The other day at one of the middle schools where I work, a certain poster caught my eye. It advocated “balance” in your daily diet and featured a graphic that reminded me an awful lot of the USDA’s food pyramid:
Archive | December, 2006
Making Mochi 餅搗き
18 Dec
Humans are curious, inquisitive animals. Even before we developed the linguistic capabilities required to form actual questions, we investigated our surroundings and ourselves with a creative, experimental spirit afforded to us by our large, complex brains and opposable thumbs. And perhaps no question has led to such meaningful answers, such fruitful results, and such educational errors as this:
What happens when I smash it repeatedly with a heavy, blunt object?
Christmas Party Recipes クリスマスパーティのレシピ
18 DecHere are a few recipes I came up with for the Kitakyushu JET Christmas party this weekend (thanks for having us, Mash!). People seemed to like them (unless they were just lying to be nice to me), so if you’re pressed for something to cook next weekend, these are pretty easy and fun to make. Actually, the lobster stock wasn’t that easy… but it was good. I would also recommend serving the lobster stock at a more “formal,” “sit-down”-type gathering as opposed to a potluck-type event, because it can be difficult to serve and keep warm at the latter, and the greens tend to lose their structure and aroma if they’re kept in the broth for too long.
Note: Measurements are completely approximated (be careful), and all herbs and spices are to taste.
Meatballs with Fruit and Spice Sauce
Osechi Cooking お節料理
16 Dec
For the past three years, I have celebrated New Year’s Eve by cooking and eating and drinking with an intimate group of close friends. Thanks to conversations that sparkle like the champagne we drink and fulfill like the warm, hearty food we eat, the night that I used to spend alone watching Conan’s “Central Time Zone Countdown” or Iron Chef marathons has become one of my nights of the year.
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to spend New Year’s with my old high school buddies this year, on account that I’ll be in Hong Kong (and I certainly can’t complain about that). But if and when I have the opportunity to share another year-end meal with them again, I’ll have a few new tricks up my sleeve, thanks to a class I attended Sunday on osechi cooking お節料理, Japanese food customarily eaten to ring in the new year (Gregorian, not lunar).
Bunny うさぎちゃん
12 DecIf you read the about page for this here blog, you know that I promised to deliver a new piece of original “art” each week – a sketch, cartoon, illustration, design, or whatever. Actually, I never really used the word “promise,” but I did decisively declare my intentions, mostly because this was something to which I really wanted to hold myself.
So, here we are, almost three weeks since my first post… and there hasn’t been a single drawing or design so far. Now, usually when I don’t do something I say I’ll do, it’s purely on account of laziness. But that’s not the case this time. I’ve actually made three or four new, um, objets d’art (okay, maybe objets de folie is more accurate) since I started this blog, but unfortunately, I have been unable to find a working scanner to get them onto my computer. A friend lent me hers, but it turns out there’s no Mac-compatible driver for it.
In the meantime, I’ll be posting some older art work that can’t be found in my online portfolio, starting with a few pieces I did this summer. This first one is of a baby bunny that lived in my backyard in Wisconsin until it mysteriously died one day. This isn’t really a “finished” drawing, but I tried to colorize it a while ago and discovered that I like it better as it is.
Your Guide: Tim Andersøn
Greatest Hits
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The War on MSG
“No MSG.” This self-congratulatory proclamation adorns countless food packages around the Anglosphere. We’ve all seen it, on bags of potato chips or Chinese takeout menus, on instant noodles or those “just add meat and sour cream” Mexican meal kits. Oh thank heavens, we think when we spot it. This food is safe. This food is [...]
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The Fukuoka Beer Guide ザ・フクオカ・ビア・ガイド
This is another article for FukuokaJET.com. Each establishment’s address, phone number, and opening hours can be found at the very end of the post. Please leave a comment if you need directions! In response to comments graciously informing of new beer developments in Fukuoka, I have updated this article on September 23, 2009. Kyushu is [...]
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Soul Food for Thought
On my recent, brief trip to New York to visit family and friends, I had a checklist of specific foods I wanted to eat there; I wanted nothing but good food experiences – nothing mediocre, nothing mundane. To these ends, the trip was beyond satisfactory. Fork-tender Greek-style grilled octopus, colorful piles of Ethiopian curries on [...]
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An Introduction to Ramen (In Fukuoka Prefecture) （福岡県の）拉麺入門
This is an article I’ve been working on for FukuokaJET.com, a resource website made for JETs living in Fukuoka prefecture, especially new recruits. The information here focuses on Fukuoka, but I think it’s a fairly good survey of the major ramen styles for anybody who’s interested. Tonkotsu (Pork Bone) 豚骨・とんこつ Tonkotsu ramen is the richest [...]
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Rebuilding the Japanese Food Pyramid 日本のフードピラミッドを建て直す
The other day at one of the middle schools where I work, a certain poster caught my eye. It advocated “balance” in your daily diet and featured a graphic that reminded me an awful lot of the USDA’s food pyramid:
