This was something I made a few weekends ago.
I was in a mood for Danish pastry, but something less sweets-like and more suited for breakfast.
I still had a few red currants from my mother-in-law’s backyard left, so I thought they would be pretty showcased with mango.
These were pretty and delicious.
Loved them with my cup of coffee.
Last time when my friend and I planned brunch at our house, we had to cancel it because she did not fell well.
Well, we re-scheduled and today we go to finally do it.
I usually take a safe route and stick with traditional/basic food when I cook for someone for the first time.
But with this friend I felt I knew her food preference enough, and I was comfortable to be a bit bold about the menu.
I knew she likes Japanese food in general, and she seems to be able to be okay with (and enjoy) many Japanese-unique ingredients (e.g., miso, seaweed).
So I made a menu that features some Japanese flavors and presentation.
On the bottom (carbs) tray you’ll find two types of Onigiri (rice balls).
One was with vegan smoked salmon, capers, and dill.
The other contained homemade vegan meat, Shiso leaves, and sesame.
They were served with roasted Nori seaweed so that the rice balls can be wrapped in the seaweed sheet.
Oh, I also made miso soup, which was served separately.
Zucchini Tsukemono.
Tsukemono is a Japanese style pickles.
Some are close to the pickles you see in the U.S., but others have different flavors.
For instance, this was was marinated in salt, sugar, and sesame oil.
No vinegar.
This zucchini was from my mother-in-law’s backyard.
It was a big zucchini, but I liked that the seeds inside were not obnoxiously big; many large zucchini has such huge seeds, which I do not care for.
On the second (main) tray, you’ll find peanut tofu.
This turned out great!!
The rich peanut flavor goes so well with a bit of wasabi and soy sauce.
The texture was perfect too.
This traditional Japanese braised potato dish was also on the second tray.
These marinated grape tomatoes were sweet, fresh, and a perfect side dish this time of the year.
Pealed grape tomatoes were marinated in a mixture of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and maple syrup/agave overnight.
The top tier is of course for dessert.
Since this was brunch, I didn’t want it to be too sugary.
Having said that, however, a few cookies seemed very appropriate to be on this tary.
These are white sesame cookies and Kinako (roasted soy bean) cookies.
Along with the cookies I also served small nectarine yogurt cups and fresh grapes.
My friend brought me this beautiful bouquet of flowers!!
I was eying on this last time I was at the farmers market, so I was super excited.
The colors are amazing!
She said it’s called Butterfly Weed.
Apparently butterflies are attracted to it.
I didn’t notice until later, but it has such a wonderful fragrant.
A mild vanilla-like very pleasant sweet smell.
This is the individual setting I made for this blog photography.
I wanted to take some pictures this way before my friend arrived (I wanted to focus on us not on food during our time together).
We just each used a large plate to make a one-plate meal, but I thought it would be fun to make a setting like this for the picture anyway.
I’m glad I kept these bamboo leaves in the freezer.
These are great for this type of presentation.
I love girls brunch.
I think it’s good for mental health (lol).
I planned and prepared this for girls brunch.
But then I found out the other girl was not able to make it.
So my husband instead joined me.
I was grateful because I would have been sad if I had to eat all this by myself.
On the middle “main dish” plate you’ll find smoked V-salmon, Shiso V-omelet, and V-bacon.
On the bottom plate were V-cheddar cheese, V-cream cheese, sourdough biscuits, and dark rye bread.
Everything on the middle and the bottom was made homemade.
I was so proud of myself (lol)!
The top “dessert” plate was filled with yogurt and fresh nectarines.
Nectarine is one of my favorite fruits.
These were the first I got for this season, and they were perfectly ripe juicy, and sweet!
This afternoon tea style brunch may look hard to make, but if you plan well and do as much as you can in advance, it’s really not that bad.
And I enjoy this kind of planning and plating anyway.
The smoked V-salmon went so well with the dark rye bread.
Ooops, I almost forgot to show this condiment platter.
The fun part of this afternoon tea style meal is that you can eat a small amount of many different things.
In this case you can mix and match to make your own sandwich anyway you like, which we did.
I showed my husband the “model” sandwiches first, and he did copy me, but after the first round he was definitely going “free-style” (lol).
I was disappointed because my friend could not join me for this brunch, but hey we can always do it another time.
And I was happy because my husband really enjoyed it.
(As always I took so many pictures, and I’m just so appreciative that he always waits patiently (and encourages me to take as many as I want!) until I’m done. ❤)
Back to basics.
Simple vanilla pancakes.
But I still wanted to make them look pretty.
And I had just what I needed to dress my pancakes.
Pretty already.
Prettier with powdered sugar!
Tomorrow we are going to our family’s farm to harvest something.
I’m so excited.
Come back to find out what we’ve waited for the past several months!
Breakfast sandwich is always popular around here.
It goes with almost any type of bread, but biscuit is probably one of my favorite.
I quickly made this scallion vegan omelet.
Cookie cutters come in handy.
I’m so proud of this sandwich.
Everything is homemade, including the sourdough biscuit, vegan sausage, and vegan scallion omelet.
Plus, roasted red pepper butter was spread on the biscuit.
My friend just recently moved to the city, a block from us!, and I invited her and her boyfriend, who was visiting for the weekend, over for breakfast.
They are not vegans, but they are open-minded, so it was quite easy for me to decide what to make.
Since I had fresh strawberries that I had just picked myself, I wanted to use them.
So that was how I got the idea of strawberries and biscuits.
Sourdough biscuits turned out great!
Biscuits are easy and fast to make, and they look somewhat special, which I love.
These farm-picked strawberries are so different from the store-bought ones.
Super sweet!
My recent favorite.
Coconut cream.
I like to whip coconut cream and sweeten it with a little powdered sugar.
This time I added a little vegan butter to it to give a little more body.
Cream at the bottom.
Fresh strawberries.
And more cream!
Here is another version.
Sourdough biscuit, homemade vegan ricotta cheese, and strawberry compote.
Which would you prefer?
Cheese and compote?
Or…
Coconut butter cream and fresh strawberries?
Or both!
In addition to these, I also prepared vegan omelet and sauteed vegetable medley.
I wake up hungry most of the time.
I think it’s healthy, right?
On weekends I can’t get out of bed fast enough because I’m ready to eat (lol).
(During the week? It’s a different story.)
I like to buy my yogurt unsweetened and add sweetness myself so that I can adjust the sugar amount.
This ↑ is my current favorite combination, Forager plant-based yogurt and Trader Joe’s fig butter.
Fig butter (or jam) is too sweet for me to eat by itself, but it is great when eaten with yogurt.
This is fig “butter”, so it’s pretty thick.
Sandwich: homemade sesame “almost bagel”, homemade vegan
cheese, BBQ tempeh, turmeric tofu, mashed avocado.
The sandwich was served with yogurt with fig butter, wilted kale, and tomato slices.
My husband (from MN) and I (from Japan) usually eat the same thing at home, but once in a while I prepare two different dishes, one for him and one for me.
Today was that kind of day.
I wanted to make him a sandwich for breakfast, but I had craving for Somen noodles (Japanese thin noodles).
So this is what I made for myself, using similar ingredients.
My husband was happy with his meal, and I was happy with my meal.
Homemade granola is great for breakfast, but it also comes handy when you want a little snack in the afternoon.
This is my recent favorite plant-based yogurt.
I like its thickness.
Do you have a favorite?
Spring rolls are fun to eat, but not fun to make!!
I’m pretty good at folding things (e.g., pot stickers), but not so good at rolling things.
It’s hard to roll things tight, which is my problem.
This time I was faced with extra challenge, and some of them did not even close.
I probably put too much stuff inside.
But because of that you can see what’s inside (you have to find something positive in everything, right?).
If I remember it correctly, inside were homemade seitan meat, turmeric tofu, carrots, cabbage, peppers, noodles, sprouts, and cilantro.
Served with three different sauces, peanut, sweet chili, and black bean.
Yes, I did make a smoothie bowl with my first homemade granola.
Remember this, homemade cinnamon cocoa granola?
Okay.
Smoothie is still not my favorite, but I’m completely sold on this granola!
(I do say, however, that a smoothie bowl is pretty to look at.)
