Finally, an update.

Okay, so it's been a while. I started a new job finally, and it keeps me very busy--so busy that i've had to work hard to create a routine that allows me time to do my cooking and so on. ;_;

A while ago, I did do some experimenting with mochi. Now, if you live in an area like mine, it can be hard to find the ingredients for traditional mochi (with anko or whatever). In Corning, there's enough of a Japanese population to warrant a large asian section at the supermarket. However, the only anko they have is in big, dusty cans... it would go bad before I used it all. ;_; Sadly, they do not sell loose azuki beans for me to make anko from scratch.

So, I improvise.



Here's your garden variety mochi. To go with it, I tried a couple of things most people have banging around: maple syrup and strawberry jam. The jam is fantastic; it turned out to be a good combination. The syrup was okay; however, I would recommend using pancake syrup over the pure stuff, because pure syrup is too thin to stick to the mochi. :/

I bring my lunch to work. Naturally, it's bento. Every. Day. XD It keeps me happy.

A sample bento:



This is mini-pita with peanut butter (I am infatuated with pita), snow peas, cheese (in funny little shapes. Thanks, Sargento :3), and dried apricots. I usually throw in some fruit leather and a bag of carrots for pre-lunch snacking, too.
This is my single-tier bento... I also have one that is two tiers, which works well when I want to put in juicy bits of fruit or a small salad. I haven't yet brought in any strictly-Japanese meals yet (that which requires chopsticks), but eventually I will. When people get used to me. :D There's at least one other person at work who knows Japan very well, so I know i'd have an ally.

The end for now. Next time I will try to show off my zarusoba recipe. :D

Tohru shoes!

Okay, so I just want to add more posts so this thing doesn't look so bare. And since this is cosplay-related, it's perfectly legal. :3



My Tohru shoes! Brown loafers from Born that I won off of Ebay for about $9. XD I love Born shoes; they're so comfortable. These are exactly what I need for Tohru's school uniform, as well as for my regular day-to-day wardrobe (although most of my shoes are black :P). Cute flats are always good.

Tomorrow I will probably try making some sort of Americanized mochi... I have heard that some people like it with maple syrup or cinnamon. Sounds interesting. >D

Hajime~.

Well, here's my first post. I don't think it's going to be anything memorable... more like Oh hey, let's see what the blog looks like with TEXT in it. :P'

I have a blog over at Livejournal already; I've been using that for going on 5 years now. *_* But I have found myself wanting to have some sort of blog dedicated to my Japan-related creativity, so I thought that might be a good excuse to play with blogger a little.

I've been trying some new Japanese dishes lately, to add to my repertoire; something related to that will probably be the first thing I post about. :P' I have some mochi bricks but no anko, booooo... so I have to come up with a substitute. Let's just wait and see how this comes out.