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.

Salt hotpot

The lady upstairs is going wham wham wham wham wham at the mattress again!!!

I really detest this Japanese culture of dusting the futons.

In fact, recent news say that dusting them only brings the dirt/dust further into the mattress, so vacuuming them out is the best way. SO STOP DUSTING YOUR FUTONS!!!

I don't like my laundry peppered with your strands of hair.

Ok cool cool.

These days, H seems to be doing this stretch pose pretty often.

Ready? On your mark, get set -

I don't know where is he going.

Dinner last night was an experiment with salt.

Most hotpots here are very flavoured. Spicy, cheese, sweet shoyu based, curry, miso, miso butter, and the list goes on.

Very yummy cos very well flavoured chemically.

You know why Japanese instant noodles taste so good? The same idea.

Well, so i decided to try to go sans chemical yesterday for our root vegetable hot pot.

Lotus root, daikon, carrots, baby onions, konbu, soy beans and some pork pieces. Salt

Fullstop.

The stock tasted greeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaat!

The vegetables tasted soooooooooooooo goooooooooood!

A technique which mum always uses.

Stewing the vegetables and meat, then adding salt to taste last.

Simple taste, satisfying.

While H is picking at J's stuff from the book shelf and the (noisy) nagging thought of J saying, please teach your son not to do that, i try to remind myself

50 Reasons why it is fun to be a parent (from BabyCenter.com)

1 Panicking because you've been given this newborn baby to take home and you haven't even got the manual - then realising how much fun it is learning on the job.

2 Feeling a tiny fist curl around your finger when you touch his palm.

3 Gazing into your baby's eyes and knowing he trusts you totally.

4 Breathing in the best smell in the world: sleepy baby!

5 Being amazed the first time you wrap him up in his blanket, put him against your shoulder, pat him gently and incredibly the yelling stops!

6 Being the most tired you've ever been in your whole life - and the most happy.

7 Sitting up in bed feeding your baby in the middle of the night, and knowing that all over the world other mothers are doing just the same.

8 Watching your partner show his son or daughter off to all the visitors.

9 Finding out, at your prenatal class reunion, that no one gets bored of your birth story, no matter how many times you tell it.

10 Overhearing your partner at a party talking earnestly about the best brand of diaper.

11 Watching your baby's sleeping face and wondering what the future holds for him.

12 Discovering how lovely the dawn chorus can be!

13 Taking him out for the first time and discovering that everyone wants to stop and talk.

14 Experiencing that amazing feeling of tenderness when your baby falls asleep in your arms.

15 Buying that Lego set/Batman costume you always wanted (even though your baby is only one week old).

16 Discovering how infectious a baby's giggles can be.

17 Having someone to leave the family heirlooms to, even if they're only some love letters your baby's father once wrote to you!

18 Exchanging a smile with other stroller-pushing mothers.

19 Dreaming up fantastic food combinations for your baby: avocado and banana, chicken and grapes or sweet potato and broccoli.

20 Laughing when your baby starts waving at everyone on the bus or in the supermarket.

21 Discovering all the little characteristics that make your baby unique: fat toes, sticky-out ears, hair that sticks up no matter how much it's brushed.

22 Taking millions of photographs, which you keep meaning to put into an album, but never quite get round to it.

23 Developing a new family language as your toddler talks asks for a bikkit.

24 Having little pairs of pink sandals lined up in the hall and/or Action Man underpants scattered on the floor.

25 Knowing the right things to say and the best way to help when your friends have a baby.

26 Watching Grandma and Grandad spoil their little treasure rotten.

27 Joining in tactile toddler pleasures like squeezing playdough in your hands, scrunching through leaves or jumping in puddles.

28 Discovering that he's inherited your love of music or his dad's interest in racing cars.

29 Or, even better, discovering he has totally different talents, like dancing or painting - where did that come from?

30 Waking up to a sloppy kiss from your toddler.

31 Rediscovering the simple pleasures in life: brightly coloured flowers, the smell of freshly cut grass or the feel of sand between your toes, with your little one.

32 Getting used to being known as Jack's mum or Emily's dad.

33 Crying when you see a baby born on TV, understanding how mothers feel everywhere from Beijing to Belfast.

34 Discovering the pleasures of three in a bed - even if you and your partner only have a few inches of space while your baby lies sideways across middle.

35 Enjoying the chance to be really silly again - walking around quacking like a duck or sitting at the table wearing a bib and silly hat to encourage your baby to eat.

36 Trying to answer those awkward questions: Do fish sleep? Why is the sky blue? How do cows have babies if they can't get married?

37 Relishing the moment when he first says, "I love you, Mummy".

38 Re-discovering how brilliant children's books are, even if you do sometimes have to "lose" the one he's wanted every night for the last three weeks!

39 Having one big bubble bath together.

40 Running up a quick scary costume for a party out of a brown paper bag and some crayons.

41 Multi-tasking: learning how to mix up a bowl of cake mix with one hand while you stick a plaster on a toddler's knee with the other, breastfeed a baby and phone your mum to ask her what she wants for her birthday.

42 Discovering the world through your toddler's eyes: seeing him gaze at a caterpillar or stare transfixed into a rockpool.

43 Making a whole new circle of friends, who just happen to be parents, too.

44 Seeing your values - trying to be straight, kind, honest, hard-working and treat others like you'd like to be treated - rub off on him.

45 Enjoying making up with a hug and kiss once a tantrum is over.

46 Going to a Disney film and no longer being the only unaccompanied adult in the queue!

47 Finding out that bringing up children gives your life a new sense of focus.

48 Crying when you drop him off at playgroup for the first time, then bursting with pride when you pick him up and realise he hasn't missed you at all.

49 Keeping all his best artwork from playgroup and turning your kitchen into your own Tate Modern.

50 Hearing your child say "mum" and wondering who that is, then realising - it's YOU!

Hey, crumpled books isn't too bad, let's try to make this list longer hubby!

Autumn?

Two weeks ago, everyone was wondering when will this year's summer end.

And them suddenly after a whole day of rain, it SUDDENLY turned chilly.

From an exhausting 38deg everyday to a sometimes-i-need-my-cardigan 23deg.

People are catching colds out of the blue and our skins are craving mosturisers suddenly.

Yeah, suddenly.

And before we realised, people are looking for winter clothes already since it has been forecasted that this year's autumn will be expecially short.

?

hmm... this year's weather really is puzzling.

But well, i have been keeping myself occupied with the little one rolling around and exploring every corner of the house.

It started with me feeling oh so exhausted because i had to be running around all the time.

But what i thought was minor blues, turned out, that hey it was actually the heat getting into me.

It really was a long long summer.

It is oh so cool now we are both enjoying ourselves everyday! Busy as usual, but the reason why i am busy is because i am blessed with H.

Everyone should be so blessed!

H has started reaching for things on the table.

So dates have been slightly more happening these days.

Well, most of the time, we date at home, and we are totally loving the peaceful time here in our lil cafe.

On Saturday, we wanted to have Hokkai soba, a seafood soba from i used to crave once in a while, and we would go to Waraku to satisfy that craving.

Usually after a europe trip, when i just want to rest from saucey pastas.

This time, it is because Salmon roe is in season.

And i decided to make a batch of shoyu steeped salmon roe stock from using this recipe.

I used to think salmon roe could be bought off the supermart, and eaten straight. But hey no! A lot of work is needed in removing the eggs from the egg sac, which is very sticky, so the eggs don't actually fall off from there, but have to be rubbed off gently with your fingers. Then they have to steeped in a sweetened shoyu and sake mixture to flavour and lengthen their stock life, or else, being raw fish eggs, they will smell after a day.

Well, the effort was well worth it,

we had our hokkai soba date with the lil one happy to be in his chair joining us.

and yeah, you guessed it, the cup toppled over after this photo shot.

A simplified version of hokkai soba, since less variety of sashimi was used.

But two satisfied lovebirds.

Lunch on sunday was kimchi stiry fry udon

Not exactly date food, just something quick to prepare on a sunday afternoon after lots of work in the kitchen.

After the first batch of salmon roe, we wanted to make another batch to freeze so that when it is off season, we get to have that luxurious bowl of salmon roe don at home, without having to go the sushi restaurant.

like what we did last night with still a lot of roe stock.

Anyway, summer or not summer, the two of us just have to get a bit of ice cream almost everyday.

And two of our season's favourite would have to be

PUMPKIN (i know, i just can't get enough pumpkin. i could eat pumpkin everyday! steamed, fried, baked, boiled and mashed into salad, in desserts, in anything!)

Apple pie creme brule like ice cream.

You gotta agree with me Haagan Dazs Japan makes really good variations so you don't get sick of the same old vanilla, chocolate, strawberry.

Dessert dates, yup, still running on.

With the little one getting used to playing with daddy while i am not around, i have more time in the kitchen, so weekends are really for me to whip up stuff that need more prep time.

We had, over a few weekends,

shumai with grated lotus root & carrot filling

topped with our favourtite farmer's edamame

Oden (yeah, summer's over, bring on the oden!)

with lots of root vegetables simmered in, so we get to stuff ourselves

this pot lasted 3 days, phew.

with the remaining soup stock, i made takikomi rice and froze them for bentos, which kept J crazily delighted for a few days.

Grilled pork with the season's nectarines from Nagano prefecture

and a serving of local noodle squash

Weekday dinners are mainly simmered dishes which i whip up with the shuttle chef, and salads made in advanced while the little one is napping.

I was really happy to find fresh ground nuts at the farmers' mart last week, cos J and I have been waiting to try this dish we saw on TV.

I didn't know fresh nuts were such pretty light pink

(the shells were really tough to tear open because they are not roasted, but the pinks made me happy)

筑前煮 Chikuzenni, a typical Japanese simmered chicken, lotus root and carrot dish

just that this is with peanut broth

and saucier than the usual chikuzenni

When we saw this local dish called がめ煮 that the people in the Kyushu region eat very often, we were surprised at first, that peanuts were added! The hosts of the show were really surprised too. But hey! After pondering, we thought, we can imagine how great it will taste with the peanut broth! Cos we both love peanut soup! We had so much peanut soup this year. Papaya peanut soup, pork based peanut soup, they were all supposed to help my milk factory, but whatever it is, we love the deep flavour of the broth. And for the first time, using fresh local peanuts, we were suuuuuuuuuuuuuuper satisfied with the especially deep peanut flavoured broth, and the super tasty peanuts.

Sadly, i don't see anymore peanuts at the farmers' mart.

I wished mum could taste these REAL nuts. She wouldn't settle for the supermarket nuts anymore.

Anyway, so this is a typical weekday dinner.

Everything on the table, you help yourself

Chikuzenni, okara salad, pickles and instant miso soup that is made with hot water from the kettle towards the end of dinner.

And with the huge stock made, we have tiny side dishes ready to be served for another dinner.

Some days, i make a huge pot of curry cos you can never go wrong with curry yeah?

Root vegetable curry with edamame & cheese rice

We ended summer with a nice batch of mango peaches we bought online,

and are waiting for a huge 10kg lot of nashi (pears) to arrive.

I have given up on lugging heavy fruit home from the supermart, so ordering from farmers online is the only way we get to still enjoy fruit even if i don't supermart so often.

Oh, one drink i have been going crazy over since summer, is...

Soy milk that taste like milk! (i know the packaging has a hilarious label)

Ok, for those who know rice dream, this is quite similar and since i can't get rice dream so easily at the regular supermarts, i am really happy with this!

The same company came up with soymilk soda last week, but i am still considering if i should get that trial pack with 10 bottles in it. Sounds like a weird idea, soymilk soda. What do you think?