食欲の秋 (mostly food and photos)
Dec. 4th, 2020 11:20 amAutumn is the season of (culinary) appetite here, and I suppose I'm living up to it.
・Sweet roast chestnuts (天津甘栗) are back in the supermarkets and I keep a bag by my desk to shell and nibble, probably not all that healthy but so so satisfying.
・It's almost strawberry season--or rather it is, but I refuse to pay the exorbitant fall prices, so I'm waiting the last week or two until the rates come down and we can have strawberries and yogurt for breakfast on the regular. (I don't know why strawberries are a winter fruit here)
・Someone gave Y a bag of Shinshu apples, so we made applesauce (my father's recipe: core the apples and chop them into chunks without peeling, dump them in a saucepan, simmer and bash occasionally until the texture is even; serve piping hot with heavy cream and cinnamon). God what I wouldn't do for proper tart Macintoshes, but with a dash of lemon juice at the start these do pretty well.
・There's a little 小籠包 place that has opened up outside the station; you can buy them through a window without going in and they're delicious, crisp on the bottom, oily and savory, albeit a very guilty pleasure (not even counting the other xlb reference).
・I think it was trobadora who passed on the recipe for spicy lentil soup with feta? Much appreciated, easy and satisfying and a perfect winter lunch for two days. (I keep getting the broth-to-lentil ratio wrong and ending up with a mess of pottage, but it tastes just as good.)
In less pleasant news, Japan is a mess right now and also I have the same vague throat/upper-respiratory thing, no fever or other ills, I had in July; a phone call to the doctor then yielded basically "Stop worrying so much" and it went away on its own, but it's one more thing I could do without.
Have some more autumnal photos.
( Also a stray cat in both senses )
Be safe and well.
・Sweet roast chestnuts (天津甘栗) are back in the supermarkets and I keep a bag by my desk to shell and nibble, probably not all that healthy but so so satisfying.
・It's almost strawberry season--or rather it is, but I refuse to pay the exorbitant fall prices, so I'm waiting the last week or two until the rates come down and we can have strawberries and yogurt for breakfast on the regular. (I don't know why strawberries are a winter fruit here)
・Someone gave Y a bag of Shinshu apples, so we made applesauce (my father's recipe: core the apples and chop them into chunks without peeling, dump them in a saucepan, simmer and bash occasionally until the texture is even; serve piping hot with heavy cream and cinnamon). God what I wouldn't do for proper tart Macintoshes, but with a dash of lemon juice at the start these do pretty well.
・There's a little 小籠包 place that has opened up outside the station; you can buy them through a window without going in and they're delicious, crisp on the bottom, oily and savory, albeit a very guilty pleasure (not even counting the other xlb reference).
・I think it was trobadora who passed on the recipe for spicy lentil soup with feta? Much appreciated, easy and satisfying and a perfect winter lunch for two days. (I keep getting the broth-to-lentil ratio wrong and ending up with a mess of pottage, but it tastes just as good.)
In less pleasant news, Japan is a mess right now and also I have the same vague throat/upper-respiratory thing, no fever or other ills, I had in July; a phone call to the doctor then yielded basically "Stop worrying so much" and it went away on its own, but it's one more thing I could do without.
Have some more autumnal photos.
( Also a stray cat in both senses )
Be safe and well.