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I’ve made crackers using sourdough discard a few times, but this may be the best one.

I did serve them with olive salad for the picture (and it was good!), but you don’t really need anything.

They are delicious as they are.

This Kabocha Shokupan turned out to be super soft!

I love the beautiful yellow color inside, too.

I hope you can tell how soft this bread is from this picture.

This is delicious toasted and non-toasted both!

I like to make crackers when I have sourdough “discard.”

It’s so easy to make, and it tastes great.

This time I added Aosa (Japanese seaweed) and white sesame seeds.

So good!

I was at W-F Market the other day, standing in front of the vegan meat section.

Since we don’t go out to eat anymore, we’ve started trying new store-bought vegan products for fun lately.

I saw a package of vegan bacon, and I thought it would be fun to try something new.

But then my husband said I could make better one at home.

I looked at the ingredients on the package and looked at the bacon again, and I put it back.

I add a little extra oil when I cook my vegan meat to make “bacon.”

It’s not the healthiest thing in the world, but what do you expect?

It’s bacon!

And it sure is TASTY!

I have always liked pasta, but I’ve been really loving homemade pasta.

Both making and eating.

Whenever I go to Target, I have to check out Bullesye’s Playground which is the first thing you see when you enter the store.

They sell seasonal (and not so seasonal) fun stuff.

Look at what I found the other day.

I liked the design and the price (three dollars!).

Now I can make fancy strips.

I don’t know if you knew, but I love mushrooms.

I could just eat a whole bowl of sauteed mushrooms.

Fresh pasta, sauteed garlic and mushrooms, vegan feta cheese, tomatoes, and Shiso leaves.

Delicious!!

I’ve been having western style breakfast for a while, and this morning I had craving for natto and soy sauce.

So that’s what I had.

A bowl of rice and natto is a good nutritious food, but I still wanted to add some vegetables.

Guess what I found in my fridge?

Homemade sauerkraut!

This breakfast instantly turned into super breakfast with double fermented items.

I also made a bowl of miso soup using frozen pre-(home)made miso balls.

You just place a ball in a bowl and pour hot water over it.

(I microwaved it after I stirred well until miso dissolved because the frozen ball lowered the soup temperature.)

This is so easy, and I’m glad I made these.

I’ve been living in Minnesota for 20 years, and although I do go back to Japan to visit my family every few years because of the unfortunate timing I’ve never had a chance to celebrate Mother’s Day with my mother all these years.

I used to send her flowers, but quickly I realized that sweets seem to bring her more joy (lol), so the past several years I’ve been arranging to have some kind of cake delivered to her.

This year for the first time I sent her a vegan cake from a Japanese online store, specifically vegan tiramisu, and thankfully, she (and my dad) both liked it.

But if I had a chance to celebrate Mother’s Day with her together, this is something I would prepare for us.

Since I had a fabulous afternoon tea experience at Baccarat Hotel a couple of years ago, I’ve been having this dream to serve my own vegan afternoon tea at home.

It took me a while, but I finally decided to buy a tiered stand.

So here is my very first homemade vegan afternoon tea.

On the bottom tray you’ll find sandwiches.

Cucumber and mayo.

Radish and feta spread.

Curried “egg” salad.

The second tray holds scones.

Two types: plain and strawberry.

And the top is of course the dessert tray.

Raspberry and lemon macarons.

Canelé.

I had to have this picture taken with my pinky up!

My very first home afternoon tea guest was my hubby.

I am proud to announce that most everything you see were made by me, from the bread, mayo, and feta spread for the sandwiches, the scones, the butter, to the dessert items.

The only thing I didn’t make was the jam.

It was a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun!

Will I do it again?

Of course!

Happy Mother’s Day.

We are planning to make a gift box with some of the items from this afternoon tea and bring it to my mother-in-law tomorrow.

More muffins!

Raspberry flavored batter; that’s why the batter looks pink (before baked).

Sweet beans inside and on top.

on the top you can also see lingonberry jam and almond crumb topping.

For some reason, the color turned from bright pink to purple when baked, but you can definitely taste raspberry in this muffin.

I usually go for the Matcha x sweet bean combination, but I also like to use sweet beans and berries together.

The tartness from the berries go so well with the sweet beans.

This was so yummy!!

This has become a familiar scene on my table.

A muffin, a cup of coffee, and a book.

A good way to spend time at home.