Suzy's Zoo at KFC!

The lil one is into waking up every 2 hours for feeds at night now. It started a week ago and is absolutely exacerbating my nagging back pain from nursing in a rather hunched back pose and from picking him out of the cot frequently.

Unlike the usual me, interestingly, i am not suffering from sleep deprivation.

Yes it is a VERY disturbed sleep every night, but i am fine in the day. Though when night falls, i get cranky because my brain forecasts i will not have straight rest. And with a hubby that has numbed ears when in lalaland, i get very depressed.

Yesterday, i received a food voucher in the mail! From some lucky draw i entered. And since it could be used at any food outlet, i decided to lift my spirits a bit and head to KFC to get myself another Suzy's Zoo plate set!

KFC is having a limited period promotion with Suzy's Zoo,

so with a box of chicken and fries, comes a box of tablewear too!

The girl in me screams weeheeeee~ whenever i see Suzy's Zoo!

When i opened the box last week, yesh i was so so set on getting another one.

We had this same promotion last year around the same time too, but with a Peter Rabbit set.

And it was my first time having KFC in Japan. The reason why i wanted KFC was because of the soup i wanted to make after watching someone did it on tv.

Debone the chicken, and use the bones to make nice soup.

We had it with ramen last year.

This time,

Vegetable and oats soup, which was so tasty with just a tiny bit of salt and pepper.

We chomped away on the chicken and fries in no time too.

OK, so with the second set of Suzy's zoo set in hand and a happy head, i headed out of the store to find the old lady we met on the way, sitting at the overhead bridge with her bags of clothes. Another homeless old old lady?

No, this was not just another one, i felt i was supposed to be able to do something!

Because when we walked pass her to walk to KFC, she was staring at the poster outside Yoshinoya. And at that time, i held back giving her some money to buy a bowl because i wasn't sure if she was a homeless folk though the smell told me so.

When we walked out of KFC and i saw her again, I felt the urge to pass her the box of chicken and fries, but held back again because it is so unsincere to offer an old lady fried chicken isn't it?

As i was about to get out some cash for her, i am reminded of what J once told me about the homeless in Japan. Their pride, and how they are cared for somehow, i skipped embarrassing myself.

And the whole day i was thinking about what i just did. Hey the voucher wasn't really meant for me, it was meant for somebody wasn't it! So when J came back from work, i poured out my story and my broken heart (yes, i was very disspointed with myself). Once again, he explains that the homeless here don't stretch out their hands, and they are really cared for. By convenience stores and restaurants who work with organisations to help these people. But if i wanted to offer help, i could ask "Are you hungry?"so that i don't offend her with help without reason.

Some nerves calmed there.

Dinner last night was oden.

And finally, we had some really good daikon from the farmers mart.

It had been unyummingly fibrous the last few months.

Our style, with lots of root vegetables simmered in the hotpot

daikon leaves salad, homemade miso dip, and a tiny rice ball, so we can stomach more hotpot stuff (hehe, yeah the diet gets thrown out of the window whenever it is oden).

The man flu has also taken a step back, so curries are dancing on our dinner table once again.

With winter's yummy cauliflower starring this time =)

Ice cream made a comeback too!
Something interesting we had last week was this caramel ice cream topped with caramelised potato bits. As usual, this Hokkaido milk farm never fails to satisfy! I never thought potatoes could go with ice cream. Oh yes, i'm sold.

More please!

The big winter man flu hit

J caught the big cold, the one flying around the office air causing everyone to cough and sneeze, blow knoses and run fevers.

=( It was a big long one. Which meant i had to look after another baby at home. Did i once mention? That this big man at home has the full blown man flu syndrome whenever he falls ill. Google/Wikipedia it and you would probably find lots of description on the man flu.

Which absolutely tires me out.

Not to say 2 weeks of the draggy "headache, oops i have to go to the toilet again, bleargh throat hurts" complaining.

You see, J has got a very weak gastrointestinal system which means each time he falls sick, the system tortures him. Last sunday, after a week of coughs and loo runs, he decided to check at another hospital if there was any major virus attacking his system.

Thank God it was a flu.

After hearing that, he probably regained a bit of health and decided to buy a strawberry daifuku home on the way home.

We've walked pass this wagashi (japanese traditional cake) shop a zillion times but never once stepped in.

A small and humble shop, but with wowing anko (bean paste).

The fineness of the paste was impressive.

I wished there was more paste in there though.

Needless to say, dinners were bland and easy to digest meals for the flu man =P

I made a giant chawanmushi one day
No, not with 10 eggs, but because there was soft rice underneath.

Somewhat like a wafu doria? Without the cheese and cream, it was just the usual chawanmushi egg and broth mixure, poured over rice and steamed.

I got this idea from TV, but hey mum has been making giant steamed eggs since i was little! with some meat underneath it usually and for the whole family to tuck in to the same gorgeous big dish of steamed egg. I miss mum.

Then there was a series of porridge dinners.

Fish and egg congee with fried onions

(mum's fried onions, what would i do without them?)

Hanpen balls

sauted so it looks like fish cake, but without the grease and heaviness of the very seasoned fish in the usual fish cake.

White cabbage sauerkraut

The usual simple sauerkraut i always make, just that it is with white cabbage this time.

Lotus root and pork porridge with wolfberries

Simmered vegetables

Pickles

The assortment of vegetables from the farmers mart this season: orange cauliflower, daikon, carrots

Tossed in some shimeji, chikuwa and onions and simmered in a buiion & shoyu based broth

I just can't get enough of this lovely orange cauliflower.

Really fragrant and sweet and freshly plucked off every morning by our local farmers.

We had them steamed, with caesar dressing one day.

It was oh so smooth and good~

When J gets better, i am gonna puree this and make gratin!

Well, the spring in him is returning i guess, cos he took this out of the freezer to share with me after dinner last night.
Not the usual choco pie off the snack shelf, but the ice cream version which i picked up from the ice cream section at the supermart while wondering if they put those chocolate cake bars at the wrong section of the store.

I need a winter break.

Well, not badly. But the selfish me is yearning some serious pampering.

Lotus root

I like to stock up on my precious 2 logs of lotus roots during the weekend supermarket "imperfect vegetable sale". Lotus roots are not grown in the area where i live in so that is probably the only vegetable i get outside the farmers' mart. And they are really expensive. Well, not REALLY expensive, but if i get it at the usual supermart rate, i have to eat it daintily. The imperfect vegetable sale puts out stuff that are not japanese standard pretty for the usual price to be charged. Over the last few weeks, when i had fresh ground nuts from the farmers, we had lots of lotus root and peanut soup. And then i totally forgot all about the precious lotus root stock in my fridge since the groundnut harvesting season ended. Oh no!!! Good thing there weren't any green polka dots on them!!!

I made a super duper lotus root packed soup.

Meatballs with root vegetables, with lotus root soba kaki.

Soba kaki is like gnocchi but made with soba flour. I kneaded a whole lot of lotus root into the soba kaki which made it soooo chewy i suddenly have the urge to go make some gnocchi with lotus root!!!
Dinner was simply a big bowl of soup, hot tofu and homemade baked pumpkin patties.

As usual, with my pumpkin problem, i just have to have pumpkin once in while while it is still in season. I just crave it! This time, i steamed the pumpkin whole, mashed it (yup, with the skin), added in some sakura prawns, chicken stock granules, soy sauce, topped with breadcrumbs, drizzled some olive oil over before grilling in the oven. YUMMY!!!

OK pumpkin craving solved for the day.

Lamb curry

Each time i travel, i stock up quite a bit of herbs and spices from here and there. Not that i can't get them at the local supermarket, but for the different bottles and local blends and mixes that i just enjoy adding to my collection.

There are some that i use pretty often, while the few brownies stay there zzzzing away.

Cumin powder, garam masala, nutmeg, allspice powder, cardamon, only a pinch is used on the rare occasions that i need them.

Finally got to reaching for them when i made my own version of morroccan lamb stew yesterday.

Spicy tomato lamb stew with couscous, and white cabbage cumin salad

With shimeji mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, eggplant and long beans; very typical japanese curry ingredients though ;)

J caught a flu again.

The man flu symptoms appear as usual.

Twin eggs!

Cracked 2 eggs into a bowl yesterday,

and found twins!!!!!!!!!

J quickly takes it, holds it near his baby factory and said, "ok factory, we gotta work hard at this."

^.^

We have been warming up to one pot dinners for a few nights.

With my new tefal deep fry pan that has a removable handle for easy storage and simple hotpot meals.

We had seafood paella one evening, with salmon roe scattered over for a japanese style.

And kimchi hotpot over the weekend.

We both think this pot is wonderful for preventing the 2 hungry fellas from over gobbling when we use the huge claypot and overdo the ingredients.

I find myself with more pockets of time to zip around the house to complete my tasks as the lil one gets better each day with self entertainment.
I wonder what runs through their minds when they quietly gnaw away at something in a corner.

*AHHH CHOOOOOOOOOO!* tunes have been playing around the house these 2 weeks. It started with J, then me, and of course the nursing baby.

Winter caught us unexpected. Again, another weird transition, from autumn to winter. First, the hottest in 113 years summer news, then the coldest in 72 years winter. The mamas i have been meeting have been planning for a park outing for ages! when we were in the midst of summer, we said, when autumn comes, let's go out to the park and play. Then winter came, and we decided to do it indoors.

Finally, we got to meet!

And how, 2 months made such a difference. The little rascals are now crawling all over the place.
With H being one of the inpatient ones
finding support wherever he can to stand and tug at more things mum hides away from him.

It is like having a teddy bear running around the house.

The super duper huggable, giggly lil one is just such a joy to have around!

The motivation to blog seems to be tugged at some corner of my brain. But today, for some reason, i decided to write a little.

We lost greatgrandma 2 days ago. And browsing the photos we took just 2 weeks ago makes me sad that she lost her life in the bathroom. Why oh why?!!!

It just makes me stop and think how i should be cherishing my loved ones much more than i am doing so.

Baby therapy

This is that lil fella's new boom.

I wonder if this means he is trying to stand! *o*

He made an old lady's day today at the supermart.

She stooped by and said hello, and he flashed such a big grin, she brightened up immediately.

"Arigato", she said. "Thank you for smiling."

Yes, indeed, his gummy teethless smile is so so therapeutic. Much as i enjoy watching him grow, each second of his gummy grin i wish i could freeze.

Besides his grin, the smell of his head, the little baby gestures, the baby bahbahboo, i wish i coul keep in a box and take them out whenever i need some baby therapy.

We got these apples from the supermart
No, it is not the shadow making its skin look so dark.

When i first saw this, it reminded me of that apple Snow White ate.

Called 秋映 (akibae), it literally means the glow of Autumn.

A little on the sourish side.

Saba is at its yummiest now

Along with sweet fresh white rice
I made our first Saba Miso Simmer of the season

along with burdock, tofu and leeks

Indeed, we finished our rice really quickly with this.
White cabbage is not exactly the standard large stemmed version now.

What i got from the farmers' mart, is this really leafy version, which is so easy to cook since the stems are so short.

I steamed them with myoga ginger and the sliced ham we got from Konig's.

It's been a gloomy cloudy week, most say.

But i say, the cool, calm Autumnery week was indeed relaxing.

The road work that made my day

I just got back from our daily walk, and again, the road work staff made my day.

Each time road works are carried out, the many staff lined along the blocked out area always put in a lot of effort to ensure the traffic flow goes fine and that everyone's safety is watched.

Last month there was a major road construction along the stretch H and I always stroll along with our pram. From far, it looks very scary to walk pass because of the heavy traffic flow of cars and bicycles. And to get pass with a pram, doubly scary. But each time i walk pass, i feel so so protected by the many staff who would take EXTRA care to make sure we don't feel intimidated. They would say out instructions very clearly, and at the same time made sure people with children are given priority to cross.

Today, a small one, but the traffic control man, said to everyone who passed, We are sorry for the inconvenience, and again, made suer everyone passed safely. Japan, especially Tokyo, is a very fast paced society. Everyone rushes, everyone competes, everyone aims to be perfect most of the time. But yet, their respect for each other, and their gentleness and grace in human communication stay very embedded in the culture. Something i have always awed at, and something i want to learn and embrace.

Dinner last night

Lotus root burgers, enoki sauce

Steamed vegetables and grilled baby onions

White cabbage egg drop soup

Sweet potato rice

Main, was of course, the rice! The season's local sweet potatoes steamed with new white rice (rice freshly harvested)

Pardon that overflowing bowl.

Rice is harvested only once a year, around this time of the year usually.

So while it is at their sweetest, we are hurrying to have plenty of rice dishes.

And one of the simplest way to enjoy both rice and the season's vegetables, is to put both together in the rice cooker, some sake, and we have the beautiful simple Autumn food.

We had chestnut rice last week.

Thanks to J.

Who patiently peeled off the hard shells of those chestnuts =)

*muacks*

lalala

All 33 of them, safely out, and reunited with their precious ones.

=) Thank you Lord!

H turned 6 months old last saturday.

And he has been busy with getting used to solids ever since.

Starting with rice porridge, and slowly moving on to the different vegetables; almost anything J and I take at dinner, i puree and feed it to him at lunch. He seems to be chowing down on everything! Which makes me wonder, do babies take everything fed to them? Even the yucky bitter gourd?

We had a close family friend join us for a cozy dinner on saturday.

Miso cheese hot pot

Again, i am amazed at the interesting hotpot stocks these companies come up with every year.

This was super good! Finished up with risotto aka rice & mozarella cheese.

Five hungry people waiting to tuck in.

With the lil fella wailing away for milk towards the end.

Pumpkin spice nutty cake was for dessert

Nothing fantabulous, just a simple Autumney cake made by yours truly.

When it's just J and i on a usual day, desserts are usually from the supermarket section for the sweet tooth.

Two new desserts that caught us last week,

"The ideal pudding" by the men dessert department

First of all, when i saw the word ideal, i was like, wow, ok this must be something good.

Secondly, when i saw the "men dessert department", my hand reached out to drop this into the cart.

A not-so-sweet rich pudding with salty caramel topping that got us craving for more.

And the another wow wow wow dessert had to be this ice cream with molten chocolate in it.

Another limited edition by Haagan Dazs.

Like Moten chocolate cake, this had fudge squeezed in between layers of rich bitter chocolate ice cream. OMG, what more can you ask for???

How in the world did the fudge come out? I didn't thaw the ice cream?!?

Dessert in the day, is usually fruit.

Yes, i believe in dessert at every meal. (*Covers H's ears*) >.<~

Okaasan sent us 5KG of fantastically huge nashi pears that she bought from the farm near her place.

J and i usually take half each.

But even then, i get really filled up by the time i am through 2/3 of the half.

Dinner last night was what i call, typically Japanese Chinese.

Chin Jao Ros

Egg drop soup with prawn balls

And a not so typical, pumpkin salad

Chinese stir fries are unique in every country, i guess.

This one, called Chin Jao Ros, a typical stiry fry done with beef and green peppers,

I did with lamb slices instead

J finished his rice very quickly with this dish, to my delight =)

Pumpkin salad made with sesame cream, with lots of nuts & raisins.

Like i said, i have a pumpkin problem.

Date last public holiday monday,

was at Pizza cafe de Nakamachi ;)

Autumn mixed mushroom pizza, wafu style

Tomato based local sweet peppers & German tri-sausage pizza.

I know mushrooms are available all year round, but somehow, mushroom dishes give a very Autumney image to the dining table, so mushroom dishes are common in Autumn here.

While making the other pizza, i picked at the sweet peppers and WOWOW i was so surprised at how yummy they taste raw! My favourite farmer, Ryoko Kamoshita san, you are really the best!

She really puts love in every vegetable she takes to the mart to sell.

The German sausages were from this deli a street away from our place.

We had this at Kichijoji once after it was featured on TV, only to discover the factory is right behind us!!!

Why didn't we discover this place earlier?

The sausages were ooohlalala~

So i if i miss flying days again, i will know where to fix my sausage/ham and fresh pretzel craving!

Coincidentally, this donut we got from Mister Donut (nothing German here),

was called German coconut.
Toasted coconut chocolate donut.

I am still puzzled by the name.

But oh well, it was as usual, good.