deceptively calm

if you were to see these pictures of a happy clouseau,

some blossoms near the bamboo

and an edible

you might think that things were calm around these parts. HAHAHAHAHAH WHATEVER YOU ARE WRONG everything is happening so quickly but entirely too slowly.

i think i might need some more of those edibles.

blargh

this shit weather never stops. i shouldn't be surprised at this point in my wa state tenure. i mean, everything out here sucks. but, hey, at least we are prepared for anything.

silly old peel not realizing she's about to spend about a week in and out of her carrier. i am going to be so clawed to hell by the end of the move. XD :/

the way i pack now

sometimes i think the way and what i pack are just elaborate pranks on myself. i guarantee you, at least one of these things is going to make me say "what the everliving fuck was i thinking?!" once i start unboxing. XD

the week so far

it has been d*a*m*p this winter. cannot wait to scrape the moss off myself after i get outa here. i feel like i'm this tree. XD

oddly, it's also been unnaturally warm. so much so that i'm almost fooled into thinking that i'm back in the south.

almost. 

i'm packing again. i'm still in that "draw faces on the boxes" stage which should last maybe two more hours. 

two thirds of the international rice festival

yes, it's another "himitsu no kenmin show" inspired post! this time, leff and i consumed two thirds of the international rice festival dishes. oh my god, they are so good!  and they generally have nothing to do with the parts of the world after which they are named. 

sicilian rice has become a staple at the casa as it is relatively healthy. this dish has a nice amount of calrose rice under a vinaigrette dressed mixture of lettuce + cabbage + cukes which is then topped with kewpie mayo and beef strips that have been cooked in a soy and mirin reduction. add tomatoes and corn et voila, dinner. 

volga rice, however, is reserved for special occasions as this is omurice topped with tonkatsu and chuno sauce!

if i were to throw caution, and possibly my health, to the wind, i would eat this every day. i cannot describe how amazing it is.

actually, both of these dishes are fantastic. can't wait to make the final yoshoku "international" rice dish from the show, turkish rice from nagasaki. that involves butter rice, tonkatsu AND japanese spaghetti neopolitain AND I AM SO EXCITED TO TRY IT.

"sherlock hound" moriarty xmas cake

when i'm majorly stressed out 1) watch a lot of "sherlock hound" 2) bake. today i decided to combine the two using a new (to me) technique that i found on youtube. yeah, that's right! i made a moriarty cake! what a brilliant plan!

it all starts with a drawing. 

remember, if you're going to make a cake like this, you're going to have to reverse the image so maybe trace over everything with a sharpie so it's easier to see through wax paper.

leff got me this AWESOME refillable food pen! i filled it with melted semi sweet chocolate

which i then used to trace out chocolate lines. SUPER easy!! (if you don't have access to one, you can make a fast piping bag with wax paper.)

leff keeps telling me that i should get proper tools for baking. i'm am beginning to think he's right because, to reiterate, HOLY CRAP SO EASY!

here's the step where i started filling in the spaces with colored whipped cream. i did the light to dark printmaking method (bwahaha) so you can see white to dark pink steps.

also in that picture you can see where i've put down a layer of white on moriaty's monocle. i filled in the rest with a blue which you can see below in the finished and in the freezer picture.

it doesn't matter if you layer different colored cream on top of other colors so long as they are frozen and, guess what IT IS SO AWESOME WHEN IT IS DONE!!!

i mean, seriously!!! even though the jaw broke off a bit, WHATEVER so cool!!

and also freaking delicious!

i am absolutely going to make more of these! maybe even one with prinnies! dood!

home style mcchoco potato

what to do when you're pretty sure you're not going to be able to make it back to tokyo while mcchoco potato is still on the menu at macdo? yeah, you make your own.

easy peasy squeeze the cc lemon if you want to make some too. just melt white chocolate and semi sweet chocolate and drizzle over some fries. mangez.

you'd think it would be gross but you'd be wrong. so delicious! even better than dipping fries into a wendy's frosty!

oh hey!

a lot's been going on that i don't feel like writing about but, hey! the daffs are out extra early this year.

i've got plans for a few actual posts coming up soon so stay tuned.