I've done most of the baking that I mentioned in this post. Once again, I bought the ingredients for almond butter crunch but did not make it. Rather, I have not made it yet. I'm thinking that I may over the New Year's holiday as I won't be sending out some holiday packages until then. (Some of my friends won't be back home with their families until the New Year.)

This year was rather successful for baking. I tried using a different type of flour (bread flour in Japan) and it made a big difference in the taste and texture, particularly in shortbread. Finally, I achieved a cookie that truly tasted like home!

Cornstarch Shortbread - Recipe previously posted here




The oatmeal shortbread also turned out nicely. (Recipe previously posted here)







Using bread flour also meant that I didn't have to add so much extra flour to the Christmas tree cookies to achieve the right consistency for the cookie press. I also used Japanese food colouring this year, having run out of green food colouring (or so I thought). The Japanese variety comes in powder form, complete with a tiny spoon for scooping out the powder. I started off with just one spoonful. I quickly realized that it is powerful stuff indeed.

Ready to decorate (always the most time-consuming part):




I had to keep reassuring people that those silver balls were, in fact, edible.


Finished! (Recipe previously posted here)




I also made ginger puffs (recipe previously posted here) but did not ice them this year. They're quite tasty on their own and I'm not always a big fan of frosting, although they do taste good iced.


Now, on to more goodies that I (usually) make every year but for which I have not previously posted recipes.

Click on a name for the recipe and photos.


First, because I'm so excited about it, is ( ginger pudding! )


I forgot to take individual photos of these goodies so here they are in one group picture.




The green square are mint squares (recipe previously posted here). Once again, I used Japanese powdered food colouring so you will notice that this year's version is significantly greener than the one in the recipe post. :P


The light brown squares in the back are almond squares (recipe previously posted here). In the past, I have always used a little lemon juice instead of the grated rind called for in the recipe. This year, I had stocked up on lemons for making lemon sauce so I tried it with rind. Thus, this year's almond square tasted much more strongly of lemon than almond. I would recommend using only the tiniest amount of rind if you choose to use rind. Personally, I'm going back to lemon juice. :P


On to the new recipes!

The chocolate squares on the right are ( Remarkable Fudge )


Finally, the chocolate-topped layered squares are ( caramel squares. )


I bake goodies to give away as presents to friends (and co-workers/company people) and to bring to my schools for the teachers. I also cook and bake for Christmas brunch, which has become an annual tradition for my (now former) elementary co-workers. This year, I ended up having three gatherings over one weekend: one Christmas brunch last Saturday (junior high English teachers), a second Christmas brunch the next Sunday (elementary school friends), and a Christmas linner (lunch + dinner) that night with my ALT friends.

The feast laid out for my junior high teachers:




I'll introduce three things from this brunch that have become standard menu features.

First is a personal favourite: ( meat pies )


My mom and dad also have Christmas breakfast, attended only by my Aunty Kitty and Uncle Roy (and their dogs, sometimes). This is a carryover from when Nana used to have it. My nana was incredible - she'd have Christmas Eve, then Christmas breakfast the next morning, and then Christmas dinner all in a row. She had five kids. When you add spouses and children to that, it becomes insane. Once my nana passed away, my mom took over the dinner and the breakfast. Another aunt had previously taken over Christmas Eve. As people got married, they had to balance between both families at the holidays. Often, people came to Christmas Eve on our side and then went to their spouse's family for dinner.

Even though the numbers have been reduced, my mom still gets all worked up over having two functions in one day like that. This is one recipe that helps take off the burden of cooking in the morning (or rather, should help, but my mother likely worries just as much). You get it ready the night before so all you have to do is pop it in the oven the next morning and voila! - a delicious and hot dish for breakfast.

( Morning Egg Surprise )


I also made a variety of breads and scones for brunch and linner. Apparently, my Japanese friends were a touch wary of the bran muffins and went for other things instead. (I learned how to say "bran" in Japanese - ふすま　fusuma - but I still had to show them my bag of bran and explain what it was. :P)

Along with my steamer, I also tried out something that I've been meaning to use for years: the crock pot that came with my microwave/convection oven.

I thought that it was metal but it turns out that it is a ceramic-type crockpot.

It is not my favourite thing. :D I have great visions of stews and pot roasts and more bread and... so many things!

Witness the beginning of a beautiful friendship: ( Irish soda bread )


Next up: Christmas mountain climb and Hiroshima Dreamnation

November 30 is my papa's birthday and has, in honour of him, been made the official decorating date. (This officialness is debated by my father who typically does not want to put things up that early, but I digress. :P) Ironically, I have, in recent years, been rather lazy about decorating at all, never mind getting my act together by November 30. (I'm sure that Dad is chuckling about that.)

This year, however, I got in gear and decided to Do It before my laziness and whining about lack of Christmas feel in Japan. I even cleaned first! (Well, I cleaned the relevant places at any rate.)

Behold my Christmas Spirit as it battles against the absess of spirit in Japan!

( Good boys and girls will click here to view the pictures. )


Christmas music has been broken out and loaded into my mp3 player for use at night. CDs have been placed in the car as well for listening purposes on my drive to work. I'm currently listening to the Celtic Woman Christmas album. It's lovely. (I had orchestral stuff on while I decorated.)


Tomorrow marks the beginning of Christmas Baking 2010. I plan to make...

- cornstarch shortbread (Yes, Mom, I know that it's late.)
- oatmeal shortbread
- Christmas tree cookies
- almond square
- meat pies
- mint square (which I was only going to do if I had peppermint extract left... which I do, so there you are.)
- caramel square
- almond butter crunch (which I intend to make every year but never seem to get around to)
- fudge
- ginger puffs
- ginger pudding (another thing that I've been meaning to make ever since I got the steaming pot)

I also hope to make a gingerbread house but we'll see how time goes. I have plans to head out on the Shikoku pilgrimage for a week once school ends so the Christmas brunches (all three of them!!) will be taking place a few days earlier this year.

Pictures to follow!

This weekend is Thanksgiving in Canada. (It's also a long weekend in Japan. How nice of them!)

This morning, I went out for a walk-jog (mostly walk this time). I haven't been in a very long time. I think back to two or three years ago and how I was zipping up mountains all over the place. I am very saddened at how all of that has slipped away. I feel old. I've gained weight. I'm out of shape. The leg strength that I was so proud of is barely a dream. However, I am changing that. This morning's walk-jog felt good. I was blessed by beautiful sunny autumn skies and warm gold fields of rice to walk by. Not all mornings will be this pleasant but I will keep on trying. I want to do a week of walking the Shikoku pilgrimage this winter break so I need to get back into shape.

While out walking, I thought of Thanksgiving (which seems so remote a concept, Canada itself being so remote). I thought of things that I am thankful for.

It came very easily. That, in itself, is something to be thankful for.

I am thankful for...

* fall and the wonderful weather and delicious harvests it brings

* my apartment - the garden below to enjoy; the quiet and freedom that living on the corner of the third (and top) floor gives; the tatami (rice mat flooring) room (which is hard to come by in newer buildings); the excellent air movement; and its location in Ono near Miyajima, Ogashira-jinja, and no less than three mountains within 20 minutes walk or drive.

* Sutou-sensei - she makes my life at junior high interesting, challenging, and meaningful. I am thankful for the trust that she places in me and how she gives me things to do in class so that I feel valued and useful. Thank you for making my time at Nosaka so good.

* my mother, father, and aunt Kitty (aka my second mother) - their love and support gets me through life; is a home and a warm blanket to go back to; and something that, like many other people, should have appreciated more when I was young **shakes cane**

* my dog, Lydia who brought me and my family great joy and was a most beautiful girl, even if she was a bit of a bitch. May you find peace and joy and lots of hamburgers wherever you are. You are loved still down here on earth.

* my body - despite all the crap that I put into it and the lousy care I take of it, it still whips me around my walking route and, after I work the kinks out, come out of it feeling good.

* my hiking boots - you take me to so many beautiful places

* my friends who make my life interesting

* my current grade six classes at elementary - you make teaching a Joy

* my microwave/convection oven - that was one of the best purchases that I have ever made. I do not know what I would do without it. (There would certainly be less muffins, that's for sure.)

* my cell phone (Hajime and Hajime II) - you are there for me in a pinch and you take wonderful photos - even when Annette is shaking the suspension bridge

* my car - I look forward to having many adventures together.

* Matsumoto-san, my car guy who found me my car and lent me his ETC card

* Hatanaka Megumi whose books combine my love for Japanese youkai (ghosts, spirits, and monsters) with mysteries. She makes me want to read Japanese (as in for pleasure and mental stimulation, as opposed to reading for studying or information-gathering purposes).


Honourable mentions: Indian restaurants (run by Indian chefs), Meiji for their cheap and readily-available chocolate almonds, onsens, Agatha Christie, my computer ♥ , my hair, Miyajima (and its magnificent fall foliage), Atobe (yes, still - my love never dies), cold green tea available everywhere, and dogs.


And now back to cleaning, changing my clothes over (Yay! Fall!!), and baking apple cinnamon muffins at some point.

There will also be mountain climbing tomorrow. I'm going to Shin-nyuu-zan. It's not that hard or long and it's a lovely climb. Sadly, I'm unable to use their onsen facilities at present but I'll bring a change of clothes and that will do me just fine.

Sadly, we were thwarted in our efforts to visit the Ainu Museum inside the university gardens because it was closed. (Mondays are the typical days for museums and other tourist establishments to be closed.) Fortunately, we looked that up before we left so that did save us some frustration.

Instead, we headed straight down to Hakodate, which was a lovely, albeit long, drive down the island of Hokkaido to the panhandle jutting out toward the main island of Honshu (and coming close, but not quite connecting).

Sapporo impressed me about as much as I had expected it to (ie. the ramen was tasty, the city was just another mid-sized city).

Hakodate, however, quite exceeded my expectations and was a fantastic place indeed.

( Hakodate ho! )


Hakodate has a lot more interesting things to see (in our opinion) than Sapporo. The drive there took quite a long time so all we had time for that day was a visit to ( Goryoukaku Castle Park. )


After we explored Goryoukaku Park, we headed to our hotel which was not easy to get to but was ( absolutely fantastic )


Once we were settled in our rooms, and I was finished delighting in how wonderful our rooms were, we headed out to experience the local night life, ( by which I mean shop and eat raaaaaamen )


It's taking longer and longer to write up these posts. ^^;;; It is fun, however, to relive the trip through looking through the photos and writing up the posts. It reminds me how much I enjoyed Hokkaido and Tohoku. I would love to go there again, especially in the fall (before it snows so I can go hiking again and climb Mt. Kurodake). Sadly, oftentimes the second visit or experience never quite lives up to the first. We were very lucky with bears snakes weather for most of the climbing, for one thing. Still, one can always dream.


Next up: More fun in Hakodate (which is far more awesome and worth the visit than Sapporo - we should have just stopped for lunch (ie. Sapporo ramen) then headed right down to Hakodate, seriously)

Due to time restraints and our priorities, we were only going to spend a day each in Sapporo and Hakodate (because breath-taking mountains and national parks take precedence over cities any day).

The morning was reserved for walking to the falls down the road from the hotel area. There are a pair of beautiful falls in the gorge as well as a number of interesting rock formations and outcroppings along the way.

We headed out after yet another astounding breakfast. The morning didn't start out well (it was raining and I have to say that I enjoyed the gorge much more in the sunlight, also there was an incident on the way) ( but the falls were stunning. )


That was our day in Sapporo.

Next stop: Hakodate!

The Ainu (the indigenous people of northern Japan) say that the kamui (gods) dwell in the mountains of Daisetsu-zan National Parks. Thus, when you walk the mountains and walk between the peaks, you are walking with the gods.

You can walk for days in the park's mountain ranges. There are huts along the way for overnight hikers (although foxes have been known to encroach upon human campsites in search of food). Annette and I weren't up for that, equipment-wise and more, so we opted for a single-day climb up Mt. Kurodake. Kurodake is accessible by ropeway and then you climb from there) and that ropeway was walking distance from our hotel (which is why I booked it there).

Kurodake was fabulous and hands down one of my favourite climbs ever. The trail was interesting and just enough of a challenge and the views were breath-taking. It was absolutely amazing. As a bonus, the weather was gorgeous - bright blue skies all day and clear views in every direction. We went early so it was still not terribly hot, either.

While we weren't up for a multi-day hike, we did start hiking up from the lower ropeway station. You can hike up all the way from the hotel area at the base, but, apparently, the trail is not in good condition and is quite overgrown. I'm not surprised, since there's a lovely ropeway to neatly carry you over that section, making it an easy day hike.

Ready to take a walk with us? ( Here we go! )


That was an amazing climb. I've said it before, but I want to do it again. It probably wouldn't be as amazing the second time, though. We had excellent luck with the weather, and the company was great, too. :D


What do you do after a climb? Onsen, of course! This time we went to the open-air rotemburo in a different section of the hotel. I sat in there for ages, half the time just sitting on the edge and dangling my legs in the water. (You get dizzy if you stay fully immersed for too long.) You could see the towering green and grey walls of the gorge from the baths beyond the tree-enclosed grassy field just beyond the wall. There was a shallow ditch separating the wall of the bath from the field but you could imagine escaping from the bath in a few leaps right onto the field and into the trees and beyond (ideally, not naked).

After we got clean again, we had another ( fabulous dinner )


We were just about to head to bed that night when we head some BOOMs echoing outside. We opened the curtains and, lo, we were treated to a surprise! fireworks display!




I don't know what the occasion was, but it was a real treat. The fireworks echoed down the gorge and our hotel room was perfectly positioned for viewing. (Hah! to all those poor people watching from the ground below.) This was just one more thing that made our time in Sou-un-kyou special.



Next: Out of the mountains and back to the city

Today, we bid farewell to Akan-ko and headed to our next destination in Hokkaido: Daisetsu-zan National Park. :D

On the way, we made a few expeditions.

( Expedition #1: Morning onsen investigation )


After completing our investigation, we headed to a post office to ship off the loverly cheese and other perishables to a friend back in Hiroshima, fearing that they wouldn't survive the rest of the journey in our cooler. We decided to make a quick stop at Bread & sweets cafe Pan-de-Pan, a bakery that we had seen previously. It was a long drive to Sou-un-kyou and we wanted to get some supplies. :D

( Expedition #2: Unexpected Dessert )


After an unexpected dessert break, we were finally on our way!

Since we had all day for the drive, we made a few stops on the way.

( Expedition #3: Onnetto-ko )


We were finally on our way. To break up the drive, we planned on stopping somewhere for lunch on the way. (We were also ahead of schedule and could afford to kill some time because, for once, I had allowed too much time for driving.)

It turned out just as well since we ended up embarking on an expedition - nay, a quest.

( Expedition #4: The Quest for the Bridge )


Thus ended the Quest for the Bridge in a somewhat glorious victory of sorts!


Now, it's time for the rest of the drive to Daisetsu-zan National Park and our final expedition: ( The Hotel Expedition )


Ah, Daisetsu-zan. This is one place that I would gladly, gladly visit again. Fall would be fantastic, although unlikely since my holidays are very limited then, unfortunately.


Next up: Mt. Kurodake

I had made some assumptions about today. Some of these made... something out of me (and not so much you, as in Annette) while some just resulted in vague disappointment. These were balanced out by some interesting and fun surprises, however - the kind that make travelling so fun.

Assumption #1: ( Early morning canoe trips are peaceful opportunities to see the lake and hear the birds on a still, glass-like lake. )


We returned to the hotel for breakfast (which was, sadly, a little lackluster in our opinion, ryokan-snobs that we are now). We still had the whole day ahead of us so we set off to explore the Akan-ko area.

( More bubbling hells and a return to the lakeside, this time on foot )


As we had entered the trail, we had passed some sort of centre. We decided to save that for after the walk. It turned out to be a fantastic centre, brimming with interesting exhibits about the natural landscape and wildlife of the Akan-ko area. We spend far more time in there than I had expected and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

( It had the most awesome floor ever. )


Next stop was the Ainu Kotan Village, which brings me to Assumption #3: ( The Ainu village would resemble a village and have things to see of cultural value. )


We headed back to the main part of the town for ( lunch and shopping! )

We still had quite a bit of time to kill at this point, having had a very early start to the day.

( Luckily, we happened upon an excellent little onsen cafe. )


Despite some unfortunate assumptions and lack of a clear plan for the day (besides get up and go canoeing at the crack of dawn), it turned out to be a very lovely day. (What does it say about me that I remember the onsen cafe to most of all? Oh, and paddling through the reeds - that was cool. :DDD)


Next stop: Sou-un-kyou Gorge in the amazing Daisetsu-san National Park!

When I first started planning our trip to northern Japan, I consulted the travel guides here in Japan. English ones are not as comprehensive since they have to cover the whole country in one book. Here, I can get magazines and books devoted to single regions - or even individual prefectures or cities.

I had most of it planned when, on a whim, I looked at the DK Japan book that I bought way back when I was filling out my JET application (my placement requests were well-researched).

It was almost as if the Japanese guide books and my English one were describing two different Hokkaidos. The Japanese ones were packed with souvenirs, shopping, restaurants, hotels, onsens, and the occasional cultural spot. The English one listed hiking spots in almost every single area's entry.

I went back and took a fine-toothed comb to my Japanese guides to look for information about these hiking and climbing trails. I found very little for some places or even no mention at all for others. I turned to the Internet!! and, lo, there was what I was looking for!

That inspired a change in our plans. There were mountains and forests to be seen! Trails to be hiked! Shoulders to be sunburned! Muscles to be broken in! Bears to be paranoid about!

( First stop: Mt. Meakan )

For the first mountain of the trip, I think that we did fairly well. The weather was iffy going in but it held out beautifully until almost the end.

Overall, this was a lovely hike. There was nothing particularly steep or dangerous, there were no bears, and there were dramatic variations in scenery along the way (although the sasa forest trek felt really, really long). This post does not do it justice - not the photos nor the prose. It wore us out but it should - it was a real hike out in forests and mountains and it felt wonderful.


We did, however, encounter a... SNAKE!

It was on the return portion and Annette spotted it first. I was wondering why she was just standing there and looking at something to the side of the trail. She didn't say anything until I got close and asked what was wrong. She was concerned about me and my snake paranoia and didn't want it to take me by surprise so she stayed there as a human warning beacon. :)

It was tiny - so tiny, in fact, that I wasn't even sure if its mouth was open and hissing until I got right over there and gave it a good look.

I am proud to say that I wasn't scared at all. If I had randomly encountered it out of the blue, that would have freaked me out a little. However, it was tiny and I was well-equipped and there was no way it could have done any damage. My comments were something to the effect of "A little snake! How cute!" and then we moved on. :P

If I see a snake on the ground in front of me, I can usually handle it. We warily walk around each other or I wait and give it time to slither off if the trail is too narrow. What really scares me is sudden movement - something coming out from nowhere or me charging along a trail and coming so close that I almost step on something because it's being still and blending in with the background. (I'm sure that scares the snake or whatever just as much as it does me, I imagine.) A flock of pigeons suddenly taking off in flight in an abrupt flurry of wings can make me jump as well. This sounds a lot like my Mom's fear of birds. Yay, it's hereditary.


Next up: More fun in Akan-ko, in which I discover new things to unexpectedly freak out about (for no rational reason)

We headed down to check out Hotel Paco's fabulous onsens first thing in the morning. Like the one in Hachinohe, these were also below ground. They had fogged-over windows near the ceiling, though, which let in streams of lovely natural light. There were numerous fake plants and vines on the walls as well. It felt like we had entered another world. ("Onsen world" sounds like a good idea.) There were two baths, one of which had milky water (which was white from mineral content, not the daity product) and jet bubbles. It was very fun. :D

Then, we were on the road again, headed for Kushiro and its famous wetlands, which are a World Heritage Site, you know.



Ah, it feels like Canada again... nothing as far as the eye can see.


( Natural Habitats, Natural Disasters, and Natural Instincts )

Next up: Oh no, it's (not) a bear! (There's an Altia song called this. There's a storyboard that goes with this and is very fun. Real bears are, of course, not so fun but I've already spoiled the ending and said that we didn't encounter any bears so there's no need to worry, Mom.)