Do Re Mi

Itadakimaaaaaaaasu~! Happy 2013 everyone-!!!  LOL, not the most elaborate setup above but ramen always tastes delicious on cold nights.  ( b ^ . ^ )b   I can always save the elaborate Japanese styled New Years food for another day when I'm not so lazy.   Must do closeup... You might ask, why ramen and pizza?: A: Pizza is one of my loves so it always tastes good.  Imo, pizza is so awesome because it adds this festive vibe to almost any occasion, don't you think?! I'm spending my New Year chillin' at home with the sis.  Our parents went out to party.  Doesn't our family sound so reversed right now?  xD I made a makeshift kotatsu which was a big feat for me; I never really got to that project in a long time.  I might have started 'Project Kotatsu' at least a year or two ago. I wanted to make a model of a kotatsu to see if I would like the idea of having one.  So far I really like it and it's pretty comf...

My Uncle from came over to our house to visit a couple days ago so I was pretty excited to cook him some of my special dishes.  We rarely get visits from relatives, mostly because we're the displaced ones, living super far away from everyone else...  Sometimes I forget what it's like to have relatives and other family over so I get really excited to show off my hosting skills when I get the chance! One of the dishes was miso soup which he really liked and I whipped up some sushi this evening. Soooo delicious.... He really liked them and said they were "Ono" AKA yummy. :D I'll probably make him a bento box for the plane ride back.  I did that for my other Uncle who visited the last time. I think there's something really special about homemade bento boxes besides their obvious beautiful and cute appeal. It's not just food, but the time, effort, and care someone gives for someone else.  I really like making bentos because in my...

I thought I'd post an official blog just about what's going on in my life right now.  The weather has gotten really cold... more like freezing actually.  The temperatures are dropping to the 20's.. Today I was off from work so I decided to make some hot miso soup!  ( *^ v ^* )   There's nothing quite like a hot soup or stew to combat a cold house.  It's funny because my dad claims that we have a lot of food in the fridge but all that 'food' he's talking about is the leftover pizza from last night.  lol I know that in Japan, miso soup is considered more of a side dish or an appetizer but when our family makes it, it's more of a meal.  Along with the miso paste and dashi powder, I usually add: - yellow onion - tofu - wakame - daikon (sometimes) - egg (sometimes) - green onion (sometimes) ... and we eat it with a cooked mixture of brown and white rice!  The tofu adds a lot of bulk to the soup so it's quite filling.  I like to ad...

So about... last, last Thursday, mom and I went to visit her co-worker's house because we were going to meet his dogs. He lives in an apartment because their family had to downsize. The dogs are stuck in the hot garage all day while the family is out (which is most of the time). It's a sad life, especially for two mid-aged Jack Russell Terriers. Jack Russell Terriers are a breed that need a lot of exercise and stimulation for their brains. If they don't get that, they can be destructive in the house and get "doggie dementia" as my mom likes to call it. (x_x) We ended up spending the afternoon with these dogs, first taking them for a walk and then to our house to see how they would interact with our own dog. It turned out that one of the Jack Russell's got along with our babycakes and she even tolerated him in the house! When we took the dogs back to their original owners, mom told the guy that we would take one of the dogs by the end of June if no...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I'm finally finished with this semester of school!!! So excited! I made cake pops with my mom last night and it was pretty fun but somewhat hard work with the chocolate dipping. -.- We had to keep re filling the chocolate dip supply and reheating it. That stuff cools off fast after dipping! (I know, big deal right? But mind you, we were doing this at like 11 at night and I was up since 6.) Lots of work but it was fun because it was like working in a candy shop making pretty chocolates. ^^ At the very end, we would glaze contrasting colored chocolate over the cake pops so they looked just like the chocolate factory sweets! And, funny thing is, I came to work today and my manager showed me this huge box of See's chocolates and said someone left it for us so we can all eat it. O_O They're gonna make me so faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat... I'm ...

Today is my last day of work for the week and I'm so happy since Christmas is officially OVER-!!!! ^___^ Now I can focus on New Years, the more important holiday of the month. u.u I recently found this cool blog with a ton of Japanese recipes. I'll be looking over that for now. Arigatou Maki-Saaaaaan~! I'm excited because I got this idea to make New Year Soba (Toshikoshi Soba) and I do love cooking. Sadly, I've been unbalanced and been mostly baking. So far, I've baked cookies, cakes, and mochi (note: learn to make butter mochi). I should've posted pics on here but the chiffon cake that I attempted wasn't as good-looking as I hoped it would look and with the others, they were nothing new. I still have to perfect the chiffon cake. Back to the soba, I'm so excited and I can't wait to go to the Pacific Ocean Market downtown to buy ingredients and some other goodies. ^o^ My interests in Japan Deco and fashion have also been revived so I might a...

I was so surprised at how long this past weekend lasted. I think it's due mostly to the fact that I woke up super early. xD On Friday, it was a fairly normal, boring day, just chillaxing after the week of school. Then Saturday rolled by as usual and then on Sunday, that's when things got interesting. I woke up a lot earlier than I usually do because I wanted to see my cousin, her bf, his bro, and her kids and have breakfast with them (in case I didn't get a chance to see them again). I woke up at about 6:00am and got ready to leave by 7:00am. Me, dad, and Karyn drove up to Loveland to pick them up from the hotel they were at. It was a very nice hotel, an Embassy Suites I believe. It was hilarious because I called Tiff when we got there and she didn't pick up her phone a couple times. We found out a little later that they slept in. lol It's funny because it seems like something I might do. We actually went up to their room to meet them and saw Chuck...