daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
It seems that we are eating more nabe dishes lately, and I am all for it! Japanese hotpot is so delicious. The most well-known in the West are sukiyaki and shabu-shabu, but tonight we had veggies, hamachi, and crab. So good!
One of our family traditions is a cheese fondue dinner for Valentines Day. I guess it’s somewhat popular here in the US, or at least it used to be. Anyway, this year it was just Mariko and I since both kids are away at school, so for the first time, we had mushrooms with our fondue. So yummy!
Earlier in the day, I went to pick up a bouquet of flowers, and the curbside delivery lady also gave me a single red rose (and a sparkling water). It’s maybe the first time I’ve ever received a rose from a girl! I mentioned this to my friend, and he said that he read that 95% of men only receive flowers at their funeral. I don’t know if that’s true, but it seem plausible. So it’s nice that I’ve joined the 5%. :)
Mariko taught a pizza dough class this afternoon and made two pizzas. The toppings were the same, but the sauces were different. She used a basic tomato sauce for one, and a pesto sauce for the other. Both were great, but I prefer the pesto sauce. I ate so many slices! Since I went running earlier in the day, my appetite was crazy. Exercise + pizza = happiness.
Mariko whipped up this yummy nasu (eggplant) side dish for dinner tonight. It was so good! I’ve always loved eggplant, but I like Japanese-style the best.
I’ve had my regular two cups of coffee today, but am really dragging this afternoon. So, why not treat myself to an espresso to give me a boost? And I love using this little espresso cup that I bought at La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. It’s so cute.
Today’s tea choice is Earl Grey. Delicious and perfect for a chilly afternoon.
It seems like we just celebrated Setsubun, yet here it is again. Yay! As usual, we enjoyed some massive ehoumaki sushi rolls, while facing this year’s lucky direction, South/Southeast. And of course you cannot speak until you’ve finished the whole roll!
This year, we also had soba, which is eaten traditionally at New Years. Since this marked the new year in ancient times, Mariko decided to make soba as well as the ehoumaki. It was so delicious! And now we’ll have double-luck this year.
