Murasaki-shimeji cooking

After so many wonderful farewell-parties with our great friends and the biggest and most delicious Kegani, I have ever eaten, we felt so stuffed, that we decided to cook mushroom-soup this Sunday.

This is one of my fave soup with mushrooms and I always wanted to share it with you. 

I once wrote in my blog about Murasaki-shimeji (lepista nuda).

http://yuriatakagi.blogspot.com/2009/10/colors-of-autumn.html

and here is, how you cook the soup...

at first, you take duck-filets (or chicken) and boil it for a good fond (dashi), about at least 45 minutes.

Then take the duck or chicken out.

Put in the murasaki-shimeji and some consome... best is the "Delikatess-Bruehe" from Knorr, but any other one will do.

Let the mushrooms and consome boil a little and then add some chinese noodles...

Voila, this is how it looks like.

Murasaki-shimeji have a very strong, perfume-like flavour, so they really taste best with chicken or duck-soup.

And... you have another meal later... if you put the cooked duck in the stove or grill until it's golden and crispy, you can eat another dish... the trick is... when you cook duck before, you won't only have a delicious soup, but the duck (or chicken) will stay juicy inside, when you grill it.

Mizubasho

One of the earliest, but most impressive flowers you can see in early April til May here. Even before the fresh green on the trees, even before the cherry blossom, you have the season of Mizubasho at Onuma lake.

At some parts of the shore, where the snow melts and the shore is like a swamp, you can see those beautiul blossoms everywhere...

 

 

And here is a close-up of Mizubasho...

someday I want to paint it.

When people come to Hakodate during April and May, it seems that there is still no spring. So I recommend to everybody, who arrives in that season to make a trip to lake Onuma and enjoy Mizubasho there.

...and more Sakura

Here are some Sakura no Hana pics from 2005. Today is such a rainy and dark day. I woke up with a headache and I still don't feel well.

Looking through old pictures and photos cheered me up a little and I would like to share some cherry-blossom pics with you.

This is at Komagatake in Mori

and this wonderful old tree is at Goryokaku-park in Hakodate.

This was at my first Hanami in Japan and I was totally overwhelmed !!! I really pity those people, who just stay "cool and untouched"  watching this and the whole atmosphere of Hanami. They miss so much in life... nature has so many beautiful things to offer, but for some it is more easy to laugh about others, who enjoy this and other things in life, than doing something positive themselves.

I am looking forward to see the Hanami in Fukuoka soon ^______^ and I will take a lot of pictures and do a lot of sketches... can't wait !!!!

Oh, and I'm looking forward to this evening. The kids and I will watch "Police Academy 2" together. It's so much fun to watch some movies together, which I liked as a kid... ^_^

Sakura in 2006

Before I leave, I want to share with you some cherry-blossom pics, I took in 2006 here in Hakodate. I won't see this place in Spring for a long time... maybe never ever again, so I decided to upload my "best of Hakodate" from time to time.

I still recall that evening. My husband came home from work earlier and brought me and the kids to that spot, so we could enjoy the sunset with cherry-blossom together.

 

But there was also something else he was up to...

...looking for morels and with some luck we found one at that spot ^_^

So when we arrive in Fukuoka, the cherry-blossom will just be there, so we have to hurry to find new morel-hunting-grounds.

Bye,bye Onuma-Park

On Sunday, we went to Onuma-park... probably the last time before we move.

Here you see people doing ice-fishing. They are fishing little fish, called Wakasagi, which are normally fried and eaten as tempura right there on the ice, instantly after they are caughed.

I love every season at Onuma-park... even the Winterscenery is so nice and magical...

and here, you see Komagatake... the volcano I use to paint from time to time. This is my favorite spot for making sketches...

Before we returned, we met the first sign of Spring at Onuma. A flower called Fukujusou... a lovely couple had it in their garden and when I took that photo, they instantly invited us to their house and showed us some beautiful pictures of flowers they took over the years. I'm always overwhelmed by the hospitality and friendlyness of people here in Japan...

In the evening we had a wonderful farewell-party with some great friends... I prepared woodruff-wine (Maibowle in German) and the cheese and other wine and foods we tasted there, were all soooo delicious.

I will never forget this wonderful evening...

Whoever in Hakodate reads this... THANK YOU ALL for everything !!! Thank you for your hospitality and kindness !!! I will miss Hakodate very, very much and I promise to come back from time to time !!!

Cherry blossom

Just packed my colors for the moving :(

So I can not paint anything before April... I just kept my sketch-pad, if my muse strikes.

Here are some older works.

When we leave here, there will still be a lot of snow and when we arrive in Fukuoka, we will already see the cherry blossom.

Both paintings are done with pen, watercolor and airbrush on paper... size is B4 both originals are available.

more yummy foods

Just uploading some pics of yesterday evening to give you some impressions of the tasty food we had ^_^.

Tsuyoshi and I had a hard week... he was in Tokyo and I was busy packing more boxes and so we decided to go to the harbor again. It's always best for us to relax after a busy week and we still want to enjoy Hakodate food before we leave.

Here you see some delicious tapa at Brasserie Carillon. I will miss this restaurant... the chef really is an artist of creating wonderful foods.

Fukinoto and some thoughts about the seasons

When I read those posts about Germans in Japan, who are always wondering, why for Japaneses the seasons of the year are so important, I can always shake my head in disbelief about those specific Germans. Some seem to come to Japan, maybe speak better Japanese than me, but somehow never "arrived" here and I'm not only referring to the most stupid, annoying and untrue book there is about Japan, going by the title "Darum nerven Japaner", this is another story, which always drives me mad at so much ignorance and arrogance... so I will try here to to tell people a little bit more about seasons and their importance, starting with this post about Fukinoto...

The wonderful thing about Japanese seasons is, that they are very clear to distinguish... and each season has it's own special food.

One season I'm especially looking forward to is the beginning of Fukinoto-season. After a long Winter, this ist the first flower, which is so strong, that it already starts growing under the snow and people use to eat it as first fresh vegetable of the year.

That flower is called "Fukinoto", it's the flower of Japanese Butterbur (Pestwurz in German) and it has a bitter, but very pleasant taste.

Here in Hakodate, it grows everywhere in March-May... and you best pick it, before it completely opens.

People cook it with Miso-soup or as Tempura.

Here, I prepared Tempura with it, but made a cold tomato-sauce with different flavours as dip for the Fukinoto. Today my husband and kids wanted to have steak with goose-pate topping and Gorgonzola-pasta, so I needed to think of cooking Fukinoto European-style. It worked out very nice and tasted good.

Actually I wanted to take some more pics of the main-course, but everybody was so hungry, so I had no chance to make pictures ^o^.

Our Saturday and party

At noon, my husband returned from his business-trip and we decided to go to Onuma for a little walk.

The weather was great and we enjoyed the warm sunshine.

Later in the evening, we took the train and went to Izakaya Koko again to celebrate my husband's world-record. Here you se Markarel-sashimi topped with haring eggs. *yummy*

And this is one of my faves !!! Fresh Sea-Urchins ^____^

I'm not a fan of raw Oyster, but I could die for fresh sea-urchin. It may look weird for most Western people, but it tastes totally delicious !!!

And here is crab-salad, also yummy !!!

and crab-tempura. In the end I was soooo stuffed... ^_^"

Afterwards we went once again to Hakodate beer to enjoy the live-music and the beer, of course.

Today we will look out for Fukinoto (Butter-bur flowers). We know a spot near an Onsen, where we might be lucky enough to find the first ones in this year.

Our weekend

On Saturday we had heavy snowfalls, so we could not do much outside the house... well, anyway we were still very busy preparing things for our moving... and we were also very tired. I really enjoyed to sleep longer that 6:30 a.m in the morning.

So after we got up and the kids made homework, we went for Miso-Ramen.

One of my fave Ramen-shop for Miso-Ramen is "Yashiro"

I've eaten famous Miso-Ramen in Sapporo, but I think Yashiro Miso-Ramen taste so much better !!!

And they are especially delicious, when the weather is cold.

In the evening, we decided to go to Hakodate Beer. They have their own brewery and great Hefeweizen, Koelsch, Altbier, Ale...

and strong dark German "Bockbier", which tastes wonderful, but it can also knock you off your feet. Anyway, I always drink one, because it's so good.

We always enjoy the live-music there, too.

On Sunday, we mostly relaxed and sorted out more stuff, which we have to throw away before we move.

In the evening, I prepared some Shishkebab and potatoe-gratin for us.

Now I need to go back to my diet >_<"

Autumnpath

Just finished this one... It was fun, because I started with a completely black background and I shaped it out by working from to back to the front.

Done with acrylics, watercolor, markers and airbrush on paper.

Size is B3... original is available. 

The chef of the south polar - a great movie

Today I want to write about one of the best, funniest and touching movies I recently saw... and it's based on a true story. It's called "The chef of the south polar" and takes place in the antarctic, where Japanese researchers had to stay for one year. But the main-character of this story is the cook of the crew, who does not only do is "job" but who is really passionate about cooking.

I loved the characters, the way the story was told and that it was very true to Japanese daily life and thinking. If you want to understand more about Japanese mentality, way of life and cooking I really recommend you that movie. There is a version with English subtitles available.

Here is the official homepage for more information:

http://www.nankyoku-ryori.com/

Cold...

Just caught a nasty cold today, but I'm pleased that out moving goes so smoothly so far. Soon I have to pack all my colors and brushes, but from time to time I can not resist to paint a little bit in the mornings.

This painting was done with watercolor, Acrlylics, ink and airbrush on paper.

Size is B4, original available...

Fotos from the Fuyu-art

After we all had a struggle with a nasty flu last week, we were finally able to see the exhibition here in the Hakodate town hall gallery.

me and my painting...

The show was great and I enjoyed seeing so many different pieces of wonderful art. I will miss this annual exhibition, but I am happy that I could take part twice.

The art of Okonomiyaki

 

On Sunday my husband prepared Okonomiyaki for us. A lot of Western people think the common Japanese dish is Sushi and because of that, Japanese food is always cold, but that is not true at all. Okonomiyaki is one of the typical foods for the whole family and you can compare it best with Italian Pizza. People in Italy used "leftovers" like meat, vegetables, cheese, mushrooms... and put it on pizza for the whole famliy. That is basically the way, what Okonomiyaki is.

You add vegetables, meat or/and seafood, mushrooms, eggs to dough and fry/bake it in a frying pan, mostly directly prepared at the table, so that you can vary the taste from Okonomiyaki to Okonimiyaki a little. Okonimiyaki means "favorite fried food" so you can make your individual Okonomiyaki.

That is how it looks, when it's done...

and that is how it's served with sauce and spices on the plate.

Itadakimasu !!! ^_^

Hokkaido Winter

Sunday was a wonderful Winterday here in Hakodate, so instead of driving to the exhibition (we will do that later this week), we decided to drive up to the hills surrounding Hakodate and take some pictures of the beautiful Winterscenery.

 

 

Later we went home and my husband cooked a wonderful Okonomiyaki. After another eventful and busy week it was great to relax.

Fuyu-art in Hakodate

Like every year there is the Fuyu-art in Hakodate and I wanted to take part one last time, because we are moving. So here is the painting I sent there. The show is from 7th- til 14st of February... I'm looking forward to go there and see all the other works. There are a lot of excellent artist there and it will be fun to make new friends and watch all of the paintings.

This one was done with acrylics and airbrush on board... size is B1, the original will be available after the show.

Yosakoi, an awesome dance !!!

One of the things I will definetelly miss is Yosakoi !!!
Since I moved here, I totally adore this powerful "Soran Soran" Yosakoi dance... and often I was in tears, when I danced it with the people here, because I was touched that I was so welcome here as a stranger...
It was a dance of the poor fisherpeople at the soran coast here and over the years it became a dance festival, where every group is allowed to modify the dance and the singing.
I totally love the variety of how this classical dance is interpreted every year and if I was younger I would love to take part. It's always such an adorable and touching event.
Here are the winners of 2009 and they really deserved it, but I must admit ALL of the groups were wonderful.

Moving...

At the beginning of 2010, my husband got a position at Kyushu-university, which is one of the best in Japan, especially for his research. So this is a big honor and chance for him and we decided to go. I will miss Hakodate very, very much... all the friends I made here, the kindness of the people and also my mushroom-spots in the forest, but I saw books about Kyushu and found out that it must be also very, very beautiful down there.


With e-mail and letters I can keep in touch with all my friends and I can make new ones there as well. The kids are looking forward to it, too. The school-system is the same and they never had problems making new friends. Oh, and then there is a Pokemon-center in Fukuoka and I told them, when they have good marks in school, they can wish for something.
Things will be busy in the next weeks. We will already move on March 25. So it might take me a little to reply to letters and e-mails, but I try to catch up on everything as soon as things calm down again and we have settled there.