Japanese Sweets Food Toys: Tea and Bean Cake

Continuing with photographing Japanese food toys before I get rid of them, are two sets of Japanese sweets.

This is the front of the box.

And this is the back of the box.

The first is the tea set. This I had opened long ago, and lost the green tea portion inside the cup and the piece of tissue for a sweet to rest on.

Here’s the top view.

The second sweets set are bean cakes and crackers.

The amount of detail on these toys is pretty amazing.

The box opens up and there’s a bean cake inside.

Regional Food Toys: Hokkaido and Nagoya

The next two sets of food toys I have are based on foods from different areas of Japan.

This is the front of the box.

And the back of the box.

The first set is from Hokkaido and is hokke, a type of mackerel.

Here’s the top view.

The second set is from Nagoya and is a shrimp roll.

And this is the top view.

Family Restaurant Food Toy: Katsu

I bought a lot of crap back in the day. I didn’t think of it as crap at the time. I just wanted…stuff. Things I thought were cute. Or interesting. Of funny. But they were things I never used. Things that just ended up in a box. Things I needed to get rid of.

In Japan, I bought food toys because they amused me. I thought they were silly and fun, and they showed the range of Japanese food available—from family restaurants, to sweets to regional cuisine.

However, I decided to finally get rid of these Japanese food toys that I hadn’t done anything with…some were still in their original packaging. [Sigh.] So, I decided I would take photos of them as a way give them some purpose before donating them to a thrift store.

Here’s a family restaurant toy for katsu—breaded fried pork. Family restaurants isn’t a term I generally use, but in Japan it’s a type of restaurant like a diner, much like Denny’s. Open 24 hours. Reasonably priced dishes that appeal to a wide demographic.

Here’s the front of the box.

And the back of the box. Ten toy sets in all to collect. I think the reception stand and menu in the #1 toy is pretty funny. But seriously, unless there’s a dollhouse restaurant, I’m not sure what anyone would do with any of these things.

A description of the dish and price.

I just think it’s hilarious that they included a bill as well.

Girl Scouts Vest

I was never a Girl Scout. I know you do stuff and get patches to show that you did that something (and that you then sew those patches on a vest). That's where my knowledge ends.

I was thrift shopping and caught sight of this Girl Scouts vest and had to take photos because of these patches. Some of these patches made me so sad. They're just not cute. [Pause.] Or they're just plain confusing.

I realize that some of the topics for these patches must be hard to design for. It can be difficult to distill a thought into an image. I know this because I look at the patches on the front side of the vest, and I don't know what a good chunk of them mean.

My best guesses to what these patches mean:

• "Please" with hearts = learning how to say "please" to appease
• Green cloud with color rays = superpower rings coming together to create a poof of energy (in my head there's some connection to the cartoon Captain Planet)
• Sun, cloud and rain = I live in the Pacific Northwest and this is what the weather is like
• Earth surrounded by black oil spill = cloud of evil surrounds Earth (like in A Wrinkle in Time)
• Three bears in a circle = dancing bears are awesome!
• Gold circle-like shape = pirate gold!

The patches on the back seem more self-explanatory. Sewing, food drive, scrapbooking—there's no mystery there. Although, I'm curious what "Thinking Day" is…is it something about how to save the planet, maybe? And the Princess Zip patch? No clue. However, I find the Build-A-Bear Workshop patch to be the most perplexing, as it is a brand and not a concept. It feels very out of place to me. As if suddenly I saw a product placement in a movie. This vest brought to you by Build-A-Bear Workshop. Find a location near you.

To me, if you can't immediately understand what something is by looking at it, then at least make it pretty. I just wish the patches looked better by themselves as well as with one another.

How-to Avoid Christmas before Christmas

As I’ve said before, I like Christmas day just fine—it’s the weeks leading up to Christmas that I so dislike. I hate the hustle and bustle. I hate the noise. I hate the pressure. I hate the consumerism. [Pause.] Christmas does not bring out the best in me. So in order to minimize the reminders of Christmas that I’m surrounded by on a daily basis, I basically try to hibernate as much as possible. This is what I do (or rather don’t do).

Avoid going to nonessential stores
Is there any place that I need to go to besides the supermarket? The answer is almost always no. I admit, last week I went to a nonessential store because I had $10 free to spend there (so I got a peeler for a grand total of $0.19…score!). The store already had an array of utterly unnecessary Christmas paraphernalia that I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at. I just hate seeing Christmas crap that is two steps away from being in a landfill (yes, I’m talking to you ugly Christmas tree mug stuffed with hot chocolate for $14.99. No thank you.). 

Avoid going anywhere during peak hours
Too many people=unpleasant experience. I don’t want to be anywhere near a mall during the weekend because the traffic is particularly terrible. And I certainly don’t want to be inside a store when it’s busier and has longer checkout lines. I want to be in and out of a store as quickly as possible. And while I can’t control when everyone else shops, I can control when I go shopping.

Avoid watching TV
When I was a kid, people actually watched TV and commercials were unavoidable. Now with all of the streaming services available, it’s easier to avoid commercials altogether…which is nice. Or you could just watch less TV. Because watching TV commercials for Christmas anything is just awful. Show someone how much you love them by buying them THIS! Of course, once the shiny newness of that present wears off, it’s going in the closet (just like all the other stuff you don’t use) to be forgotten until you do a massive cleaning and donate it to a thrift store. [Sigh.]

So far this holiday season, I think I’ve done a fairly good job of avoiding being overloaded by Christmas. But things have only begun—Black Friday is just around the corner. And I still have another five weeks to go…

Creamy Gochujang Pasta

I like to cook…mostly because I like to eat. But I’m a recipe follower, not a recipe creator. On the rare occasion I try to “whip something up,” I’m generally left dissatisfied by the results. However, this time I created something that I actually liked: Creamy Gochujang Pasta.

Some months ago I saw a pasta recipe online that used gochujang with milk and cheese (and a list of other ingredients), and while I didn’t make it, it did sound good to me. And the idea stayed in my brain…which brings me to yogurt.

While I can eat yogurt, I don’t particularly enjoy it—I’d rather just cook with it. I had bought a container of yogurt for a specific recipe, but had quite a bit left over and I didn’t know what to do with it. I recalled that cheesy gochujang pasta and thought I could just substitute the milk with yogurt to create a creamy sauce. So I did, and I liked it. It’s a quick recipe and takes about fifteen minutes to do.

CREAMY GOCHUJANG PASTA
1 serving

Ingredients
1 bacon strip
1 tbsp gochujang
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground garlic
2 tbsp water
¼ cup chopped kimchi
1 tbsp whole milk plain yogurt
1 serving angel hair pasta

— 1 —
In a nonstick frying pan, fry bacon. Once bacon is cooked, remove bacon from the pan and place on a paper towel to drain the excess grease. Keep the bacon grease in pan.

Once cool, break bacon into pieces.

— 2 —
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to directions. And drain pasta once cooked.

— 3 —
Add the water, gochujang, ground ginger, ground garlic and kimchi to the pan with the bacon grease. Over low heat, stir to combine.

— 4 —
Add the yogurt to the pan and stir to combine with the sauce. Add pasta to the pan and stir until coated with the sauce.

— 5 —
Place pasta on a plate and top with bacon pieces. Serve immediately.

Variation: Cheese
I also tried this replacing the bacon with cheese—mozzarella or cheddar works well. Cut a slice of cheese into 16 squares. In Step 5, once the sauce coats the pasta, add the cheese squares. Stir to combine as the cheese melts. Serve immediately.

Updated Blog Look

About every few months I think I should change the look of the blog, and I do some sketches for the banner and start laying some options out. And then I lose my motivation—it’s just not much of a priority for me.

But I figured I should just change the banner to something and I can always change it again if I don’t really like it (although let’s be honest, with my track record it would still take me a couple of years to actually get around to changing it). [Sigh.] So with different components I’ve created over time (hand drawn type and shapes), I’ve finally updated the banner.

Nothing changed organizationally in the blog; I just tried to simplify the overall look of things. I suppose I’m ambivalently satisfied with things…for now.

Sad Christmas Ornaments

I went to the pay by the pound Goodwill after Christmas and there was a good amount of Christmas stuff in the bins—Christmas lights, decorations and ornaments. My friend found this sad one-armed snowman ornament and I had to take a picture—it just felt fitting for the season.

There was also a headless drummer boy ornament.

And a creepy angel head. Maybe someone out there will want these broken Christmas tree ornaments; I imagine a Charlie Brown Christmas tree covered with these sad unwanted ornaments.

Things I Didn’t Buy 4

I love books. And I love vintage books. But I don’t always have a need for them or a place for them. So here are some books that caught my eye but I restrained myself from buying. First up, I really liked the cover of this cookbook—super cute.

Another adorable cookbook.

I liked the cover, but thought that the information inside could be quite dated.

Cute sewing book.

Another book cover that I thought was interesting.

I liked the simple use of color for this cover.

The front and back cover of this children’s workbook had great drawings, but I didn’t need it.

Things I Didn’t Buy 3

More interesting things that I didn’t buy. These adding machines are super cool, but expensive and unnecessary.

I really liked the look of this cooker.

And I thought this ice cream scooper was interesting.

Cute metal tape measure for $2. I briefly considered it, but the tape was rather worn.

I thought these hat boxes were cool, but I didn’t need them…at all.

I liked the design of this Snake Bite Kit.

I also liked the retro pattern of this pillowcase. It cost $1 and had a couple of minor stains, but I couldn’t justify buying it because I couldn’t think of a plan of how to use it (other than a pillowcase—which I didn’t want to do).

I Could Just Make This…Maybe

When I started sewing five years ago, I wasn’t sure if it was something that was going to stick, because often interests and hobbies just dwindle away over time. However, sewing is a hobby that has stayed with me and I’m glad it did because I find it a very useful skill to have.

Sewing is empowering. (Yes, I’m using the word “empowering” even though this word often annoys me as I think it’s overused and cheesy.) I say it’s empowering because I feel like I have an ability to make things that I wasn’t able to make before. Thus, it gives me more options and the ability to choose if I want to buy something already made or if I want to make it myself.

Nowadays, when I go into a store (selling new items) I often think, “I could just make this.” Yes, when you consider how cheap most items are, it is cheaper and faster to buy something already made, but those things generally don’t spark my interest because they’re often ugly, expensive (for what it is) and low-quality. I usually feel like I could do better than the mass-produced crap that’s flooded the market. And even if it’s not perfect, there’s a sense of joy and ownership I have when I’ve sewn something unique.

Now, while I can’t make everything and I certainly don’t make things perfectly, I do think I’ve improved with time. Things are easier now than when I first started sewing. It still takes me a long time to sew things, but I don’t feel as frustrated as I once did. And I find making simple garments, like skirts and loose dresses, to be a fairly relaxing experience.

But sometimes I fail to make something as I would like—like these red cropped pants. I tried to make these pants earlier this year and they didn’t turn out great. They fit…oddly. I’d never made pants before (other than pajamas—which don’t count as they lack the same fitting issues), so I’m not really shocked that the fit is weird. The success of these red pants is solely that I finished them (which is not unlike my first skirt that wasn’t cute but I also finished). Things often don’t turn out well when you're new at doing them, but improvement is inevitable with time and practice (and practice).

Sunglasses Part Deux

Last year I wrote about how I hate shopping for sunglasses and was very relieved to have finally bought a satisfactory pair. I’ve had those same sunglasses ever since then and have been happy with them. [Pause.] Until I recently dropped them on the ground and a lens popped out. I tried to put the lens back in, but it just wasn’t happening. I hadn’t spent much on these sunglasses but it was still disappointing to damage them.

Luckily, I had seen that the same sunglasses were still at the store that I’d initially bought them at. When I saw them about a month ago, I considered getting another pair as a backup but decided against it. At the time I thought my sunglasses were fine and I didn’t really need another pair exactly like it. I guess hindsight is 20-20. [Sigh.]

Well, now I did want a pair exactly like it. Why try to find something better when what I had was working well? I didn’t want to indefinitely search for a new pair of sunglasses that might be better than the last pair (because the odds were against me that I’d find something anytime soon). So I happily bought the exact same pair of sunglasses. Hopefully these new sunglasses will last as long (or longer) than the last pair.

Things I Didn’t Buy 2

More things I thought were interesting but didn’t buy at a thrift store and estate sale. First is this game Tactics II. I’m not interested in war games but I like the box design.

I actually considered buying this mirror in a silicone sleeve but decided I didn’t really need it. I thought the design was interesting—totally 1970s. Although I’m not sure what “Equitable savings is people” means…

I just thought this box design was amusing with the super cheesy line, “Have a heart at your next party!” It’s a bunch of heart-shaped cake molds that I would never use.

Finally, I liked the design on this Super Nu-Kote box that feels late 1960s to me. Of course I didn’t need this (as I don’t have a typewriter).