knock off japan dogs and presents from jens

yes, hi. that post that some of you saw in your feedreader yesterday was a draft that was published by accident. i'll finish it up sometime in jan. look forward to it or not. 

it has been a busy time of housekeeping (both literal and well, used as a term for getting non domicle shit in order (which includes closing out a business. I KNOW but it is SO GOOD!), ha) around here, so not a lot has been happening. i'm sure you're not surprised as nothing of interest to readers has happened since tokyo. 

except food. i write entirely too much about food these days because it's a bleak and boring landscape in washington state. this is *FINGERS FUCKING CROSSED* about to change SO SOON that it's frightening. wish us luck/i'll keep you posted as needed.

until then, however, yeah, more food. tuesday, leff and i swiped a gourmet dog japon recipe (kabuki dog on the left (cabbage, pickled ginger, bonito flakes, kewpie mayo)) and also wrapped hot dogs in kobe beef + added roasted nori and green onion.  this was probably the greatest idea i've had in a while.

BUT OH LOOK something not food related as jens sent us an ADORABLE package that included that cute postcard BUT ALSO a 2016 calendar that has a metric shit ton of german web artists! THANK YOU JENS!!!!

the calendar is even signed by sarah burrini of "das lieben ist kein ponyhof" ("life ain't no ponyfarm" if you want english.) SO COOL!

it also prompted these tweets. no regrets.

anyway, here's the first week from said awesome calendar. see what i mean?! :D

so, hey. our rice cooker looks possessed. maybe i should do something about that.

see you in 2016!

pictures from the holiday dinner

we will have food for DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYS!! 

christmas cake with strawberry shortcake tea

how do i love christmas cake? let me count the ways...

my cakes are never fluffy enough because i don't have an electric mixer. still! this is a great recipe for sponge cake which is delicious and light. all that is needed to make it into a christmas cake is whipped cream and strawberries.

i am so hungry looking at this even if it is a little messy.

to compliment the cake, i made a cup of strawberry shortcake tea.

i wish i knew the name of this company because their teas are *so* delicious! their tea bags are nothing to scoff at either.

so, so good and fresh tasting. maybe skip the fruitcake this year and go with christmas cake instead! heh

it's cold so i had some oshiruko

instant oshiruko with mochi!

check out those adzuki granules under the dried mochi. they almost look like purple worm castings. XD

one thing i really appreciate about japanese instant foods are the "cooking" graphics. add boiling water, don't microwave. got it!

and after waiting for a minute, i've also got mochi! hell yes!

can recommend oshiruko if you like sweet things. be careful eating the mochi if you're not used to it though. keep in mind that chewing it is slowly a good idea and you'll be fine.

holiday.

celebrate? 

some people open advent calendars....

...we gut a fake pacific sanma/saury. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

they're supposed to be very delicious fish that taste buttery but ours was full of chocolate covered peanuts.

beni imo and amaou strawberry kit kats!

just in time for the holidays, we got two kit kat flavors from kyushu for you-shu. and, holy hells, they are both delicious!

let's start with the beni imo kit kats!

beni imo is a sweet potato from okinawa and south kyushu. the potato itself is purported to have excellent beta carotene content. they're also supposed to have more antioxidants than blueberries. that is a freakin' healthy sweet potato! i'm not sure if the health benefits extend to the kit kats but, hey, we had five of them in our box!

the kit kat was coated with a lavender colored white chocolate.

i didn't really pick up on any sweet potato taste (maybe i was expecting more of a north american powerhouse yam type thing) but this had a nice flavor and was very mild. very enjoyable!

our second kyushu kit kat was amaou strawberry! the word "amaou" itself is trademarked and is an acronym of the japanese words for "red" (akai), "round" (marui), "big" (oki)  and "tasty" (umai). and while the kit kats themselves weren't round or big, they were CERTAINLY red(ish) and tasty!

once again there were five in the package.

upon opening, there was an amazing strawberry scent. promising! did it deliver? OF COURSE!

amaou strawberry kit kats taste exactly like what you think of when you think of strawberries. SO GOOD! it almost reminded me of strawberry qwik in the best way possible. this was my favorite kit kat of the two.

need more japanese kit kats? here are eight more flavors. (oh, i know. i know. XD)

jlist bakugai!!

GUYS! GUYS!! GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUYZZZZZ!! OUR JLIST/BOX ORDER ARRIVED TODAY!! shit, we went on a bonkers nutzo bakugai jag IN OUR LIVING ROOM XD XD

i'm gonna give you a quick run down of stuff but please know that most of these items will be making another appearance with proper unboxing and usage photos. no time right now, obvs. LET'S GET STARTED!

here's our new rilakkuma bag!! filled with some of our schwag. hells yes uber kawaii! 

leff's office is chilly so he got this adorable cat head foot warmer! he claims he's gonna' be a proper obaasan any day now. XD

hush. hussssssh. stop. look. OUR OWN CHIBI ROBO AMIIBO!!!!! have three pictures i can't stop screaming at it and petting its little head!! (i have always wanted my own chibi robo.)

i was still all shaky from the excitement of a the chibiest of robos to call my own so these next two pics are blurry. sorry. but, hey! a chocolate filled fish!! XD XD

and mont blanc and strawberry cake flavored teas!!

ALSO furikake!! (the rilakkuma has four or five flavors...i think. IDK IT'S RILAKKUMA WHO CARES)

don't know if you know this but, dude, i loves soaking in the tub so FUCK YES FIVE KINDS OF FAMOUS SENTO BATH PACKETS AND GREEN TEA SOAP

can't stop screaming yet...TWO MORE KINDS OF KIT KATS!! (can't wait for me to open these? here's that big ole post of the kit kats we got in tokyo!)

TWO TRADITIONAL SWEETS!!

BUTTER DORITOS SOY SAUCE PRETZ AND CHOCOLATE TORTILLA CHIPS

INSTANT SHIRITAMA SENZAI!!!

ah, god, it doesn't stop!! leff got some bento stuff too!!

rilakkuma and kiiroitori are now on top of the stove! :D :D

i mean, it doesn't even stop with the stuff we ordered. nope! the newspaper packing was also great! this is my new aesthetic. (haaa no. it's my always and forever aesthetic. (leff thinks he's got obaasan style on lock but, nah. i've been granny cool since i was 16. XD))

you know, you hear that randoseru are expensive but DAMN that is expensive! D: no wonder grandparents tend to buy them for their grandkids (i will NEVER be finished talking about japanese grannies because I LOVE THEM!)

k, two more wrapping pictures and i'm done with that.

freebie in the box! sailor moon glasses! as anthony mentioned, i'm a half moon here.

ok, that's all for today's post. i'll write more about the items as soon as we consume/use them! please look forward to it! XD just know that HA we are finally finished "decorating" for the "holidays".