stop eating it once we start!), so this pan is perfect for me.  On the other hand, Tefal is good for baking pancakes I believe.

hatsumode

January 10th was Seijin-no-hi, Coming of Age Day, and lots of young people who turned 20 in 2010 became officially adults. On this day, many women wear a furisode, which is categorized as the most formal wear for single women, on the other hand, men usually wear a suit these days. I sew lots of women in beautiful furisode everywhere on the 10th. This day should be the first time to wear the kimono for them but they won't wear it once they marry. Married women are supposed to wear a tomesode, which is very simple and not colorful as a furisode. Also who wears the most formal kimono every day now? right? So, they don't have many chances to put on a furisode; therefore, they enjoy wearing it.

But I admit that wearing a kimono for the first time isn't comfortable and makes me want to take it off right away! You need to get used to it... but yukata, which is casual and for summer, is ok.

Apart from Coming of Age day, both of us are already 33 years old now, so we just went to a shrine for hatsumode. We wished our good health and happiness at the shrine. I was glad the shrine wasn't crowded at all on Sunday.

I was longing for wearing a kimono because it is hard to wear a kimono and go outside with a small child now, so I was really happy about it.

Oh, I have to tell this! Because our family was spending the weekend at my parents' house, I didn't bring my kimonos to their house. After I started changing, my mom and I found out she didn't have any obiage that wraps up!!!! While I was changing, she looked for it everywhere but couldn't find it. There was one way I could do was to wear a coat! Mmmmm....no one can't find out that there isn't an obiage but also notice what color of kimono and obi I'm putting on...

I thought and thought! How smart I am!! I found a piece of silk cloth that is about a yard and started folding and put it inside obi as though it was like a real obiage. I think it worked unless someone looked at me from the side.

Anyway, it was a good weekend. Have a nice week!

Happy New Year!

How are your holidays? We spent three days over the new year eve with his families. Three families got together(parents-in-law, sister-in-law with her kids and her husband, my husband, our daughter and I) and had a great time.
Needless to say, but we eat and drink lots every time we have a party. Especially my husband eats and drinks the most and gains a few pounds by the end of the holidays.

Anyway, my daughter was happy all the time because her cousin who is 7 years old played with my baby. The both girls became good friends then.


At night of the second day, her two cousins made cocoa and left the bag of milk cocoa powder on the table. Everybody forgot about the cocoa powder left on the table and did something else on their own. Suddenly my husband started laughing and screaming at the same time, and my daughter was in his arms.

OMG... She opened the bag and dug her hand into the sweet cocoa powder! Her mouth and hands were all chocolate brown!!! She'd never had such sweet stuff in her life yet, so this was the first time to taste something sweet. Look at her. Even after we took the bag out of her hands, she still licked her hands and around her mouth! It must have been so delicious for her.

That was the funniest thing over our holidays. Luckily, it happened right before she took a bath... How about yours?

Thanks for reading. Have great holidays.

baby clothes

My friend had a baby girl about a month ago but I didn't get a chance to get any gift so far.  My daughter caught a cold or the weather was horrible to go out with a small baby for me.  Anyway, finally I got the chance and bought her clothes.

I was not sure where I can find nice and cool baby stuff in Jiyugaoka, but it was really close to my place and convenient.  Luckily I fund this shop and bought one clothes with a bib for my friend and the same designed clothes but in a different color for my daughter.  They look so lovely!!!

Jammmm

I bought pears a while ago and put them in the fridge.  And I actually forgot about them for a week.  When I got them they were a bit hard to eat, so I thought it would be the best time to eat now though I forgot.   Shouldn't I have put them in the fridge or did I get just hard pears?  Who knows but the pears were still hard after a week!!!  I couldn't even peel the skin, so I just decided to make pear jam. 

It was easy you know...  I just cut them into some pieces and cooked them with some sugar.  It's less sweetened than others, so it is healthier.  Oh, I put some lemon juice though.  Wow, it was a lot.  Four pears became quite good portion of jam...  The jar in the picture above was tiny but there is another big jar of jam!

It turned out really yummy.  I haven't made jam for a long long time and it was probably the first time in 10 years or so.  Isn't it crazy???  haha  Anyway, I want to try again.

The Bakery

Last weekend I found a bakery down the road. It is across from a small market on a street and has a sliding door in brown. It doesn't look like a bakery at first sight; however, you can see buns from the window.

I opened up the door and found more than 10 kinds of buns on the counter. The shop is small and only 4 or 5 people can get in at the same time; otherwise you have to wait. Lately there are lots of small bakeries I find. Is it popular now???

Anyway, I picked two kinds: the bun with sweet-bean paste inside and the bun covered with cookie-like paste on top. I can't wait 3 o'clock!!!

My Friend's Wedding

My friend had her wedding on Saturday. Finally it cleared up that day though it had been cold rainy days in the week. I wore my kimono to the wedding and felt really happy.

However, I made a huge huge mistake! You know when you wear a kimono or a yukata, the left side should be on top of the right side. If not, everyone will laugh at you because only dead people wear in the order. After people die, the layers will be switched! Anyway, what I did was that my juban was in the wrong order. How embarrassing and stupid I was! It is not what kimono wearers do.

I noticed my mistake in the bathroom at the hotel. There was only 15 minutes to fix it when I realized that. Suddenly, my brain started to think quickly. "Should I change now though maybe nobody notices it," "it will be risky to fix it since you only have 15 minutes, so don't change it," or "even if you don't have enough time, now you are rude for the bride and groom. Change it."

I decided to change as fast as I can. It took 2o minutes to tie my fukuro obi at home today, so there wouldn't be enough time if I take long. Then, I ran to the changing room on two floors up, and took of my obi, and kimono. "OMG!!! How do I tie without strings?" Yeah, it is super hard to wear an obi without strings to help me wear. But it is too late since I already took off my obi. Now, I would need more time for obi.

Somehow, it took 12 minutes to fix everything! Although the obi didn't look perfect, although it didn't look that great, I eventually made it!!!! It was great that it only took 12 minutes to do almost everything. I was proud of myself!

Which should I have done?

Yesterday I went shopping with my family under the cloudy weather. On the way to the shopping mall, there were not any problems at all but on the way home, there is one.
Here is the thing... It was almost 2:30pm when we left the mall, and there was supposed to be 30 more minutes for my daughter to be hungry. She usually drinks milk every 4 hours. Anyway, even though she became a bit grumpy, we took the train since the train ride was only 15 minutes. We thought she would fall asleep during the ride but she didn't!

By the time we arrived at our station, it started pouring a bit. My baby? Oh...she cried so hard and hard! She seemed so hungry and sleepy, so I just run to a supermarket nearby right away, where they have a feeding room. Unfortunately, the room was full and we had to run around the store to find a spot where I can feed. Finally we settled down by the pharmacy and fed her!

In my opinion, feeding her as much as possible is more important than taking a taxi home. If we take a taxi, it will take 10 minutes from the station, but if we run to the store to feed her from the station, it will be only 5 minutes. As a mom, I chose feeding her ASSP. We don't know if we can catch a taxi right away on a rainy day. My husband did not like my idea and wanted to take a taxi home.

What do you think? Should I have taken a taxi home??? or Do you agree with me???

Mozart

I used to feed my baby when she became sleepy and grumpy, so that I fed her every two hours even though she was almost 7 months. That is rare her doctor told me because the baby around her age usually drink mild every 4 to 5 hours a day. Every two hours is like new born babies!
As a result, my breasts were not ready in two hours for her and she didn't gain weight well. At her 7-month checkup, the doctor suggested that I should give her bottled milk even though I didn't like. However, I thought about what is more important for her now and decided to give her bottled milk. Unfortunately or fortunately(I don't know...), she didn't drink it at all!
Then, I decided not to give her breast milk when she is sleepy except at night. I put her in a sling and walk around inside the house, and play Mozart. I hoped the music relaxed her brain and crossed my fingers.
Lucky! She easily falls asleep now! It was no problem at all!! So now, every time she listens to Mozart, she sleeps right away only when she is sleepy though... and her meal cycle has changed from 8 times to 5 times a day. Thanks, Mozart!!!!!

It is called a Spanish mackerel. You can see this fish in spring and the fish at this time has very tender flavor to it. Hmm... there are a few ways to eat this fish if you want to taste the fish, but... I can only think of sashimi...

I couldn't change my mind. By our dinner time, I fixed it as sashimi!

Two weeks ago, I found a farmer's market nearby. It is a little store inside their garden facing a small road. There are not many kinds but those vegetables are really fresh. I mean fresh! Yeah, the farmer sell vegetables in good shapes to major markets, so you can find only small vegetables at this small market. That is no problem for me. You know lots of people prefer vegetables in good shapes with no scratch. They want perfect appearance at a supermarket. Who cares? It is important that chemicals aren't used or less used than others. Also, don't you want fresh vegetables??? Anyway, I got broccoli and daikon radish. I made soup and salad out of them.

What a Lovely Day!

It was a lovely sunny day today. I took my daughter and digital SLR camera and walked by a stream nearby. Along the stream, there are cherry blossom trees, peach trees and other beautiful flower trees.

Not all but a few kinds of cherry blossom trees had flowers and they were beautiful. Most trees (cherry blossoms) will bloom in a few weeks. However, I couldn't help grab my camera and shoot some. The petals have this sentimental color on it and tell us spring is here.

Unfortunately it was windy though the sunshine was bright, so I couldn't sit outside for a long. It was too windy for my baby and myself. So, I kept walking for about 2 hours and came home!