I’m wondering how everyone enjoyed Cindo de Mayo…  margaritas and good mexican food with friends and family?  Some of you may have read that Bebe E and I spent May the 5th at bachan and jichan’s house (grandma and grandpa) to celebrate Japanese Children’s Day, but I didn’t forget about Cinco de Mayo!  :) However, before we get to May the 5th, I’m wondering how everyone enjoyed “Star Wars...

Happy Boy’s Day!  Er, excuse me… allow me to politically correct  myself – Happy Children’s Day! Although May 5th is widely known as Cinco de Mayo for many across the world, the fifth day of the fifth month is also known as kodomonohi or Boy’s Day in our family. May 5th, or Boy’s Day was originally known in Japan as “Tango no Sekku“, or Boy’s Festival, to celebrate the healthy growth and...

      My tastes  have certainly changed as I’ve matured. In my youth, I never cared for anko, which is a broad Japanese term for sweet azuki bean paste. I shied away from anything that contained anko. It’s only in the last 10 years that I’ve begun to appreciate the taste and versatility of azuki beans. (Photo Credit: Hideki Ueha) From what I understand, there are three general types of anko which I have learned about:...

Blueberry cheesecake cups were my favorite childhood dessert.  It seems like my mom made this regularly for us, and when I asked her about this, she said it was because she made this often for parties, as well as refreshments for a number of activities: basketball, church, poker night, Japanese school, boy scouts, girl scouts, her flower arrangement group, chorus, so on and so forth! Am I ever glad my mom had all these activities to make...

Oyakodon is a common donburi dish often found at Japanese restaurants or the deli section of Japanese supermarkets.  It’s chicken, delicately cooked egg, and thin slices of onion all resting over a bed of rice, and covered with a delicate sweet and savory sauce. Long ago, my Mom taught me why oyakodon is called “oyakodon” and tanindon (beef and egg donburi) is called “tanindon”.  Oyako in Japanese means...

  In my Dr. Sears’ “The Baby Book”, avocado is listed as a favorite first food, but it was my friend and RN (nurse G) that I recall telling me, “avocados are a superfood”.  We had lunch over a year ago when she brought out half an avocado and started scooping out the flesh of a ripe avocado into a little bowl for mashing – baby guacamole! I almost forgot about baby guacamole until I saw it in “The...

  A quick meal made with leftovers is kakiage donburi or kakiagedon.  Mixed tempura rests over a bed of brown rice and is served in a donburi.  When possible, I like to use leftovers in a new dish because it’s usually easy to prepare and keeps the dinner menu exciting. Earlier this week I made kakiage tempura and wrapped each leftover kakiage individually in plastic wrap and then placed them all in a ziplock bag.  I like storing them...

Donburi sauce is the foundation of my Mom’s “-don” dishes, such as oyakodon (follow link for recipe), a chicken and egg donburi; tendon, a tempura donburi; and kakiagedon (follow link for recipe), a mixed vegetable and shrimp tempura donburi; and tanindon, a beef and egg donburi. Because of the many uses of donburi sauce, I felt this savory and sweet sauce deserved a post all to itself.  Eventually, I’ll get to each...