Aug 31, 2014

Moroheiya / モロヘイヤ

Moroheiya are originally from Egypt and they are considered as superfood. They were introduced to Japan in 1980s because of their nutritious value.

モロヘイヤは栄養価の高い緑黄色野菜で1980年代にその栄養価が認められ、日本に進出した。

Moroheiya contain more than twice of beta carotene compare to spinach; they are rich in vitamin B, vitamin E, vitamin K, calcium and iron. When you chop it up, the slimy substance that is called mucin comes out that is the same substance in okras. Mucin can help diabetes and protect stomach.

モロヘイヤはほうれん草の二倍のβカロチンを含み、ビタミンBとEとKそしてカルシウムと鉄分が豊富。モロヘイヤを刻むとオクラと同じネバネバしたムチンとよばれる水溶性食物繊維が出る。このムチンは糖の体への吸収を遅らせたり、胃壁を保護するやくめを果たしたりする。

I normally use Moroheiya in my miso soup or green smoothie. I feel like they can be added any dishes or sweets because they do not have much taste.

モロヘイヤはあまり味がしないので私はみそ汁や、今の季節だとグリーンスムージーに加えて楽しむようにしている。

I was able to buy a bag of Moroheiya for only 100 yen at a grocery store because it is still in season. After using leaves for my green smoothie, I decided to grow them in a glass jar with some water. Some roots came out, so I moved them to a pot. They are very easy to grow during the summer.

夏が旬のモロヘイヤなので今だと一袋100円位で購入ができる。買ったモロヘイヤの葉っぱをグリーンスムージーに使ったあとでグラスの瓶に少しの水で育ててみたら根っこがニョキニョキと出てきた。根っこがある程度育ったら庭の鉢に植えた。モロヘイヤは簡単にどんどん育つ!

Moroheiya can grow up to two meters if you just let them grow and their seeds/fruits are poisonous. There was a report saying that some cattle died after eating their seeds in Japan. Do not eat their seeds/fruits!!!

モロヘイヤは放っておくと2メートルくらいの高さまでどんどん成長する。モロヘイヤを家庭で育てる場合は秋にできる実は毒なので食べないように!
Growing SuperFood, Moroheiya in my little back yard!

Aug 30, 2014

Mejiro Garden / 目白庭園

Mia said "WOW!!!" as soon as we walked in Mejiro Garden.

娘は目白庭園に入ったとたんに,WOW!!!と叫んだ。

Mejiro Garden is a small garden that is located near Mejiro station on JR.

目白庭園はJR目白駅のそばにある小さめの庭園。

I was not expecting much before our visit to Mejiro Garden, however I was stunned by its aesthetic beauty. I loved how the garden was designed because almost everything that I saw at the garden was interesting and beautiful that made me that I want to explore the garden more by walking.

全然期待しないで庭園に入ったので、庭園の美しさに感動。
小さなスペースがとても上手に、庭園を訪れる人が楽しめるようにデザインされていたので、誰がデザインしたんだろう?とまで考えてしまった。

I ended up walking through the garden twice!

あまりにも庭園が良かったので庭園を二周した。

I would love to go back there soon.

また行きたいと思った。

Mejiro Garden
Posing for a camera!
Mejiro Garden
Sleeping Koi at Mejiro Garden

Aug 29, 2014

Artists, Yuzo Saeki and Tsune Nakamura / 画家の佐伯祐三と中村彝

After reading about some famous painters, such as Yuzo Saeki and Tsune Nakamura used to live in my area and their studios still exist here at the ward office, I always wanted to visit their studios and it finally happened!

区役所のパンフレットに落合に住んでいた画家のアトリエ/美術館についてのパンフレットを何度か読み、ずっと行ってみたいなぁと思っていた中落合にある佐伯祐三と下落合にある中村彝のアトリエについに娘と一緒に訪問。

Both of them had a cute small art studio.
やっぱり海外のアーティストのアトリエと比べるとサイズが小さい。だけども、こじんまりとして可愛らしいアトリエだった。

Below is Yuzo Saeki's art studio in Nakaochiai, Tokyo.

下が佐伯祐三のアトリエ。
Yuzo Saeki's art studio

Yuzo Saeki was born in Osaka, Japan in 1898 and his father was a Buddhist monk. In 1921 he married a painter, Yoneko Ikeda. He was a student at Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris in 1924; he loved living in Paris and the city inspired him to paint. His nick name was "Van Gogh of Japan" because his style was similar to Van Gogh's work. He passed away when he was 30-yr-old in Paris.

画家、佐伯祐三は1898年に大阪生まれでお父さんはお寺の住職さん。1921年に画家の池田米子と結婚。パリを愛し、パリで芸術の学生として1924年から過ごす。画家のゴッホのファンで佐伯の作品はゴッホのタッチを思わせたため、彼のニックネームは日本のゴッホ。短命な佐伯は30歳にしてこの世を去る。

Inside of Yuzo Saeki's studio
He was a good looking man!
写真でみるとかっこいい人だったんだなぁ〜と思ってしまった。
Yuzo Saeki's studio
Yuzo only used this studio for four years.
佐伯はこのアトリエを実際の所は4年位しか使っていない。


Below is Tune Nakamura's art studio.
下が中村彝のアトリエ。
Tsune Nakamura's art studio

Tsune Nakamura was born as the fifth child of samurai family in Mito, Ibaraki prefecture in 1887. He went to a junior army school in Nagoya to become a solider, however he contracted tuberculosis which ended his military career. Tsune always enjoyed drawing and painting as a child that led him to become an artist. He was a member of a painting groups, such as Hakuba Kai and Taiheiyo Gakai. Tune`s work was influenced by Rembrandt, Renoir and Cezanne.

中村は5人兄弟の末っ子として茨城県の水戸に生まれる。陸軍軍人の兄の影響を受けて軍人になるために名古屋陸軍地方幼年学校を卒業。しかし肺結核をわずらい軍人になるのを諦める。その後に幼い頃から得意だった絵画をするようになり画家を志し、白馬会洋画研究所で絵を学ぶ。

He built a good relationship with Soma family who was known as the art patron and the owner of Shinjuku Nakamuraya. There was a studio in the back of their house; they let him live there. Their oldest daughter, Shunko posed him as a nude model for his work. He fell in love with her, but her family did not want her to marry him because of his illness. Heartbroken Tune left for Izu Oshima in 1914, then he built an art studio in Shimo Ochiai, Tokyo after getting help from a patron financially. He passed away from his illness at the age of thirty seven.

新宿中村屋の相馬夫妻と仲良くなり新宿中村屋の裏のアトリエで暮らし、作品作りに没頭する。相馬家の長女の俊子は中村のためにヌードモデルを引き受ける。彼は俊子に恋をするがその恋は実らない。俊子の家族は娘の裸が人々の目にさらされる事を嫌う。また病気の中村が娘と仲良くなる事も良い事とは思わなかった。傷ついた中村は伊豆大島に1914年に旅立つ事になる。しかしパトロンから経済的な援助を受けて後に下落合にアトリエを構える。肺結核の為に37歳でこの世を去る。
Tsune Nakamura's studio
I think Mia enjoyed visiting art studios with me.

娘もアトリエを私と一緒に満喫。

Aug 27, 2014

Pecan nuts basil pesto / ペカンナッツとバジルのペスト

My friend from California got me some tasty organic pecan nuts. Living in Austin, Texas for many years made me to fall in love with pecan nuts. It is too bad that they are not easy to find here.

友達がとっても美味しいオーガニックのペカンナッツをお土産に持ってきてくれた。
テキサス州にかれこれ10年以上住んでいた私はピカーンナッツが大好き。日本ではなかなか手に入りにくいのでアメリカからのお土産は何が欲しいと聞かれると、ついついピカーンナッツと言ってしまう。

I store them in a refrigerator, so I wrap them in a aluminium foil then toast them in a toaster for couple minutes to make them more crispy and bring out the aroma.

ナッツ類はカビが生えるのが怖いので冷蔵庫保存。でも冷たいままで食べたくはないので、アルミホイルに包んでオーブントースターで3分くらい軽くトースト。そうするとナッツが香ばしくもっと美味しくなる。

Below is what is in my pecan nuts basil pesto; I just put them in a blender for about forty seconds. It is easy and tasty!

ちなみに下が今回のペカンナッツとバジルのペストの材料。下記の材料をブレンダーにかけて40秒くらい。
簡単で美味しい!

Basil/バジル

Pecan nuts/ペカンナッツ

Olive oil/オリーブオイル

Mimolette (I did not have parmesan cheese this time.)

今回はパルメザンチーズがなかったので冷蔵庫にあったミモレットを使用。

Garlic/ニンニク

Making basil pesto with pecan nuts
Pecan nuts basil pesto pasta
I eat my pasta with chopsticks at home often because I find it convenient!
I love adding some black peppers right before I started to eat the pasta.

食べる直前に黒胡椒をたっぷりかけて!

新規モニター登録

Aug 24, 2014

Shinjuku Suwa shrine summer festival / 諏訪神社のお祭り

Mia was excited to visit matsuri (the summer festival) at Suwa shrine this morning.

お祭り好きのミアちゃんは諏訪神社のお祭りを朝からとても楽しみにしていた。

Because she was excited, she kept saying "Washhoi! Wasshoi!" in Japanese.

朝からずっとワッショイ、ワッショイと掛け声をかけていた。

Wasshoi is a shout when people gather together to carry a mikoshi that is a portable shrine during the festival.

I had to walk about twenty minutes to get to the festival from home, and by the time we got there, she was already asleep even though she put on her Hello Kitty pink yukata (summer style kimono). Also she had Donald Duck's blue fan in her hand.

ピンクのキティちゃんの浴衣を着て、ドナルドダックのうちわを持って、あんなに楽しみにしていたけれども20分もベビーカーに揺られていたら、お祭りに着く前に熟睡。

Fell asleep before visiting the festival

Suwa shrine summer festival

Aug 23, 2014

Swimming at the Jidokan / 児童館でのプール

Mia and I have been enjoying using the Jidokan near our apartment ever since we moved to Tokyo especially since we live in a small apartment. Although I love how I can get pretty much everything in Tokyo except delicious BBQ and Mexican food in Austin, Texas, I miss having more space that Mia can run around.

広大なテキサスから東京に戻ってきてからは狭いマンション生活が少し嫌で時々児童館を活用するようになった。(もともと私は家にじっとしているタイプではない)

Japanese Jidokan is a children's facility/building that has pools during summer time, a little outside park, toys, pens and papers to draw and more...; it offers babies/children's classes for free or very low prices.

アメリカには児童館はないので色々とある日本の児童館には関心する。最近の児童館はプールまであるなんてすごい!

Today was the last swimming day at the Jidokan, so Mia enjoyed being in water with other children. It still gets hot and humid in here, but I can feel the fall is here already by looking at cherry leaves on the ground that changed their colour from green to yellow.

今日は児童館のプールの最終日だったので娘とプール。まだまだ毎日暑い。でも外の桜の葉が緑から黄色に変わり地面に落ちているのを見ると秋の気配を感じる。

I think we had enough of hot days and I am looking forward to my favourite time of the year in Tokyo!

大好きな日本の秋が訪れるのがとても楽しみ!

Water tastes so good!
The last swimming day at the Jidokan!
Jidokan pools

Aug 21, 2014

Green smoothie/グリーンスムージー

My 2-yr-old has iron deficiency because she does not eat a lot of meat or vegetables that contain iron which led me to buy a blender because I thought she might like green smoothie.

食べ物の好き嫌いが多い2歳の娘が採血検査の結果、鉄分が足りておらず貧血だと医師から伝えられ、ママ友に相談してグリーンスムージーを作ってみる事にした。

She loves to pretend drinking a cup of green smoothie with me whenever I make some, but she refuses to drink it. Then I ended up making some peach and banana smoothie for her to see if she would try some peach and banana smoothie. I know Mia is a very cautious girl, so I showed her the process of making it, but that did not work either.

グリーンスムージーを作ってみたものの、用心深い娘は飲むふりはするけれど一口もスムージーは飲んでくれなかった。色が緑だから飲んでくれないのかな?と思い、桃とバナナだけでスムージーを作ってみたものの、それでさえも飲んでくれなかった。

Anyway, I have been enjoying making some green smoothie at home everyday after purchasing a blender from Yamamoto Electric Corporation. There are some aloe vera plants growing in my little back yard and I am happy to be able to take the advantage of putting aloe in my smoothie.

娘が一口もスムージーを飲んでくれなかったのは残念だったけど、私は毎日のようにグリーンスムージーを自分用に作って暑い夏を楽しんでいる。庭にアロエが生えていてそのアロエがスムージーに使えるのが嬉しい。

Here is the list of what I put in my green smoothie.

ちなみに今日のスムージーはこんな感じ。

Parsley/パセリ

Pineapple/パイナップル

Banana/バナナ

Grapes/ブドウ

Ginger/ショウガ

Aloe vera/アロエ

Soy milk/豆乳

Honey/蜂蜜

Ice cubes/氷


Making some green smoothie!
Can you see Mia's hand trying to help me to make some smoothie?
娘の手がニョキニョキと伸びてスムージー作りの手伝いをしています。

Green smoothie
I love summer!
やっぱり夏は最高!