Kumquat Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies

Kumquat Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies

  It’s finally that time of the year!!! It’s Lakers season! A week ago Saturday, I went to a pre-season Lakers game at the invitation of my family friend. I like to call my friend M-kun, my “lil’-brotha-from-anotha-motha.” (Apologies for my lingo, but I couldn’t help it!) His Dad is like a 2nd father to me and his Mom is like a 2nd mother to me. His older sister, Aya-chan, is like the little sis’ I...

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Watermelon Salad

Watermelon Salad

  Watermelon, BBQ’s and lazy, hot summer days always seem to go hand-in-hand. Not this time! Fall is finally in full-swing in So. Cal. but last week I made watermelon salad and it was quite refreshing, even for a Fall evening. Two weeks ago Bebe E and I went over to our good friends N & N’s home for a costume-making get together. I was originally invited over for my past creativity and craftiness with Halloween costumes, but...

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Ika-Furai (Calamari)

Ika-Furai (Calamari)

  It’s rare when I start writing a post and I have absolutely nothing to write about. My mind is blank. Yes, I could go strait to talking about the food, but that would be a little like my last post – a little boring, no? Since squid, or ika in Japanese, is from the sea, I decided share a few photos from summer related to, you guessed it, the sea! I’ve been fortunate to have always lived within two to four miles from the...

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Taco Salad

Taco Salad

I can’t believe it was over 100 degrees in So. Cal. last week and I had our A/C blasting. This morning, I woke up to pouring rain and I pulled on my warm bathrobe, fuzzy socks, and I’m thinking about hot cocoa. Crazy! It’s been drizzling the past few days here, and it’s cold (for my standards). Flip-flops one day, Ugg’s another day. Such is life in So. Cal…. Given all of the Japanese and Asian foods...

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Horenso Tamagoyaki (Japanese Spinach & Egg Roulade)

Horenso Tamagoyaki (Japanese Spinach & Egg Roulade)

Surprise! I’m alive! OK, I’m just being obnoxious. Two weeks, going on three, is probably the longest I have EVER gone without updating my blog. I’m not sure why, but time has REALLY been flying by the last few weeks and on Friday, I realized that a few weeks had passed without a new post! Horribly shocking, I know! (Photo Credit: Hideki Ueha) Perhaps the weeks have been flying by because school and soccer season started....

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My Moms Japanese Mabo Tofu

My Moms Japanese Mabo Tofu

  I’m a victim of fraud! This isn’t how I wanted to start my day nor my post on mabo tofu but that’s just how it is. I never thought it would happen to me, but apparently it’s not uncommon. I use my Bank of America issued pink and white Hello Kitty debit card everywhere. I love my cute Hello Kitty card… I usually don’t carry much cash with me and rely on my debit card for even the smallest $3 purchases. I...

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Ohitashi (Japanese Boiled Spinach Salad)

Ohitashi (Japanese Boiled Spinach Salad)

  As a kid, eating spinach at our house meant that my mom made ohitashi. Although she used spinach in dishes such as chawan mushi or shabu-shabu, we never ate sautéed spinach the way Bebe Dada likes to make it (yet another post for the future). Ohitashi is a simple, healthy and refreshing dish.  It’s perfect for a hot summer day, and believe me, it has been HOT over the past two weeks in So. Cal, but it definitely seems like it has...

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Soboro Don (Ground Chicken Bowl)

Soboro Don (Ground Chicken Bowl)

Summer is finally coming to an end as Big Onechan returns to school and we celebrate our last three-day weekend of the season with a family BBQ or two. It seems as though summer break only just began and yet over two months have flown by since school let out in June. This week we had a variety of things going on and I still managed to write a post! Crazy, huh? We went to the Zoomar’s Petting Zoo in San Juan Capistrano, the Mission Viejo...

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