cook

   

We were suppose to have a bbq with our friends in Bear Valley Springs but their house was flooded from yesterday's thunderstorms.  So they had to cancel. Tehachapi needed the rain but it was heavy.  Our roof leaked, too. It was a hassle trying to find enough containers to hold the rain water. I had not seen rain like this in California for a long time, so it was exciting to watch the rainstorm. But I am sorry the dinner plans changed because we didn't have anything in the fridge, except for a tomato, edamame, half a cantaloupe, some nectarines and milk.   

We didn't feel like going out or shopping for food but Sakai came up with a good idea - a simple supper of Onigiri, rice balls (here is the recipe) - the quintessential Japanese comfort food.  Here is another onirigi recipe and another. Onigiri is very easy to assemble. Rice, nori seaweed and pickled plums for the stuffing. I had all the ingredients. We brought the electric rice cooker from Pasadena. I had also stocked the kitchen with some of my Japanese-American

Onigiri and wine

pantry items -rice, cooking sake, mirin, soy sauce, salt, sugar, pepper, olive oil, canola oil, pickled umeboshi, nori seaweed, green tea, coffee and dried fruit. I made Onigiri with 1 cup of rice, which makes 4  onigiris.  I cut up some tomatoes and boiled edamame. 

While we waited for the rice to cook, we opened a bottle of pinot noir from Wild Horse in Paso Robles  and ate the munchies.  I brought the wine glasses out of storage today so we had decent glasses. They were champagne glasses but it was better than the enamel camping gear we have been drinking out of.

Kurokin - Guardian of the ranch

The sun was setting to our east but the light was coloring the western skies in creamy salmon.  Rabbits came out to feed.  I was hoping to see the deer that Sakai and our neighbor Michael saw early in the day.   But instead the wild black cat that lives under the house made a solid appearance. I only knew this cat in passing. It was always running away from us. But tonight, something changed in its behavior. The cat decided to hang out with us.  It kept a safe distance but came out of the basement to eat the food and water I left outside.  It took awhile to earn its trust so I am very proud of this development.   When I called out its name, Kuro-Kin (it means black and gold in Japanese),  it blinked its golden eyes like flashing yellow lights. Michael told us that the black cat visits the other ranches but never comes close to you. Everyone knew it lived under our mobil home.  Our neighbor Mike even tried to catch it with a trap but it escaped the minute he opened the cage.  The cat belonged to nobody. Cats keep the mice population down, so it's good to have this cat living with us. I noticed Kurokin has a limp but is it quite agile; its black coat is  shinny like mink.  Sakai said that Kurokin is part of the wild life. We shouldn't try to tame it.  But I think Kurokin likes our company and is curious about us as much as we are about Kurokin. It has gained a few pounds since we moved here.  It was skin and bones when we first saw it.  I plan to take care of this cat, as I believe it's the guardian of this ranch.

The onigiris turned out really well. The pickled plum and the crispy nori gave the fluffy rice good flavor.  I could have eaten more, but then I realized there was some pistachio ice cream in the fridge that we were suppose to take to our friends' house.  We had that for dessert and rounded up the lovely evening.