Things I ate in Japan.

The yolks of eggs in Japan are the most wonderful shade of yellow.

The potatoes were cooked with anchovies. Salty and savory, mmm.

The white tube like things were chikuwa - fish cakes with cucumbers stuffed inside with a sauce consisting of mayonnaise and soy sauce. The other dishes were white rice, miso soup and a cold salad made of seaweed and carrots.

Aya's great aunt described them as "full bellied", referring to the fact they were pregnant. Aya decided to pass...

...but I went for it!

The top plate, hiyashi chaka, was one of my favorite Japanese dishes. It's a cold noodle dish with different toppings (cucumber, ham, egg, tomato) and a tare sauce, which I can only describe as a thicker and sweeter soy sauce.

Calpis is kind of like a watered down, tangy yogurt drink.

Chilled hot chocolate - not as good as the picture depicts. Too watery.

My first proper meal in Japan. I ordered it via a machine that printed out a ticket with your order, that you then handed to the chef to prepare.

Kimchi ramen and gyoza. The perfect meal after walking in the rain for hours.

Mitarashi dango, a Japanese mochi dumpling on a stick with a sweet and sticky soy sauce glaze. Mmm.

Octopus!

Aya was not a fan.

Soy cracker (these were so addictive!)

I was pretty much in heaven.

The best soft serve I have EVER had - green tea and vanilla.

Aya picked chocolate and banana swirl.

Multi tasking.

Mango soft serve.

Watermelon snocone at a street fair.

Karaage - Japanese fried chicken. I added curry powder to mine. So good!

Yakitori (various skewered meat), eggplant, cucumber and sashimi (under that pile of onions and lettuce). Japanese eggplant is far superior to the eggplant found in American grocery stores. They are much smaller and have a firmer texture and a more delicate flavor.

Tofu with fish flakes and green onion.

I'm not sure if this dish has a name, but it consisted of rice, egg, shredded carrots, mushroom, cooked eel and salmon eggs.

Sashimi.

A beef, noodle, egg, onion and tofu dish, cucumber and raw octopus salad and roasted eggplant with a plum sauce.

Takoyaki - breaded grilled octopus balls and yakisoba.

Chawanmushi - a savory custard type soup with chicken and shrimp at the bottom.

More sashimi.

A delicious soup with tofu, dumplings, carrot, cabbage, daikon, etc. I think the square speckled bits were a congealed lotus?

I wasn't much of a fan of green tea prior to my trip, but you kind of get addicted after drinking freshly brewed tea with every meal. And I mean, every meal.

Melon soda.

Bulgogi - the Korean method of grilling marinated meat.

I could have sat at our table flipping meat with my chopsticks for hours (as long as I had plenty of melon soda).

SNACKS!

Tonight on Hoyt Street we are eating a little dinner we like to call "snacks." It is a simple little dinner, but we love putting it together, opening a bottle of wine and plopping on the couch with a movie or a favorite TV show.  It's simple in that the meal consists mainly of a bit of meat, cheese and bread. We love it because we like to add delicious little bites like Greek dolmas, olives, fruit and what ever seasonal veggies we may have hanging around (think roasted beets or spring onions). Plus there is wine, always wine.

Mom's Banana Bread.

 

 

When I think back to the Sunday mornings of my childhood, a few things come to mind. The sound of coffee brewing in the pot downstairs, the rustling of paper as my parents read the Sunday Oregonian and the smell of banana bread baking in the oven. My mom has always been an early riser. Waking up prior to five a.m. is commonplace for her and by the time I would rise at the more normal weekend hour of seven, my mom would be halfway in to her second pot of coffee, the paper already in the recycling box and banana bread cooling on the kitchen counter. This morning I awoke at 6:15 a.m. Dave was snoring beside me and I knew it would be another few hours before he dragged himself out of bed. So after making a pot of French press, I decided to bake.

Randi's Sour Cream Banana Bread

• 1 stick room temperature butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mashed bananas (about three ripe bananas)
• 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans (optional)
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

While oven is pre-heating lightly grease a 9x5 baking pan.

Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in bananas, nuts and sour cream. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.

Taco Tuesdays.

Hey y'all. Sorry we haven't been around that much. The sun has been coming out of its hibernation lately and we are having way too much fun pretending to get tan. With an inch of rain on the forecast tomorrow (and continuing throughout the week ahead), today was one of those rare sunny and warm days that screams, "Summer is coming!" The kind of day that screams at you to skip out of work early and grab a cold beer on a patio with friends. The kind of day that brings me back to my childhood in San Diego, surfing and eating fish tacos. Well unfortunately, we had to work late. We were all out of beer. And this certainly isn't sunny San Diego. But we did make some fantastic shrimp tacos. Shrimp tacos with a cilantro-lime sour cream sauce. They tasted just like summer. YUM!!