It has grown on me!: 07/2016

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Doyo Ushi No Hi - A Special Day for Eating Unagi

It was Doyo Ushi No Hi (Doyo No Ushi No Hi), a special day for eating unagi, yesterday! :) As I mentioned in my last year's entry, unagi (鰻) is a Japanese freshwater eel, and people in Japan eat unagi during the hot summer especially on the Midsummer Day of the Ox, which is called Doyo Ushi No Hi (土用丑の日) in Japanese. It's very hot and humid in Japan during summer. Hot weather makes you loose your appetite. People in Japan want to eat nutritious foods to maintain their health during hot days. Because unagi has a lot of nutrition, including vitamin A, B, D, E, iron and calcium, it's a perfect food to eat during summer.

However, it has also anther story that Doyo Ushi No Hi was made by the owner of unagi restaurant to boost sales of unagi in 1770s. Who knows the truth? It's too long ago! Beside all that I enjoy having unagi during summer. It's only because unagi is so delicious! :)

Last week, I bought frozen unagi at Seiwa, a Japanese supermarket in Costa Mesa. You can find frozen unagi at any Japanese supermarkets in the U.S. Unagi is usually very expensive in Japan, but I sometimes find that it's more reasonable here than in Japan. :) As I mentioned in my previous entry, Most Popular Japanese Foods, unagi is also loved by many foreign tourists in Japan. If you find frozen unagi at Japanese supermarkets in the U.S., you should try it. One frozen unagi is usually $5 to $20 there. It's easy to prepare (just microwave for minutes) and so delicious! :)

     Next Doyo Unshi No Hi will be next year though. :)

       This is my entries related to cooking.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/cooking

      My entries related to Japan can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Japan

      This is my entries related to my favorite recipe.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/recipes

      These are my entries you might like.

■Unagi

■How to Cook Yakitori Don, Japanese Chicken Bowl

■Most Popular Japanese Foods (Top 11 - 20)

■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Japanese Supermarkets (for Beginners!)

■Top 10 Most Popular Japanese Foods

■My Top 15 Must Eat Foods in Japan - My Favorite Japanese Foods

■8 Interesting Japanese Kitchen Gadgets!

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Snacks

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Sweets

■How to Make Japanese Deep Fried Chicken, Kara-Age

■How to Cook Japanese Curry

■How to Cook Miso Soup

■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Daiso

Saturday, July 30, 2016

How to Make Seaweed and Egg Soup

Last night, I cooked this seaweed and egg soup. This is very easy and delicious soup, so I sometimes make it when I am busy but want to have nutritious soup. I'm going to share how to make this soup with you.

Ingredients (4 Servings)
700 ml (23 fl oz) of water
1 tablespoon of Dashida
1 tablespoon of dried seaweed, also called wakame
2 eggs (beaten)
4 tablespoons of sliced green onion

1. Put water, dashida and dried seaweed into a sauce pan.

2. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 3 minutes.

3. Add egg and stir. Turn off the heat.

4. Serve it into a bowl and sprinkle with green onion.

5. Enjoy!

     This is my entries related to my favorite recipes.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/recipes

      This is my entries related to cooking.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/cooking

     My entries related to Japan can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Japan

       These are my entries you might like.

■How to Make Tamago Kake Gohan - Raw Egg on Rice

■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Japanese Supermarkets (for Beginners!)

■Top 10 Most Popular Japanese Foods

■My Top 15 Must Eat Foods in Japan - My Favorite Japanese Foods

■8 Interesting Japanese Kitchen Gadgets!

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Snacks

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Sweets

■How to Make Japanese Deep Fried Chicken, Kara-Age

■How to Cook Japanese Curry

■Top 5 Most Popular Japanese Curry Sauce Mix

■How to Cook Miso Soup

■How to Make Tamagoyaki, Japanese Omelette

■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Daiso

Friday, July 29, 2016

Yoshinoya Frozen Beef Bowl

Last weekend, I purchased this Yoshinoya Frozen Beef Bowl. As I often mentioned in my previous entries, this frozen beef bowl has so many positive reviews on Amazon Japan, and I love it very much because it tastes just like beef bowl Yoshinoya restaurants serve. :) If you love Japanese beef bowl, you really should try this! It's usually $3.99 (The regular price in the U.S. is cheaper than one in Japan!), and it is sometimes on sale for $2.99 at Japanese supermarket. Because it was $2.99 at Seiwa, a Japanese supermarket in Costa Mesa, last week, I purchased two frozen beef bowls without a second thought! I couldn't miss out on this deal! :)

Yoshinoya Frozen Beef Bowl

Yesterday, I had Youshinoya Beef Bowl for dinner. I forgot to buy shredded red gingers, which are perfect with beef bowl and called kizami syoga (刻み生姜) or beni syoga (紅生姜) in Japan. However, the beef bowl was as perfect as I expected. :)

Yoshinoya Beef Bowl

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Snacks

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Sweets

■How to Make Japanese Deep Fried Chicken, Kara-Age

■How to Cook Japanese Curry

■How to Cook Miso Soup

■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Daiso

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Josh Woodward - The Handyman's Lament

Today, I finally uploaded my video, How to Make Vietnamese Egg Coffee, on my YouTube channel. It's been a long while since I uploaded my previous coffee video. I've been very busy this month because of moving to new place and my home renovation project. Anyway, this time, I used The Handyman's Lament, one of Josh Woodward's songs, as background music for this video. I love all his songs :)

Music - "The Handyman's Lament" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/TheHandymansLament

Lyrics

When I drop a plate, I sweep the shards of glass into the trash
When I pop an E string, I can change a new one in a flash
But when you break, I'm stuck without a clue
I never learned to fix a thing like you

When the server's down, you sudo /sbin/reboot in a shell
When the market tanks, you call a broker, tell him "sell sell sell"
But when you're down, I don't know what to do
I never learned to fix a thing like you

    I'll lend an ear
    To find out what I need to repair
    But I will try and dry your eyes and fix the scattered parts
    Yeah, I will learn to mend your troubled heart

When I cut my hand, I grab the Neosporin from the shelf
When I stub my toe, I curse in flowing verses to myself
But when you hurt, I'm stuck without a clue
I never learned to fix a thing like you

When a faucet leaks, I tighten up the gasket with a wrench
When a toilet's stuck, I plunge it down before the floor is drenched
But when you cry, I don't know what to do
I never learned to fix a thing like you

   I'll lend an ear
   To find out what I need to repair
   But I will try and dry your eyes and fix the scattered parts
   Yeah, I will learn to mend your troubled heart

I know, I'm slow
I've got so much to learn
But you'll see, I'll be
The place that you can turn

   I'll lend an ear
   To find out what I need to repair
   But I will try and dry your eyes and fix the scattered parts
   Yeah, I will learn to mend your troubled heart

     Today's Vocabularies

shard 【ʃɑ́ːrd】: noun : 破片、かけら

the market tanks : 大暴落する

    This is my entries related to my favorite songs.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/songs

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

How to Make Creamy Coffee Flan

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I love Japanese flan so much. I've sometimes made some kinds of flan at home since I moved to the U.S. Because I also love coffee, I tried to make coffee flan last month, and these turned out perfect coffee flan which taste like ones I used to purchase in Japan! These coffee flan had bitter coffee taste and sweet whipped cream on top. :) Making flan is actually not so difficult. Today, I'm going to share how to make creamy coffee flan with you.

■ What You Will Need ■
3 Tablespoons of Sugar
2 Egg Whites
400 ml (13.5 fl oz) of Milk
3 Tablespoons of Instant Coffee
Whipped Cream
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1. Mix sugar and egg whites thoroughly.

2. Add instant coffee and milk. Stir them until instant coffee has dissolved.

3. Pour the mixture through a fine strainer into the custard cups. Then, cover them with aluminum foil.

4. Pour the hot water into the large pan. The water is about 1/2 inch deep. Place the cups into the pan. Cover the lid. Bring the water to a boil, and simmer it over low heat for 10 minutes.

5. Turn off the heat. Wait for 10 minutes. Then open the lid, and take out cups. Cool and refrigerate for hours.

6. Top with whipped cream. Garnish with a sprinkle of cocoa powder.

7. Enjoy!

I uploaded this video, How to Make Creamy Japanese Coffee Flan, on my YouTube channel.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Finally Removed Masking Tapes! - My Painting Project

I've painted kitchen cabinets these days. Last night, I finally removed masking tapes from the cabinets. I think these look so fresh compared to before painting. I know I still need to deal with the dated fluorescent kitchen light box sooner or later... Anyway, I should wait one more week to dry the paints completely before putting kitchen items in these.

If truth be told I am still painting a lot of cabinet doors. I hope I will finish it in a few days.

I used three rolls of masking tapes (two Frog Tape and one 3M Scotch-Blue 2090) for my painting project. According to Amazon, Frog Tape will remove cleanly from most surfaces for up to 21 days and seven days in direct sunlight. On the other hand, 3M Scotch-Blue 2090 will remove cleanly without adhesive transfer or surface damage for up to 14 days-even in direct sunlight. I removed both tapes in a week, so I don't have any problem, but Frog Tape was slightly easier to remove. :)

     My entries related to home renovations can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/home%20renovations

     This is my entries related to my favorite recipe.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/recipes

      This is my entries related to cooking.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/cooking

Monday, July 25, 2016

Takuan, Takuwan - Traditional Japanese Pickles

    Yesterday, I had a sample of takuan, which is also called takuwan, at Seiwa, a Japanese supermarket in Costa Mesa, and I decided to purchase it. :) Takuan (沢庵, たくあん, たくわん) is a traditional Japanese pickle made from daikon, Japanese radish. When I was child, my late grandmother used to pickle Japanese radishes and make takuan from scratch (My family also grew Japanese radishes in winter.), and I used to eat homemade takuan almost every day all year around. It's perfect with steamed rice. :) If you have ever gone to Japan and had traditional Japanese breakfast there, you've probably seen it. Takuan is also used for oshinkomaki (お新香巻), a kind of hosomaki (細巻), a thin sushi roll, filled with takuan.

     Takuan is slightly sweet and salty but tastes too Japanese, so I am not sure if you like it or not. I love takuan, but I don't think everyone loves it. Only if you are very interested in Japanese foods, you should try it. :)

   When you buy takuan, you need to prepare it before eating it.

Takuan, traditional Japanese pickles

First, open the package. Then rinse it lightly (You can skip this step). Cut them as you like.

Takuan, traditional Japanese pickles

Enjoy with steamed rice! :)

Takuan, traditional Japanese pickles

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Imuraya Matcha Chocolate Monaka

Today, my husband and I went to Seiwa, a Japanese supermarket in Costa Mesa. We bought a lot of Japanese foods today somehow. It's probably because we were hungry when we were there. Hunger makes you buy more! :)

Most Japanese products in the U.S. are usually more expensive than ones in Japan, but Seiwa sells some Japanese products with pretty affordable prices. Today, I purchased this Imuraya Macha Chocolate Monaka (井村屋抹茶チョコ最中アイス) for 79 cents! It's the lowest price I've ever seen in the U.S.! It's also pretty hard to find this price in Japan!

Imuraya Matcha Chocolate Monaka (井村屋抹茶チョコ最中アイス)

Imuraya is a very famous Japanese confectionery company and established in Mie prefecture, Japan in 1896. As I mentioned in my previous entry, their product was chosen as the official Japanese souvenir of the G7 Ise-Shima Summit in May this year.

I am glad that I can enjoy their delicious ice cream in the U.S. :) If you love matcha or green tea, you should try this authentic Japanese ice cream! You can find Imuraya ice cream and mochi products at any Japanese supermarkets in the U.S. If you are in Japan, you can find more of their products at supermarkets and convenience stores there.

We had Imuraya Matcha Ice Cream in our car before going back to home! :)

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Costco Haul - Tiger Thai Tempura Shrimp

Today, my husband and I went to Costco and had samples of Tiger Thai Tempura Shrimp there. As you might know, tempura is a Japanese dish of deep fried vegetables and seafood, and it is often chosen one of the most popular Japanese foods. (You can check out my previous entry, Top 10 Most Popular Japanese Foods.) I sometimes cook vegetable tempura at home and also order tempura bowl at Japanese restaurants sometimes. When we had the samples at Costco, we were impressed at how big shrimps were! I sometimes experienced that the tempura looks big because of too much batter, but the shrimp itself is often too small. I thought this was better than one restaurants serve. :) We decided to purchase this frozen tempura. It has 20 jumbo shrimps and was about $13. It's not too expensive considering that each tempura is pretty big!

Each pack has 5 pieces of shrimp tempura. (5 pieces x 4 packs) Each pack includes tempura sauce. :)

We just baked them at 400℉ in my compact toaster oven for 6 minutes. Then, turned them over and baked another 6 minutes.

Since my kitchen is in the middle of home renovation, I cannot use gas stove now, so I was glad that I could enjoy my favorite Japanese food at home today. :)

If you like Japanese tempura and are able to find Tempura Shrimp at Costco, you really should try one. It's very easy to prepare and tastes really great. :)

My entries related Costco can be seen here.

http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Costco

      This is my entries related to cooking.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/cooking

      These are my entries you might like.
■How to Cook Japanese Curry

■Top 5 Most Popular Japanese Curry Sauce Mix

■The Best Japanese Instant Curry! (S&B Golden Curry & House Foods Curry Sauce)

■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Japanese Supermarkets (for Beginners!)

■Japanese Mayonnaise Is the Best!

■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Daiso

■Top 10 Most Popular Japanese Foods

■My Top 15 Must Eat Foods in Japan - My Favorite Japanese Foods

■How to Make Japanese Deep Fried Chicken, Kara-Age

■How to Cook Miso Soup

■8 Interesting Japanese Kitchen Gadgets!

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Snacks

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Sweets

Friday, July 22, 2016

I Miss Japanese Flan!

When I worked as a nurse in Japan, I sometimes worked on night shift. Frankly, I didn't like night shift because it was a very long hour work and always incredibly busy in my hospital ward even night time. Right before working on the night shift, I often purchased delicious flan at convenience stores nearby the hospital and kept it in refrigerator in a break room. When I was lucky enough to take a break during night, I could eat it as a midnight snack. When it was too busy, I enjoyed it after work anyway. It was special treat to me during busy work. :) In Japan, flan is called purin (プリン) whose name is come from pudding. There are many kinds of flan selling at supermarkets and convenience stores in Japan. My favorite ones were coffee purin (コーヒープリン) and matcha purin (抹茶プリン) which had whipped cream on top. Because I live in the U.S. now, it's pretty hard to find Japanese style flan here. Since I moved to the U.S., I've made ones at home many times even though I've never done it in Japan. I'll share how to make creamy coffee flan with you next time.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Painting Inside Kitchen Cabinets

Today, I've also painted many cabinets all day long, and I got really tired from using my arms and shoulders. The most difficult part was painting inside kitchen cabinets because those were hard to reach. I need to paint one more coat on this cabinet.

I haven't even started to paint these kitchen cabinets. These are still ugly...

I purchased one gallon of primer and two gallons of paint for this painting project, and they will run out soon.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Cold Brew Coffee Is Perfect for Busy Morning

Since my husband and I moved into our home last weekend, we have been living with clutter. Our home is still cluttered with a lot of our belongings. :( I've been painting all cabinets, but those are not still ready, so I can't put away anything. Because our kitchen is also in the middle of renovation, he has bought coffee at Starbucks this week even though he used to make coffee at home every morning. I understand that it's pretty hard to make coffee here in busy morning. That's why I decided to make cold brew coffee last night. I can prepare cold brew coffee with French Press at night, and he can just pour it in his tumbler next morning. :)
This morning, I also enjoyed my cold brew coffee with some sweets. Because it was brewed without a paper filter, the coffee had pure coffee oil, so it tasted smooth and rich. :) If you would like try cold brew coffee, you can check out my YouTube video, How to Make Cold Brew Coffee with French Press.

        This is my YouTube channel.
Ringo's Coffee Channel

       My entries related to coffee can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/coffee

      This is my entries related to my favorite recipes.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/recipes

       These are my entries you might like.

■Japanese Drip Coffee Bags - UCC & KEY COFFEE

■How to Make Caramel Macchiato

■How to Make a Frappuccino Less Watery

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Kaya, Korean Restaurant

Last Saturday, my husband and I went to Kaya, which is one of our favorite Korean food restaurants. We don't usually often eat out, but since we were moving out our apartment, we couldn't cook that day, so we decided to go to this restaurant. It had been two years since last visit. The reason why we love this restaurant is that they serve many vegetable side dishes. I think these were healthy. :)

I ordered this medium hot seafood sundubu. It had a lot of tofu and seafood in it. As you can see the photo below, it was still cooking and very hot. I dropped a raw egg in it. It was great like always. :)

Kaya Restaurant

14120 Culver Dr
Ste G
Irvine, CA 92604

My entries related to restaurants can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/restaurants

Monday, July 18, 2016

Painting Day

Today, I painted two bathroom vanities and cabinets all day long, but I couldn't finish it yet. I'm really tired now.

I painted primer and white paint twice on these. I need to paint the third coat of paint tomorrow.

Guest Bathroom Vanity

Master Bathroom Vanity

I will start painting the lower cabinet tomorrow.

Cabinets

I need to paint more than those cabinet doors.

Cabinet doors

I was going to finish painting all cabinets before moving into this home, but I couldn't. It was really harder than I expected. I only finished painting the fireplace and entrance door last Friday. Now, my living room is full of our belongings, but I can't put away those until all cabinets are ready.

My entries related to home renovations can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/home%20renovations

Sunday, July 17, 2016

How to Make Berry Smoothie with Fresh Coconut Water

A few days ago, my friend gave me this fresh coconut which she got from her friend originally. She told me that she doesn't drink coconut water, and she thought I might like it. It was surprising gift for us.
Actually, my husband and I had drunk fresh coconut water in Thailand before. It was our first oversea travel so many years ago. In Thailand, we often found that fresh coconuts were selling on streets. They cut coconuts and put straw in it. At that time, we were very young and had never tried coconut water before. We just bought coconut water there, but I only remember that it didn't taste good at all. After many years, my friend gave me this fresh coconut. I decided to try it and hoped it might be better than before just like our tom-yam soup experience. (We didn't like tom-yam soup before, but now we love it.)

My husband cut the coconut today, and he told me that it tasted better than one we had in Thailand somehow! However, I thought I don't still really like coconut water... I know coconut water is very healthy and so popular now though.

That's why I decided to make fresh berry smoothie with the coconut water. Because we were going to move out our apartment this evening, we wanted to use up frozen fruit in our freezer anyway. Actually, it turned out very delicious smoothie. :) I really enjoyed it! We were very tired from moving all our belongings and cleaning up our apartment, so this smoothie was so refreshing and special treats for us. I'm going to share how to make it with you.

Ingredients (2 Servings)
1 whole fresh coconut water
1 cup of frozen strawberries
1 cup of frozen blueberries
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup of ice cubes

1. Blend all ingredients.

2. Enjoy!

     These are my entries you might like.

■How to Make Mango Green Smoothie

■How to Make Pineapple Green Smoothie

■How to Make Grapefruit Green Smoothie

■How to Make Fruit Smoothie

■How to Make Strawberry Ice Cream with Kitchenaid Ice Cream Maker Attachment

■How to Make Strawberry Ice Cream without an Ice Cream Maker

■How to Make Easy French Toast

■Top 10 Most Popular Japanese Foods

■How to Make Japanese Deep Fried Chicken, Kara-Age

■How to Cook Japanese Curry

■How to Cook Miso Soup

     This is my entries related to my favorite recipes.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/recipes

      This is my entries related to cooking.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/cooking

Friday, July 15, 2016

Moving Into My New Home

Yesterday, my husband and I didn't have enough time for sleep. We slept only two hours last night because we still needed to pack a lot of our belongings to moving into our new home on the following day. At 8:30 today, three men of the moving company came to our apartment and finished moving all our belongings in 4 hours! After that, we were very sleepy at our apartment, but there was no bed. We eventually took a nap on long chairs at our apartment poolside since there were some balcony tents which we could relax and keep private. :) We still need to clean up our apartment tomorrow. Since I was 18, I have moved 11 times so far. Moving days are always super busy, and I never get used to it.

Before & After Painting - Fireplace and Entrance Door

      This week, I've been trying to paint cabinets, a fireplace and an entrance door in my home. It was really harder than I expected! I had never painted even walls before, so I didn't know how hard it would be. I watched many YouTube videos and read many articles related painting, and some people say painting is one of easy weekend D.I.Y projects. However, it was not easy for me at all especially sanding. It took me two days to sand all cabinets and etc. I eventually purchased a sanding machine for this project.
     Today, I finally finished painting a fireplace and an entrance door. :)

     This was the fireplace before painting. As you can see photo below, it was pretty outdated.

Before

This is the fireplace after third coat of paint. I will remove green masking tape tomorrow though.

After Third Coat of Paint

This was the entrance door after sanding. I forgot to take a photo of the original door, but it was also brown before sanding.

Entrance Door After Sanding

This is the entrance door after third coat of paint. I also chose white paint because white is my favorite color. In addition, I think when walls and an entrance color are same, an entrance looks like wall, so it is perfect for my small condominium.

After Third Coat of Paint

Changing color of the fireplace and entrance was fan after all. These look nice and fresh now. :) I need to paint more and more of cabinets. I think it will take me more time to finish painting those, but I should finish as soon as I can because I don't have enough space to put away my belongings without cabinets.

My entries related to home renovations can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/home%20renovations