OMG BURGERS

 

I kan haz chezburgr?!

preview of BURGER heaven

 

Next week, the restaurant I love and work at, Fujimamas, is doing a week long promotion of Hawaiian BBQ and amazing burgers!!! really amazing. we are busy this weekend tasting, prepping and getting the smoker smoking. And this shot above is of our massive homemade buns for our 250 gram burgers we will be grilling all next week. YUM.

for the menu of what we will be cooking up. check this out.

viva Obama

I love Texas Democrats!

Obama Q&A in Hawaii

world wide conference call with Barack

Last night I was on a conference call with presidential candidate Barack Obama. No secret here that I am a big supporter, but the call was open to anyone in Democrats Abroad that wanted to hear Barack, and learn more about him before the close of our first ever Global Primary which ends today on 2/12.

He spoke only briefly, but he addressed a lot of issues, domestic and foreign. I don't understand the cynics that say he can be short on details... he gave a lot of substantive commentary last night. It was a very good call. about 10 mins. And worth waiting up for at 12am. I was impressed with his hopes and plans for global development and his understanding of the hard road ahead to forge better usa relations around the world. He mentioned increased spending for education, talked about trade with developing economies, the new kyoto accords and much more.

I will be on pins and needles till this is decided and am really hoping for a blow out in the primaries in DC, Virginia, and Maryland in the next 24 hrs.
yes.we.can

yes. we. can. ----- VOTE

Oh Yeah!

I am just so happy today! Obama won SC primary in a landslide. On to Super Tuesday! I think Obama offers the best chance of hope and change for the USA. And I am whole-heartedly thrilled that he won today!!!!

A bunch of us will be watching the Super Tuesday Returns all the way over here in Japan.

why I wish there were more hours in a day

 

I love life, really. So much opportunity, so many wonderful people, and interesting things to do. But there is just not enough time. About a year ago, I took the RBR Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain workshop. It was amazing. 5 days of drawing that was so much more than that. It woke up my thinking, and it really gave me confidence-- plus it was a ton of fun. Right after the class, maybe 2 weeks later, I did this drawing of my friend. It is still not quite finished, but it was so much fun. And considering that I was at the level of cartoon-ish-stick drawings before that time- WOW.

Sadly, I have not been keeping up with it. Book groups, writing groups, work, travel, freelance writing, work, friends, events, politics, and work... have kept this on the back back back burner.

In good news, the folks at RBR have started a little monthly gathering and online club of alumni from their 5 day drawing workshops. So at least maybe I can drop in to one of those and sketch a little with some other right-brainers.

But really, I would love to have 6 more hours in every day and one extra day a week...

7 Random things about me! meme

I was tagged for a "Meme." It’s a “7 Random Things About Me."

Here are the rules: Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

rule: Share seven random and/or weird things about yourself.
rule: Tag seven people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
rule: Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, here we go.

1. I have a scissor thing... I don't know how it happens but I have way too many pairs of scissors in my life for any one human being. I seem to collect them like some crazy scissor magnet, and the weird thing is I don't truly know where most of them come from.

2. I like to stand in the shower for a long time with my hands folded behind my back and in the water. This is my normal stance for shower repose.

3. I don't like eggplant, except when it is pickled Japanese style in miso. other versions I really don't enjoy at all, cooked, grilled, etc. etc. NOT FOR ME.

4. I believe the only real flavor of poptarts is Brown Sugar Cinnamon. All others are something entirely different and cannot really be called poptarts.

5. I also, in addition to my scissor fetish have a thing about bags and notebooks. I own sooooo many bags, backpacks, etc. and yet always covet more of them and always want to buy a new bag when I am out, AND I love buying new notebooks for my writing. I am on a life long quest for the perfect notebooks. I love moleskins, but I like tons of other notebooks too. again, I have, probably a hundred or more notebooks in my life!

6. For me the perfect pen has as absolutely fine a point as is physically and technologically possible. My favorite for the last 2 years is this .028 point pen sold in Japan.

7. I Love Love Love Christmas. Especially traditional christmassy stuff. Love it! BUT I hate it when people decorate etc. too early. Christmas season starts with the day after Thanksgiving, and does not get into full swing until dec. 1. Period.

so that is some randomness about me... I am tagging the 4 founders of the group news blog, and my friend Terri Mac, and the lovely and energetic Adelle, American Goy,, Farmgirl, the chef at Moveablefeast, and finally Mr.OnoKineGrindz.
Hope to read all the randomness about them soon too!

morning cups of tea

I love the first cup of tea of the day, It is a gentle, tasty way to wake up my mind, warm myself and focus on the day that is beginning. I drink tea off and on throughout the day but the first cup is the magical one. Days that start with coffee at work instead of tea at home don't ever seem to have as solid a foundation.

My normal tea of choice is a good strong English breakfast. I like two cubes of sugar (we use unrefined pure cane sugar) and a lot of milk. My hubby who also like that first cup takes his with one sugar and just a breath of milk. I can't describe it exactly... But I really really look forward to that first sip of piping hot tea.

Some other family favorites on the tea front...

Hubby used to drink Earl Grey or Black Currant, Now he likes Lapsang Souchong a smoky Chinese tea.

Mom like Darjeeling, more floral. subtle, a golden color when brewed. She also LOVES the house blend at the Dorchester hotel in London. We visited there some 15 years ago and she still remembers that tea- (note to self--- must go back there for high tea again some day)

In the afternoon I sometimes enjoy a cup of earl grey. We serve an organic variety in my restaurant, or a spicy chai with loads of cardamom.

there are hundreds of kinds of tea and dozens of grades of tea in each variety. I have also learned to love green tea, especially after a traditional Japanese meal.

one of my favorite online tea shops is Adagio teas. They have great tea and tea gear.

A little more about ENGLISH BREAKFAST, the morning tea of choice...
from wikipedia English Breakfast Tea

English Breakfast tea is a black tea blend usually described as full-bodied, robust, and/or rich, and blended to go well with milk and sugar, in a style traditionally associated with a hearty English breakfast.

The black teas included in the blend vary, with Assam, Ceylon and Kenyan teas, and Keemun common. Common brands of English Breakfast tea include Twinings, Tetley, Taylor's of Harrogate, PG Tips, Stash Tea Company, Lipton, Celestial Seasonings, Ringtons Tea, Zesta and Dilmah.

origins; Accounts of its origins vary. Many attribute its origins to a man named Drysdale in Edinburgh: Over a hundred years ago in Scotland a man named Drysdale went into the specialty tea business within sight of the castle of Edinburgh and offered a tea called Breakfast.... "As of 1982 they still sell the only tea on the market called simply Breakfast and nothing more, probably reasoning that Scots ... at that time of day want to be told nothing more than which blend of teas makes a good eye-opener."

Another explanation of its origin cites a Journal of Commerce article which dates the blend to 1843 and a tea merchant named Richard Davies in New York City. Davies, an English immigrant, started with a base of Congou and added a bit of Pekoe and Pouchong. It sold for 50 cents a pound, and its success led to imitators, helping to popularize the name.

A day worth celebrating

really, who knew? 1/17 is Hot Buttered Rum Day? How wonderful is that, and what a perfectly freezing cold hot buttered rum weathered day it was in Tokyo on 1/17! Perfect climate for HBR!!!

according to Cocktail Times;

Hot Buttered Rum Day is officially celebrated on January 17th. The drink was popular in both England and America. It was particularly in the Northeast region of the United States as a cold cure up until the 19th century, while the English were drinking hot buttered ale in the 1600's. It was also known in America as 'Dutch Rum' at first and was one of the traditional drinks of the 'Knickerbockers', -- the New Yorkers of Dutch extraction, who heavily populated New York in the early 19th century.

So here's to Hot Toddies of all varieties!
and a link to a great Hot Buttered Rum recipe by Mrs. Robinson at the Group News Blog.

Photo from a friend

My writing teacher Angela sent me this photo. My writer's group that I lead is called the Tokyo Writer's Salon, so this was a cool find. I decided to write about this for a photo- writing assignment in my online class. *yes crazily enough I have one off line class, one online class, and my writers group.... need my head examined. But in reality each class moves slowly and just gives me some good ideas and starting points for morning writing before work...

slow food

Last night a few folks met up for a slow food dinner in Nakameguro at Mother Esta. This is a great little restaurant that prides itself on local, seasonal, often (but not always) organic ingredients.

5 people came to the meeting, myself, my husband, Derek (a friend from meetup.com) and two lovely japanese ladies I had never met before. The food was great and the conversation interesting. I also got to borrow a good food politics book.

My hubby and I ordered;
a fried pumpkin and puff pastry appetizer
I had Lovely Koso Pork grilled and served simply with lemon and 3 kinds of salt
and we split a dessert of Strawberry chiffon cake. (strawberries are common here in Japan in dec. and jan?!)

looking forward to going out again next month with this new group and searching out other slow food locations.

Mother Esta
2-20-14 aobadai meguro
Tokyo
02-5724-5778

Momtime

One of the best parts of my holiday time in Europe was spending time with my wonderful mother. She is great fun to travel with, and full of adventurous spirit. This shot is her with a Mozart street performer in Vienna. (she didn't know he was alive till I put money in his catch-cup and he started to move.

Anyway, It had been too too too long since I had seen mom, and we had a great time together. Doing stuff... but also just eating and drinking in cafes and walking around in the christmas markets.

lots of fun! (thanks for coming Mom)

good luck pigs?

in my family, the new years tradition is Pork and Sauer Kraut- for good luck. I am half German 1/2 Welsh and now that I have visited germany I know where this tradition comes from. Another interesting holiday tradition in Germany and Austria appears to be the Good Luck Pig!

I saw these little guys everywhere. So, I needed to look up where this tradition comes from... and over on Yahoo Answers I found out about pigs and much more.

"In Germany the pig to symbolize good luck because it is entirely edible - from snout to foot. And we have those little pink pigs made out of marzipan with a penny in its snout...for good luck.

Chocolate plays its part at the New Year, symbolizing the rich and sweet hopes that the giver has for the recipient's year.

Nuts mark the turning of the year and often are given as the start of any new enterprise. The French give jars of cooked chestnuts in sweet syrup on New Year's Day.

Bread should be well-rounded - the way you want your year to be. "No long loaves, because they have ends where good luck might escape. The same goes for pasta: round, not straight.''

Greens and lentils represent money or coins and are thought to bring riches. Italians eat lentils with sausages, symbolizing money and the purse to hold it in. In much of the Orient, fish is eaten for prosperity, noodles for long life and rice for fertility.

Cabbage, even sauerkraut, is supposed to help cure `the morning after the night before' making it an ancient remedy for another famous New Year's Day tradition - hangovers."

So where ever you and what ever your tradition-- Happy New Year and best of luck for a fantastic 2008. Thanks for reading the Fancy Glass, I hope to learn more, post more, and especially cook more in coming new year.

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I swap with Swap-bot!

Old World Elegance

This is the second year we have traveled to the EU for Christmas. (just got back to japan yesterday) One of the things I love about Vienna, and other spots we have visited, is the elegance and old world sensibility. There are modern conveniences and all the stuff you would expect but there is also a preservation of the culture and a slower pace to things that I appreciate so much.

The photo above is from the Blue Lounge in the Hotel Sacher (home of the famous Sacher Torte) The Sacher hotel is all about old world elegance. Proper pots of tea, hot cocoa served in pitchers, door men, and towel warmers, and a great concierge. All adds up to a relaxing and luxiurious stay.

The Sacher went above and beyond this year and made our christmas so special. On christmas eve when we returned to the room after visiting the Vienna Christmas Markets, there was a chocolate sleigh filled with christmas cookies, and later that night they gave us special christmas slippers when they did our turn down. It was a small thing, but it meant a lot to us. Cozy, comfortable and yet elegant. We are planning to make Christmas at the Sacher a family tradition.

St. Stephen's Moment

well, we are home, just got in today, and tomorrow I head back into the restaurant. It was a great trip, and it was fantastic to spend such a special christmas with Mom.

I am going through photos and notes to post up- over the next few days, but for now, here is a little video snippet from the gorgeous midnight mass celebration we experienced in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. This is from the choir concert that started off the service. simply gorgeous, and wonderful to attend with mom.

finding Christmas in Bavaria Pt.2

Well, I have been here 3 days, Mom arrived and we have been having a wonderful time. Yesterday was simply magical. It has been a long time since I really saw snow. (Tokyo gets an occasional flurry but not accumulation) But I got my wish for some snowy-christmas-adventures yesterday!

Our hotel provided a service to link up to a sight seeing tour out to the Bavarian alps and to Neuschwanstein. The gorgeous alpine area lies just about 2hrs from downtown Munich so a day trip was very easy. We had a hearty breakfast. The highlight of which for me, was a whole honey comb that you could slice a hunk of honey from and have on excellent homemade bread with rich creamy butter.

the bus set up was a bit hard to understand as we joined the tour, but after it sorted itself out things went very smoothly. Uta was our guide, and though a bit odd she was friendly and informative. On German tours, punctuality is everything! so things moved in a very quick and scheduled pace. The theme of the day was King Ludwig II. Fairytale castles.

We first visited the tiny palace of Linderhof. Very ornate, and quite gogeous. (and very cold!) and then we stopped in a lovely Alpine village of Oberammergau (famous for it's once a decade performance of the passion play of christ- which has been going on since the Plague times.) Oberammergau is filled with lovely Alpine houses and shops with frescos painted on the walls. It is really like walking through a postcard.

But the jewel of the day was finally seeing Neuschwanstien. What an amazing place. And the weather made everything icy, snowy and totally gorgeous. The castle was never completed inside, with most of the decor being done only on the floor of the King's royal apartment. The entire castle, all the furnishings and wall coverings were inspired by Wagner's operas as King Ludwig was a huge Wagner fan.

You take a horse carriage to the top, near to the castle, then a brisk 10 minute walk for the last part. And you are inside. everything is stunning. My favorite room was the king's bedroom which it took 14 woodcarvers 4 1/2 years to complete! I was also greatly impressed by the byzantine inspired throne room.

King Ludwig died under myserious circumstances long before he could see the completion of the castle, and it was open for tourists just 6 weeks after his death!

Back in the bus, and two hours later back to our hotel where we had a lovely dinner and slept the deep sleep of those who spend a day up in the mountains and snow.

--top pictures clockwise from top left-- bavarian snow scape walking to Linderhof/ painted walls of Oberammergau/ Neuschwanstein in the snowy evening/ Bavarian village street.

Tomorrow we are off to Nurnberg.

finding christmas in Munich pt.1

So last year we started a new tradition. Christmas is NOT a real holiday in Japan. It is not even a day off of work. The Japanese adopted some of the Christmas trappings, but none of the good ones. Mariah Carey "All I want for Christmas" blares everywhere and crazy neon plastic decorations are abundant. But nothing warm, nothing family-oriented, nothing that seems "Christmassy" to me. So last year, I took vacation at Christmastime and my husband and I went to Vienna and Prague where we heard Christmas traditions were alive and well.

It was fantastic.

And this year we decided to do it again, this time my Mom will be joining us too! Which is the best Christmas present ever.

My Mom's side of the family is German, and most Christmas traditions come from there, so this year we choose; Munich, Nurnberg and then Back to Vienna for the end of the trip. Mom gets in early tomorrow morning, but we have been here since yesterday. And the report so far is that Christmas is everywhere!

There is a fantastic Christmas market on Mariaplatz. Hot mulled wine, bratwurst, gingerbread are the market specialties. There are goregous decorations. Window shopping is loads of fun. And I am totally in Christmas heaven. The shot above is a collage of some of the sights this evening. from top left-clockwise.

1. a goregous tree lit up on a darling little back street
2. the main Townsqaure, with a massive goregous traditional tree and the start of a very big christmas market
3. me and santa :-)
4. a beautiful fruit stall

On our first day we also had a fantastic Christmas Sunday Brunch (they do it in the hotel each sunday of advent). More on that later.
time to try hard to go back to sleep in spite of jet lag!