Ehomaki

It's been a year since i last made 恵方巻き寿司 Ehomaki sushi.

Officially, it turns spring next week the 3rd of February, on 節分 setsubun day, which is the day we eat this big fat sushi roll facing the direction Eho which is South South East this year.

Since the cook will be out of town by then, i decided to make the sushi roll early.

So we had, sushi, koya tofu (a simmered dish of dried tofu), and our favourite lotus root stirfry.
Sliced and simply stir fried with some sweet shoyu and sesame seeds.

I never knew i could eat so much lotus root at a go until i had this kinpira dish.

Before tucking in, we threw the dried soy beans at the monster, and say "鬼は外福は内” which means, all evil outside as we welcome luck into our homes.

We bought 2 types of dried soy beans this year.

Green and the regular white. We had green last night.

This year, the mask says "digital tv" cos this is the year all analog tvs retire and public education is all over the place to ensure no one gets surprised at the sudden change on that day.

And J challenges finishing the whole roll without stopping at all, facing the Eho direction.

And before we skip out of town, i wanted to try making daikon pickles while these are still available at the farmers'.

Purple daikon. Yeah, my friends will probably recall i have a thing with purple.

Anything purple tastes delicious.

This is how it looks in there. pretty isn't it?
Super thinly sliced, some honey, vinegar, sugar, and yuzu strips.
And we get pink vinegared daikon salad.

OK, one challenge completed =)

Yes, with lil cookie monster getting busy in the kitchen with me, challenges in the kitchen are getting more adventurous.

Just like while i was concentrating at the stove the other day, the whole rice cooker slammed onto the floor. with all the rice and water. =(

On one hand, i wished the rice was cooked so the floor wouldnt be wet, but on the other had, i was so thankful it was not halfway through the cooking process! Imagine the hot water!!!

Pheeeee

I now hide the cooker away when it is cooking.

Some days are just extra exciting.

It helps to have an ice cream maker at home.

It calms me down after a long day of adventures ^~

Yes, i can't stop raving about this pink magic pot

But really, 15 minutes of churning is all you need to make your day, why not?

(pardon the remote control that i have to keep fresh, with cling wrap and a ziplock bag :0)

One day, we tried replacing the cream with yogurt.

Oh my gosh, this was fabulous!!!

Strawberry yogurt ice cream, sweetened with honey.
Then i got addicted to the yogurty taste, and decided to try red bean yogurt ice cream.

Oh boy, this was good too.

And and and...

My pumpking problem arised again, and i just had to have pumpkin ice cream.

Voila!! this was way tooooooo good!

Added cranberries too. YUM!