築地ぶらぶら - strolling on around Tsukiji Market

1/18 近くに用事があったので、ついでに築地場外市場へ寄ってみました。
やっぱり、市場って血が騒ぎますなー
相変わらずの人混みでした。
怪しいお店や迷宮のような細い道も、市場の魅力。
I dropped at Tsukiji Market after finishing some errand in a near area.
So many people as usual & I tingle with excitement every time I visit a market.
Fishy shops & labyrinth with small alleys make me dizzy with fascination.

この日のお昼は、
① 川エビ（？）のから揚げ（揚げたて）￥100 
② ウニまん（ふかしたて）￥300 
③ 蒸しカキ（蒸したて）3個で￥500  なり
Lunch of that day
1. Deep fried river shrimps – 100 yen 
2. A manju (steamed bun) with UNI(Sea urchin eggs) filling – 300 yen
3. Steamed oysters – 500 yen / 3 pcs.

老舗 江戸一さんのお店はとても素敵！
佃煮の試食で美味しさにびっくり。
味も私好みの素材の味がわかる薄味で、
防腐剤も入っていないという素晴らしさ。
お値段もリーゾナブルだし種類もたくさんあって、選ぶのに悩んでしまった。
４つお買い上げ。友人にもお裾分けしよっと。
I enjoyed shopping at Edoichi, an old established almost 100 years ago “Tsukudani” shop.
I tasted samples and they are not seasoned heavily & with NO preservatives by vacuum sealing.
I like their natural tastes and took some time to choose as there are so many kinds of Tsukudani at their shop.
I got 4 with very reasonable price and will share with my friends.

かんざしの形をした楊枝もゲット♥
I got lovely cocktail sticks shaped like “Kanzashi; Japanese traditional ornate hairpins” 

築地市場は海外からの観光客にも人気スポット。まぐろのセリは整理券をもらわないとだめだそう。
Many visitors from foreign countries visit Tsukiji Market.
If you want to watch the famous “Tuna Auction Observation”, you need to follow the instructions (No reservations in advance available.) 

火鍋で元気 – Hot Pot by Chinese food therapy

すごーい寒い満月の日、火鍋でラム食べ放題。
すでにラム5皿目&ポーク2皿目位時点での火鍋の状態は、こちら。
(ちなみにラム好きなふたりは、ええ、もっと食べましたとも。)

厚着して行ったけど、火鍋の前では薄着になれるドレスコードが正しかった。。。

One night with a full moon, we went to a Hot Pot restaurant in the freezing cold, eating lamb (two of us love this meat) as much as we liked.
The pot was like this after we ate almost 5 or more plates of lamb & 2 plates of pork.
Well, we continued to eat some more meats.

My dress code was wrong... I wore too many clothes in front of the Hot Pot.

午年 - Year of the Horse 2014

折り紙マイスター新春の新作は馬シリーズ。
ペガサスやユニコーンに加え、神話に登場する8本脚のスレイプニールも登場！

Our Origami Master’s new works are various “horses” to celebrate the New Year & suit “Year of Horse”
We have an eight-legged “Sleipnir” along with a Pegasus & Unicorn from mystic world in our gallery.

日向ぼっこ - Basking in the sun

日向ぼっこしてる姿、見てるこっちもあったかになっちゃう。
It made me smile when I saw they were basking in the sun.

ワインとアカデミックトーーク！ - Academic talks with wine

12/21は赤坂ライフサイエンスバーの集大成「アカデミックトーーク！」　いろいろな分野の研究者の人たちと同じテーブルでお話できて楽しかった♪　

オーガニックワインのショップで月１回開催するスタイルは終了し、３月に荒木町で何やら楽しそうなお店をオープンするそうです。いつでも通えるようになりますね！

Dec 21st was the last "Akasaka Life Science Bar" and we enjoyed academic talks in the casual atmosphere with researchers in various fields at the same table.

The organizer told us a new bar featuring "Science" is opened in Araki-cho this March and sounds like fun!

I am looking forward to dropping in it soon. 

おせち - OSECHI

  ゆずの日本酒と共に

Served with YUZU Sake

東京風お雑煮

O-zoni* -Tokyo Style

Soup w/rice cakes, boiled vegetables & other ingredients and

cooked in various ways according to regional custom

昨年末、仲良しの同僚と料理教室に。
「がんばらないおせち」　-　すごい魅力的なタイトル！
例えばおせちの煮物は地味だけど、素材を別々に煮てあったりして、実はすごい手間がかかるのだ。
参加して良かった～
確かに昔みたいに日持ちさせるために味を濃くする必要もないし、何が何でも全種類を作る必要もないわけです。

今やコンビニやデパートもお正月からオープンしているから、作り置きしておくおせち料理の有り難みも薄れてきつつあるのだと思うけど、やはり、縁起物ですものね。
お正月におせちをいただけるというのは、ありがたいものです。

ちなみに母の作るおせちは味が薄め。特にお煮しめ！私は大好き。今年もご馳走さまでした♥

実家のお雑煮

（大盛りにしてもらいました）

O-zoni by my mother

I went to a cooking lesson with my friend at the end of the year.  
We had been attracted by the recipes of "Easy OSECHI".
The basic Osechi; traditional Japanese foods celebrating a new year consists of Nishime（vegetables boiled in Japanese soup stock), Iwaizakana-sansyu (3 kinds of relishes with meanings of prayer for longevity, health & prosperity, celebrating a new year) & O-zoni. Even Nishime are usually time-consuming to cook.

It was a good lesson to learn the modern Osechi suitable for our recent daily life. -easy to cook and light & various tastes to enjoy our palates.
Well, all the convenient stores & most of the department stores are open from January 1st, different from the past and the value of Osechi might have been decreased but we still appreciate the traditional foods at the beginning of new years.
I love Osechi cooked by my mother, especially Nishime.
I appreciate her home cooking.  What a wonderful meal!

おもてなし -OMOTENASHI; hospitality by my style

フランスから友人が2年ぶりに帰国中に和食でお・も・て・な・しー
（おやつは得意のシフォンケーキ、自家製ブルーベリーソース添えだったけど。）

My friend came back to Japan from France for the first time in 2 years and I tried to welcome her by "Washoku" by my style. （Well, I baked a chiffon cake served w/blueberry sauce - Not Washoku at all.) 

近所のてんぷら屋さん「高七」でランチ

Lunch at a Tempra restaurant near my place

久々にちらし寿司を作りました。 

牡蠣の味噌炒め、おつまみ共にシードル辛口と良く合いました♪

I cooked Chirashi zushi*, Oysters fried in hot soy bean paste  & so on. 
They really went well with dry cider! 

*a style of sushi where the topping is placed on a bed of rice, usually in a bowl.

神々しい富士山と和食 – Awe‐inspiring Mr. Fuji & WASHOKU

黄金に輝いています12月夕暮れの富士山。

和食がユネスコ無形文化遺産に登録されたのを祝っているよう。
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXGxLaNnGO0

何でも取り込むのが得意な日本のこと、今や和食も、いろいろ。
伝統の日本食の技や心を守っていくこともとても大切。
手間をかければ美味しいものができるのも料理の良さ。
でも、その他にもいろいろあって良いのでは、と思います。
「簡単かつ美味しい」がモットーの私は、
味噌や醤油に合わせて、オリーブオイルやナンプラー、その他いろいろな調味料を日常的に使って料理を楽しんじゃっています。

Mr. Fuji was shining golden in the evening twilight in December as if it celebrated the registration of Japanese-style meal "Washoku"as the UNESCO intangible Cultural Heritage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXGxLaNnGO0

"Washoku" full of variety now as we Japanese import & use many things even in food from the ancient times.
It's important to keep the Japanese traditional cooking skills & spirits and convey to next generations and good thing to take time to cook delicious dishes, following discipline.
But I do not think it's all for cooking, especially to cook usual meals & enjoy cooking in daily life.
My motto is "Easy cooking & taste yummy" and I love to use olive oil & namplaa(Thai fish sauce) & other Western, Chinese or ethnic seasonings along with "Miso" & "Soy sause; Shoyu" when I cook "Washoku".

明けましておめでとうございます – Happy New Year!

ちょっとバタバタな年末年始。ご挨拶が遅くなりました。
佳き一年となりますよう。あと、世界が平和でありますように。
I had been tied up a bit during the Year-end & New year holidays.

Wishing everyone good luck for this year. Also, hoping for the peace in the world.

大好きな同僚からメッセージが元旦に届きました。
彼女にはまだ直接会ったことがないけれど
仕事を通じて生まれた友情って、うれしいものです。
パリに異動した彼女に今年初夏に会いに行けるのも楽しみ！

I got a new year’s message from my colleague.
I like her very much & enjoy the friendship between us through work although we still haven't met before. - I can't wait to see her when I am visiting Paris this early summer!

I wish you a very happy new year, full of health, growth, and success.
May your dreams blossom bringing a warm smile to you heart many times.
(中略＊snip＊)
Today is the 1st blank page of a 365 page book. Enjoy writing it.
Wishing you a very Happy New Year 2014!!

彼女のような素敵な文章を書けるようになりたいものです。
I wish I could write such a nice & beautiful message like hers.

 すぐご近所の神社へ初詣

My first visit to a shrine close to my place 

 ご近所の門松。

一般のおうちでここまで見事なものは見かけないですよね

"Kadomatsu"; New Year's decorative pine trees in front of a neighbor's house 
They are gorgeous!

 実家近くの神社へ母と初詣

龍の形のしめ縄が鳥居に！

I also visited a shrine close to my parents' house with my mother to make a new year's wish

A dragon-shaped new sacred straw rope on the shrine archway &
I have never seen the one like this.