More Bread Revolution and Guide to Flour. TexMex/Southwestern/Mexican foods were something I purchased from the grocery or at restaurants in the US, missed sorely in Japan, and was convinced I couldn’t make it myself. If I found salsa in a jar, I couldn’t find chips, so what was the point? Avocados weren’t something I could…
Category: From Scratch
Flexitarian: Spicy Fava Beans and Pork Stir-fry
Cheruko over at Hokuriku Expat Kitchen sent me Mark Bittman’s New York Times article “We’re Eating Less Meat. Why?” the other day, and we were both pretty excited to see the new term he had coined for people like us: flexitarians, those who eat vegetarian most of the time. That is, my diet is based…
Spiced Persimmon Cake
桃栗三年柿八年 (momo kuri sannen kaki hachinen): it takes time to reap the fruit of one’s actions (lit. [It takes] three years for [planted] peach and chestnut trees, eight for persimmons [to bear fruit]) (ことわざ学習室） In late autumn and early winter (mid-Nov. to New Year), Omicho Market is awash in reds and oranges: strawberries, crabs, mikan,…
ベーガル革命: Whole-Wheat Bagels
もちもち (mochimochi): springy (texture) Back in my language-school days at Midd, a New-Yorker foodie friend got on my case for eating the dining-hall bagels, telling me, “That’s not a bagel. That’s a piece of bread shaped like a bagel.” It’s probably for the best that he doesn’t find out what sort of things pass for…
Recipes Revisited
What’s nice about making some recipes over and over is that, not only can I make it myself, but I can make it better. I’m updating some of the articles on this blog, so I thought it might be helpful for readers if I noted these changes. Read more for updates on homemade yogurt, chocolate…
Tricks of the Trade: Oatmeal Banana Bread
Although this site is called I’ll Make it Myself!, a lot of the baking I do is less recreating restaurant meals I liked and more reinventing recipes to make them healthier and to make them work in a Japanese kitchen. Health-wise, my philosophy with baking is that almost any bread can be made over with…
The Apple Chronicles, Part 3: Very Lemony Apple Jam
手作り (tezukuri): homemade I was a bit wary of posting my jam recipes, because I don’t feel like I’ve perfected the jam-making process. This jam, adapted from Food in Jars‘ “Honey Lemon Apple Jam,” tastes amazing, and I think the recipe is fairly solid. That said, I’m not an expert on making preserves in Japan,…
Stuffed Zucchini
日常的な食物（nichijôtekina shokumotsu): commonly eaten food I grew up in southern Ohio, and like most Midwesterners, summer was a time of ridiculous amounts of zucchini. By the end of season, everyone had so much zucchini that you would practically pay people to take it off your hands (or just give it out for free at work)….
The Apple Chronicles, Part 2: Kabocha-Apple Whole-Wheat Turnovers
One recipe I had wanted to make for a while was “Squash-Apple Turnovers” from Cooking Light, but I was deterred by the use of canned biscuit dough. Not only is that not in the spirit of this blog, but you simply can’t buy that kind of thing in my neck of rural Japan. (I suspect…
Fiddleheads
深緑 (shinryoku): deep green Springtime is prime season for going to the grocery store and having no idea what on earth is on the displays in the produce section. One item I did recognize was kogomi (こごみ) or kakuma (かくま), fiddlehead ferns, but only because I tried them last spring in a soba shop in…
My Tribute to Michigan: Cherry Salsa
Some people say that they’ve left their hearts in their hometowns, but with the amount I’ve moved in the last 8 years, I’m starting to feel like Voldemort with his horcruxes. The piece of my heart (or horcrux, or whatever) that represents my time in Michigan is housed firmly in Cherry Republic, Glen Arbor, MI….
やっぱりアメリカ人: Peanut-Butter-Chocolate-Chip Brownies
「アメリカの料理は？」<What about American food?> 「やっぱりピーナッツ・バター！ピーナッツバターが懐かしい。」 <Definitely peanut butter! I miss peanut butter. > 「甘い。。。」<But it’s sweet…> It’s the nature of an expat to be perpetually food-frustrated–if I’m in Japan, I want turkey and fancy cheese; if I’m in America, I want bamboo shoots and yuba. The ultimate American comfort food for me is peanut butter….
I'll Make It Myself! 
You must be logged in to post a comment.