Valentine's Day Dinner and Tofu on a Stick

I have just a few pictures left from Sapporo, before I show you what we had for Valentine's Day.

First, here is my last breakfast from the hotel in Sapporo.  We really liked the salmon for breakfast idea, so I made sure to get some on the last day.

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Before we boarded the boat home we found a soda machine and thought this was so crazy that it needed to be bought.  Do you have this flavor in the US?  We had never seen this before, so we definitely bought it to investigate.  Ryan actually drank it and as best as I can remember, he said it was good.

My last picture is this cheese cup that we bought at the convenience store by the hotel as part of our lunch on the boat.  It was good!

Alright, on to Valentine's Day.  I guess you could say we celebrated with a trip to Sapporo, but there was still the actual day, and of course we decided to do something.  So, what did we do?  I picked up ingredients for dinner, we cooked together, and then watched a movie.  It was a work night and the restaurant on base didn't have reservations at a good time, so we decided a quiet night in would be perfect.

It was a Tuesday, so I headed to the grocery store in town that has 100 yen specials on Tuesdays.  Curious what 100 yen equals these days?  It's about $1.32.  This specific grocery store has produce specials on Tuesdays and you can get small bundles of various items for 100 yen, and then they have some other items on sale too.  It's a good day to go there.

Obviously Ryan and I are on a salmon kick, so I picked out some salmon.  This package cost 358 yen, which is about $4.71.  Not bad at all.

Then I grabbed some miso.  I have no idea what kind of miso I bought, but I know it was in the miso aisle, so I picked one that wasn't too expensive.  

I decided to marinate my fish in soy sauce (the less sodium one, but still packs it in) with the miso.

Check out what else I bought at the store.  I picked out some string beans and potatoes.  Each of these packages was 100 yen.  That's a pretty good deal.

We also decided the apple wine was a good drink to enjoy with our meal.

I also bough some strawberries, which is another reason why apple wine sounded good.

So we had some wine, strawberries, and chocolates all ready to go for dessert.

But before we could get to dessert, we had to actually cook dinner.  I started on the fish, while Ryan worked on the veggies.

I thought the grill pan would be perfect for cooking the salmon.  I was right!

Here ya have it!  It was so, so good.  Very simple.  I am definitely doing this again.

Now, just as promised, tofu on a stick.  Hey, it's on my Japan Bucket List, so when we went to the market where I first saw it for sale, I made sure to give it a try.  Ryan was more than happy to take pictures if it meant he didn't have to give it a try. 

This is garlic miso glazed tofu...on a stick!

Here goes nothing.

Taking a bite.

Still smiling!  It was pretty good, but just way too much tofu for me at one time without anything else to go with it.  It wasn't too expensive, so I think I would try it again in the future.

The last thing I want to share is this crazy spread we found.  It came in many varieties, but went with something that looked like chocolate and PB, or we thought perhaps something like nutella.

It came in a little packet like this.  You can see in the picture how this works.  You bend it in the middle and squeeze, and the spread comes out the middle.

The two kinds are on two sides, so I think chocolate and then PB (although I can't read Japanese, but that is what it seems like).

To balance it out a little bit I ate it on a whole wheat bagel (at least I got 7 grams of fiber in the process).  Yummy!

QUESTIONS:  What did you do for Valentine's Day?  What is your favorite bagel topping?

Way too much food…

Every time I come to visit the States I am reminded how much eating is a truly social event and part of life.  When I get together with family members and friends it usually revolves around a meal.  So I wind up booked for lunches each day and dinners…and even second dinners.  Obviously I am having a great time and getting in some good eats at various local Baltimore eateries.  Below are some of those meals shared in great company with great conversations.

Day 4:

I couldn't resist this picture of my sister's oatmeal that she had for breakfast.  I had a chobani and then a few bites of this oatmeal.

My sister and I decided sushi would be great after we went for a mani and pedi.  We wanted something near the house because I had a webinar to attend in the afternoon.  We picked this place called Edo Sushi.  Good thing we did because we were pleasantly surprised. 

Could not resist starting off with edamame.  Not sure how long it has been since I had some, but it has been a while.

My sister started off with a seaweed salad.  So glad I tried it because I thought I hated it, but I was wrong.  It was really good.

I had a shrimp salad to start.

This was really good, and really thick sesame ginger dressing.

The lunch special came with 2 rolls and a miso soup. 

I had the philly roll and spicy scallop roll.  Plus, as a bonus, this place does brown rice sushi.  That was really cool.

My sister had a California roll and eel roll.

 

When they brought the check they brought these cute little strawberry rolls.

 

After running around and doing the ADA webinar, I met up with an awesome blogger, Beth, who is from Baltimore too.  Have you seen her blog before, 990 Square.  She is an awesome cook and baker, plus she is super nice in person too (like I would have expected otherwise!).

 

After running around a little more I was a little late to dinner with my dad and step mom.  They wanted to take me to a place they like called 7 West Bistro.

 

We started with bread and oil, but I didn’t want to eat too much because we had an appetizer coming.

 

My dad and stepmom both had a salad.

 

Here is a dip platter with many different ones, including some hummus and an eggplant dip.

 

I had the super giant crab cake.  Hey, this is Baltimore!

 

My step mom had a chicken gyro.

 

My dad had a gyro too but with lamb.

 

Now, here is where things get crazy.  After dinner I went to my friend Marie’s house.  I was having second dinner with Marie at Ocean Pride (check it out, they ship seafood anywhere in the US).

 

Marie had some soup, and then we split the crab pretzel (one of my fave MD treats) and a piece of PB pie.  Curious about the crab pretzel?  It is a soft pretzel topped with crab dip and then melted cheese on top.

 

Ok, I admit to an extreme stuffed feeling by the end of the day, but I am glad I got to see so many people and enjoy such good food with everyone.

Day 5:

We started our day with the hair salon.  Padma Salon is a cute little salon near where my sister lives.  My sister was having her hair cut, but I didn’t need a hair cut just yet, so I decided while I waited that I would have my hair blown straight.  She did a great job.  My hair is usually a crazy mess.

 

After this we picked up my grandmother and went to a place near her condo for lunch.  This is Mari Luna Latin Grille.

 

I love this place because not only do they serve my favorite salad, but they give these pop-overs at the start of the meal. 

My sister and I split a shrimp and garlic lime appetizer and a bowl of squash soup.

 

Then all of us got the crab salad.  This is the BEST salad ever.  It has lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, and a TON of lump crab meat.  It is so good and every time I come home I make sure to come here and get this salad.

The afternoon was spent shopping for, oh yes, food and wine.

I picked up these bottles of wine to take back.  I always bring Portuguese and Azorean wine back to the US and then I bring US wine back with me to the island.

Oh, how cute is this jacket.  I picked it up the other day at Target.

I also got this.  My husband will be happy (assuming it works).

Here are some of my Trader Joe’s purchases.  Have you tried any of these?

 

 

These I bought the other day at a grocery store.  This is my favorite PB.  I love Crazy Richards!

I also picked up some dog treats and dog food.  Can you tell at this point in my trip I was starting to pack everything up?

Dinner was at Zen West with my sister and my friends Meredith and Matt.

 

Mer pointed this fun sign out to me.  Yes, it made for a fun picture.

 

This place is actually Mexican, so we started with some chips and salsa.

 

My sister and I were splitting food again.  We ordered a veggie taco and a mahi mahi taco.  The server was kind enough to give us veggies on the side because the red rice was cooked in chicken stock.  They also gave us black beans instead of the refried beans because they had pork.  It is nice when servers take the time to check on food components and then finding substitutions.

I also got the dairy on the side.  My sister is lactose intolerant, so I kept this far away from her food.

 

Mer and Matt shared some empanadas.

 

Mer had an enchilada.

 

Matt had some crazy burger with some guacamole.  Looks really pretty for a burger.

 

Now, if you aren’t stuffed just from looking at the pictures, you have a much bigger stomach than I do.  I could barely get this post together and look over all the pictures.  I am STUFFED!  But, I am happy that this time was well went with my friends and family.  I still have one more full day and I am looking forward to all of the fun things that we have planned.

QUESTIONS:  Have you tried any of those TJs products?  What is your favorite TJs product?  Ever had brown rice sushi?