Coffee at home

If you've been reading this blog for a while you'll know that I am a tea drinker rather than a coffee person. BUT I do like delicious coffee sometimes.

The problem is that I am not very good at making coffee, so recently I tried to change that. An acquaintance of mine gave me a coffee-maker that she bought but didn't fit her kitchen. It is a nice one made by Thermos (brand) and the brewed coffee goes into a Thermos flask. The flask keeps the coffee hot so there is no hot plate. In fact, professionals say that you SHOULD NOT keep coffee on a hotplate for more than 20 minutes because it will 'burn' and the coffee will taste bitter. Anyway, I really like the coffee-maker. You can see it here -->

www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000BHRQPE/
qid=1150533754/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_10_5/249-0193723-2741951

To test the new machine I went to Starbucks and bought some beans. At first I thought that I would get some decaffinated beans because some of my friends don't want to have caffinated drinks. I talked to a staff member in the Lala Garden Starbucks and she said the decaf beans were a little weak, so after thinking about it for a while, I decided to buy the same beans that Starbucks use for the regular coffee they make. (Espresso Roast - Bold flavor) I also got a brochure on how to make good coffee.

The homemade coffee was great, but WOW was it strong! I ended up mixing half coffee and half milk to make a latte. Now I use 200mls of water, not 180mls per two scoops of coffee.

The funny thing is that recently I go to Tullys more than Starbucks because Starbucks at Lala Garden is too small and noisy so I can't relax. {I go twice a month because I have to have a quick lunch at Lala Garden before I teach at 'Lala Club'. At either coffee shop a sandwich and a coffee costs almost 1000yen - expensive lunch but fast!}

acquaintance - 知人,

My Baby!

Look! I have a baby!

This is 'Baby Frog' who started out as a tadpole in the rice field 3 weeks ago. At that time, my friend came over and said she wanted some tadpoles for her daughter. So she, my husband and I went looking in the rice fields for some.

It was probably a funny sight - 3 adults with a net and plastic 'bug' box, searching around in the rice fields and irrigation channels by my house. Finally we got one tadpole, 2 very tiny baby loaches and two water snails. My friend took them home for her children.

But this week my friend went to America so I got the box and brought it home again. That was on Sunday and 'Baby Frog' was still a tadpole. In fact, he looked more like a baby blowfish than a frog - he had a big round head with a cute little mouth. On Monday his legs got a little bigger, that's all. On Tuesday night he was STILL a brown tadpole swimming in the water.

Wednesday morning I got up and went to look at him but he was gone! Then I found him on the side of the plastic case - he was a FROG! It was amazing that he changed from a tadpole to a frog in just 8 HOURS!!! He changed into a tiny bright green frog.

I kept him for just a day and yesterday evening my husband and I took him back to the rice field and released him. It is raining today so I hope he is happy and could find some bugs to eat.

The loaches and snails are still in the case and I'm going to keep them! I can't wait until they get bigger. Yesterday I went to the pet shop in Lala Garden and bought some food and moss to make a proper home.

Next year you should get some tadpoles and watch them change. It truly is a miracle of nature!

tadpole - オタマジャクシ
come over - (other people visit your house)
rice field / paddy field - 水田
irrigation channel - 水路
loach - ドジョウ
water snail / pond snail / mud snail - タニシ
blowfish / pufferfish - フグ, 体をふくらませる魚(フグなど)
bug / insect - 昆虫, 虫
moss - コケ: スギゴケ類，セン（蘚）類

Win, draw, lose

Did you watch the soccer last night?

I'm not really a soccer fan (I prefer rugby) so I didn't watch all of the game last night.

Yesterday everyone asked me "Who will win, Japan or Australia?" I really have no idea about the skills of the players on either team, but I do know that many Australian players are in the professional leagues in Europe and England. And I also know that Aussies don't give up very easily! So yesterday I said the game would be a draw at 1-1 or the Australians would win.

Maybe I am mean, but I don't understand why most of the Japanese players cannot shoot goals under pressure. I just watch soccer highlights on the TV news, but I often see wild shots at goal. It was a problem 4 years ago and it is a problem now. Even as an outsider, I can see this is a weak point that the players really need to work on.

Anyway, last night I thought that Japan would win and was disappointed that the Australians didn't try harder. BUT then in the final 10 minutes everything changed! Maybe the Aussies are tougher in hot conditions? :)

Best of luck to Japan in their next game!

Miso-ume Dressing

Last year M-san gave me some delicious miso-ume dressing. It was good with salad, or as a sauce for chicken or pork. I really wanted to make some more but I had to wait until this season when green ume are in season.

Japanese ume are usually called 'plums' but in fact I think they are closer to apricots, though much more sour.

To make the dressing you need equal weights of green plums, rock sugar and miso e.g. 500g of each. First of all you wash the plums (and you can dip them in white liquor to kill any germs) then dry them and put them into a jar. After that you add the sugar, and finally the miso. Leave the jar in a cool dark place for 3 months.

After the dressing has matured, put it in a pot and simmer it to reduce the amount of water. Finally, put it into clean bottles.

I really hope that my dressing is successful!

germs - 微生物, 細菌
mature - 熟成した
simmer - ぐつぐつ煮える