happy halloween

happy halloween from Yama!

package of love

I received a large package from my mom a couple days ago... it's a package full of love! :)

My mom sent me an awesome portable halogen cooker, some Taiwanese snacks and treats, and some household goods.


I think I'll have to figure out a way to eat the snacks and treats very slowly, or they'll be out pretty soon.

yummy treats

Joyce and Otis brought me these wonderful little Japanese marshmallows with azuki (small Japanese red beans) filling... they are so beautiful and so yummy!


They also brought me this box of Marble Pocky. It's chocolate mousse flavored... delish!


I think people are too nice to me sometimes. They know I like treats and they bring me some. Thanks guys!

mini stuffed pizza

These mini stuffed pizza slices from Farm Rich are easy to prepare and yummy. The crust is soft and slightly chewy, and the I'm happy that the company didn't skim on the mozzerella or pepperoni. Yum!

c is for cookie

I've changed my cell phoner ringer to "C is for Cookie" by Cookie Monster. It's awesome... and then I spent the whole evening watching many of the wonderful "vintage" Sesame Street clips...




C is for Cookie

Now what starts with the letter "C"?
"Cookie" starts with "C"!
Let's think of other things that starts with "C"!
Uh... Uh... Who cares about da other things?!

(CHORUS)x2

"C" is for Cookie that's good enough for me,
"C" is for cookie that's good enough for me,
"C" is for cookie that's good enough for me,
Oh! cookie, cookie, cookie starts with "C"!

Hey, You know what? A round cookie with one bite out of it looks like a "C"
A round donut with one bite out of it also looks like a "C" but it is not as good as a cookie
Oh, and the moon sometimes looks like a "C" but you can't eat that
So...

(CHORUS)

Cookie Cookie Cookie Starts with "C"
Cookie Cookie Cookie Starts with "C"

the lump under the blanket

Sometimes I'd see this little lump under the blanket, and when I peek under the blanket to check it out, this is usually what I see:


And he'd give me this, "hmmm. what." look.

maple cookies

I bought these maple cookies a few months ago, but had not been seeing them again until a couple weeks ago. Of course I had to buy some. I wonder if these are "seasonal" cookies the shops carry.

Hostess Cakes makes these. They are sandwich cookies with maple leaf cookies and maple syrup creme filling. They are so delicious, and are perfect with an Americano or a caffe latte in a pleasant fall afternoon.

silly cups

We use these more eco-friendly cups at the caffe for iced drinks. They are thiner and softer, but can be sealed on the top (so we don't need to use lids).

I love these cups, but once in a while we'll see silly ones liked these:





We can't really use them on customers, but at least we can still seal them up when we make drinks for ourselves.

And at least they are unique and cool looking.

1234

The new song from the new iPod commercial is Feist's "1234." The MV is sort of silly, but it's definitely a fun song!



1234

One Two Three Four
Tell me that you love me more
Sleepless long nights
That is what my youth was for

Old teenage hopes are alive at your door
Left you with nothing but they want some more

Oh, you're changing your heart
Oh, You know who you are

Sweetheart bitterheart now I can tell you apart
Cosy and cold, put the horse before the cart

Those teenage hopes who have tears in their eyes
Too scared to own up to one little lie

Oh, you're changing your heart
Oh, you know who you are

One, two, three, four, five, six, nine, or ten
Money can't buy you back the love that you had then
One, two, three, four, five, six, nine, or ten
Money can't buy you back the love that you had then

Oh, you're changing your heart
Oh, you know who you are
Oh, you're changing your heart
Oh, you know who you are
Oh, who you are

For the teenage boys
They're breaking your heart
For the teenage boys
They're breaking your heart

new friends

I met a lovely couple from Taiwan (and/or Kansas) a couple months ago, and learned that they loved animals, too, so I've been enjoying our conversations every time I see them.

And yesterday they brought their cute long hair Miniature Dachshund, Torsion, to see me at the caffe... he was soooo tiny!


He was shy at first, but after walking with him for a little bit, and feeding him a piece of bread, he had since become my friend.


It's a great thing to meet new friends... both humans and animals!

you can't see me

Naicha's favorite spot inside the house has been by the dining room table these days... between the big window and the curtains.


I'd call her once, and she'd higher her head, but she's still behind the curtains. And then I'd call her again, and she'd stay quiet and not even move.


She probably thinks,"You can't see me anyhow."

vintage morton salt advertising mug

I found this wonderful little vintage mug the other day, and it has become my favorite mug to use this week. hehe.

I did a quick research, and found that this vintage Morton "When It Rains It Pours" mug was manufactred in Japan in the late 70s, and ended on 1980. The pattern on the cup features the Morton 1914 design. I think there were a couple more other designs as well.

Morton also released a new set of 4 mugs of the designs in 1998... I believe they are more white and bright in color.

The mug is rounded and smooth to the touch. I love it!

puccho

My friend Joanne gave me a stick of orange Puccho candies. It's chewy, slightly creamy, and has little orange bits in the center!

And the Puccho characters are so cute!

anti-nausea natural remedy

John woke up very early this morning and threw up, and then the Naicha and Yama got a little sick, too. John figured it was probably the hamburger he made for lunch yesterday (which he also shared with the dogs)... something must have been wrong with the beef.

After going to the bathroom outside, both of the dogs got better (for some reason Nuki didn't get sick at all.) John threw up a couple more times where nothing was probably left in his stomach, and was feeling really uncomfortable.

He then looked online for some anti-nausea home remedies, and most people recommended ginger. You can either chew a little piece of ginger, or put some grated or ground ginger in hot water or tea to drink.

We happen to have a small jar of grated ginger, so I mixed a teaspoonful of it with a cup of green tea for John. I don't know if it was really the ginger, or John was already recovering, the tea did supress the nausea.

After that John was able to eat a little bit of rice soup, and felt a lot better... so I guess ginger does work as an anti-nausea remedy!

naicha

This is Naicha... come running toward me when I say, "Naicha!"

... or "Nuki!", or "Yama", or "Ginger!", or "Jasper!"

keep writing!

A professor from the University of Texas has conducted a research since the mid 1980s and found that when a person writes 15 minutes a day, 4 days a week, his or her health improves.

Writing is a wonderful way to relieve stress and pressure. I never thought of it that way... but I can totally relate. Not too long ago I was feeling really stressed and I actually wrote a little poem about it, and magically I felt better, and when I read the poem again later on I smile (for some reason).

So keep on writing. OK these days I should say, keep on blogging. Write about happy things, and sad things, and things that make you think and wonder. It's therapeutic and fun!

the fall is here

It seems like everywhere you look, you can tell the fall is here...


These vines are on the fence in front of our front yard. I could swear they were green yesterday.

fall radiothon at KRCL

We held the fall radiothon at KRCL tonight. I was happy that many people called, but sad that we didn't reach our goal of $1,000 within the hour and a half of the show.

KRCL is a commercial-free community radio, where 80% of its operating budge comes from its listening community! The program I'm doing, "Chinese Radio", brings our listeners music from Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong, as well as teaching simple and useful Mandarin Chinese.

If you listen to my show and would like to make a pledge, please do so before October 14th by calling 359-9191, or online at KRCL. Remember to mention that you want to support "Chinese Radio!"

pumpkin cake

I made John's favorite Pumpkin Cake for his birthday!


Almost looks like there's apple slices on top, or but those are little dough drops that expanded after baking.

at Takashi's

It's John's birthday today, but since we have to be at the caffe today, and because we took yesterday (Columbus Day) off, we celebrated at Takashi's last night.

We didn't get to sit in front of Takashi last night, but the chef was skilled and happy. We had plenty of food without stuffing ourselves, had a few Asahi beers, and a great time.


One of the Sashimi plate we had. Yummy. The chef fillet Aji and deep fried its head and tail... We ate them. They were really crunchy and yummy!


Grilled miso Sablefish. Delicious. Delicious. It literally "melts" in your mouth. Did I mention it was delicious?


Tamago (egg) and Escolar nigiri. They were both yummy, and I especially love the escolar. I later found that escolar is also called "oil fish" because of the rich and fattening texture. And yes, it's strawberries and almonds in the center of the plate. Strange combination, but goes amazingly well with the nigiri.


Anago - salt water eel. Not to be confused with Unagi, which is fresh water eel. Anago has a slightly tougher texture compared to Unagi, and is of course, delicious. (Unagi is generally used on donburi, which is pretty much a rice bowl with meats or fish, and vegetables.)


Agedashi tofu. I liked how Takashi serves the yummy fried tofu cubes and stock sauce and katuo (bonito) flakes in a small pot.


Ankimo. Don't freak out, but Ankimo is fish liver pate. It sounds funny, but when properly made, it's delicious.

So these were some of the dishes we had last night. We didn't, however, get dessert, because I made John his favorite Pumpkin Cake for his birthday!

homemade chicken wheat dog biscuit

I made some dog biscuit for the doggies this past weekend. It's a simple recipe, and I think the dogs like very much, since they chomp the biscuits down fast!



Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup dry milk
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg
approx. 1 cup chicken stock

How To:

1) Combine the wheat flour, dry milk and garlic powder in a mixing bowl.
2) Mix in the beaten egg.
3) Pour in the chicken stock slowly to form a "hard" dough. Make sure the dough is not too soft or sticky.
4) On a floured surface, roll the dough out to an approx. 1/4" thickness.
5) Use cookie cutters or a knife to cut the rolled-out dough into pieces.
6) Place all pieces on a cookie sheet. You don't need to leave a lot of space between the pieces, but do make sure the pieces are not stuck together.
7) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and bake the biscuit for 30 minutes.
8) Allow the biscuits to cool competely before storing or giving them to the dogs.

NOTE:

These biscuits are not super hard, and if you're storing them in a container with a lid, you probably want to leave them in the oven a bit longer to allow the extra moisture to evaporate. (Turn off the oven after the 30-minute baking time, and use the "leftover" heat in the oven to dry the biscuits.

Red Iguana

John and I went to Red Iguana on Sunday. The food was delicious, and the atmosphere was just so relaxing and happy.


John got the Mole Coloradito. It was some yummy Mole!


I got the Carnitas. Delicious. The guacamole was some of the best I've had.

And I wanted to try their traditional Mexican custard, but they were out, so the waiteress lady recommended the Flan with chocolate cake... um... it was a bit too heavy for me, and the flavors didn't quite match. :(



John got the Vanilla milk cake (OK this is not the name on the menu, but close). It looked giant, and it was pretty good. Still a bit heavy, but good.



Hmm... I'm really thinking about the sold-out Mexican custard right now.