Admittedly, I’ve always been a shopper. From a child being dragged to the mall by my Mom, to a youthful teen shopping (or gossiping) with girlfriends, from window-shopping and meeting best friends for lunch at a favorite cafe – again in the mall, I am not ashamed to admit that I enjoy spending time at the mall. These days, however, one of our favorite malls to visit is the South Coast Plaza. Not only is it stocked full of lovely...

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Our tree has been up for almost two weeks now, our wreath is hanging on the door, the stockings are hanging in front of the fireplace, and thanks to a wonderful suggestion from a friend from nursery school, the Elf is on it’s way to check on Bebe E daily, and report back to Santa – naughty or nice. At first Bebe E was very scared about our Little Elf Girl visiting us, when I told her that she would be watching over her each day. She...

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Osekihan is a celebratory Japanese glutinous rice dish that is often served on special occasions such as the birth of a child, a birthday, an engagement, wedding, special holidays etc. In my Mom’s generation, osekihan was also served to commemorate a young girl coming of age. (Photo Credit: Hideki Ueha) Osekihan is a simple rice dish that is pinkish-red in color, and sometimes made using glutinous rice and azuki beans. Variations of this...

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  At one time or another, all of us are probably guilty of throwing out leftovers and senselessly wasting food. I know I’m guilty, unfortunately, on more than one occasion. I recently read a post by a foodie friend at Kimchi Mom which reminded me that I needed to renew my efforts to not waste food. I’ve been trying to change my ways for a while. For example, since Bebe E and I are typically home for lunch during the week, we...

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The week leading up to March 3rd, or Hinamatsuri (Japanese Girl’s Day), I was busy running errands to different Asian supermarkets. Bebe E was excited about her Hinamatsuri party and when I mentioned that I needed to cook or that I needed to run an errand, she started asking, “for my hina-ma-sri party?” :) Photo Credit: Hideki Ueha Many thanks to my bro-in-law for taking some amazing photos at our Hinamatsuri party! He has...

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  As I was preparing to make chirashi for our Hinamatsuri (Japanese Girl’s Day is March 3rd) party over the weekend, I remembered that I liked the amazu renkon, or sweet pickled lotus root, as a topping for chirashi, but I couldn’t find it in my recipe index. Of course, it was logically embedded in last year’s 2011 Hinamatsuri chirashi post, but I decided amazu renkon needed a recipe post all on it’s own, and I...

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The convenience of having a Japanese supermarket near my home is that I can pop on over to the store to pick-up a few things, but more importantly, I can buy sashimi for a really simple and quick dinner. We don’t feed Big Onechan sashimi since her idea of sushi is an avocado roll or tamago, and Bebe E is too young for sashimi, but when I need a quick dinner for Bebe Dada and I, my go-to item is inexpensive wild maguro (tuna) from the...

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  Great news! Bebe E graduated from “Tadpole” to “Guppy” at her swim school! (In other words, from beginner to intermediate.) Hurray for Bebe E! OK… I admit that I am an overly proud parent who is using this blog to boast about her child’s accomplishment, but seriously, can you blame this first-time parent?!? Rather than continue to gloat about Bebe E’s achievement, I will share with you the school...

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