I bought the Juki F600 and brought this bad-boy home today after much deliberation. As I unpacked it and started to sort through the goods, I noticed that Juki really put some thought into how parts of the machine fit together.


The accessories stow really neatly into a side compartment on the hard case and the foot pedal slides into its own niche. There's a hole on the right where the cables come out, so I can cover the machine without unplugging everything all the time (though the manual says you should...or get a good surge protector.)  I'm going to go through the nicely illustrated and large font size manual tonight. Tomorrow, I'll find out if I can't set it up wrong!



And then macaroni and cheese.  Again! Smoked pork chops, fresh broccoli and pearl onions.

We received a Cuisinart Toaster/Convection Oven for the Holidays.  The thing is hefty and about the size of our microwave oven, but it has a deep mouth, enough for a 12" pizza.  Pizza came out pretty good, perhaps even a bit better than the aluminum pan in a regular oven.  The oven has a hot spot in the right hand corner that I suppose could be rotated, but this way the well-done people get an "end" slice and I don't have to wait forever for the oven to preheat.  The dough is super easy with the new recipe, and I store it in the fridge/freezer no problem.  Now pizza is a quick meal!

 Don't miss all four parts of Signe Chanel on Youtube!

 

This year, we had a traditional Japanese New Year dinner, Osechi, with all the dishes served in pretty lacquered boxes.* I was inspired by the generous spread to make one of my favorite dishes.

Shira Ae 

 
1 loaf konnyaku, cut into matchsticks
2 small carrots, peeled and grated
1 small loaf tofu or half large loaf - silky styles
bunch of leafy green, like spinach or komatsu, cut into matching lengths
3 tbsp white sesame seeds
1 tsp oil
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp soy sauce, preferably light colored
1/3 cup dashi
1/4 tsp salt

In a large pot of boiling water, blanch greens briefly, rinse in cold water and squeeze dry. Blanch carrot for about 20 minutes or till just tender and drain well. Bring konnyaku to boiling and drain immediately. Bring tofu to boiling, simmer for 5 minutes and let cool. Wrap tofu in a piece of muslin and twist to squeeze out the moisture. Rub through a sieve and let the tofu drain.

For the sauce, heat oil to high heat. Add sugar and briefly caramelize. Add dashi, soy sauce and salt. Bring to low boil and reduce to half. Cool.

Roast sesame seeds lightly in a dry frying pan and grind into a fine paste. Mix with tofu and sauce. Toss konnyaku, and vegetables in dressing. Adjust salt and drizzle with a little sesame oil.


My salad had a bit too much tofu but I adjusted the recipe to compensate. To make sure the salad is just right, double the sauce and toss/taste ingredients little by little. Ingredients and tofu need to be dry as possible so the dressing doesn't get watery.


* Some other traditional dishes:
Kurikinton - Chestnuts in sweet potato puree
Acharazuke, Kikuka Kabu - Small turnips cut into a mum pattern with vinegar dressing and yuzu zest
Kobumaki - A kelp roll with gobo filling and tied with a little kanpyo bow
Kuromame - Blackened sweet soy beans
Datemaki - Egg and fishcake roll
Tazakuri - Candied tiny fish
Namasu - Pickled carrot and daikon
Kinpira Gobo - Sweet marinated gobo 
Kazunoko - Herring Roe
Simmered Satoimo/mountain yam, Renkon/lotus root, Koubaininjin/carrots, bamboo
Buri Teriyaki - Teriyaki-style broiled yellowtail 
Baked mochi puffs in light miso broth with greens, chicken and yuzu peel   
Lightly vinegared rice, with snow peas, shitake and shrimp.
Kohaku Kamaboko - white and pink fish cake

Dishdash -  Sunnyvale

Middle Eastern food with reasonable prices and large portions.  Great for groups.  I had the Mansaf, a mound of shredded lamb and rice sprinkled with almonds and floating in a sea of sauce.  The dish was salty, strong, and deliciously rich.  I think I prefer the Beriani however, which is a similar beef dish but with the sweetness of raisins to alleviate the heavy sauce.   Alex had the M'Tabaq, a sort of salmon, eggplant and rice timbale with a sea of tomato, sumac sauce. For dessert we had the Kenafeh, hot melty cheese wrapped in crispy shredded filo and topped with a pretty confetti of green pistachio.

Jang su Jang - Santa Clara

A relatively upscale Korean BBQ place where the servers wear spotless traditional Korean garb and talk like secret serviceman into little black earpieces. The wait is long, so make reservations in your best pretend Korean or prepare to wait with your vibrating pager.  Pan chan was fresh, including the kimchee, which was a little young for the taste of those present.  The pink and grey jello was my favorite, as well as the unusually thick seafood pancake.  Being overstuffed with goodies, the Pa Jun wasn't particularly crispy, so the purists didn't think it was that great, but I enjoyed it nonetheless as a sort of Okonomiyaki.   For meat, we had sizzling plate marinated pork that was very tender, table fired Kalbi on the bone, and thick griddled bacon (sometimes a bit gristly.)  The Korean grandmother at the table was unimpressed with the soy bean pan chan, and got up during the meal to provide grill service because the waitresses were lagging.  I missed having Shikye at the end of the meal.  Instead, the restaurant served us little bottles of yogurt drink, which I'm not a big fan of anyway.   Not sure I will go back on my own but not bad for a nice get together.

Read the book online or download it from American Libraries Internet Archive.

My package of samples came from Linton Tweed, once purveyor to Coco Chanel and I'm mulling over patterns and textures for a Chanel style jacket project.  I really like the white/black plaid but the hot pink background looks pretty awful on me.  So my three choices are stacked to the left, with the black one probably being the easiest to wear.

An ambitious recreation of a Stuart Era coat at Plimoth Plantation, which took 3 years and 200+ volunteers to accomplish.  Thistle Threads links to some of the products, like gilt thread and sequins, that were reverse engineered for the project and are now available to the public for purchase.

Kizudakare no Lola - Hideki Saijo (1974)



Gackt, Malice Mizer, Hideki Saijo



Heartbreak ni Julia - Checkers



Heartbreak ni Julia - Matthew/Takashi Fuji, Hyde and Ken