Beets

I was given some beets by a friend so my husband made some soup that was really delicious and healthy. I don't know exactly how he made it , but it contained beet, carrot, onion and pork. 

With other beets I made beetroot pickles. Beetroot is really nice in salad sandwiches - you should try it! (You can buy beetroot in cans, and the taste isn't so bad.) 

How I make a cup of tea

I've drunk tea since I was a small child. Most Australians my age or older like tea, but many younger people prefer coffee. I like also like coffee, but usually at home I make only tea. Why? It is difficult to make good coffee at home, and it is VERY rare for me to find a good cup of tea at a cafe. 

It is easy to make nice tea at home if you use leaf tea. You can choose a variety and a brand that you like best. For varieties, I like English/Scottish/Irish Breakfast tea, which use Assam tea. I also like Kandy tea and sometimes buy it. 

To make good tea, you need a pot so that the leaves can fully open in the boiling water, but a pot for one person is too big and troublesome. The answer? Use a net from a green tea pot and put it directly into a tea mug! Use one and a half to two teaspoons of leaf tea - it depends how strong you like your tea and how big your mug is. And you MUST use boiling water. After adding the water, let the tea steep (soak) for 2 or 3 minutes. 

The best pumpkin in Japan?

What kind of pumpkin do you like? I like to buy Kaseda Pumpkin from Kagoshima. It has a lot of flavor and can be used for both savory and sweet dishes. Some types of pumpkin can be dry, or the opposite, watery. Kaseda Pumpkin is a good texture.

I usually try to support local farmers, but if you compare Edosaki Pumpkin (from near Tsukuba) and Kaseda Pumpkin, I'm sure you'll agree that the Kaseda one is better :)