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Ukishima (浮島)- Floating Island (G/D free)

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The next Japanese sweet in my search of the right product for the Christmas market was a sweet called ‘Ukishima (浮島)’ in Japanese. It means literally ‘Floating Island’. I think the name came from the pattern the sweet has. It is often made in two layers in different colours and the wave of the lower layer looks like an island appearing above the sea.

I had had the sweet when I was in Japan in October and I even posted the photo on this blog as ‘Manju in Autumn Theme’. It is the square one in orange and green colour with a piece of Chestnut. I was so amazed that a sweet can be light and moist at the same time. It was so delicious that I bought it again.

Ukishima – Floating Island (浮島)

‘Ukishima‘ is a steamed sponge like Japanese sweet. The texture is very light but also very moist. The Good news for many people is that it is Gluten / Dairy free. Perfect!

‘Matcha Ukishima with Apple’

Ukishima piece with L

I tried two versions. This one was with ‘Matcha (Green Tea)’ with Apple. It was a little rough but it looked OK, don’t you think? My voluntary tasters liked this and gave “10 out of 10”! So I am certainly adding this one in my products list.

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Gluten Free Shortbread

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So I am going to have a stall in two markets, one is on the 6th (Sun) and the other on the 13th (Sun) of December. Both are in North London. I will be very happy if anybody who lives nearby wants to try out my Japanese/Japanese-Western fusion Sweets and come to see me there. 🙂

xmassmall           Xmas flyer 2015 pshoped

The market venue and the date are fixed but the thing which is not fixed yet is what I should bring to those markets – my products.

There is so much demand for Gluten free food these days and I have been developing some. Luckily many of Japanese sweets are originally Gluten free and Dairy free.

Gluten Free Kinako Shortbread with Sesame Seeds

I have this signature biscuit “Kinako Shortbread‘ which is the Shortbread with Japanese ingredient ‘Kinako‘ and white sesame seeds. I know it tastes good and I have sold it before. So I want to try changing it into Gluten Free biscuit this time.

Kinako gf shortbread

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Winter ‘Market’ is Coming!

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It’s very fast! Too fast that Time passes! It’s nearly December. I though 2015 has just started. I cannot believe it. It means Christmas is coming soon too. Oh, Noooo! And then the thing comes before Christmas is?

Winter ‘Market’ is Coming!

Jon-Snow-In-Game-Of-Thrones

… sorry my mind is still in Winterfell.

Anyway, I have to tell you that I decided to have a stall in local markets in December. Not one but two. Am I crazy?

One of them is organised by a Japanese person and I have been joining them for the last three years. It is a Craft Market which is more like a market that people bring to gather their hobbies in one place. Some of the stuff is very Japanese and must be new and interesting to local people.

Xmas flyer 2015 pshoped     2015 Xmas J pshopped

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The End of Summer and Okra

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Okra6

I am in Japan now. Because of some technical issue (I don’t mean Japan is technically behind though) I have not been able to post as often as I would want to do.

“Autumnal Equinox Day (秋分の日)”

The 23rd of September was our national holiday “Autumnal Equinox Day (秋分の日)”. After this day the length of the daytime gets shorter than the nighttime day by day so this was officially the end of summer.

Still it is quite hot and humid here. The daytime temperature now is just below 30°C so it is almost the same as the hottest summer day in London.

In the garden Okra is still flowering and we can harvest some. Okra is one of the vegetables I wanted to grow in London and gave up after trying for a few years. It does sprout and gets cotyledons – the first leaves but … never reaches to the point having true leaves. So, I am happy to see the plant growing here. It’s been a bit late but some Peanuts plants are also growing in the garden here. I am looking forward to harvesting home-grown Peanuts sometime soon.

Blackberry Cup Cakes

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Blackberry Cup Cakes 2

It has been Blackberry season in England. It is good to eat seasonal food. That is Macrobiotic Diet. I am very disappointed that I managed picking them only once this season … 😦 It is nearly the end of the season now so it is very unlikely that I could get any more decent berries …

Blackberries

During the season in almost every year I make a tart with Blackberries, except for this year. But this year I made cup cakes with them instead. I have to say it was rather successful! I am annoyed that I could not make the tart but I am happy about these cup cakes so that I am sharing the recipe here with you.

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The Walk along Cray Riverway & the Picnic

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River Cray

Definitely summer has gone away from England. Each time we have some rain the air is getting colder and wetter. Autumn is here now and then … ‘Winter is coming’ … Huh? Are you from Winterfell?

Jon-Snow-In-Game-Of-Thrones( ↑ Don’t mention the thing not everybody understands! 😦 )

However, the Saturday two weeks ago had great weather. As it could have been the last nice day to go out, we did not want to miss the chance. We packed our ‘Bento’ Lunch box and left home for a walk.

PubThis time our destination was ‘Cray Riverway’. There was a little walk from the station to the path. We had to ask the direction twice including the landlord of this little pub. I liked the interior of the pub. Very authentic.

Pub ceiling　　

Shortly after leaving the pub we found the entrance to the Riverway which was a small river that went through dense woodland.

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The Walk in Trent Country Park

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Walk with Siver birch

Very inviting bright path with dappled light


 
It was a very fine weather on Sunday so I went to walk in Trent Country Park in Enfield, England.

Pond

The Pond near the entrance had a good reflection

Anenue

Long Avenue creating a breezy shade

There were many people and most of them were with a family. I tried to take a quieter route by going through wilder area.

Leaning Tree

A leaning tree looked picturesque

Bridge

A bridge in Water Garden area

Blue sky

Blue sky, dark green of woods, yellowy green of grass and a speck of red colour of a deck chair somebody’s carrying … all these colours contrasting so harmoniously. Viewing this scene was the perfect way to finish my day trip.

Blurred Vision

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Town Hall shadow

Is this an illusion?

Day 10 on ‘Photo101’ – Mystery & Lighting Effects

This is a part of our Town Hall on Day11 Challenge ‘Behind Closed Doors’. Actually this was shot in colour but looks B&W. This silhouette looked interestingly spooky so I took a photo.

Town Hall entrance

This is the same spot from the front of the building.