I know the Memorial Day Holiday has already passed, but, as always, I am behind on my foodie posts. I cook faster than I write. Or, maybe I just have too much to write, much like I talk too much, and therein lies my problem?!? Albeit late, I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day. On Sunday, we had a nice family BBQ with bebe dada’s family. Bebe E had her first outdoor pool experience and was able to splash her feet and stand on the first...

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Now, THAT was close!!!! Last night’s Game 5 with the Lakers beating the Suns by just ONE basket had my stomach in knots!  I had an ulcer the entire 4th quarter!  On top of this, the last 15 seconds I scared bebe E and made her cry twice!  :(  The first time, I made her cry because of my frustration that the Lakers would allow the Suns, was it THREE, 3-point attempts?  The third attempt tied-up the game at 101 – 101.  HELLO...

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  You might be wondering what this has to do with muffins, but I’ve been wearing my last pair of disposable contact lenses for TWO months.  That’s pretty disgusting considering I should have disposed of them over a month ago (no wonder my vision was impaired), but due to a host of scheduling issues, weekend family commitments and a shortage of childcare I never made it to the optometrist’s office. As it happens, bebe...

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  When I was younger, I loved to bake.  I didn’t care to cook and help my mom make “regular meals”, but I loved to bake cookies. My good friend, AJ, in elementary school lived down the street from me and every Friday we had a play day, each week alternating whose house we would go to. On Fridays where we played at her house, we always baked chocolate chip cookies.  We never strayed from this routine.  She had a pool in...

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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...

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      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:...

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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...

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Strawberry season is here!  We always know when the season is in high gear because Marie Calendar’s starts selling their fresh strawberry pies and our local organic farmer, Tanaka Farms, starts their strawberry picking tours. If you’ve never been strawberry picking, it’s definitely worth the trip!  The whole family can take a bumpy wagon ride through the farm grounds with a tasty treat at the end… all you can eat...

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