Mama....move. I can't see the T.V.

Peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

And a very chocolate-y Aimee.

Natto

Here's a Japanese lesson.

The Japanese daily diet is a very healthy one, if you put the effort in. That's why they all live so long (86 years is the average life expectancy for women and 79 for men, approx). 

I put a lot of this down to natto.

Natto is up there with Bovril or Blue Cheese etc..

You either love it or you hate it.

In our house we love it.

Here's how wikipedia describes it, "Nattō (なっとう or 納豆^?) is a traditional Japanese food made from soybeans fermented with Bacillus subtilis. It is popular especially as a breakfast food. As a rich source of proteinand probiotics, nattō and the soybean paste miso formed a vital source of nutrition in feudal Japan. Nattō can be an acquired taste because of its powerful smell, strong flavor, and slippery texture.".

My Nina could eat it by the bucket but she could also eat Blue Cheese by the kilo.

Masa will eat natto but not Blue Cheese.

Aimee is still on the bench about both but will eat both, just not in large amounts.

Thanks to a very weird cravings phase when I was pregnant I am now a natto convert.

 This is how we buy it, in little packs, with some jellied soya sauce on the side to mix it with.

This is how we usually eat it, on rice with freshly chopped scallions.

It is very very sticky and washing up afterwards is no fun. Aimee doesn't really like sticky things so she tends to go through half a box of tissues with her Natto. It's best if you use a wet cloth or wet wipe to be honest because I spend ten minutes after dinner trying to get the bits of stuck tissue off Aimee's face.

Masa also likes to throw a raw egg in on top, but that's for the very hardy.

Most visitors turn their noses up at it, but Simon Brewer didn't. In fact Simon was pretty amazing, as I don't think there was anything he refused when he was here for a month.

And we went out of our way to test him!!

First BBQ of Spring/Summer

BBQ down by the river today. organised by Stewart from Scotland. Think he wanted to celebrate the Royal wedding but was too shy to admit it!! Anyway lovely day, lovely weather (tad windy) and great company.

Down by the river.

 

Masa used a flare to light the BBQ as Stewart's lighter wasn't cooperating. Do not try this at home.

 

Stewart and his high grade beef.

 

Me and ma youngest.

 

Masa and Aimee.

 

Nina found a stone.

 

Aimee found something sweet.

 

The evening sun was lovely but boy did it cool down quickly.

 

My man.

 

We're big into skipping ropes at the moment.

 

Boys and beer.

 

Jevon and a lovely sunset.

 

Once again, special thanks to Nami, official Toyama photographer.

Then my kitchen exploded.

So after a fairly bad week which went something like this:

Monday=hungover (good time on Sunday though).

 Tuesday=opened car door too fast and smacked self in forehead, very sore.

Wednesday=Aimee comes home from creche with minor stomach bug.

Thursday=Minor stomach bug turns to major stomach bug and I'm not feeling too hot either.

Friday= 14:46, A 9.0 earthquake.

Saturday=my kitchen explodes.

Saturday a group of close friends were coming over. I thought about cancelling but didn't, I needed the company and bad jokes. Saturday morning Masa took the kids out for lunch so I could get cooking. Made two lasagnes, just about to get started on apple pie when dish falls off cooker and hits the emergency fire extinguisher just below the gas cooker. All I remember is turning off the gas, grabbing the lasagnes and legging it. This is the aftermath.
If my depression levels could have fallen any lower they would have but the earthquake had me feeling pretty low anyway. So low in fact that I felt nothing, had a bit of a shout at Masa when he came home (felt good to blame someone) and then we got cleaning. It only took three hours.This fine pink dust went EVERYWHERE.

 
Think I have the worst of it gone but what a mess. I keep finding little pools of pink dust in the oddest of places. The only real way to compeletly clean is to move out. I even had to clean the outside of the fridge, the walls, the shelves, places I never had an intention of cleaning.

I can still taste the stuff.

Jenny, if you get a chance, will you show this to Mum. When I finally got round to telling her she was a great sport about it. Normally I'd be on the phone whining within seconds but with all the mayhem up north is just seemed so trivial.

The guests came, they ate, they noticed nothing.

A welcome invasion.

Completely forgot and half thought it wasn't settled anyway that a bunch of Chinese friends were coming over for dinner. When I got the call all I could do was panic, had nothing prepared and hadn't even done the shopping. Shouldn't have worried. They arrived, with the food, cooked it, ate it together, then did the dishes and left. I should invite these ladies (and one very much outnumbered gentleman) around more.

Yana and Eiko doing the cooking. 

The thrid head belongs to Gao san, not enough room in my kitchen for all of them. They all have unpronounceable names too so we stick with easy versions for this slow irish woman. 

There were ten things going on at once. 

Think there was eight dishes in the end. Here's the deep friend fish. This was gorgeous. 

Sweet pork and potatoes. My Nina would have eaten the whole bowl. 

Crispy crispy chicken.

 

Nina and Kana (Eiko's daughter) waiting for the food. Kana is 11 and starting Junior High soon, that makes her a "big girl" and Nina loves the big girls. 

Dessert, provided by me, in tubs bought from the store next door. Bit of a down grade after the meal so I owe these ladies big time. Masa missed out, he was working but there was so much food left over he had it for his lunch box the next day aswell. A very happy man.

The pair eating their ice-cream.

 
The food these ladies cook is like nothing I've eaten before, so different to the food we eat in Chinese restaurants. Divine.



Look what I found today.....

And paid a small fortune for. Don't even ask because I'd be ashamed to admit it.

The foibles of an expat!!