foodie

Clematis

/ Mutsumi / 2 Comments

It’s so spring here in London all of a sudden! Once the sun starts shining above our heads everything bursts out in the fiels and the garden. One of the plants that looks almost dead during the long miserable winter time but is the first to show signs of life in my garden is the Clematis. When the temperature becomes slightly higher, tiny green buds emerge from dead looking branches and then if you don’t care for it quickly enough all the leaves get tangled up and become a mess. However, if you look it after it well you gets a beautiful reward!

clematis_carnivalThere are many different types of Clematis. Some flower in spring and some in autumn. Some get small flowers and some get huge ones. The one I love the most is the type with bluey purple flowers with a slight pinkish tinge and which come out at this season. The Clematis in my garden is quite similar to this one in this photo and will start flowering soon.

 

Clematis

I created a Japanese sweet in a Clematis shape as the monthly sweet for May.

Clematis 4

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It’s the Mother’s Day in Japan

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This Sunday, the 13th of May, is Mother’s Day in Japan and the U.S. In the U.K it was the 11th of March this year and will be the 31st of March next year. Although it is not the fixed day in Britain, Mother’s Day in Japan is always the second Sunday of May of each year. So it will be this Sunday for the year 2018.

I guess what we do on the day is universally quite the same. We appreciate our mothers for her hard work, care and love to us. We send a card and a gift to show our appreciation. The gift can be quite often flowers. I heard that this custom originally started in the U.S as the memorial day of a woman who was a peace activist and cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War. On her funeral her daughter gave a white carnation to all the attendants of the ceremony. So the carnations became the symbol and the flower to give on this special day for mothers.

Carnation

For cereblation the Mother’s Day in Japan I created a Japanese sweet in a red Carnation design.

Carnation 7-2

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Koinobori on Children’s Day

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The 5th of May is a National Holiday in Japan that is called the ‘Kodomo-no-Hi’, the Children’s Day. We celebrate the healthy growth and happiness of children, particularly boys (because there is the Girl’s Day on the 3rd of March). There are several things we do traditionally for that day. As the National Holiday in Japan we of course have special food related to this day. One of them is ‘Chimaki’ which is a steamed Mochi sweet wrapped in bamboo leaves and the other one is ‘Kashiwa Mochi’ that is also a Mochi sweet wrapped in an oak (Kashiwa) leaves.

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Koinobori

There are also things we do for the day but not food related. We decorate our houses with a model of ‘Kabuto’ Samurai helmet by hoping the boy becomes big and strong. Last year I created a Kabuto sweet by being inspired by its shape. And the most significant thing we do traditionally for this Children’s day is placing a huge Koi Carp shaped banner called ‘Koinobori’ outside of the house. It is made of light cloth and when wind comes in from the carp’s moth and goes through its body, it flows up in the air and looks like it’s swimming above the roof.

‘Koinobori’ Koi Carp

I have actually made this Koinobori sweet two years ago. It went quite successfully so I made it again this year.

Koinobori 2

However, there is a small difference between this year’s Koinobiri and my previous creation.

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Oh! Hanami 🌸 Ukishima

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For us Japanese Spring time is all about ‘Sakura’ Cherry Blossom. You might think all the Cherry blossoms are the same, however, there are many different types. The species with single petal flower start blossoming first and then other types with multi petals follow to open flowers. So that, although the best viewing time is quite short for each tree, we can enjoy viewing Sakura Cherry blossom for quite a long time betwee mid – late March and throughout April in Japan.

These days it is getting quite well known that Japanese have a picnic party eating and drinking under a full blooming Cherry tree. It is called ‘O’Hanami’. It literally means ‘the viewing of Sakura blossoms’ and it tells how much we love seeing Sakura. I tried to think a perfect Japanese sweets for this O’Hanami occasion which is something delicious in the Cherry blossom theme and also easy to pick and eat outdoors.

O’Hanami Ukishima

The sweet I created for the O’Hamani occasion is ‘Ukishima’. It looks quite like a western cake but is actually a very Japanese sweet with a soft, light texture. When I tasted this sweet the first time, I fell in love with it! The best thing about it is it’s so moist.

hanami Ukishima4

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Happy National Tea Day!

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Apparently it is National Tea Day in the UK today.  Britain is officially one of the biggest tea drinking countries. People’s day starts from having a cup of tea for breakfast, morning and afternoon breaks and even after an evening meal. Any film or TV drama located in the UK will always have one or more scenes drinking tea with the famous phrase “Would you like to have a cup of tea?”. Although more people have started having a taste for coffee,  people’s love of tea will never dissappear in this country.

There are many types of tea around these days. What kind of Tea do you like? I wonder which tea should I have for this special day?

What I matched with this Rose Japanese Wagashi sweet is this herbal Tea. It is a Wild Berry herbal tea which has a wonderful rosy red colour and full of fruity fragrance.

Rose 3e

Have a lovery Teatime ☕ on this special day!!

Sakura 2018

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We are in April. We had a cold winter with quite a lot of snow in the UK but even we must be finally in Spring? I keep receiving posts and photos that say ‘Sakura’ Cherry blossoms came to Japan far too early this spring. Single-petaled Cherry species always blossom earlier than multi-petaled ones and it normally starts opening at the end of March and becomes full bloom at the beginning of April. However, this year single-petaled blossom almost ended even before April came. April is the beginning of the academic year in Japan so the entry ceremonies to schools and companies are held at the beginning of April. It is normally a great sight that people posing with full Sakura blossom as the background for the photo shoot on their special day, but maybe it did not happen this year.

Sakura 18Because the weather was so miserable for the last week or two in London I did not go for a walk very often. I went to the nearby park to see the Sakura blossoming situation two days ago and noticed that half of the flower buds were already open. It is a warm and sunny day yesterday so most of the buds would be open by now.

Sakura, 2018

Since I started making Japanese sweets I always make some sweet in the theme of Sakura Cherry Blossom in spring. I made a sweet quite literally in a Sakura flower shape last year so this year I wanted make something Sakura as an image.

Sakura 3

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Daffodil, the Early Spring Flower

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Last week the whole of Britain was covered with snow even in London, Devon and Cornwall which is supposed to be the warmest area in UK. It was certainly very cold and as soon as I took my hands out from gloves they froze up. I thought those could be the coldest days I have experienced in England.

But now the severe weather has gone and the sunlight seems brighter. It means we are very closed to in Spring! When we talk about spring in Japan the first thing/flower we think about is Sakura cherry blossom, however, the most noticeable flower in early spring in the UK is the Daffodil. When the weather is warmer I start to feel desperate to go out for a walk. By walking in a park I see some gathering of bright yellow in a flowerbed. It is the unmistakable colour of Daffodils which makes me realize ‘Spring has finally come!’.

Sweet ‘Daffodil’

For the monthly sweet for March I thought there is nothing more suitable as the design than the Daffodil. The colour of this flower is very bright yellow but not too harsh on my eyes.

Daffodil 4

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Soufflé Pancake with Redcurrant Sauce

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It is Pancake Day today. To be honest I did not have any plan of making Pancake or even having any Pancake at all. But when I saw some beautiful and tasty looking Pancake photos on some people’s posts I could not resist making one.

I did not have any fresh fruits at home, however, I remembered that I had some frozen Redcurrant in my freezer. So my pancake making had begun …

Soufflé Pancake with Redcurrant Sauce

I used my recipe when I made a similar Soufflé Pancake two years ago. That time I used fresh Strawberries for making sauce. I also changed some ingredients so I am writing the new recipe with some changes below.

Souffle pancake1e

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