Food Cravings

You know, for me, it's kind of hard not eating meat. Not because I miss the taste. That's a bit far from the truth. I do miss meat on occasion. And usually only when it comes to Japanese food. Nah, that's not the craving I'm talking about.

I had an intense craving for enchiladas. With salsa. And tomatoes. And all of the good stuff. And I can't make fish enchiladas because fish is expensive when you're not near the sea. So I found a lovely recipe for black bean enchiladas that I'll be making soon because why not? My food menu the next couple of weeks is likely going to be all over the place. There's Japanese food- soba, tuna rolls, omelet rice- as well as Mexican- enchiladas- and assorted side dishes- steamed broccoli, corn on the cob, sweet potato fries. And breakfast is all about the English muffins and making what I call a banana roll-up because I can't remember the proper name. Basically it's melt chocolate chips in almond butter with a bit of milk in it, spread it on a tortilla, stick a banana in it, and then roll it up and eat it. It's a good way to use the tortillas currently sitting in the freezer. And my almond butter.

National Cuisine

I'm taking a Japanese civilizations class that's all about food. Today we were discussing kaiseki, which had like a ton of rules and etiquette bound to it. Kaiseki is basically often a "main dish" surrounded by smaller dishes and are on trays so it's eaten off the ground. This was the beginnings of what we now consider Japanese national cuisine. It's fascinating how it began!

Now why did I find this fascinating? In my approximately six years of studying Japanese culture and history formally, it never occurred to me that Japan as a nation was relatively young. Sure, it's existed as a country, but a national identity did not exist for a long time. Japan remained splintered until Oda Nobunaga started to unify the provinces. This was then followed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and finally Tokugawa Ieyasu. It wasn't until the Tokugawa were ruling that Japanese cuisine became more standard.

White rice? Surprisingly not that widely consumed until the late Tokugawa era because it was expensive and only the rich could afford it. It was a method of measuring wealth and power.

So what we consider "Japanese cuisine" now is actually a relatively young concept (really only started in the 1960s, after the world wars) and was previously only available to a select few. Commoners had to make do. It had a lot of rules, some of which still exist today!

It's amazing how things suddenly fall into context. It gives me this happy feeling.

Crochet food

I'm going to talk a bit about crochet food. I found an adorable little book called "Amiami Restaurant' by Mitsuki Hoshi about two years ago during a trip to California. My family makes a point to stop by the Marukai, and there's a bookstore right next to it. I always go in and look for Japanese crochet or knit books, because I like looking at the things they make. Well, I picked this one up and brought it back. I had the opportunity to use it for a school thing where I made crochet sushi. They are adorable!

Sushi isn't the only thing in this book, though. There's ramen, oden, hamburgers, and all sorts of yummy creations. I was once asked to make a hamburger steak for my mom's friend restaurant. It looks delicious! Makes me want to eat the actual thing.

If you haven't already, explore crochet food. Maybe a little one in your life (or gourmet friends!) would love to have one. There are plenty of free patterns out there for all sorts of food. Go make some (non-edible) food!

(You can find Amiami Restaurant here. I did a quick search, but there may be a cheaper option somewhere else. I do encourage you to do some searching!)

Best Banana Bread

I am a huge fan of banana bread. My mom always made the best, and when I went off to college, she sent me the recipe so I could make it. Whenever I buy bananas, I purposely let three ripen so I can use it in the bread. It's my favorite breakfast food.

Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3-4 medium bananas, very ripe and peeled
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Butter (a little)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease the 8-1/2" x 4-1/2" loaf pan with butter.

2. In a medium bowl, using the wooden spoon, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

3. In a large bowl, smash the bananas with the fork. Add the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla and beat with a wooden spoon until well blended.

4. Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture. Stir until just blended. 

5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with a wooden spoon. Put the pan in the oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven and set it on a rack to cool for 20 minutes.

6. Gently run a table knife along the inside edge of the pan to loosen the bread from the sides. Using oven mitts, turn the pan on its side and slip the loaf out onto the cooling rack. Let the loaf cool for 15 minutes before serving.

And there you have it! The best banana bread I've ever had! It really is delicious. So soft and light. Drink it with a little milk and it makes the perfect breakfast.

Cake Pops!

Yesterday was Mariko's birthday, and I decided to give cake pops a try. After some extensive research, I decided I knew what to do.

I was so, so wrong.

One out of every three cake pops fell apart. I burned the chocolate in the microwave (I think the microwave is having an identity crisis). And there was just too much cake mix for me to make everything into cake pops.

These came out pretty, though.

I've decided I'm never doing cake pops again unless I've got help, a double boiler, or one of those cake pop makers. I'm admitting defeat with that last admission. I really want to make cake pops by hand, but this just takes too long and it's too messy. It irritated me towards the end. There were four boxes of cake mix Mariko picked out and I only made one and a half. The rest became pre-cake pop cake that I've invited people to eat. Everyone loves those, which is great.

And the cake pops (that came out well) taste good. A friend of Susanna's said they were the best cake pops she's ever had. Surprising, considering I had no idea what I was doing. Still, I'm glad some people like my cake pops. I may try again when I have considerably more patience (and less cake mix).