Happy Holidays! Christmas just snuck up on me and it feels as though the last few weeks quickly flew by. I’m a bit sad that in just another day our Christmas celebrations will all be over but it’s been a wonderful season so far. I was looking for a quick and easy treat that Bebe and a few friends could make at a little holiday cookie decorating party last week. Of course, I went straight to Googling and found these adorable...

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Today, I picked up Bebe from school and afterwards as we walked to the library, she held my hand and simply said to me in that sweet voice of hers, “I love you Mommy very much”, to which I responded, “I love you too.” An older woman happened to be walking nearby and overheard Bebe, and commented to me on how precious these moments are. I wholeheartedly agree. I look back at our year and realize we have much to be...

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I’m not sure what motivates me to start writing a blog post at 12:45 AM on a Sunday night/morning (insomnia?), but here I am with thoughts of roasted golden cauliflower on the brain. I’ve also been thinking about Thanksgiving sides and this was one of those oldies-but-goodies that I thought deserved a blog post prior to our big holiday this Thursday, given that it would make a great turkey day side dish. There are some that refer to...

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BOO! Every year around this time, I profess my love for the Halloween holiday and this year is no different. Until I had the little one, Halloween was fun, but now that she’s getting older and Halloween is filled with crafts, decorations, costumes, and of course, candy and treats, it’s even MORE fun. For starters, there’s the costume (hers I mean). This whole year has been all about The Little Mermaid, so not surprisingly, she...

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Every once in a while, a decadent, rich, chocolaty treat is perfect for celebrating a birthday or a special occasion such as Valentine’s Day. Fortunately for our family, every year we celebrate two such special occasions during the week of Valentine’s Day. I had almost forgotten about this simple chocolaty cake that my friend’s mom taught me back in high school or college. It’s simple because it uses cake mix out of the...

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Kabocha, or Japanese winter squash (also referred to as pumpkin), is a vegetable that I never really appreciated. It was only in my young adulthood that I grew to love very thinly sliced pieces of kabocha fried with a light tempura batter. (Photo Credit: Hideki Ueha) Although I have vivid childhood memories of my Mom cooking kabocha-ni, which is simmered squash, sadly, this was a Japanese dish that I never enjoyed, yet these days I find myself...

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Although almost two weeks have passed since we feasted on both traditional Japanese Osechi Ryori (New Year’s food) and non-traditional Japanese cuisine favorites, I’m still basking in the memories of delicious food and great times spent with family and great friends.  (Photo Credit: Hideki Ueha) My New Year’s posts are always a favorite of mine as I enjoy memorializing all the delicious food from our Oshogatsu (Japanese New...

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Although I don’t make multi-batches of seven different types of cookies anymore as holiday gifts, one new tradition that I enjoy is baking cookies for Santa with Bebe E. That is, just one type of cookie for Santa. :) Last year, we tried a sugar cookie recipe which I will share another day, but it was a classic recipe but I much prefer this chewy sugar cookie recipe that I share with you today. It’s definitely a new favorite! The...

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