What’s for Dinner Tonight?

It’s Chinese for today’s dinner! When we buy ground pork, my husband usually cooks gyoza and mapo tofu. I made rice with green peas and there is miso soup with pork and vegetables leftover from yesterday.

Since pandemic started, we cook more homemade meals and eat at home. I am not good at cooking so it’s mostly my husband cooks. Lucky for me! He tried a few different ways to fry gyoza making it golden and crispy. we used to use a prepackaged mapo tofu sauce from the store but my husband started to use a few different Chinese sauce to make mapo tofu from scratch. How good it is compared to mapo tofu made from a prepackaged sauce! Rice with green peas is my favorite and remind me of a school lunch when I was an elementary student in Japan.

We used to go to a restaurant every Friday to enjoy food and Friday night, but we have more time at home. We still go to a restaurant for takeout and I miss to enjoy meals with my friends at the restaurant. However, it’s also good we cook healthier food at home and spend more time with family together. Cooking and eating dinner together with my family is something in everyday life. It’s very precious and small happiness in it!

今日の夕飯は中華です。コロナが始まってからうちではますますおうちご飯を作るようになりました。私が料理があまり得意でないため主に作ってくれるのは旦那なのですが、彼はちゃんとレシピに沿って美味しく作ってくれます。餃子の焼き方もしっかり焼き色をつけてカリッと焼けるようになるまで試行錯誤を重ねて写真のような餃子の出来上がりになりました。以前私が料理してた時はパックになってる麻婆豆腐の素を使ってましたが、旦那は何種類かのソースを使い一から麻婆豆腐を作りました。麻婆豆腐の素を使ったものと比べると一から作った麻婆豆腐の何て美味しいこと。残り物の豚汁と私が作った豆ご飯も一緒に。豆ご飯は子供の頃の学校給食で好物だったもの。

コロナの前は金曜の夜によくレストランへ食事に出かけてました。今はたまにテイクアウトをするぐらいで、もっと家でおうちご飯を作って楽しんでいます。また前のように自由にレストランで家族や友達と食事を楽しめるようになってほしいと思います。でも家でもっと体に優しいものを家族と一緒に料理したり食事を楽しんだり。毎日の普通の事だけどとても大切なもの。小さな幸せがここにもあったんですね。

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Cold and Sunny Saturday Morning

The air is cold, crisp, and foggy, but the weather forecast is sunny. My husband and I added extra layers in the clothes and headed to Fremont, a popular area for shopping , dining, walking, and jogging. When the sun comes out in winter Seattle, many people go out for sunshine and fresh air. We are one of them.

We love walking around the city as well as nature. There are cute small shops, restaurants, and cafes in Fremont. There is a beautiful ship canal and people enjoy jogging, biking, and walking by the canal. We started our walk from a local chocolate factory where we can also buy some chocolate in a small shop there. We took some pictures of bikers, joggers, and kayaks over the bridge. We went to our favorite bakery where we usually need to wait about 15 minutes to get the best croissant but that is worth it.

The icy fog was disappeared and the sky was blue and some white cloud like cotton candy floated. The air was still cold but I felt the warmth of the sunshine on my face. My husband found some hummingbirds chirping on the trees. It’s Saturday and sunny! There is a fresh croissant and coffee in my hands. I felt free and happy walking by the canal with my husband. I love this moment, small happiness in sunny Saturday morning.

土曜日の天気予報は晴れ!雨やグレーの曇り空が多いシアトルの冬。家にこもってる理由はありません。旦那と一緒にカメラを持ってシアトルの中心部に近いフリーモントへ朝散歩。

フリーモントはオシャレなレストランやカフェなどの小さなお店が立ち並び、ユニオン湖に続く運河沿いはジョギングや散歩を楽しむ人々で賑わってます。シアトルの晴れの日は雨の日よりもぐっと気温が下がります。でも空は澄み切った青空で所々で白い雲がポカポカ浮かんでます。

私達は地元のお店も一緒になってるチョコレート工場から歩き始め、お気に入りのパン屋さんへ。朝からたくさんの人が並んでるけど、ここのクロワッサンは最高に美味しい。少し並んで待ってもこのクロワッサンのためなら苦になりません。運河にかかる橋の上でサイクリストやジョガー、かやっくを楽しむのも人々の写真を撮ったり、旦那が教えてくれるハチドリの鳴き声に耳を傾けたり。

空気は透き通り冷たいけど、私の頬には陽の温かさが。今日は土曜日でしかも晴れ!コーヒーとまだ暖かいクロワッサンを楽しみながら運河沿いを旦那と一緒に朝散歩。何でもない普通の週末の朝だけど、この瞬間が大好きでここにも小さな幸せがありました。

Weekend Trip to Vashon Island

It takes 20 minutes from Seattle to Vashon Island by ferry. It’s a small quiet town with lots of nature and this is a perfect place if you want to relax in the weekend. The sky was gray and the wind was cold, but that is Seattle weather in winter. My husband and I took a small bag and our two dogs in our car and headed to the ferry terminal.
we enjoyed watching snowy Olympic National Park mountains, a famous light house, cute small shops and a cafe in the island.

The lodge we stayed was a simple modern interior and very cozy and comfortable place. I immediately switched on a fire place and relax in a warm living area. We enjoyed dinner from a Mexican restaurant and watched a football game. Our dogs were as usual, Cocoa explored every corner of the lodge and found his favorite place to sleep. Haru was nervous being in unfamiliar place and kept walking. We took a walk around the lodge to take some pictures. I read my favorite book and did yoga.
This is not like Disneyland but you can relax, be calm and enjoy nature.

シアトルからフェリーで20分ぐらいのところにバション島があります。小さな静かな島だけど自然と海に囲まれたとても綺麗な所です。旦那と二匹の愛犬ココとハルと一泊旅行へ行ってきました。

何が特別ではないけれど、小さな町のカフェや雑貨屋さん。赤い屋根の灯台、雪帽子をかぶったオリンピック国立公園の山々の景色。どれものんびりとした気持ちにさせるものたち。

私達が泊まったロッジはモダンなスッキリとしたインテリアに暖炉や地元アーティストのクラフトがデコレーションに置かれていました。いこごちの良い空間で本を読んだり、ヨガをしたり、フットボールを観ながら夕食を楽しんだり。

シアトルの冬はグレーで寒いけど、ちょっと場所を変えてのんびりと普通の事を楽しむのもとても良いものです。旦那と愛犬と一緒の小さな週末旅行。ここにも幸せがいっぱい詰まってます。

My Favorite Things on My Birthday

No matter how old I turned, flowers from family or friends make me happy. I am not so interested in the present anymore. I value more how I spend time on my birthday. Yet I still want have flowers and a cake, a very good one.

My husband and I started making a cake for a special occasion like my daughter’s graduation, Mother’s Day, or birthday. It’s always same cake, a simple sponge cake with berries and whipped cream, but it’s super delicious just like a cake sold in my home country, Japan. My husband baked a sponge cake and I helped the decorations for my birthday cake.

I took a day off and enjoyed a photo walk with my favorite camera. Later my husband and my dogs joined and we had a good time at the park in warm sunny winter afternoon. There was no present because I didn’t want anything. However, I was so happy spending my special day with my husband, my dogs, flowers, a cake, and my camera. My favorite things. 🙂

いくつになっても誕生日にお花をもらうのは嬉しいものです。年を重ねたせいか最近はあまりプレゼントを欲しいと思わなくなりました。と言うより欲しい物が無いと言った方が正解かも。花とケーキと好きな物や人に囲まれてその日を過ごせればそれでとても幸せだと。

ケーキは数年前から旦那と私でシンプルな苺と生クリームのケーキを作るようになりました。日本で売ってるような本当に美味しいケーキを娘の卒業祝いの時や誕生日、母の日などに作りました。今回も旦那がスポンジ生地を焼いて私が飾り付けを担当。

休暇を取ってその日はお気に入りのカメラを持って街へphotowalk 。後で旦那と愛犬のココとハルも加わり公園で晴れた冬の午後を過ごしました。

花とケーキとカメラ。そして家族と一緒に過ごせた特別な日は幸せな時間でした。