Today’s Treat ― 2024/03/06
Soft ice cream and coffee. 260 yen in total at a local McDonald's
Today I came up with an idea that at McDonald's I could get a coffee and an ice cream at the same time for much less than what I would pay for a corn ice cream at 31.
The result was very satisfying. I was able to enjoy the ice cream to the very end without the ice-cream headache.
I wonder why I hadn't thought of this before.
Today's Eating Out ― 2024/02/28
A corn dog and boiled egg onigiri at Family Mart.
The guiltiest and junkiest lunch I have indulged so far this year...
A Pleasant Surprise ― 2024/01/15
Today's snack was a doughnut, 110 yen, and canned coffee, 110 yen, at a local library. This humble snack turned out to be my first pleasant surprise in 2024.
Our local library has several vending machines, including one for snacks from Family Mart. I chose this doughnut by chance, without expectation, and was pleasantly shocked to find that it was exactly what I had been looking for all these years.
Its leavening agent is baking powder, not yeast. As a result, its texture is fluffy rather than chewy. Its texture is most, with some crunchy sugar mixed in - just like I used to have between films at a local cinema in my childhood. And its price is 110 yen!
Like the cream of corn-flavored snack I became obsessed with few years ago, Family Mart sometimes introduces a truly irresistible snack. I now hope that the convenience store will stock this product forever, or at least for the rest of my lifetime.
Christmas Cake 2023 ― 2023/12/25
As-you-like Victoria sponge cake.
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 egg yoke
80g granulated sugar
1tabespoon tepid water to mix
100g cake flour
40g butter
Serve with some strawberry jam and whipped cream.
I know this is not a "proper" Victoria sponge cake in many ways, but I believe my lighter version would be the same once it gets in my stomach.
To be honest I couldn't be brave enough to follow the classic BBC recipe, which calls for 200 grams of butter and sugar...
No Frills, Ultrra Practical Lunch ― 2023/12/05
At the age of 50+++, I came up with an idea that Kaiten sushi restaurants could be a clean and wallet-friendly spot to have a snack.
At Genkai-Maru sushi restaurant, three plates of sushi, natto-maki, inari, egg, and shrimp set, and beef gunkan was 448 yen, enough to fuel me for an eight-kirometer bike ride home. Tea was free, of course.
In terms of hygiene, each chef (still) wore a mask and gloves. There were partitions between seats around the counter, and most of the diners (I guess most of them were locals) came alone for a quick lunch. No one was chatting excitedly or raising their voices when ordering. You can order from a tablet in front of you. Very hygienic.
I think this place is worth considering if you don't need a romantic aspect to your meal and are in a hurry.
Muffin, Again ― 2023/12/05
The poisonous muffin, called "death muffin," incident is still being hotly discussed online and reading about it made me crave a good muffin again.
This is City Bakery's luxury (by my standards) muffin at 320yen! I was so surprised by the price that I automatically asked for an extra bag to break it in half and take the rest home.
The taste was...very unusual, to be couterous. At least not my type. The price (coffee is 420 yen), the dark lighting and the taste of the product (coffee was nice, but not piping hot)...in many ways I don't seem to be the kind of customer this bakery would expect.
Today's Kanten: the Last Batch ― 2023/12/04
Double peach kanten made from:
1g granulated kanten
70cc water
230cc peach juice
1 canned white peach, drained.
This is the last batch of kanten made from a box of kanten I bought in October, which contained six two-gram sachets of granulated kanten.
To celebrate the last batch, I went extravagant. I used up a can of peach juice and a can of white peach, both of which had passed their best-before date.
I had kept them as a comfort dessert in case I fell ill after getting COVID-19 vaccine. But it might be time to replace them.
The luxurious (by my standards) version tasted so good. It is worth repeating. But I have to wait for the next couple of years until the replaced cans reach the end of their shelf life before I can make this dessert again.
Today's Kanten ― 2023/11/23
Ingredients
1g granulated kanten
250cc water
70cc concentrated coffee liquid
1 teaspoon sugar
I have finally conceived an easier and less complicated way to make coffee kanten.
コーヒー寒天を作るのに、ついにうまいことを思いつきました。
Coffee liquid for instant cafe latte (199 yen at Marukyo) is the solution. By adding it little by little to simmering kanten liquid I managed to achieve a smooth and nicely bitter coffee kanten.
カフェラテ用の濃縮コーヒー（マルキョウで199円）を寒天液に少しずつ合わせていったら、なめらかで苦味のきいた寒天を作ることができました。
I also came up with an easier way to wash pans and utensils after cooking kanten, which tends to get solid and stuck to the tools when I try to wash them with cold water. Boiling water in the pan with tools in it and scrub them while they are still hot but bearable to touch. In this way, I could clean even the mesh of the tea strainer without trouble.
それから、寒天を使った後、鍋や道具を水で洗うと寒天が固まってくっつきがちですが、鍋に道具を入れて、その鍋で水を沸かすといいことにも気がつきました。お湯が熱いうちにこすったら、茶こしの網の部分も簡単にキレイになりました。
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