Fois gras with balsamic vinegar dressing

This can of fois gras has been sitting in my pantry forever. I suffered on the net and finalized easier version. 

Coasted fois gras slices with flour and brown both sides in a skillet. Take them out and put on a plate. Pour in balsamic vinegar in the same skillet and reduce to thick consistency. Drizzle the dressing on top of the fois gras. Voila.  

Yum, it is very taste. I know it is a bit insane to have it for breakfast. 

okinawa trip -- gyuan BBQ

last sunday was the store's grand opening. apparently the business was good for the first day. i know i worked hard and almost lost my voice on the first hour when the customers packed the store.

the reward for everyone was open menu and open bar in Gyuan.

Okinawa -- first day

Market these days is so boring. Nothing new. Angel said her friend is opening a brand new duty-free shop in okinawa and is short of staff. The store is experiencing difficulty of having people willing to work there. It is not big city like Tokyo or Osaka. Not much is going on in small town plus the weather is pretty much the same all season round.


   


  
Airplane's VIP Lounge


It is just another excuse to travel. Ha......................


  

The store manager came to pick us up and helped us settled down in the company's apartment.

Angel's nephew took us out for late dinner, marugame udon.


 I had it before when I was in Kyoto. It is the same situation, late night dinner. But as long I have good food, I am a happy camper.









   

before and after the snow

Mother nature changes her mind so fast. The day before it was sunny, and the next day......

 

 

Montreal Chinatown.

it's a sad news! Mazuka is closed.

I cannot believe it closed and the space is for rent. I've been looked forward to having perogi and potato pancake for a while.

Mazuka was one of my favorite restaurants in Montreal. The beet soup was so good and stil makes me mouth watering. Yummmmm........... Still miss it. I still remembered friend of mine took me there the first time. It was in winter and we sat next to the French door. It was snowing outside and soup was served hot inside. Later I took some of my friends there, everyboday all loved it.

While surfing on the web, I realized the restaurant was hit by the recession and closed for few years. I wish these people the best.

Japanese bento (弁当)

Before I went to Japan, I made a wish list and one of them is try the railroad bento. I made a list of specialized bentos for the cities that I might stop-by or list.

This tiny food box can have so many variations.  Each train station has specialized bentos that made from local produces. One of the train stations from Hokaido is famous for the stuffed squid. The squid is stuffed with sticky rice then cooked in soy based broth. Sendai offers its famous ox tongue bento. There are even books listing popular and famous railroad bentos. The bento containers are collectable for fans. Some of them are offered limited number everyday, seasonal or during certain time. 

Somehow everytime I arrived the train station was last minute which didn't give me much time to look for the bento selling spot. (sigh!!!)

I got my first bento in the department store in front of Sin-Osaka. It looked like it was from a well-known restaurant. The dishes were maily soy-based. I am not a big rice eater, but the rice was just sooooo....... good. Outstanding! That's the only word I can think of. The taste and texture are definitely different from the good quality Japanese rice I bought in Asian supermarket. 

These were the bentos I got from department store in Himeji. I rushed into the store and grabbed these 2 within 10 minutes in a very speedy way. The arrangement looked so appetizing. According to my cousin, the best time to get good deal on these bentos are few hours before the department stores close. These vendors have to clean the house. Everything left for the day has to go. When my cousin was an exchange student in Japan, she would take the advantage of buying bentos for her lunch and dinner for the next day. It was a very good deal. The downside was the place could get very packed. Since everyone is out hunting for the good bargain. Isetan department store is a well-know store. The one in Kyoto station is busy enough during non-weekend day time. When we went there at night for cheap bargain, the place was jam packed.  

Instead of coke, I had a very in-style drink -- green tea. It came from vending machine and was warm. Pretty cool!

During my trip, I had few other bentos, but I just forgot to take pictures. Yes I am getting my Alzheimer early.

homemade vanilla extract

I first came across this idea from a Florida lady's blog. Later I found out that this has surfed around bloggers for a while. I never bought a real vanilla extract in my life, even though I baked a lot sometimes. I just couldn't see myself spend $20 for a small bottle when I can pay $2 for an imitated one.

I happened to have some vanilla pods on hand, but not the alcohol. Fortunately, certain brand vodka was on sale in the supermarket and it was a small bottle. After I finished all the labor work I realized that the alcohol content is too high. It supposed to be in between 37.5 (??)-40%. Well, since I am such an adventurous person and I am not in the mood of digging out all the pods. Next day I got the 40% vodka and made a small bottle. Let's see how these come out. Mystery will be solved after 8 weeks.