Archive for August, 2008

Shanghai garlic

Written by: adekun on 28 August, 2008 5:11 pm - Filed under: garden — 7 Comments »

Just as the mosquitoes had a productive time, I too can be pleased. Dodging the rain, I got the garlic out of the way. Increasing the width of the rows by a third to eight, the following was planted:

• 2 rows of less pungent garlic from Kikkawa-san
• 8 rows of six piece white
• 2 rows containing four Aomori ‘bulbs’ and twelve Elephant
• 8 rows of Shanghai garlic
• 4 rows of garlic similar to the above from Mukai-san

The bulk of what went in was from the earlier harvest. All of the Aomori lifted had not split into cloves, which was a disappointment. Overall much better than the dozen heads I bought to increase the flock. The latest garlic was labelled as Shanghai from Nagasaki.

Tags: garden, garlic

Meat and potatoes: nikujaga

Written by: adekun on 27 August, 2008 9:33 pm - Filed under: japanese — 3 Comments »

Nikujaga or nikujyaga is a typical Japanese comfort food. Even the preparation is typical in that it is opposite to the usual strict conventions.

Nikujaga was invented by chefs of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 19th Century. It was inspired by beef stews served in the British Royal Navy which Japanese naval legend Tōgō Heihachirō encountered while studying naval science in Portsmouth, England. Upon his return to Japan, he commissioned a Japanese version of the dish for use in the Japanese Navy because of its nutritional value.
Source: Wikipedia The link to the recipe at the bottom is worth checking.

On asking a couple of people what goes in they said “just guess”. Pressing them further got differing answers. It’s up to personal taste and may need some perseverance. The amounts below should cover six people. (continue reading…)

Tags: onions, potatoes, recipes

Roast potatoes without a joint

Written by: adekun on 25 August, 2008 9:12 pm - Filed under: recipes — 5 Comments »

Always been keen to bring the delight of a roast potato to the Japanese. If not met well, I can always scoff the lot.

• potatoes of the floury kind
• fat or oil
• salt
• pepper

Crank the oven up to 250ºC. The roasting tray needs to come out with a few millimetres of very hot fat or oil. Whilst that’s heating up, peel the potatoes. Cut into equal sized pieces, about the size of an egg. Put the spuds in a pan and pour over boiling water (it’s better that way round if you’ll clumsy like me). (continue reading…)

Tags: potatoes, recipes

Kento no ni sai no tanjōbi

Written by: adekun on 23 August, 2008 10:49 am - Filed under: blog — No Comments »

Today is Kento’s second birthday. After opening his cards and gifts we went for an early bike ride. Over the past month he’s really started talking. At times putting three words together. It was nice to come back from work the other week to find him against the window calling “Daddy”.

Tags: kento

End of the summer 08 veg

Written by: adekun on 22 August, 2008 8:32 am - Filed under: garden — 2 Comments »

Towards the end of the weekend I thought I’d follow the crow’s lead and take advantage of the damp ground. A heap of weeds were brought together, rather like one of those Eastern European hay stacks fondly remembered. Elsewhere, more potatoes were planted; about half the amount of the previous lot. Once the tomatoes and cucumbers were removed, everywhere was dug over before a scattering of red clover seeds. There’s still a few pepper and chilli pepper plants that are good and the aubergines should last a bit longer.

Tags: cucumbers, garden, potatoes, tomatoes, weeds

Check at sixteen weeks

Written by: adekun on 20 August, 2008 3:14 pm - Filed under: blog — No Comments »

I missed out going as I had to work. Ritsue took Kento and his runny nose along to the clinic. This gave the nurses an excuse to fuss over him. Four of them looked on as he lay next to his mother. Apparently the baby was waving a lot.

(continue reading…)

Tags: baby

Another cooked card

Written by: adekun on 18 August, 2008 4:20 pm - Filed under: blog — No Comments »

I can add a second whinge today. As I was publishing the last post some patterns appeared on the screen. Having to reboot, the only thing to reappear was a blank screen. I just popped the previous faulty card in, which at least brings up a garbled Dell logo. Seems as though the replacement graphics card is cooked along with the replacement battery. Maybe I should be sitting in an air-conditioned office or something?
It didn’t appear to be running too hot and if it was shouldn’t there have been a warning? In a quandary, yet not flustered. There isn’t much I can do about it. Anyway, I hope to somehow continue posting every couple of days.

Tags: craptop, whinge