Kitchen Library 2012.12.13

Taiwanese food, women and alcohol, colonial Christmas cake, all the cauliflower, and some jam-making updates this week:

Avocado Almond Cookies

Downtown Kanazawa is experiencing its seemingly annual winter butter shortage. The grocery stores I frequent have signs that read “one package per customer” and explain that the shortage is due to conditions in Tohoku, where much of the nation’s dairy is produced. My friends in other cities report that they’re having no issues finding or…

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Whole-Wheat Ginger-Squash Muffins with Chocolate Chips

One last(?) squash purée recipe for the season! I live in a country where the only cold cereals available at regular grocery stores (Tokyo Metro, you don’t count) are frosted flakes and cocoa puffs.*  As a result, I’ve learned to make a variety of breakfast foods. I’m actually not sure how I only ended up…

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Kitchen Library – 2012.11.26

Thanksgiving Part 2 (at a friend’s house) went smashingly! I made Naturally Ella‘s Twice-Baked Butternut Squash (with quinoa and Gorgonzola) as the vegetarian main dish. With the exception of the turkey, which was expertly cooked by the hosts, all the other dishes were vegetarian: mac & cheese made with Cougar Cheese, a sharp canned cheese…

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The Word of the Day is Spatchcock: Thanksgiving 2012

“I’m going to spatchcock the turkey.” “Excuse me?” “If I spatchcock the turkey–WHY ARE YOU BLUSHING?” “So, I’ve decided to spatchcock the turkey.” “Is that some sort of fandom thing about Benedict Cumberbatch?”   Despite its unfortunate name, spatchcocking is simply a way of butterflying a turkey so it will cook faster; it does not,…

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Thanksgiving Recipe Round-up

On my first Thanksgiving in Japan as an exchange student, I had cold tofu for lunch and felt exceptionally sad. After two years of not celebrating the holiday while I was in rural Japan, I decided to host a Thanksgiving potluck for my friends last year, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve…

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What I Ate: Chicago

I haven’t had a fever in so long that I’ve forgotten what it’s like to feel like my brain is leaking out of my ears. While I’m holed up on the couch with obscene amounts of tea and a Sherlock marathon, I thought you all might like to see a handful of food photos of…

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Kabocha Hummus

On the themes of both autumn and non-chickpea hummus-adjacent spreads, I present kabocha hummus, one of the many fine uses for kabocha purée. As I stated in my baba ghanoush recipe, chickpeas/garbanzo beans (Japanese: hiyokomame, ひよこ豆) are relatively expensive in Japan, so I’ve been trying to less expensive chickpea alternatives. If chickpeas are cheap where…

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Kitchen Library– 10.29.2012

Thanks to Jessica Goodfellow of Axis of Abraxis and Ashley of Surviving in Japan for featuring my kabocha purée recipe on their sites!