Category: Everyday Life

The past week

Thursday, the 17th
Our wedding anniversary. We were going to eat lamb for dinner but we couldn’t because for some reason the shop we ordered it from couldn’t send it on the day we requested. So we had a simple supper of pork in a salt based sauce and Heidi bread. Yes, I baked a double quantity of bread without giving up. (Am I getting better at it?)
After the meal, we watched Italian for Beginners. It had Japanese subtitles but it was in Danish and Italian. At first, all the characters had some kind of trouble and the story was gloomy. But finally, everyone had a happy ending, and that was good!

Friday, the 18th
Some bananas that we got from next door had ripened, so I baked banana cake. I thought it’d be easier than baking bread, but it didn’t rise much: was it because of too much banana, or did I beat the egg too much? But I have used this recipe before. Am I bad at baking?
Supper was chicken curry, and I fried onion for a long time.
After the meal, we watched Ruokala tokki / Kamome shokudô (The Seagull Eatery). It a was nice, warm story. But I had some questions. What visa status did Sachiko have, so she could open a restaurant in Finland? Midori and Masako went there as tourists, so wasn’t it illegal for them to work at the restaurant? Am I the only one with questions about this? Aah, I can’t be a dreamer. Anyway, Sachiko baked tasty looking cinnamon rolls. I envy her.

Saturday, the 19th
The lamb finally arrived. So I simply grilled lamb steaks.

Sunday, the 20th
The leftover bananas had ripened more. So I baked banana cake using a different recipe from the 18th. Hmm. I followed the directions carefully, so how come it became like mochi (sticky rice cakes)?
In the evening, we had our first shichirin barbecue night this year. Chris managed everything, and all the food was tasty!

Tuesday, the 22nd
I felt like baking bagels again! Today’s recipe didn’t call for salad oil and only needed one rising. The result was the best so far! But, of course, I’m getting a little used to the action of kneading.
And it raised a few questions: about why other recipes add a tablespoon of salad oil while kneading (it’s hard to mix the oil into the dough), and about the point of the first rising, the bench time, and the second rising. I just follow other people’s recipes though… Baking has deep meaning. (But of course I am just a beginner.)

Last Sunday, we went to a supermarket near our house to buy enriched flour and unsalted margarine. (There are three supermarkets near our house, and this one has the cheapest price for these products.) And the stuff we wanted was all sold out. Why!?
Two weeks ago, when the enriched flour was on sale, we went there too late and it was all gone. After that, I bought it at the shop’s usual price. Which means, the shelf at the shop was restocked at least once.
Is baking so popular around here? It’s mysterious.

– YS, 23 May 2007

23 May 2007