IN PARIS

*Nihongo ga kyuuni utenaku nattanode, eigo dakede gomennasai...

We arrived in Paris after 12-hour-flight and have been staying at Carl's home near Paris. Our plan is so tight and I couldn't find enough time to update this blog. We traveled to Mont Saint Michel and then Saint Malo on Monday and Tuesday. And we leave for Belgium tomorrow (Thursday).

Unfortunately, my favorite cybershot broke suddenly and I bought a new one here afterall... I am so sad about it. Here're some of the photos (before the camera broke):

Maman took us to a hypermarket. Cheese, everyday ;-)

Versaille Palace. The garden.

Gallery of Glass inside the palace.

I have a looooooooooooooooot to write because it's like a homestay that I experienced ten years ago in California and I learned so many things.

行って来ます☆

出発前に・・・ Before we leave

週末はお友達＋お友達のお友達from LA とプチ横浜観光。We enjoyed a petit tour in Yokohama with my friend and her friend from Los Angels.

久々にシーバスに乗りました。We got on a sea bus (boat) from Yokohama to Minatomirai.

ランドマークの上階でお茶。先日復活した象の鼻パークが見える！帰って来たら散歩に行きたい。And we talked over tea and cakes at a cafe on the 70th floor of Landmark Tower. We can see the park of Elephant Nose! The park (the shape of an elephant nose) is recently re-opened. I would like to go there when we come home.

美味チーズタルトここのお皿はオリジナルデザインかな？ノリタケでした。Yummy! Tarte au fromage. The dishes and cups here seemed to be originally designed. The manufacturer
was Noritake (famous china company in Japan).

留守中、生き延びてくれるか分からないハーブたち。。。バジル君が一番ヤバそうなので、食べることに。While we are away, I am not sure my herbs can survive... And I think Sweet Basil could be the last one so I decided to eat them.

虫もつかず、元気に育ちました。Good boys... no bugs, worms, and very healthy.

出発前にできるだけ開封したモノを使い切ろうと努力しているところでしたが、ちょうど強力粉が残っていたので。。。ピザを作りました。I am trying hard to finish all the foods and materials before we leave. There were some flour and dried yeast...Pizza!

ケチャップ＋お好みソース、ピーマン、ハム、バジルとパルメザンチーズ。全て残り物
The sauce was mixture of ketchup and okonomi yaki sauce, then green pepper, ham, basil and parmesan cheese. They are all left-overs!;-)

文の助茶屋＠新横浜 Bunnosuke Chaya @ Shinyokohama

友人が日本を発つ前に、関西に会いに行こうと思っていたけど、出発が早まったことや、こちらもカールおじさんの実家へ帰省が決まったこともあり、行けるかな？？って思ってたら、こっちで会えることになった

Before my friend leaves Japan, I wanted to see her in West Japan where she lives, but she has to leave a lot earlier than she planned and we also go to his parents' in France which made our visit difficult... Then she came here :-D

で、関西から来たのになんですが、新横浜のキュービックに京都の文の助茶屋があったので、そちらで一服。横浜１号店らしい！姉が好きで、お取り寄せしたり、デパートの京都物産展で買って来たりしてたけど、横浜にもできてたのね〜。
It might be nonsense since she all the way came from the west and we went to Bunnosuke Chaya cafe from Kyoto in Shinyokohama Cubic Plaza. I didn't know it was there and it is the first Bunnosuke cafe in Yokohama. My sister is a big fan of them and she orders their sweets over the internet or goes to the department store where an exhibition of products from Kyoto is held. It's great we have them in here now!

私は抹茶わらび餅をいただきましたお持ち帰りもできるので、カールおじさんにも同じものを買って帰った。
I had Maccha Warabi Mochi (warabi cake with green tea powder). They also sells sweets for taking out so I bought the same one for Carl.

おいしかった〜☆そして楽しかった
C'etait tres bon! And it was so fun.

カフェは10階にあり、窓からの景色が思いの外よかった！緑あり、みなとみらいありで。私が初めて新横浜駅を使ったのは修学旅行の時だったけど、当時はまだ畑やら田んぼやらもいっぱいあって、田舎のイメージが強かったけど、すっかり開発された感じがする。いいんだか、悪いんだか。

The cafe is on the tenth floor and the view from the window was amazing! There are green hills and Minatomirai is over them. I used the station for the first time when our school took pupils for a school trip. It was a typical suburb (countryside?) where there were still huge vegetable fields or rice patches. Now it has been developed, I'm not sure if it's good or bad.

そんなわけで、来週フランスへ発ちます。インフル問題もあり、躊躇してたんだけど、なかなか機会がないから、行くことにしました。急だったので、準備でてんてこ舞いです。。。
So, we're leaving for France next week. We concerned about the swine flu and hesitated, but we decided to go this time as we are not so sure when will be the next chance. Since we have little time left, we are soooo busy getting ready for the voyage!

もちもちニョッキ Rice Gnocchi

もちもちニョッキのもちもちは、上新粉。
お菓子作りのために買った上新粉がたくさん余っていて、普通にお団子だけでは飽きてしまうので、ニョッキにしてみました。通常ニョッキにはもっちり度の高い強力粉を使いますが、代わりに上新粉＋薄力粉で。

Instead of high gluten flour, I used powdered rice for gnocchi. There're much of them left which I have used for making Japanese sweets.

*Ingredients*材料 for two people　二人前
two large potatoes　じゃがいもLサイズ2個
70g of powdered rice　上新粉70g
30g of pastry flour　薄力粉30g
a pinch of salt　塩少々
an egg (will not use all of them)　卵1個（全部使わない）
some powdered cheese 粉チーズ少々

1) じゃがいもは洗い、皮のまま電子レンジで調理します。ラップを使い、600Wで、竹ぐしを刺してチェックしながら４～５分。Wash the potatoes and cook with microwave without peeling the skin. Use plastic wrap, heat for 4-5minutes (600W).

2) じゃがいもの皮をむいて、つぶします。Peel the skin of the potatoes and mash.

3) 冷めたら、上新粉、小麦粉、塩、粉チーズを加えます。軽く混ぜます。溶き卵を少しずつ加えて、よくこねながら、１つにまとめます。溶き卵の量はやわらかさを見て調節します。When the mashed potatoes cooled down, add powdered rice, flour, salt and powdered cheese. Mix briefly. Pour beaten egg little by little and knead well. Adjust the amount of the egg according the softness of the dough.

4) 打ち粉をしいた板の上で生地を細長く伸ばします。1.5センチ程度に切って、フォークを押し付けて溝を作ります。Roll the dough on the powder-shifted board and make it longer. Cut in pieces of 1.5 cm and push a fork on to make some trenches.
\

5) 鍋にお湯をわかし、ニョッキをゆでます。浮かんできたら1～2分ゆでて、すくい上げます。Boil water in a pot and put gnocchi. When they rise up, leave for a couple of minutes and scoop.

好きなソースと食べます。
うちではラタトゥイユと食べました。よく合ってたと思います
Enjoy them with your favorite sauce. We ate them with Ratatouille and it was delicious.

ちなみに、先日お祝いでいただいたルクルーゼの鍋。初料理はにんじんスープでした。
Le creuset that we received as a gift the other day. The first cooking was carrot soup.

ANGELS & DEMONS

Dan Brown ANGELS&DEMONS

やっと読み終えた。。。カールおじさんの本棚で見つけて、読もう読もうと思ってたら映画公開日が近づき、焦って読み始めるも、なかなか時間がなくて、結局1ヶ月かかっちゃったよ。。。
読んでると、どこまで事実なのか分かんなくなって危ない。でも、ちょっとバチカン＆ローマに行きたくなりますね
Finally, I finished the book. I found it in Carl's bookshelf and I was to read it when I have time. But one day I found the release day of the film was coming closer and hurried to the bookshelf. It took a month to read the book after all since I didn't have enough time.
I was often confused wondering which is the fact and which is not. But I am sure it makes you feel like traveling to Vatican and Rome.

以前、これまた映画公開直前にダヴィンチ・コードも読んだけど、天使＆悪魔の方がスケールがすごい。。。でもその分、ありえなすぎ！！な展開も多かったです。特に以下の点で文句を言いたい。
I read The Da Vinci Code (again, just before the film) but Angels&Demons is much larger than that. The large scale also made me shout "It can't be!!" for many times. Particularly I am not satisfied with:

1)　主人公の教授、命が３つあっても足りなかったと思います。
I think Professor Langdon could have died more than three times.
2)　行動を共にするのは、なんでいつも若い女性なんですか？
Why does he work with a young woman?
3)　後始末はきちんとしましょう。
Don't leave things messed up.

どんだけ悪運強いんだよ。。。と、あまりに浮世離れしてると、興ざめです。ダヴィンチでも若くて美しい女性と一緒で、恋に落ちた風だったけど、、、たまには年配の女性とか若い男性とタッグを組んでください。「あれはどうなったの？」的なことが、いくつか残りました。緊急事態とは言え、車をパクられた人大丈夫だったかしら、とか変な細かいところまで心配してしまう、私の性格・・・

The series of miracles on him made the story cheaper. He was also with an attractive young woman in the novel The Da Vinci Code and they kind of fell in love...I wonder what would happen if his partner was an elder woman or young man (I'd rather want to read that story). There were some things left unclear. I can't help worrying what happened to the man who was kicked out of his car by Langdon although it was an emergency... well, it may not be a big deal though.

それを除けば、面白い話でした。不確かなカールおじさん情報によると、新作が近々出るとか。。。さてさて、どうなるかな。
Apart from the blames above, the story was exciting. According to Carl (the source is not sure), a new novel will be in stores soon. I'm looking forward to it.

母の日 Bonne Fête des Mères

Bonne fête des mères, maman!

フランスの母の日は6月8日（日）でした。本来は5月最後の日曜なのですが、Pentecôte（ポントコート？）というキリスト教のお祭り（イースターから７週、Holy Spiritが降臨した記念）とその日がかぶる場合、6月最初の日曜になるらしいです。日本はアメリカと同じ、5月の第２日曜なので、覚えるのが大変です。

Mother's Day in France was 8th of June this year. It is usually the last Sunday of May, but when the day is the same day as Pentecost, Mother's Day is shifted to the first Sunday of June. We celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May, just like the US, so it is very confusing for me!

ちなみに父の日は、アメリカや日本と同じで、フランスでも6月の第３日曜です。今年は２週間違いで父の日が来ちゃうのね。。。父の日は何をあげよう。。。母には色々思いつくんだけどなぁ〜。
By the way, Father's Day in France is, as in the states and Japan, the third Sunday of June. So Father's Day comes in two weeks after Mother's Day this year! Well, what should I do/give for Father's day then.... I can think of many things for mothers but not for fathers:-p

写真は実家のあじさいです。いつのまに見頃を迎えてたのね。
The photo is the hydrangea in the back garden of my parents'. I didn't notice it's already in season!

来客 Guests

浜っ子の友人が遊びに来ました。というわけで、ちゃんとお掃除しました（笑）
きれいなお花もいただいて、おやつもたくさんで、甘いものいっぱい食べちゃいました。写真のケーキはカールおじさん作のりんごのクラフティ。
My local friends visited our apartment, so we cleaned it up! lol
We've got a nice flower bouquet and a lot of food! We had so much sweets this afternoon:-p The cake in the picture is an apple clafoutis by Carl.

写真見たり、Wiiで遊んだり、ムダにでかいカールおじさんの液晶テレビも役に立った感じ。みんなを迎えに行くとき、お隣さんがお出かけして、駅まで見送る時に、お隣さんが帰って来たので、窓全開で騒いでたけど、お隣に気を遣うこともなく、ちょうど良かった
We enjoyed looking through photos, Wii and the large LED TV of Carl was very useful in this kind of situation. Our next door went out when we headed to the station to pick up our guests and they came back when we sent the guests to the station, so we didn't have to concern about noises we made over chatting and playing Wii :-) perfect!

楽しい時間はあっと言う間だね。週末は予定が詰まってて、いろんな人に会って充実でした
Time passes with the speed of light especially when we have fun! We had a lot of things to do and saw many people...wonderful weekend.

結婚おめでとう2009初

高校の友人の結婚パーティーに行って来ました。自分を除けば、今年初めてのウェディング。行ってみると、卒業以来の級友が！！！10年近く、、、信じられない！！！そんな再会もとってもうれしかったまた、友人である新婦もとーーってもキレイだった（ふだん化粧っ気のなかった子だけに、なおさら）。残念ながら、私の結婚式には人数諸々の事情で高校の友だちはほとんど呼べなかったので、申し訳ないキモチでいっぱいだったけど、直接知らせた人以外もみんな結婚のことは知っていて
My high school friend invited me to her wedding party today. It was the first wedding in this year (except for ours!). I was soooooo surprised to see many of the friends who I hadn't seen since the graduation!! It's almost ten years...unbelievable! And it was a wonderful surprise!
And my friend, the bride was amazingly beautiful (especially as she doesn't usually put much makeup). I do regret that I couldn't invite most of my high school friends to my wedding for some reason (mainly for the capacity of the hall)...

高校以外の友人が多いだろうと予測していたので、ちょっと心配な気持ちもあったけど、みんなが楽しめる、あったかいパーティーでした
I was a bit worried if I would feel like a stranger since the most of the guests I guessed were not the high school friends. But the party was so great that everyone there enjoyed.

しかし。。。幹事さんにも、友人にも『パートナー同伴』を驚かれてしまった。高校の友人に紹介したいってのもあったし、他の友人の結婚式にも何度も連れて行ったので、すんなりOKかと思いきや、やはりまだ日本では普及してないのね、、、でもカールおじさんも、結婚パーティーの話したら、行きたいって言ってたし、幹事さんと相談して同伴にしました。かなり目立つことは覚悟で（笑）状況が許せば、積極的に同伴するべきだと私は思うんだけど、正直『見せびらかし』と受け取られないか不安はありました。
However...it seems to be surprising for the host of the party and my friends that I came "with the partner". To tell the truth, I wanted to introduce him to my friends and it wasn't the first time that I bring him to those parties so I thought it would be no problem...but I guess it is not common here in Japan yet. Carl said he wanted to come with me when I told him about the party so I asked the host beforehand if it is OK and he kindly accepted it. Of course we were quite aware that we will be "outstanding" at the party :-p I think we should bring our partners if it the situation allows, but I always wonder if I look like "being snobby to show the partner" or something...

そんなカールおじさん。ちゃっかりビンゴでディズニーリゾートペアチケットをゲット私はかなり早いうちにビンゴしたものの、はずれ（？）くじで入浴剤。。。
After all, Carl was lucky enough to win a pair of tickets to Tokyo Disney Resort at the BINGO...while I won the bath cube below (even though I hit BINGO a lot earlier...).
久々のネイルとともに写真↓ With my polished nails (it's been long since the last time..)

なにはともあれ、幸せでハンサムなカップルを見て、私も幸せ気分になりましたお幸せに！
Anyways, it was a wonderful time and I was so happy to see the handsome couple! Congratulations!

Tortellini トルテリーニ

この前フランスのママンが送ってくれた、トルテリーニ。パスタの中に、ハムやチーズが入っています。カールおじさんは、日本で見つからなかったって頼んだみたいだけど、輸入食品のお店にあります。ちなみに、トルテローニというのもあるけど、その違いは大きさらしい。
Maman sent us some packages of tortellini a couple of months ago. Tortellini is a pasta which wraps a piece of ham or cheese. The difference between Tortelloni seems to be the size.

前回はコンソメスープで茹でて、そのまま食べましたが、ソースを作ってみることにしました♪袋の裏に書いてあったレシピを自分好みかつ冷蔵庫のものでアレンジして・・・。
Last time we just cooked them with consomme soup but this time I prepared sauce! It is based on a recipe on the back of the package with some adjustments (mainly for the foods in our fridge).

*Ingredients*材料
1/4 of an onion たまねぎ　1/4個
1/2 of a carrot にんじん　1/2本
2-3 leaves of cabbage キャベツ　大きめの葉２〜３枚
Tomato (canned, 400g) トマト缶（400g入）１
1/2 cup of red wine 赤ワイン1/2カップ
Sime parsley, oregano, salt, pepper and olive oil
パセリ、オレガノ、塩、こしょう、オリーブオイル

1) たまねぎは細かく切ります。にんじんとキャベツはフードプロセッサで細かくします。
Cut the onion into small pieces. Chop the carrot and the cabbage with a food processor.

2) 鍋にオリーブオイルをしいて、たまねぎを炒めます。その後にんじんとキャベツを加えて更に炒めます。
Spread oil in a pot and fly the onion. Then add the carrot and the cabbage and fly some more.

3) 赤ワインを加えます。パセリ、オレガノ、塩こしょうします。トルテリーニも味がしっかりしてるので、薄味にします。
Add 1/2 cup of red wine. Then add parsley, oregano, salt and pepper. In order to enjoy the taste of tortellini, I tried to add less salt.

4) トマトを加え、煮立てます。
Pour the tomato and cook well.

5) トルテリーニは固形コンソメを入れたお湯で煮ます。中身入ってるので15分以上かかります。
Cook tortellini with consomme soup (using a consomme cube).

6) ソースと一緒にいただきますEnjoy tortellini with the sauce.