French, Italian, Indian, and Chinese Cuisine

Would you believe we have them all right here in rural northern Japan?  Well, we do!  In the past few weeks Ryan and I have been out and about enjoying just about every type of cuisine we can find.  Probably enjoying them all little too much, but you almost can't help it when your spouse returns home safely from Afghanistan!

Here are some of the things we have been enjoying here:

French- We found this bottle of Meursault at a nearby grocery store.  This is a lot more meaningful than a bottle of wine.  Nearly 2 years ago Ryan found this wine mentioned in a magazine and wanted to try it.  They didn't sell this pricey (and I do mean pricey) French wine in the Azores, so we thought we would get in when we were moving to Japan and passing through the US.  That was a great idea until we considered the cost and remembered that it had to travel with us in our suitcases, not carry on bags.  Scratch that idea!  So when I was in CA a few weeks after we moved, I thought I would check again.  Instead, a gentleman recommended another white from the Burgundy region of France at a much more reasonable $25 price tag (much cheaper than $80).  I brought it home and a full year later, Ryan and I enjoyed the bottle.  It was devine (Macon Villages is the name and I HIGHLY recommend it) and this drove us to seek out more whites from Burgundy.  Long story short, the Japanese are fans of the French and with a little searching we found this (yes, expensive because we paid in yen too) bottle of Meursault.  

The verdict?  Good, but the Macon Villages we had was actually much better.  Still a huge fan of white Burgundy wines.

To go with the wine we had to get some cheeses.  To save on money after the wine splurge we opted to go to the grocery store and buy these individually instead of on a pre-made platter.  Yum!

While we were wine searching, we discovered a nearby liquor store selling a variety of beers from around the world.  I picked this beer, La Trappe, mostly for the purple label, but it turned out to be great.  This is from a Trappist brewery in the Netherlands.  Not sure if you have had a Trappist brew, but if not, definitely give it a try.  Chimay is probably the most easy to find.

On to some Italian.  One a snow, snowy day, Ryan and I decided to try this place out.  We had never been before.  It was an "off" hour (places closes after lunch and reopen for dinner, like 3-5) and we were in need of some lunch.  This place was open, so we decided to go in.

I started off with tomatoes and mozzarella.

Our entrees came with salads.

The garlic toast was a bit of a splurge.  Amazing fresh bread.

Some sort of kelp soup (I think!).

I had shrimp and pasta with tomato sauce.  Even though it was just fair, I am still planning to give this place another shot because the ambiance was perfect for a cold, snowy day.  The decor was very log cabin feeling and cozy.  Warm and inviting.  Plus, that garlic toast was amazing!

Ryan had pasta with meat sauce, and again it was less than spectacular.  Thankfully, he enjoyed the setting there too and is open to going back.

But we didn't stop the cultural food tour there.  The following weekend we went to an Indian restaurant in Hachinohe that we hadn't tried yet.  Our meals each started off with a salad.

Next up was the entrees.  Ryan and I always order 2 vegetarian dishes and split them.  I love that my husband is all for vegetarian dishes and is happy going meat free.  Indian food is always so flavorful.  It's in the spice, not the meat.  So this time we ordered a vegetable curry dish.

We also ordered aloo gobi, which is potatoes and cauliflower.  It was amazing!  And spicy, of course!

It also came with naan bread and some rice.

Last, but not least, the night before New Year's Eve, we decided to try some Chinese.  Finding an open restaurant was difficult, but we managed.

I started off with these sesame balls filled with red bean paste.  Amazing!

Ryan tried out the egg rolls.

For dinner, Ryan went with this spicy ramen soup.  After some questionable meat the last time he was here, he decided to try something completely different and go with this soup.  It was a good choice for him.  He absolutely loved it.

I ordered the crab and tofu, which is one of my favorite dishes.  I love this!

Last up, the eggplant.  We felt like we needed more veggies, so we ordered this very flavorful eggplant dish.

It was great to have 11 days off with my husband and not have too much to do.  After having him gone for a few months it was great to be able to relax and enjoy each others company.  We even worked a lot on fixing up the house.  We sold our old couches and bookshelves and purchased new ones.  The place is pretty much finished now and everything is "grown up" and matching.  I would say that we were very productive over the break and our house really shows it.  Most of the "mess" around here was cleaned up too.  It is nice to have less clutter.  What a great way to start of 2013!

QUESTIONS:  What different cuisines have you enjoyed recently?  What is your favorite Chinese dish?  Have you redecorated recently?

We got a Starbucks! And Potluck Food

First off, Merry Christmas to all my readers that celebrate this holiday.  Although I don't, my husband does, so we have already exchanged gifts, had an extra special breakfast, and will soon head to get some Chinese for dinner (the standard Christmas day out for Jews!)

I am slowly gathering up pictures that have yet to be posted.  I have some time off from work now, which is nice, so I am hoping to get caught up on posts and sharing pictures.  

I know I mentioned this before, but things have gotten very crazy around here and I have found myself without a lot of free time for blogging.  I went from 16 hours at WIC to 31 hours most weeks (going back to 20 in Feb!).  On top of that I was teaching 2 classes, as well as taking 2 classes (in a doctoral program), writing on 2 other websites monthly, and then add in some volunteer activities...yeah, I have been busy!

The good news is that while I may have been too busy to work on this blog, I did have some time to hang out with friends and Ryan.  One of those great evenings with friends included a potluck to celebrate the going away of one of our Key Spouses.  For those of you that are not associated at all with the military you are probably wondering what a Key Spouse it.  Basically this is a squadron appointed volunteer position where I help keep spouses connected to what is going on with the squadron and on base when their spouses are deployed.  We also help organize events for families when our spouses are busy with exercises and extra long days at work.  It is something I really enjoy doing and I love all of my other Key Spouses for our squadron.

Here are some pictures of the foods we made for the going away potluck.

Mac and Cheese

Tapenade

Taco Bar

7 Layer Bean Dip (which I made!)

This bean dip ends up being my quick, go-to recipe for potlucks.  In case you are interested, it is super easy, and here are the ingredients.

Starting from the bottom and working your way up:

Refried beans (I use 1 can fat free refried beans)

Guacamole (I mash 1 avocado with garlic powder and some lime juice)

Diced tomato

Sour cream (I use light)

Green chilies (or jalapenos)

Black olives 

Shredded cheese

Next up I have some pictures to share of the local Japanese apples.  Apples are a major product from the region where I live in Japan.  They can get quite pricey, but for the most part they are some of the highest quality apples you will find.  A few weeks back we found the biggest apple we have ever seen. 

Here it is leading the pack of "baby" apples!

It is a little hard to tell, but this apple is huge.

This picture may give you a better idea of just how bog this apple really is.  Yeah, just a little smaller than my head!  Surprisingly, this was very flavorful.

The apple was to compliment the other items we purchased to make up our sophisticated movie watching snacks.  This included some olives.

We served them in our olive dish that we bought when we lived in the Azores.

Here is the apple inside.

French bread of course.

Who could resist a cheese platter like this?  Certainly not us!

Lots of goodies inside.

We also picked up some Japanese baked goods for the next day.  

Oh, and we enjoyed wine with our cheese plate.  There is always wine!  We lived in Europe for 2 years, so wine is still very much a part of our lifestyle!

Now I want to share a major milestone for this area.  You may not think Starbucks is a big deal, maybe overrated and overpriced, and really just a luxury and not something we need.  But, I know many of you probably still go to Starbucks or at least recognize that this is a coffee symbol and a symbol of the US.  Therefore, living abroad for the last 3 years without access to a Starbucks has increased the value this has for us.  We have plenty of other good coffee chains around, so I could go on living without a Starbucks, but that didn't stop us from driving 30 minutes to get to the new Starbucks in Hachinohe.

Tokyo and other areas already have Starbucks, so this is not new to Japan.  However, I think the nearest Starbucks to the base (not counting the cafes on base that brew Starbucks) is about 90 minutes away.  This is the first location in this area and people went nuts when it opened.  Nuts?  Not kidding, I heard that traffic blocked up the roads and wait times for the drive through was insane.  I read one article that said people waited 7 hours in line to sample coffee.  Yeah, we were not those people.  We waited until about a month or so after opening before trying it out.  It was busy, but not a ridiculous wait.  I was definitely glad we went.

Here is the parking lot.  They picked a good location.  Across the street you can see the hospital.

Inside they had many good looking food options, but we just stuck with ordering drinks.

Nearing the end here, I promise.  I know this post is not the most exciting! 

Here is a red wine that Ryan and I bought when we were in Paris.  It traveled back to Portugal with us and then all the way to Japan.  Thankfully we were able to ship our wine collection in our household goods.  

We enjoyed this wine with some perogies, which Ryan cooked up for us.  They were not as good as our homemade ones, but they were good, and certainly took less time than the homemade ones.

That brings me to my last picture.  I had a Scentsy Party!  I had never heard of this company until I moved overseas and I am definitely hooked.  I am allergic to a lot of scents, but I have also found tons that I can tolerate.  I even use it in my office at work.  My office smells like peaches, which I love because I am a dietitian and get to talk about healthy eating with our WIC participants.  Here is Ashley, my lovely (and very pregnant) Scentsy consultant.  She is awesome!  I had some friends show up and we all had a nice afternoon playing some games and smelling the scents.

QUESTIONS:  Have you ever heard of Scentsy?  Are you a Starbucks fan?  What did you do to celebrate Christmas?

Everyday Life and Eats in Japan, Plus July 4th

I am really not sure if I posted this picture before, but in case I didn't, I thought I would share.  When I was traveling in Europe I had limited space to bring things home, so when I found a small bottle of Palinka in Budapest, I made sure to buy it.  Palinka is a Hungarian fruit brandy.  There are special rules for how it has to be made to be called Palinka and it comes with an official seal on the cap, or at least my bottle did.  All I can say is, BOY this  is some strong stuff!

This post is really just a catch up post of pictures I have piling up from the past few weeks since returning home and settling back in to regular, everyday life in Japan.

One place we tried for lunch one weekend was this place called Burg Burg.  We pass by it all the time as we leave the base, so we decided we probably should check it out.

To start we were brought these soups, but it turned out to be made with chicken stock, so I passed my bowl over to Ryan.

I ordered an omelet over fried rice, which was more like tomato rice.  It was really good, and if I come back to this place again, this is probably what I will order.  I think it is probably a better choice than the fried shrimp, which was one of the only other things on the menu that wasn't beef, pork or chicken.

Ryan ordered this burg steak (or called something similar), basically a big hamburger served like a steak.  He said it was really good.  I have a feeling if we go back that he will order this again.

On a weekday afternoon I was invited to a birthday lunch for a coworker of mine at WIC.  We ate at Cake House, which is where we also went for my going away party before I left for Europe.  It was such a hit with the group that we decided it would be good for future meals out.  When you order the set meal for lunch you get a salad, your entree (selection of 3 different pastas or a sandwich), a beverage and the dessert of the day.  Pictured here is one of those desserts, so you can see that it is a pretty nice dessert option.  I don't mind the surprise.  Everything they make here is good. 

Next up...don't freak out...McDonald's!  No joke, we went to McDonald's.  We actually went on a weekend morning for breakfast to get an egg and cheese on an English muffin breakfast sandwich, but when we got there it was too late for breakfast, so we ordered lunch.  I ordered this called an Ebi Filet-O.  Any guesses?  

If you know some basic Japanese from a sushi restaurant, you may know that ebi is the Japanese word for shrimp.  So this is basically a shrimp "burger".  Like a fillet-o fish sandwich, but with shrimp.  Japanese McDonald's is a bit different from the US version. 

After the birthday lunch I had with my coworkers, we had another birthday come up the next week, so during lunch we all headed to the Indian restaurant right outside the base.  They offer a fantastic lunch special for about $10, so this place is a great spot for a good lunch at a good price.  It comes with salad, rice, 2 entrees (small portions), naan bread and a drink.  I got the veggie curry and the seafood curry.  Both were really good.  

Now I am catching up to more recent times.  For July 4th the base had a fair on base with vendors both from the military and from the local community.  Ryan and I stopped by for a little bit to see what was going on and to see if there was anything we wanted for lunch.  One of the coolest things they had was a display of birds.  These weren't just any birds.  They were some serious birds.  Owls, Falcons and similar birds.

Check out this owl that was out and about.  They even allowed petting.  This is one beautiful owl.

This little owl was adorable and looked right at me so I could take a picture.

Here are a few more pictures of the birds on display.

They had many food vendors at the fair too.  Some were military related groups that were fundraising and others were local Japanese business selling their foods.  I was curious about these Japanese sweets so I bought one.  Very interesting indeed.  Not to sweet, as I anticipated, but it was very starchy, almost like potato flour.  I'm guessing it was probably rice.

Then we spotted the Phada's booth and we both new we needed so delicious Thai for lunch.  Phada's is an awesome Thai restaurant not too far away from the base.

Ryan ordered the Thai basil beef.

I had the shrimp pad Thai.  Wonderful, as always.

Next up are the pictures of our meal at a great Mexican restaurant near the base.  Yep, you heard me right.  There is some fantastic Mexican food in Japan.  I had the shrimp and avocado quesadilla.

Ryan had a combo with huevos rancheros and I think it's an enchilada.

Next up are some pictures I took at the mall.  First is my favorite ice cream place.  They take plain ice cream and blend it with fresh fruit.  I picked papaya which was definitely a different choice for me because I normally get a berry flavor.  It was good, but I think next time I will go with mixed berry.

After ice cream we went into the International food store.  They have lots of good foods from all over the world, mostly European, but also some American foods too.  In the cheese section I found this olive flavored spreadable cheese.  It is really good.  I have been eating it on wasa crackers.

After walking around the mall we also went to the regular grocery store.  It is not uncommon in Japan for the mall or department stores to have a full grocery store.  I was on the hunt for vanilla ice cream kit kats.  They were sold out!  Darn!  Better luck next time, right?  Instead we picked up some bottle beverages.  I tried this one.  The greens pictured on the label definitely got me interested, so I gave it a try.  It was a little bitter, but had a good flavor, although I could only drink so much.  I am not a huge tea fan in the first place.

Ryan tried the extra strong ginger ale.  Oh boy, this was definitely extra strong.  It burned our throats.

Last up is our dinner out last Friday night.  I had a craving for Italian so we went to a good Italian place not too far from the base.  We like it there because the food is good and they offer a set course menu.  The pasta set menu costs around ~$12.  It includes a drink (including a beer or glass of wine), appetizer, bread, pasta entree and dessert.  Not a bad deal!

For drinks Ryan ordered the blood orange Italian soda and I had red wine.  Ryan was the driver, can't you tell?

Ryan had the tomatoes on bread (aka bruschetta).

I had the salmon salad.  I love this salad.  It's made with raw salmon, although it seems more like smoked salmon.

For our entrees, Ryan had tomato and basil, and then I had shrimp pasta.  Mine actually had a small extra charge because I picked a more expensive pasta, but the shrimp just sounded so good, so I wanted to order it.

We each were given a piece of garlic bread like this.

Dessert?  Of course!  Ryan had tiramisu and I had the chocolate mousse.

Wow, that was a lot of random meals and food pictures, but I definitely had to get caught up because Ryan and I are heading to Tokyo soon for a little vacation and I know I will have tons of pictures to share from that trip.

QUESTIONS:  Ever heard of Palinka?  Do you have restaurants near you that serve set menus or course menu options?  Have you ever tried a McDonald's outside of the US?