Ginger pear smoothie

 

Surely there is a good Halloween name for this concoction. Witches brew? Frog's breath smoothie? It's yummy no matter the name.

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything, but this smoothie was too good to not share. I've been on a breakfast smoothie kick lately, but this one was a lunchtime concoction created out of a desire to liquify a pear. So here it goes- ginger pear smoothie.

One cup spinach

One cup kale

One cup milk

Blend. Add:

One banana

One pear

One tablespoon honey

Half scoop vanilla protein powder

Half teaspoon ginger

Half teaspoon cinamon

Blend.

Drink.

Yum.

The spices lend it a fallish kick, as does the pear. Coming in at around 400 calories with about 22 grams of protein, this makes a great lunch. I might try fresh ginger next time, or just more ginger generally. Definitely a new one for the rotation.   

Fall 秋

 

Today, it happened. The vending machines switched over to having hot drinks. I've been waiting for this day for a few weeks, and was so excited to see the warm yuzu, hot coffee, and cans of  corn soup in the vending machine as I waited for the train home. The weather turned a bit cooler as well, so it truly feels like the beginning of autumn. Other signs of fall are in the air as well, including cosmos in front of one of the local restaurants.

 

Convenience stores and groceries have carried autumn foods for a few weeks now, including yakuguri (roasted chestnut) flavored chocolates.

 

Kaki, or persimmon, are in season

 

 

Baskin Robbins has Halloween themed ice cream sundaes. I had mine with pumpkin ice cream.

 

 

And finally, fall flavored beers are available.

 

Luxury 贅沢

 

As part of Thursday's adventures around the posh part of town, we came across some rather expensive goods. First off, $126 grapes in the lobby of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Yep, you read that right. There were also $300 melons in the same shop. And $30 bottles of juice. Definitely not within my budget, but still beautiful to see. Sadly, no free samples. We also spied these geometric watermelons- sans price tag, and $30 single peaches. This is not to say that all of Tokyo is so expensive- the grapes at my local market range around $4-6 a bunch, and peaches run about $1 each, sometimes $3 for the more desirable varieties.

 

 

   

In our wanderings we also ended up in the lobby of the giant Mitsukoshi Department Store (below). The store has its origins in a 17th century kimono shop (1673 to be exact), and the Nihonbashi location is particularly luxurious. We saw a weaving demonstration in the lobby, complete with gorgeous handcrafted obi (kimono sash) for sale.... starting at $10,000. Needless to say, we were starkly reminded that we are living in the most expensive city on the planet, and as such grabbed some small pastries from one of the basement food stalls and headed over to a public park.

Leftover Joy

Long after most of the Thanksgiving leftovers have gone, some of our Spiced Cranberries remain.

Each year this is true- we make one bag of berries worth of cranberries- which is plenty for the big day, plus too many to eat with leftovers. I'm a huge cranberry fan, but it's tough to figure out what to do with two cups of tart berry goodness, despite their long fridge life. Enter Joy the Baker.

Joy the Baker is a food blog that I like to follow. I enjoy her photography and witty humor, and after Monday night I completely worship her recipe for Cranberry Brie Grilled Cheese. I'm not a big fan of plain grilled cheese, as melty cheese is not my favorite texture, but this was fabulous. The brie was smooth and creamy, and the whole grain mustard and cranberries were the most heavenly accompaniment. I was hesitant to serve sandwiches for dinner, as they seem so casual, but with a big salad and a side of slow-cooker Potato Pesto Soup, this was one of the better dinners of our week.

Apples from tree to table

 

 A few weeks ago we spent a Sunday afternoon out in the country, apple picking with a group of friends at the Pome on the Range Orchard. The half peck of apples we gathered didn't seem like much while we were out among the trees, but back in our kitchen it seemed like a ton. In the week after we went apple picking we had apples for snacks and Apple-Walnut Cake with Caramel Glaze. This past weekend we made Apple Sauce, which was really easy and surprisingly tasty, and which made a great ingredient in the Apple Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting which graced our table this evening.

Fall tomato harvest

It's hard to believe that I can harvest tomatoes on October 2, but I'm not going to complain.

The garden is still producing really well- we had chard yesterday, carrots tonight, cantaloupe, Anaheim chilies, jalapenos, basil, and eggplant last week, and lots of tomatoes on salads. If the weather stays warm enough in the next few days, I should have a watermelon and some green beans before this weekends cold front. Then it'll be on to the cold crops that are currently seedlings- radishes, snow peas, India greens, kale, and bok choi.

Mid-September Veggies

Sunday's harvest.

The cantaloupe was pretty tasty, if not terribly sweet. We used the eggplant and Anaheim peppers to make a miso stir-fry for dinner tonight. Tomatoes and cucumber for salads. I really can't think of anything more rewarding than dinner from the yard.

Cucumber Apple Salad

Amaｚu zuke!

I harvested my first cucumber yesterday. While making up bento boxes of leftover rice bowl last night, I thought it would be fun to make fresh pickles (amaｚu zuke). I found an easy recipe on the website Just Bento, and quickly chopped the cucumber and an apple, tossed in some rice vinegar, soy sauce, salt, and sugar, as well as a dash of red pepper, and let the salad marinate overnight. The result was perfectly crisp- the pepper gave it a little bite, and the apple lent it a hint of sweetness. The recipe can be found here. いただきます！

Devilish Heat

It's still hot. Welcome to the new normal.

I'm so tired of hearing people celebrate the warm low-snow winter and then complain about the heat all summer long. It's climate change, folks. We caused it, we need to work to solve it. Or at least slow it. Do you like to eat food? Breathe oxygen? Then let's work on curbing that CO2 addiction, k? And, some of us actually *enjoy* the winter, the snow, and things like snowshoeing and skiing, hot chocolate and sledding. So please stop ruining my environment with your Hummer.

I was mystified to read this headline today: "What's Causing the Heat Wave?" Um, really? Have you not heard the news in the past, oh, twenty years? Perhaps not, as only 83% of Americans "believe" the climate is warming. No, my fellow citizens, this is not Santa Claus. Much like evolution, there is nothing to "believe" about climate change. Step out your door. It's happening. Actually, it already happened.

So, what can we do? Little things. Easy things. Hang your clothes out to dry instead of using the dryer- it'll save four whopping pounds of carbon emissions for each load you don't dry, and it'll make your clothes last longer. Use bar soap- it takes less energy to ship a condensed bar instead of all the water in body wash. Don't use a hair dryer- think about the silliness of blowing hot air on your head while you run the a/c. Or, if you are like me and like to use the dryer to straighten your hair, wait until it's almost dry and then run the dryer for only two minutes instead of ten. Eat vegetarian for a few meals a week- it takes an astounding amount of water to raise animals, not to mention the strain on petroleum resources and if you're eating beef the mass of methane that cows produce. Turn up your a/c a degree or two. Eat local. Turn off the lights and t.v.

If we all take small steps today we won't have a massive crisis tomorrow.

Recipe for the summer smoothie that I drank while reading about Yoshitomo Nara (pictured above): toss one peach, one apricot, and a handful of blueberries into the blender with two handfuls of ice. Blend. Drink. Be devilish.

Fourth of July Blueberry Pie

Thanks, Martha Stewart, for improving my Saturday with this fantastic Blueberry Pie recipe. The pate brisse crust takes quite a while, as there is a good deal of refrigeration time involved, but that gave me more time to go to the Farmers Market and get this great haul of veggies:

And of course, around here a trip to market means a trip to the adjacent playground, so I got in some exercise to burn off the pie and ice cream. Plus, blueberries are full of antioxidants and supposedly they improve your mood, so I'm healthier and happier all around. I can't imagine a better Saturday morning.

Fresh juice

Carrot-apple-beet-ginger juice, made fresh at home and enjoyed for breakfast in the garden on a cool Saturday morning.