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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Admittedly, I’ve always been a shopper. From a child being dragged to the mall by my Mom, to a youthful teen shopping (or gossiping) with girlfriends, from window-shopping and meeting best friends for lunch at a favorite cafe – again in the mall, I am not ashamed to admit that I enjoy spending time at the mall. These days, however, one of our favorite malls to visit is the South Coast Plaza. Not only is it stocked full of lovely...

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Happy Thanksgiving! Today I’m sharing several of my family’s favorite dishes for Thanksgiving. I haven’t had a chance to post all of our dishes yet, but I’m slowly getting there year after year. I often serve soup for the first course, but family members sometime complain that eating soup makes them full, leaving less room for the turkey. To that I respond, just have a few bites of soup, not a bowl! :) Pumpkin...

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I love this time of the year. It’s hard to believe that we’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving this Thursday. Where does the time go, and so quickly at that! Over the weekend we celebrated a few birthdays that take place in the Fall and I thought our cake was so funny, I was compelled to share it on my blog. Because one of our fabulous friends wasn’t in the mood to celebrate, the name on the cake was left blank with just the right...

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After a busy weekend which left me with little time to post this giveaway on Saturday as I originally promised, finally, I am able to share with you information about my very first gift for my visitors to help celebrate my new blog home! Almost two months ago, I started making and drinking green smoothies for breakfast. Since then, if I don’t have a green smoothie a day, I simply do not feel right. I will still occasionally enjoy a...

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  Let’s just call this week, “Kale Week” at our home. Did you catch Monday’s soup post with ground chicken, kale and brown rice? Kale’s been a regular in our fridge, along with spinach, romaine lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes, but I’ve been using it more in what I will call, “noticeable dishes”, such as the soup. In the past, I’ve always chopped up kale finely and added it to traditional...

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One of the benefits of visiting my parents on a weekly basis is that my Mom is sure to feed us something new and interesting. My Mom’s latest side dish, and a new favorite of mine is myoga no misozuke. Myoga, also known as myoga ginger, is native to Japan and Southern parts of Korea and is an edible flower bulb which grows similar to a root beneath the dirt. When I was younger I always wondered what this strange...

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This week is proving to be quite a busy week as we settle into a new routine and I get ready for a big celebration this weekend. Bebe E started nursery school last Thursday, but it was a day for her to acclimate to her new surroundings with the comfort of my presence in her classroom. However, the other day Bebe E went to school all by herself, and she didn’t shed a tear when we said our goodbyes. As a matter of fact, she was so eager to...

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