Today’s indulgent Japanese afternoon snack was ohagi. Over the weekend, we spent some time at my parents home and my beautiful Mom made ohagi. If you’re not familiar with ohagi, it is glutinous sweet rice that is steamed in a rice cooker and then slightly pounded, or in this case it was gently mixed and mashed with a wooden spoon until it resembled a sticky mass. If this glutinous rice is pounded until it is smooth, it is then...

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It’s been SO cold here in Southern California and honestly, I haven’t wanted to leave the house much. Perhaps a daytime high temperature of 55 F degrees is “mild” by Midwest and East Coast standards, but for us Los Angeleno natives, that’s downright close to freezing. Call me a baby for whining about our “cold” SoCal weather, but aside from soup, chili, oven roasted foods and hot comfort dishes, I...

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Inconceivable! There are donuts in my home. I never eat donuts (it’s been 4 years), yet, I had an odd craving for them about a week ago, but of course I didn’t succumb. Not then at least. But today is different. Today, perhaps because I have nothing better to do than buy gift bonds (the girls know what I mean by this), play with my little one and satisfy my donut craving, I decided that I should live up to the tag line of my blog:...

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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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Happy New Year! It’s 2013! The Year of The Snake. What new year’s resolutions have you made for 2013? Me? As usual, nothing new or specific. Long ago I stopped making resolutions such as, “eat healthier, don’t eat chips and chocolate, exercise, diet, on and on”. In general, I try to focus on being positive, living without regrets, looking forward to new experiences, learning new things, being thankful and finding...

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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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Once again, despite all my early preparations, Christmas seems to have just crept up behind us as I take care of last minute details, and it’s now less than a day away. The excitement in our household is high, yet Bebe E is sad that her Elf will return to the North Pole on Christmas Eve, and she will not return until next year’s holiday season. It was magical having our little Elf stay with us during this special season. I admit, it...

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