Weekend Fun!!

Festivals, Festivals, Festivals!! 

I realize not everyone lives in the SF Bay area, but if you do this is a great weekend to get out there and learn about another culture or to celebrate your own!  I'm torn between which of these 3 festivals I should go to....

Pistahan Festival -  This (according to the website) is the largest Filipino Cultural Festival and Parade.  Now, I don't know if they mean in the world, or just the U.S., or even just the Bay Area, but it looks like fun!  It's a free event taking place at Yerba Buena Gardens, in SF, on Sat. 8/10 and Sun. 8/11 (2013).  There will be performances of both traditional and current music, an Adobo cook-off, traditional games and the opportunity to learn about the folklore and other aspects of the Filipino culture.  And I bet lots of YUMMY food!!!  If you can't make it to SF though, here are some links to FUN Philippines projects we did earlier this year.
    
Korean Day Festival-  Yet another fun sounding event to go to!! This is also a free event on Sat. 8/10, 2013, but at Union Square, San Francisco, starting at 10 am.  This festival is going to have lots of traditional folkdances with costumes, Tae Kwon Do demonstrations, and, this sounds fun, a Rice Cake Kneading contest!  There will be lots of traditional foods there too, like kalbi, bibimbop (how fun is that word?) and gochujang! We never really studied Korea for an entire week, so I don't know what any of that food is but I'm sure it's delicious :)  We did learn a bit about Korea during Thanksgiving time so here was the project we did.

Origami-Palooza- This event sounds like fun too, but only if you have the patience for origami (Japanese paper folding).  My kids DO NOT so we probably won't make it to this one, but it's taking place on Post St., in San Francisco's Japantown, on Sat. 8/10 from 1-5pm.  This 1st annual event will have different booths teaching different origami creations and there will also be a Paper Airplane Contest :0)  Sounds like it could be fun!  One of the projects will be making cranes to display at city hall's World Tree of Hope.  I didn't know there was a Tree of Hope!  I foresee another field trip!!
If you'd like to have your own Japanese fun at home here are some of the Japanese projects we did.

I hope you have a great weekend no matter what you do!  But just remember, there is a whole world full of interesting things to see and do-- ENJOY!!

Language lessons and lunch!

Ohayou goza masu!!

That means Good Morning!  I hope you all had a great weekend!  We are going swimming (it's going to be in the 80's today!!) but first I've got some more work to do on Japan!!  Let's learn some common words and phrases and then I have a great recipe for Teriyaki Chicken from scratch!! 

Yes- hai    No - iie     Thank You- Arigato    Goodbye - Sayonara

Happy Birthday - Tanjyoubi omedetou gozaimasu 

Enjoy (your meal)- wo tanoshinde kudasai  

I Love You- Daisuki Desi

 

1 - ichi      2- ni       3- san      4- yon     5- go    6- roku

7- nana (or shichi)  8- nachi     9- kyuu    10- jyuu

 

Yellow- ki iro    blue- ao      red- aka      white- shiro

black- kuro    grey- hai iro     purple- murasaki      green- midori

 

 

Now your treat for being so good....

 

Teriyaki Sauce (from scratch!)

For the recipe you will need:
(The ingredients used are pictured in the next recipe)

• 4 T honey (we were out of honey so I used Golden Syrup)
• 4 T Mirin (a sweet rice cooking wine you can fine in Asian aisle)
• 4 T Sake (You'd probably find this in the alcohol section)
• 4 T Soy sauce

That's it!  Combine them all together and use as is if you like a dipping sauce or a marinade.  Or use it in this recipe I got from an interesting website called No recipes.  You should check it out- it had a lot of good recipes despite the name :)  Traditionally, Teriyaki is a grilled dish cooked on a hibachi (small charcoal grill) but this technique is cooked in a skillet. 

 It was delicious and it cooked the alcohol out of the Teriyaki sauce if you are concerned about that!!

 

Chicken Teriyaki

For the recipe you will need:

• Homemade teriyaki sauce (see recipe above)
• 3-4 T vegetable oil
• Boneless chicken thighs or breasts
• 3 T grated fresh ginger
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 T Sake for cooking

1.  Combine the chicken, ginger and salt and let them sit for at least 30 mins.  Pat the chicken dry.

2.  Heat oil in a heavy skillet set on medium heat.  Put chicken in hot oil skin side down and fry until golden on one side.

3.  Turn over the chicken and add the Sake (or you could use water, chicken broth, orange juice)  Cover pan and let chicken steam until it is almost cooked through.

4.  When the chicken is cooked most of the way drain any liquids that are in the pan. Turn your heat to high and add teriyaki sauce.

5.  Let the teriyaki sauce boil and thicken and turn the chicken often so that it is all coated.  The sauce will thicken into a beautiful glaze and the chicken will be a wonderful mahogany color!!  Serve with rice and the any sauce left in the pan!!

I love this recipe!  It always makes me feel good when I know what's in my food and this was so simple!!  Yeah, it was initially a little expensive because we don't normally keep Sake and Mirin on hand, but I found a small bottle of each at the Japanese market.  The sauce was RAVED about by my family and I've already had requests to make it again!!  I can only imagine that it could be doctored up in many ways- maybe some pineapple or orange juice?  Sesame seeds?  

For dessert we had ice cream mochi.  Mochi is a sweet rice flour treat.  They are sticky and chewy and I really like them.  Ice cream mochi is that sticky, chewy stuff with ice cream in the middle!!   How can you go wrong? Ok, I'm getting hungry I need to stop!

 

Have a wonderful weekend people!!  I'm going swimming :)

 

 

 

2 Field Trips and a bunch of fun projects!

One Godzilla of a post!!

I try to keep my posts pretty short whenever I can.  I don't like to read long lengthy explanations about things and you probably don't either :)  But we did soooo much fun stuff this week that I haven't gotten around to posting yet that I need to catch up!! 
So here goes....

Field Trip #1- Daiso

A while ago I noticed a new store went up in South San Francisco.  It was named Daiso and it looked like a restaurant to me so I never really checked it out. 



Well it turns out that it is a super cool Japanese variety store where A LOT of the items are $1.50 or under!!  So it seemed like a great idea for a field trip!  The kids fought the idea but two steps inside and they were in awe of their Mother's brilliant idea!! 

There were toys, little statues, awesome lunch box containers and kitchen utensils, school supplies, gardening supplies, snacks and, well, the list goes on and on!!  Japan has some interesting takes on some items that we use every day!! 


We bought a Japanese Calligraphy set, and some plain white paper fans that we incorporated into a fun project.

Painted Fans
For the project you will need:

• plain white fans- you can buy these or just accordion pleat some white paper and staple the bottom.
• watercolors
• Japanese Calligraphy Set- this is totally optional.
• Examples of Japanese calligraphy- google :)

1.  Paint designs or just beautiful colors on the fan.  Let it dry for an hour or two (or overnight)

 

2.  Try to copy an example of the calligraphy - maybe just a word that means something to you.  Here are a few examples.

Beautiful and useful for the warm Spring days coming up!!






Field Trip #2 - the Japanese Tea Garden

It was a beautiful Spring day yesterday so after school I took the kids to the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park.  I remember going there once for a school field trip, so I thought the kids would enjoy it too!  They sure did.  It is so beautifully done, quiet and peaceful with arching bridges and waterfalls.  Beautiful Cherry blossom trees in bloom reflected in koi filled ponds. 

The kids and I explored all the paths and then had some iced green tea and almond cookies in the tea house.  The gift shop was a little tension filled because it was filled with beautiful ceramics that the kids just HAD to touch!! 


I would have to say that their highlight was the bridge. This bridge is shaped like a rainbow and you have to climb up and over it.  My daughter asked me why they would make a bridge like that and my only answer (aside from "it's prettier) was so that boats could go under.  I can only assume they didn't have drawbridges in ancient Japan.  

There was a large pagoda and other shrines.  Pagodas are Buddhist shrines that are meant to reach to the heavens.  Stacked rather symbolically like the many lifetimes it takes to reach full enlightenment.   There was just so much beauty everywhere and one man to thank. 




The tea garden was originally designed as a 1 acre "Japanese village" exhibit for an International Exposition in 1894.  After the fair ended, the landscaper, Makoto Hagiwara, was allowed to live on the property and maintain and build on the gardens.  Mr. Hagiwara poured his heart and soul into it and built the gardens up into 5 acres of Japanese grace and beauty.  He and his family lived there for many years.  Unfortunately, in 1942, at the height of WWII, America decided that all Japanese Americans should be put into internment camps.  Mr. Hagiwara and his family were forced to leave their beautiful home.  After the war when the Japanese Americans were freed, Mr. Hagiwara and his family were not allowed to return to their house in the Tea Gardens.  That period was a sad time in American history and, of course, for the Hagiwara family.  Thankfully, his beautiful work is still available for the public to visit and will remain a testament to Mr. Hagiwara's sense of beauty, grace and hard work.  I dedicate our next art project to him.

 

Cherry Blossom Tree
 For the project you will need:

• small branch from a tree
• empty can or cup
• plaster of paris or lump of clay
• pink or white tissue paper
• glue

1.  Mix the plaster of paris and pour enough to fill your can about 3/4 of the way.  Or if using dough, put enough to fill can 3/4.
2.  Stick your stick into can and make sure if you are using the plaster to keep it propped up.  We used tape to hold it where we wanted it.  Let it harden.
3.  Cut the tissue into squares and then crumple them up into little "blossoms".  This is fun for any age.
4.  Glue the blossoms to the tree and step back to admire the beauty! 

Happy Spring!!

 

On the Menu: Japanese Food

Sushi anyone?

I remember growing up when sushi was so exotic and (to me) disgusting sounding!  Raw fish?  Wrapped in seaweed? No thanks.  But these days, you see sushi restaurants all over the place, even the supermarkets sell sushi!  And you know what?  It's good!  I'm not very adventurous with the raw fish because, well, I don't even like cooked fish very much, but I will eat the shrimp and eel and crab rolls.  I found out that in Japan these rolls are considered "filler" for the main course of sashimi (raw fish).  I guess I should at least try sashimi one day.  Be brave Jenny.  But not today, today we are making vegetable sushi :) 

Sushi is actually very easy to make and people are always really impressed.  Well, probably not Japanese people because they know it's easy!  The most time consuming part is making the rice.  You need short grain rice.  The newer the better, so if you see "new crop" on the bag, buy that.  The rice is also where the food gets it's name.  Su = vinegar and meshi = rice, so over time this got contracted into the word sushi.  With the rice made, the next step is getting your other ingredients.  You'll need nori, which is a paper thin sheet of black seaweed.  These are usually pretty easy to find in the Asian section of your supermarket.  There are many options for fillings (neta) but freshness and quality are important.  Like I said, I'm not very adventurous so I'm playing it safe and only using vegetables.  Go online for some other great options if you are braver than I. 

There are different types of sushi.  Maki sushi is the rolled sushi with nori (seaweed) and a variety of fillings.  Nigiri sushi is a mound of rice with seafood draped over the top.  Temaki is also called a hand roll because the nori is shaped into a cone with the fillings inside.  As the name suggests, it is eaten with your hands.  Inari sushi is a fried tofu pouch filled with the seasoned rice.  

I think we are ready to begin.  I call this maki sushi roll the.....

Jenny Roll
For the recipe you will need

• sushi mat or piece of plastic wrap
• 1 1/2 cups of short grain white rice
• 1 1/2 cups of water
• seasoned rice vinegar (if you don't have seasoned- add 3 T sugar and 1 T salt to 4 T vinegar)
• nori sheets
• sesame seeds
• carrots- shredded
• avocado- sliced
• cucumber- sliced into matchsticks
• gari (pickled ginger)
• sesame oil
• sugar

1.  Wash the rice to get some of the starches off and then cook in rice cooker if you have one, or pot if you don't.  The rice should be firm but cooked through. 
2.  I like marinated carrots in mine so while your rice is cooking put a handful of shredded carrots in a bowl with some rice vinegar, a few drops of sesame oil and about a teaspoon of sugar.
3.  When your rice is cooked, put it in large bowl and add about 4 T of rice vinegar and fold into rice.  Try not to mush it up.
4.  Place sushi mat on table.  Lay a piece of nori on top.  With wet hands grab some warm rice and press it into a thin layer on the top of the nori.  Try to get it even and not too thick.
5.  Sprinkle some sesame seeds over the rice.
 Lay your ingredients on top in a row about an inch from one end  of the nori.  I like to put my pickled ginger in the rolls along with the carrots, avocado, and cucumber.
6. Lift up the end of the mat nearest your fillings and bring it over your fillings.  This starts the roll.  Squeeze it tight.
7.  Move the mat out of your way a little at a time as you roll away from you.  When the roll is all rolled up cut off the rough ends. 

8.  At this point you can slice it up and eat it with some soy sauce and wasabi (super spicy) mixed together or you can wrap it in plastic wrap and make some more.  This recipe should make about 4 rolls. 

My brother is "anti-sushi" because he says he hates the seaweed aspect of it, so I found these great soy wrappers. 
They are so pretty and I found they work great as low- carb sandwich wraps or crepes.  He experimented on some sushi of his own design, and I must say they were really good!  Take my recipe above except use cooked bacon as the nori and a hot dog as the filling and leave out all the vegetables.  Roll and slice and you've got a tasty treat - Bacon and hot dog sushi.  Not very healthy but pretty darn tasty!! 




      

We called his roll

the Heart Attack!!

Week 39: Japan

Konnichiwa from the Land of the Rising Sun!

Have you guessed where we are?  Oh, actually the post title probably told you!  Anyway, yes, we are studying Japan this week.  This is another week I've been looking forward too.  Another week with plans on top of plans that I only hope I can get to!!  I've got my husband at home for the next 4-6 weeks while he recovers from his back surgery.  This is good and bad for different reasons but it is what it is, so I'd better get on with the learning while I've got a free minute!

Japan is a group of islands (aka an archipelago) in the Asian Pacific.  There are 4 main islands and over 5,000 smaller islands. (That fact was news to me!)  The islands are very mountainous, with Mt. Fuji being the tallest and most famous mountain in Japan.  There are also over 200 volcanoes- some active, some not.  The reason for all the volcanoes, mountains, and the fact that Japan has over 1.000 earthquakes a year, is that the country sits very near a junction of 3 tectonic plates that make up the Earth's crust.  I see a science project in our near future.

The capital of Japan is Tokyo (35.41°N / 139.41°E), which is also the largest and busiest city.  The people of Japan call their country "Nippon" or "Nihon" (depending on the language), which translates into "source of the sun".  Because the sun rises in the East, Japan is known as the "Land of the Rising Sun" and this is represented on their flag, a red circle symbolizing the sun on a white background.

People have lived in Japan since migrating from mainland Asia about 30,000 years ago.  The people were ruled by Emperors from about 600 B.C. until the 12th century,  at that time Shogun
warriors took control of the land with military rule.  Europeans arrived in Japan in 1543,and in 1635 the Shoguns decided to close their borders to outside trade and emigration.  It wasn't until 1869 that the Shogun were overturned, Emperors were reinstated and free trade and travel were allowed again.


Since then the Japanese have been a major player in the world's politics.  They have been major players in both World Wars and have changed the auto and technology industries.  Japan is a beautiful country that has a rich culture.  They have been able to combine grace with strength and the modern with the old.  I can't wait to learn more about this amazing place!