Pray for Japan II: Charity Sale



Akiko-san and baked delights by Sugar Land neighbors



 2 days Crafts sale at my friend Noriko's house.  Contribution from so many people and the proceed ($2164.75) went to Japan Red Cross through Japan Business Association of Houston.
 
  It was also a great opportunity to meet new friends.  Hope to see many of you in the upcoming events!



Japanese items were donated by many people





Chopstick pouch made with origami paper.
My mother in-law and sister in-law spent long time
making these by hand for this event.





Beautiful jewelries made by Mitsuko-san and Noriko-san.
Major contribution to the sales

More of Mitsuko and Noriko's accessories

 



 

Ikebana flowers by children. Vase are made of plastic bottles.



Cheerful cashiers: Makiko-san and Ritsuko-san



Pray for Japan I:Miso Making Class

My miso from last year.
Some of this was add to this year's miso
to promote fermentation. 

 We had great fun making our own miso!  It will take about a year to fully ferment but it tastes so much better.  I have been making miso for 7 years and always it came out great.  Easy, no mistakes!  Wonderful gathering for my Japanese friends and the proceed went to Japan Red Cross.  Oh, I almost forgot to mention, I had a support from Whole Foods @ Sugar Land, TX for the ingredients.  Thank you Whole Foods and the ladies! 

Smashing cooked soy beans

我が家で味噌作りの会をしました。お味噌って簡単につくれるんですよね。私もここ７年間毎年作っていますが失敗もなし！とっても美味しい味噌が一年間の発酵を経て出来上がるのも楽しみです。参加者の皆様から会費を頂戴し、＄１６０が日本赤十字に寄付されました。

付け加えるのを忘れておりましたが、このイベントはシュガーランドのWhole Foodsに材料費をご提供いただきました。ありがとうございます！





Mother and daughter bonding while cooking 



Stuffed Cabbage with Pearl Barley

Bento Box

week 11 pizza

Pickles:Napa Cabbage, daikon, and spagetti squash

CSA week7: Green tomato tart

12/16/10

CSA week6: Brown rice onigiri with kale

12/9/10

Brown rice onigiri with kale

CSA week5: Chinese cabbage rolls

12/2/10 CSA

Chinese Cabbage Roll

Dutch oven cooking: Apple cobbler (non vegan)

CSA week 4: Japanese supper (vegan)

Japanese supper

Today's supper (counter clockwise from top left):

-Roasted sweet potatos
-Steamed eggplant and zucchini with tahini sauce
-Pressed sallad
     (Pak Coi and Wakame sea plant)

-Brown rice with gomashio
     (black sesame seeds with salt)
-Miso soup (daikon, carrot and spring onion)
-Pickled daikon and plum
     (not shown in the picture)

CSA week 2: Arugula, pesto alla genovese (vegan)

Arugula pesto















Every time I go grocery shopping or receive my CSA veggies, immediately I wash leafy veggies, take bites of them and imagine how I will be cooking with them.  Having 3 young kids makes my schedule very tight so I enjoy thinking and preparing ahead.  Knowing what we will be eating not just for today but tomorrow and the day after (yes!) makes my life easier.  Does it sound too stressful to some of you?  It works for me!!!
So the arugula.
This arugula was very beautiful, full of flavour but almost too 'spicy' for my family to eat as salad.  But I didn't want to steam or stir fry this time.  So I took the approach when I have leftover greens with strong character such as parsley, cilantro and basil.  Make pesto alla genovese.
Ingredients
Your choice of green
olive oil
garlic
salt
pepper
roasted pine nuts
Parmesan cheese (optional)
(I had no pine nuts or Parmesan cheese so I used walnut instead and no cheese.  Still works.)

I can't give you exact measurement, but you just have to mix all the ingredients in a food processor.  You may surprise the amount of oil required.  In that case, try to make very thick paste at first to store (it will be good for a week in air tight container) and as you cook either use it as dip or paste for pasta... you can add more oil, water, soy+rice milk or veggie stock to thin it out.

I made this paste this morning and I could tell the overall flavour got a little milder by afternoon.  My kids had this as snack.  They seemed to enjoy it, told me it was still 'spicy'  but went well with the sweetness of carrot sticks.
That gave me an idea for this sandwich. 

Arugula pesto sandwich















Next morning, I baked 50% whole wheat bread, add lettuce and Emmentaler cheese slice and made this sandwich.  This was a hearty lunch for everyone.  What I did was simply add shredded carrots, finely chopped raisins and salt in the pesto the night before.  By the next morning, those additional ingredients softened and helped take more edge off from the pungent arugula but still you can enjoy distinctive flavor of this wonderful green.

CSA week3: The HomeSweetFarm Delight (Vegan)

These vegetables from Home Sweet Farm are so beautiful, I simply decided to steam them for dinner.

 We have this big donabe (earthen) pot with steamer.  I love it.  I love how it looks and cooks.

 In the picture there are turnips but actually I cooked them in the hot water below along with carrot, daikon, konbu, and dried shiitake mashroom.

  I made two kinds of dipping sauce.  Goma dare*(white sesame sauce) and Ponzu (Shoyu, mirin, sake and lime.... yes, lime works much better than lemon since we don't have 'yuzu' here)  I don't buy sauce and dressings because I don't like additives and it's not that hard to make ones and especially ponzu, it stores well over 6 month(if it lasts that long.)

 After enjoying all the vegetables and miso marinated tofu**, we took out the steamer and add frozen udon noodles in the hot water.  The broth was so good and sweet from the veggies, just sprinkling chopped spring onions, finely cut nori, and Japanese 7 spices (Shichimi) was the perfect way to end this meal.

*Goma dare
  Tahini paste:4 Tbs.
  Rice vinegar: 6 Tbs.
  Rice Syrup:  3 Tbs.
 Soy sauce: 2 Tbs.
 White sesame seeds: 4tsp. (grind half for more fragrance)
  Grated ginger, garlic or both: 1 to 2 tsp.


** Miso marinated tofu
  Drain extra firm tofu for 10 min.  Cut 3 pieces in lengthwise.  Smear miso (2-3 Tbs) all around.  Keep in the container for overnight to one week.  Remove the paste before cooking.  I use this for grilling, frying, deepfrying or eat as they are.  I used to heat same amount of sake(remove alcohol), mixed it with miso and used it as the paste.  But just using miso works fine too.

CSA week3: Roasted veggies --- Flavor of Autumn (Vegan)

Vegetables full of life. 

Roast ,coating them with:

-canola oil

-minced garlic

-all spice

-cinnamon

-salt

-pepper

 chop them up, season with more salt and pepper,

sprinkle chopped parsley.

Cabbage gratin (vegan)



5/13/10



5/27/10

Cabbage gratin

Cabbage gratin (with tofu) --- almost gone.

Carrot tops tempra with carrot dipping sauce (vegan)




5/6/10 CSA

 



Carrot top tempra with carrot dipping sauce

 

Beet jelly (Vegan)

4/29/10 CSA

Beet jelly with fruit