… Mei-Shun has grown around her waist. It occurs every year actually, since she has too much sweets, feasts and alcohol of great taste from the end of December to the middle of January. Now she started to reduce carbo, her favorite, in diet. It is the most feared to get weight back immediately, so good cooking to enjoy every necessary nutrient is the key.
good taste
Happy Queen?
StandardOur favorite pâtisserie “Arles” serves the best Galette des Rois. We have made it the birthday cake for Mei-Shun since 2012. And it was she who won the fève clearly this year, while she shared it with Shin last year. Oh? Honey, do you celebrate mom, posing with her crown on the table?
Princess Mikan
Japanese Culture@wkday
StandardMany of us enjoy 七草粥 (=nanakusa-gayu) today. 5 kinds of wild, edible leaves and 2 vegetables are cooked in rice porridge. This simple dish is gentle for our tired stomachs after feasts of new-year celebration.
A Heartwarming Story: 1
StandardOne morning, Mikan-chan’s mom brought brown rice to a farmhouse to polish. It was so easy to operate the machine that she hummed being a bit careless. Mikan-chan meowed softly when mom showed her a sack of white, shining rice. She looked satisfied with it.
Recommendation
StandardChez Lénon, a French restaurant in Tsukuba, is one of our favorite places. They always serve wonderful soup, employing the best vegetable in season. Current one cooks 聖護院大根, a big, round-shape horse radish grown mainly in Kyoto. It seems such delicacy be praised and enjoyed more.
Washed Up
StandardHere are black carrots grown by Tele-farm. Now our refrigerator is full of them, with normal orange ones already stored. They will make a little earlier Christmas gifts for horses, while cooking vegetables is a lot of fun for Mei-Shun as well.
Japanese Culture@wkday
StandardThis Tuesday on the way to home, Mei-Shun dropped in at a branch of 菊廼舎 in Tokyo Station. She reserved specially-designed cans of 冨貴寄, with the symbol of coming 2016 申=monkey, for friends and herself. They are called 年女 or 年男 = people of the year, who were born in the new year symbolized by one of 12 animals. She makes it a rule to send that delicacy to her precious 年女 or 年男, since it seems to bring a good fortune.
365th Step!
StandardIt seems one of great joys allowed only to grown-ups: we enjoyed chatting on Japanese sweets sent from Mei-Shun’s mother after dinner, late at night. Such a style of eating is awful for a good diet? Ah-ha. You are exactly right. Green tea could give damage to a sound sleep? Well, we know they say so. We would see anybody who could be good to us as Jessie, Ariana and Nicki do.
Tea Pillar
StandardIt is believed to be a forerunner of good luck in our country. However, it appears in your cup only when a twig green tea is employed. Many of them are cheaper than non-twig ones, meaning rich people hardly see this message in tea.
Standing in the center.
Tastes Autumn
StandardIt was so shocking for Mei-Shun to see her favorite tea shop closed last year, yet recent finding that they have another branch in Tsukuba made her delighted. As season recommendation, a cup of twig green tea called karigane, meaning song of flying wild geese, was served. Twigs pruned from tea plants are mixed with leaves, giving a bit bitter and refreshing flavor.
meishunkikunoe 