
Hi.
I was in Japan for two weeks.
It was a wonderful trip, as I got to explore some new places, and I was able to spend some quality time with my family and friends.
But I’m also happy to be back home, to my own kitchen, too.

The first thing I did once we arrived in Bangkok was to order vegetables and fruits from my go-to person, “farmfruitfolks”.
The next day I received beautiful organic produce, including these blueberries.

After enjoying some as they were, I decided to use them to make muffins.
In addition to the blueberries, I put some dried yuzu peels in the batter.

I wanted the muffin top to be bigger, but other than that, they turned out great.

Because of my oven size, I can bake only six muffins at a time.
Too bad, because I have a feeling that they will disappear very fast.

We timed our trip to Japan well, and we were able to see Sakura in full bloom!
This is Nagoya Castle.

This is called “Gohei-mochi”, sticky rice on a stick, grilled and served with sweet miso glaze.
Because of the Sakura season, at the castle ground there were extra food vendors, and I got this from one of them.
So good!!

This picture was taken at Kinosaki Onsen.
This onsen is easy to get to by public transportation (2 and half hour train ride from Kyoto).
It was a quiet onsen town (with less tourists) and a nice getaway from the busy Kyoto city.