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I've learned another Japanese word: 'sakura' meaning cherry blossom.
"I heart sakura in the springtime."
Showing posts with label japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label japan. Show all posts
Monday, 18 April 2011
stay blue, blue sky
I've learned another Japanese word: 'sakura' meaning cherry blossom.
"I heart sakura in the springtime."
Thursday, 14 April 2011
fly little tsuru-san...
I was wondering how the Cakes for Japan Edinburgh fundraiser went the other week. When I'd got there with my bakes I was in such a hot-and-bothered rush I hadn't anytime to snoop around or even say a proper hello before I legged it down the hill to work.
Well I got a quite a shock when I checked back on the event page. The Edinburgh event raised £2330 for Japanese Red Cross - in just a few hours!
These were a couple of leftovers from my baked offerings which I managed to snap on the day. At no loss to the fundraising I might add as this cupcake was distinctly smaller than the rest and the 'crispy flag' needed to be manhandled into a flag shape.
I made fatless fairy cakes, or rather 'gnome cakes' from my newest baking book River Cottage Handbook No.8: Cakes by Pam Corbin. The mix uses a hefty grating of pumpkin, carrot or courgette with a little zest, which I suppose cuts down on the sugar as well as adding moisture. I chose carrot and orange for mine and used the Philly cheese topping which Mrs Corbin makes with butter. As I mixed up the topping the night before, my too-tired eyes failed to spot that the topping was dotted with flecks of butter - but you couldn't taste it! The gnome cakes were good, a little chewy but hey, that's fat-less for you.
To decorate I topped them off with origami tsuru (crane) which I still have to check out instructions for, even though I once folded a thousand to make a sembazuru. That's another story but you would think I could remember - no? I chopped a cocktail stick in half and wiggled the pointy end into the little gap underneath the cranes - BINGO instant cake topper!
For the flags I used this recipe for Crispy Treats, substituting the marshmallows for a jar of Marshmallow Fluff (which I do believe is végétarien), scattered desiccated coconut over the top (to make them a little more white) and added halved glacé cherries. Whilst we are on the subject the Fluff website has this very cute jingle from The Flufferettes - ooh! I didn't get round to popping in cocktail sticks in them all (I forgot the darned box!) but the Fluff worked a treat.
Here's a little photo of my cakes at the sale, taken by Donna McGory of I Cook Vegan Food - have a looksee at her blog to check out some more beautiful photos of the sale.
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
cakes for japan
Cakes for Japan, Edinburgh - Tsunami Appeal Fundraiser Saturday 26th March 11:00am - 3:00pm
Quaker Meeting House,
7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh, EH1 2JL
It shan't come as a surprise, that I require little persuading to don my pinny, go forth and bake, most especially when I've had such an important cause to get rattling my baking tins for. I have a few different Japan-inspired baking ideas I'm working on - just hope I've enough time to bake them all!
Find Cakes for Japan, Edinburgh on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=186263724750194
For more information, or to get involved with the Edinburgh fundraiser, email:
dee@itsy.org.uk
Read about the other Cakes for Japan events at cakesforjapan.wordpress.com and see the sell-out Cakes for Japan, London sale on flikr which raised over £2000 in three hours!
Hope you can make it on Saturday!!
Monday, 14 March 2011
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
はい喜ばしなさい、ありがとう!
All be it within monetary and luggage-allowance restrictions, I think it's reasonable to say that Japan brought out the raging-blood-thirsty-foaming-at-the-mouth-consumerist in me. Oh dear, sounds nasty huh? And for the unfortunate by-standers: believe me, it was.
Most of this rampage was conducted in a couple of Ұ100 shops (not to be compared with Poundstreatcher's) and the fabulous five-storey fabric shop Tomato but I found many opportunities in which to open my purse and shell-out the yen and some other occasions in which, I regret to inform my dithering indecision had me walk away from a most opportune moment. Shame on me!
So I thought it only appropriate to show off the spoils of my shopping-spree now that the gifts have (mostly) been given...
1. Tapes, tapes and more tapes mostly collected in Ұ100 shops and some from a brilliant wee stationery shop somewhere near the Carrot Tower. The sweetie bags up the back by Aiueo came from Tokyu Hands. In case you can't tell from where you're sitting, it's a cartoon lady face with purple / yellow hair and when you fill the bag and tie the top you give her a wee pig tail - eeek!
2. I got some very special stickers for adding to my 'part-made-in-Japan' items soon to be coming to the shop, with 'hand made' written in both hiragana (?) and English. A commendable example of one purchase justifying another! The lovely floral fabric is soon to be a shower cap. And the pink squared speech bubble tags - oohlala need I say more?!
3. Kitty watering can: I found this on the way to the temple of kitty you can get a slightly larger one here too! The plastico maple leaves were decorating shops everywhere, I suppose the way plastic cherry blossoms do in spring. They were Ұ100 of course. Also spottable: a ceramic Miffy salt cellar (not a knock-off I'll have you know!), a second-hand Miffy book (temple yard-sale) for practising my Japanesees, and lovely cherry and mushroom patterned fabrics (Tomato) and a plastic potato. Don't ask.
4. The only snag about Tomato for me, was that apart from the pre-cut pieces on the quilting floor, like this stack of fat-quarters, all fabrics were cut at a minimum of 1 metre. Dang. But compared to FQ prices in Scotland (or say in John Lewis) they were mighty reasonable at between Ұ130/270 or £1/£2 and of course Japanese! The green Mitsubishi pencil in the foreground I admired for it's slogan: 'Made by elaborate process'.
5. I got a lovely selection of stationery items like these cute froggy envelopes (when you fold the top down his eyes pop out!) an exercise book with a dormouse on some spotty red envelopes and more spotty fabric.
6. The deliciously dainty little chocolate box hanky came from RAAK a beautiful knicker-twistingly exciting shop that I stumbled upon in Kyoto. Very Japanese orange and red fabric with a lovely square pattern woven in, was yet again from Tomato and purchased in three colour ways! Can't wait to get working with it.
Thursday, 28 October 2010
Edinburgh - Paris - Tokyo and back again...
- Sold
- Sold
- $9.99 USD
- $18.00 USD
- Sold
- $70.00 USD
- $10.00 USD
- $22.00 USD
- $59.99 USD
- $18.00 USD
- $23.00 USD
- $19.00 USD
- $9.00 USD
- Sold
- Just two weeks away but it feels like a month and a day...
- Thought I'd share with you the Etsy treasury I put together pre-departure as a sort of scrapbook of ideas whilst planning my holiday wardrobe. Please note: the sold sign doesn't actually mean I bought it, alas, but my capsule collection of old favourites, some new socks (a Japanese essential!) and a very lovely new scarf (a present) served me very well. And my compact collection would have served me even better if we had managed to find a laundrette in Tokyo (funny such places don't have English language websites... aherm). I was very glad to have my quick drying, no-ironing and easily hand washable green dress. Phew!
I didn't really need my raincoat as the weather was perfectly pleasantly warm for us but wish I had purchased the lovely konnichiwa tee as I kept getting "good morning" (ohayoo gozaimasu) confused with "ta very much" (argatoo gozaimasu) - oh what a funny inter-continental traveller I am!
Two essentials were my notebook and pencil (and an eraser, being me) for collecting rubber stamps in and keeping my travel log book. And also a hankie for spontaneous bursts of tears at the sight of my boarding pass, an Edo-period silver incense burner (seriously), chanting monks and the thought of going home.
One handy item now missing from the above list was Asking for Trouble's Tokyo Shopping Guide, as the proprietress is currently off to Japan herself. I did do a lot of shopping and have brought home a hefty weight of fabric and a large collection of silly stuff. A little too much silly perhaps as I very much regret not buying a beautiful bowl in a Kyoto garage sale. It's a world away from me now, just wish I wasn't...
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