Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!!! May it bring you health and luck, a strong will and a light foot :). We all have inside us the power to change the world around us, we just need the courage to take the first step. So get up, set your mind and go get your dreams! It might be tough, but it will be worth it!

From this side of the world, I will try my best and bring you more recipes to try out ;). If you have any recipe you'd like me to write down feel free to email me and I'll come back to you with the guide. ;)
Here's a small preview of what's in store already...

Bento: Totoro

Today's Bento was a pleasure to make and eat (^.^). Woke up at 5.30 in the morning yet still in the end I was late for work :D
But  hey! I enjoyed every single step of it! This one definitely made my day better :).
Here's my new and best attempt at making a Totoro themed Bento. I got so carried away that this time I made two Totoro boxes. Usually only my Senpai gets an O'Bento, while I eat it plain old :). Well not today :) This one was so easy to make that you might have a problem stopping making Makurokurosuke :D. Besides you get to see the results so soon that you assemble the rest with a big smile :)!

Stuffed Zucchini Flowers

So, as promised here's the first Zucchini recipe. :)
Since my garden is in bloom and the Zucchini plant has a lot of flowers that don't grow into a fruit, I decided to use them instead ;). It might sound strange to some of you, but zucchini flowers are edible. In fact their delicate flavour and sweet taste places them as special dishes in many extravagant restaurants.

The main disadvantage to their more frequent usage, is their frail nature. They grow, flower and die in a matter of few days. Once picked they can last two days at most if kept unwashed - in a dry, cold and dark place. Water damages the petals and contributes to a much faster putrefaction. Sometimes I find rotten flowers still attached to the peduncle after a light rain, which were still great just before it.

This recipe is quite a great one, originally made by Andrew Blake. Zucchini flowers stuffed with fresh cheese, and then fried to a crispy state in beer butter. Mmmmm... just thinking about it makes me hungry! (and it's lunch time ;) )

Vertical Garden

I mentioned some time ago that we've been working a lot on our vertical garden, didn't I? Well it's in its' full bloom now. Overcrowded as it is - Zucchini, Cucumbers and Tomatoes spilling out of it... pumpkins growing over the roof... herbs flowering and seeding.

Each morning, when approaching the terrace, quietly... you can hear a silent, deep, rhythmic whisper. Sounds like a jungle voice calling out "Uga chaka, Uga chaka, Uga chaka". And then, just as you open the curtains, there's a general confusion for a second! Shadows dance around for a lingering moment. Each of them searching it's own hiding place. Under a leaf! Behind a pot! Surely - I must have adopted some Makurokurosuke :D

Egg Rolls: Salmon and fresh goat cheese

It's summer, the perfect time to use as much raw food as possible. Salads, fruits, vegetables... so many fresh ingredients are now at their ripe time. And with our vertical garden growing bigger each day, we can enjoy raw food at it's most. So today, let's not waste time at the stove but rather make something quick, simple to digest and ideal to give calories to a salad - Egg Rolls.

Ever since my first encounter with Sushi and the Bento world, egg rolls where a big question mark to me. Always looking so yummy and so bright - nothing but a nice touch of yellow in a otherwise pale plate. For as long as I can remember scrambled eggs were thick, easily broken and flexible as Styrofoam can be - so how could they use them so roundly and nicely?
....google...google...gooogle.. :) Just by adding a spoon of sake, or even easier a small amount of starch and taa-daaa: your eggs can be formed into a perfect sheet - ready to be rolled! Whether used for sushi, decorating your Bento or filling in with your favourite ingredients, it will definitely give your dishes a fresh and appealing color!