In with the new

In talking with my fellow classmates, I have found I am not alone when I to go to the grocery store, buy a dozen things and then come home only to realize I have nothing that actually makes a meal.  So, as the semester was starting, I decided it was time to kick this habit and try some menu planning instead!

Tofu Sloppy Joes was one of three recipes I planned out for last week.  Most of the ingredients I had on hand, but I had to purchase buns, tomato sauce and tofu.

I loved that the sauce was so easy.  And yummy.

The recipe makes a lot!  I also threw in some frozen peas and corn towards the end for extra veggies.

And as is tradition at home, served it up open faced with some cole slaw on top.

Menu planning worked well last week, but now I have a lot of leftovers.  I think this week's trip to the store will be dictated by when my coffee runs out rather than any set meals!

bistro 204

Inspired by our multi-course meal on New Year's Eve, Keizo and I decided it would be fun to make our own multi-course dinner at home.

The menu was as follows: a toasted baguette with olive oil for dipping; spinach and prosciutto salad; roasted corn and bacon soup; "Cheesetastic" pasta; Lemon-Dijon chicken; and chocolate parfait for dessert.








In all, I think it took about an hour and a half to put everything together, not including marinating the chicken or dessert, which was concocted in about 2 minutes from ice cream, mini cookies and chocolate syrup.

For me, the highlights were the salad and chicken skewers.  As far as Japanese bread goes, the baguette was delicious.  The soup was tasty, and of course my dessert cup was practically licked clean.  I was excited about the pasta, but I didn't feel like it lived up to its cheesetastic name.  It might be better with a different cheese than the one we used.

I've never really cooked courses before, and it was fun to work on my presentation skills.  There were a lot of dishes to clean up afterward!

Tabemono

Homemade Loco Moco.  Keizo makes a mean fried egg.

Mac-Do's "Grand Canyon Burger" for him.  

100 yen milkshake for her (the perfect snack size!)

Naoko sensei's ozoni, aka New Year's Soup.

Naoko-sensei's Apple Crumble a la mode.

Okonomiyaki patty from food stand near Miyajidake Shrine.

Keizo also makes a mean gin tonic. 

Frozen pizza is way cheaper than delivery and is sans squid, mayo and corn.

Budget gurume! 

Garlic-chili pasta sauce from the 100 yen shop served with salad.

 Tonkotsu ramen at Ippudo, a Fukuoka institution.  

Perhaps the one good thing about Japanese winter.

Cheesecake crepe from swanky sweets shop.  

Arigatou Hannah-chan!

The stash I brought back, which will not last nearly long enough.

2012!!

Happy New Year! 2012 is the year of the dragon.

It took me most of a morning and several sheets of scrap paper to perfect my dragon drawing abilities for this year's nengajo (Japanese New Year's cards.) The faces and Asian-looking clouds were the hardest parts. You can't have your dragon looking too friendly.

Cards written, Keizo and I packed our overnight bags and headed into Fukuoka-city to the swanky Hilton Sea Hawk Hotel to ring in the New Year in style.

Our room was on the 33rd floor, and we had to swipe our cards in the elevator to be granted access to the "Executive Floor." Then the entrance to our room was behind an odd gate, which looked imposing, but wasn't actually locked. We were expecting a little more due to the extra security, but the room was pretty typical, but with an exceptional view. Looking at the fire escape map on the back of the door, we concluded it was the service quarters for the largest room in the hotel, which was right down the hall.

We had dinner reservations at 8:30 at the restaurant on the 35th floor, and got gussied up for the occasion.

The first few dishes in our multi-course meal are not pictured. I wasn't sure it was the kind restaurant where it was acceptable to take pictures of the food. But after a glass of champagne and a few families with gawky middle schoolers arrived, I decided they probably wouldn't mind.

Our first tidbit was a savory cream puff; followed by a dainty salmon log swathed in avocado, red turnip soup and a few pieces of bread with flavored butter.

Then we got to the real food! Lobster risotto.

His & hers portraits with the risotto. Keizo cleans up quite nicely, don't you think?

Attempting a sophisticated pose.

The entree was a steak topped with foie gras. If I didn't think about what I was eating, it wasn't half bad.

Finally, dessert. "Hot fruit soup." Appetizing, no? It looked lovely, but was kind of like a snack cup of warm fruit cocktail under a thin pastry crust. Keizo was lucky and was able to pick most of his crust off the ramekin. Mine was really stuck. The wait staff didn't seem to mind the photos, but probably would have minded me gnawing on the edge of the serving ware trying to get the last flakes of pastry off.

A memorable meal to be sure! We enjoyed dressing up and trying artfully prepared food in a refined atmosphere. We also enjoyed having access to a more relaxed "Countdown Party" downstairs.

There was an all-you-can-eat buffet, so Keizo rounded out his meal and I had some dessert with chocolate in it. We drank some of the unlimited cocktails, lost at bingo and made our way to the dance floor just before midnight to be showered in balloons and confetti.

Happy New Year! Kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu!

PS--While I can't really fault the Sea Hawk for wanting to maximize profits over the holidays, I did find it pretty lame that neither the countdown party or breakfast were included with the room that cost close to $500 for the night, but especially that the concierge couldn't produce a contact lens case for me when I realized I forgot to pack mine.