by : Reiko Breakfast, Sweets

Golden Berry Thyme Muffins
ゴールデンベリータイムマフィン

I continue to enjoy baking muffins on the weekend.

Now I got a new pan, and it’s even more fun.

One of the fun parts of muffin-making is the process where I think about what I want to add to my muffins.

I was initially thinking about kumquats that I had been seeing at the local grocery store for a few weeks.

But when I finally decided to buy some, they were gone!

Instead, I found these beautiful golden berries.

I had tasted golden berries before, and I loved them.

They are slightly tart but very sweet, and I thought this would be great for muffins.

Eventually I decided to go with golden berries and thyme.

Sounds good, doesn’t it?

These are just out of the oven.

These are after I drizzled lemon icing and sprinkled fresh thyme leaves.

Aren’t they lovely?

This muffin goes well with black tea.

Delicious!

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by : Reiko Breakfast, Pizza/Flatbread

Breakfast Pizza
朝食ピザ

We have an awesome neighbor, who is a foodie and shares his homemade pizza crust with us.

This morning I remembered we still had his crust in the freezer, so I decided to make pizza for breakfast.

Tomato sauce, hash browns, vegan meatballs (cut into small pieces and flavored with spices and herbs), vegan “eggs,” onion, and green pepper.

This is before going into the oven.

This is just out of the oven.

I added “cheese” a few minutes before the pizza was ready to come out.

So good!

This time I used different type of “cheese” for this pizza.

I added a few things (nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, sugar, salt, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar) to my homemade vegan mayo,

I loved how beautifully it browned.

It also kept the creaminess and did not dry out (like some nut-based cheese does).

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Sandwiches

Sweet Bean Butter Sakura Sandwich
あんバター桜コッペパン

Sweet bean and butter sandwich.

This combination of sweet beans and butter may sound odd to many westerners, but it’s extremely popular in Japan.

A few weeks ago I showed you how to make sweet beans using canned beans.

This is so easy to make.

At that time I used black beans, but this time I decided to use dark red kidney beans.

I made this the same way as I did with the black beans.

You squeeze the extra liquid using a cloth; make sure the beans are quite dry at this stage.

Then add sugar and a little salt and cook until it achieves the texture you prefer.

This turned out great.

It’s pretty close to the traditional Japanese sweet red beans which are made of Azuki beans.

Homemade bread, homemade vegan butter, sweet beans, and salted sakura cherry flowers.

Pretty and tasty!

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by : Reiko Sweets

Ginger Plum Galette
生姜プラムガレット

It seems a bit early for the plum season, but the grocery store near our house has been carrying beautiful plums the past few weeks, and I had to get them.

This time I used one of these black plums and one lemon plum.

This turned out beautiful!

I love galette’s rustic look.

I knew this was going to be good.

So I got a big piece!

Flaky crust.

Sweet plums.

Ginger.

Mmmm!

A piece of galette and a cup of coffee.

It makes a great snack time.

I served it with a little coconut cream.

Scrumptious!

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by : Reiko Sandwiches, Tofu

Koya Katsu Sandwich
高野カツこっぺサンド

Today’s lunch.

It seems that the only place I go to is the grocery store.

Well, that part is not a huge change for me (lol).

But now I feel so tense when I’m at the store even when there aren’t too many people.

This situation has definitely taken away the fun of grocery shopping…

But you know what?

I’ll survive.

Today for lunch I decided to make sandwiches using these.

My favorite.

Panko-crusted Koya-tofu (freeze-dried tofu).

These are so good!

Koya Katsu, salad leaves, Japanese Worcestershire sauce, and homemade vegan mayo.

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by : Reiko Breakfast, Sweets

Black Plum Vanilla Muffins
ブラックプラムバニラマフィン

Mufffins, muffins, muffins!

I’ve been having so much fun baking muffins lately.

I love everything about them, from making them, eating them, looking at them, to just thinking about them (lol).

I found these beautiful black plums at the local grocery store, and I added them to my muffins.

They were so delicious!

Loved the perfectly sweet (and slightly tart) plums with the vanilla.

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Noodles/Pasta, Soup/Stew

Curry Udon with Asparagus Tempura
アスパラガス天ぷらカレーうどん

When I make curry for dinner, the next day’s lunch has to be curry udon.

That’s an unwritten rule at my house, but I religiously follow it.

I thought tempura would be a nice addition to it and decided to make some with asparagus.

I always make my tempura batter from scratch (all purpose flour, baking powder, cold water, salt), but of course I never measure the ingredients.

So it turns out different every time.

This time it turned out PERFECT!

Tempura is not the same as fritter, and it should be super light, just like this one you see in these pictures!

I’m so proud of this.

(I should have written down how I made this batter…)

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