cook

I have been working in the bay area since the beginnning of the year, teaching soba and doing events at Google to introduce Japanese rice.  I have also preparing for a koji event at Bar Tartine, one of my friend restaurants in the Bay area. The koji themed dinner is happening on May 28.  Here is a story that came out about Koji. 

Blood orange is one of my favorite citrus fruit.  I love its bright ruby color and the sweet orange flavor.  The season is not very long so I buy dozens, and use them to make juice and sometimes to make jellies.  

Today, I counted 21 wild parrots on my neighbor's maple tree.  I  meet the wild flock up close during the last week of our year in Pasadena.  We are moving to Highland Park.  The parrots' screaming voices wake you up in the morning like a noisy dream. In the afternoon, you hear them again, but it's more of a yearning to get home, wherever that maybe.  They remind of me of the crows in Japan and how my mother used to sing crow song whenever she saw a flock...

Fall has come to LA and it is still lingering.  I spent the month of November exploring Hachiya Persimmons - a fruit that I didn't care for as a child.

I loved to look at persimmon trees especially in the autumn when the leaves change bright red. My mother would make pressed salmon sushi wrapped in those beautiful crismon color leaves. But I didn't look forward to eating any type of persimmon. It was a common tree, like an orange or lemon tree is in Los Angeles. We took the pers...

Back at the ranch for a couple days of rest.  I have been working 24/7 since August on Common Grains. My blog got completely neglected.  Fall is a good time to begin again.  I worked hard pruning the old grapes vines and apples trees past spring in hopes to bring them back to health.  Healthy they became but the wild animals feasted on most of  the fruit while we were absent. I walked along the grape vines and couldn't find a single grape on the vine.  We hope to...