New Years Eve

Today is New Years Eve. We, Japanese, have a custom to eat Soba (Japanese noodle, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soba_(noodle) ) in New Years Eve. Eating Soba in the New Years Eve means that we wish to live like Soba (Thin and Long). So, my husband and I ate them as a lunch (usually Japanese eat Soba as dinner in the New Years Eve).

These Soba were carried by husband from Japan and they are instant Soba. Tastes are so-so but they made me to feel the end of the year.

It made me hot

Because today was little bit cold, my husband and I went to have a lunch at "Arirang(1558 Central Avenue, Albany, NY 12205)". Here is a Korean restaurant. I ate "Bul go gi $12.99 (Stir fried marinated beef slices)" and my husband ate "Yuk gae jang $12.99 (Spicy beef and leek soup)". The beef of "Bul go gi" was sweet and spicy, and It become me appetizing. The taste of "Yuk gae jang" was very spicy and I could not eat more than several bites. But my husband really liked this taste and he finished eat all of them. It was amazing for me.

Phoenicians Restaurant (Lebanese Restaurant)

I found new restaurant at Central Avenue and wet to there with my husband. Here is a Lebanese restaurant "Phoenicians". We ate "Shshi Kebab" and "Mix Shawarma". The beef of Shshi Kebab were so soft and tasty. I love them! But the chicken and beaf of Mix Shawarma were subtle in flavor.
Of course, I ate dessert! I ate "Baklava" and drank "Lebanese Coffee". I ate Baklava several times in Turkish Restaurant and Greek Restaurant. Most of the case, the shape of Baklava was cuboid but the shape of this restaurant's Baklava was cylinder. There were many nuts in the center of cylinder. I like this texture and taste. I had a first time to drink Lebanese coffee and I was surprised. The taste was little different from the coffee I drink everyday. But I am sorry I could not explain how different... So, please drink it when you go to this restaurant.
Inside the restaurant looks very clean and the service was really nice. I think this restaurant will be popular in this area.
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Phoenicians Restaurant
1686 Central Avenue,
Albany, NY 12205
TEL (518)464-4444
11:00am-11:00pm Daily
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Full Mi Belly (Jamaican Food)

I went to have a lunch with my husband to "Full Mi belly", because Albany Jane recommended her blog (http://albanyeats.blogspot.com/search?q=full+mi+belly) and I saw the article about this shop in the TimesUnion(http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=730218). This shop is in the Food court in the Crossgates mall. At first, I selected the size (Small or Regular) and selected the food, goat curry. As for the goat curry, the meat was so soft and tasty and the combination of the rice and goat was sooo nice! The vegetables which were boiled with soup were good, also I like the fried bananas. The taste likes sweet potatoes and delicious. I want to try another food of this shop.

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Full Mi Belly
In the Crossgates Mall
TEL (845)242-7256
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* This shop was closed. (2/2/09)

Merry Christmas !

I love Christmas season. The atmosphere looks really lively and exciting. My friend decorated in our lab and the entrance of my apartment is gorgeous!

Today, I got Christmas cake (http://yuttysr.fc2web.com/)!

Then, I finished preparing Christmas. Only thing I have to do is to wait my Santa Clause!!!!

JLCC Meeting

I went to have a dinner at "Sushi-Tei(http://www.sushiteialbany.com/)" with JLCC(http://www.freewebs.com/jlccsuny/) members. There were 6 members(2 Americans and 4 Japanese) today. I ate "Gyu Yaki (Pan fried beef)". Before eating, I expected to like Sukiyaki taste but it was more sweet. Other members ate "Sushi regular", "Tempura Soba (Japanese noodle with Tempura)", "Chicken Katsu (Deep fried chicken)" and "Una-ju (Boiled eel with source based on soy-source)". All of them looked delicious, especially Chicken Katsu looked good! During dinner, we talked about ice storm which we had last week. It was terrible and some of the members had black out almost 6 days. I can not believe! Our winter has just started and we will have more snow in this winter....

Lab Party

2 of the member of our lab will finish their course in this semester, so we had a party and celebrated them. The party was held in our adviser's house. Her house is brand new and really clean and beautiful. Also, her son is really cute!
This party is potluck, then we brought foods. I made "Quiche(spinach and bacon)" and "Tonkatsu(Deep fried pork)". I was little afraid because some of my American friends do not try food which they are not familiar. Then, I thought and selected deep fried pork. Many American members ate them and I am so happy. Other members brought dumpling, pan fried beef, chicken wing, salad,.... All of them are delicious and I ate a lot.
In the party, we could got the secret Santa present. I got fragrance set.
I ate good food, had a lively talking and got present. Today was so happy for me.

Freezing Rain

Freezing rain is really surprising thing for me because I think this phenomena occurred in only ski fields in Japan. When I saw it for the first time, it was shocked and I had a lot of time to peer the ice covered with my car! Today I had a same thing. My car was packed with ice and I peered it for 30 minutes. Actually, I did not want to go to school such a day but I had a final exam and have to go there. I was tired before my exam but trees and plants were so beautiful...

Soup Mania

Before I came to the US, I did not have many chances to eat soup except Miso-soup. After coming the US, I became soup mania! I love soup and always looking for good one. Most of the time, I bought a cup of soup at "Au Bon Pain(http://www.aubonpain.com/)" at SUNY's cafeteria. This shop's soup is tasty but little bit thin for me.
Another shop where I buy soup is "The Original Soup Man(http://www.originalsoupman.com/default.aspx）" at Colonie center's food court. This shop's soup is thick. My favorite one is Italian sausage because there are many kinds of vegetables in it and it is spicy. I am still looking for good soup !

Decolation

I love Christmas season very much because of beautiful Christmas decoration. Today, I went to my friend's house and saw a lovely Christmas decoration. Near the window, there is a big Christmas tree, on the piano, there are many small figures and on the wall, there is cute Christmas tapestry. I really love her decoration and these decoration fascinated me a lot.

Thanksgiving Buffet

I went to "Thanksgiving Buffet" with my friend, which is sponsored by International Student and Scholar Services and Graduate Student Organization. This Buffet was held the hotel near SUNY. Each international student could get 2 tickets. So, many students came with their friend and families. I ate turkey, salad, potatoes and apple pie. Taste was so-so but I had a good time to talk with my friend and felt good atmosphere.

Red bean paste pound cake

When I am stressed out, I really want to cook. Is it strange???
Yesterday and today, I am so stressful because I cannot write my term paper. So, I want to cook something. I found canned red bean paste in my kitchen and made "Red bean paste pound cake". It mixes American and Japanese style and tastes good!

Winter dish "Oden"

Today's highest temperature is about 0 degree Celsius. Winter has come to Albany.
The most popular winder dish in Japan is "Oden(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oden)". I missed too much. The day before yesterday, I went to buy rice at Asian market, then I found "personal Oden set(small portion of oden)". I was very happy to see it and bought it. Its price is about $3.00. So, today's dinner is "Oden"!! It makes me hot and happy.

Recipe : Apple Pound Cake

1.5 cup All purpose flour
2 Apples (1 for grinded and 1 for fine-chopped)
3 teaspoons baking powder
3 Eggs
1.5 cup Sugar
3 tablespoons Oil
5 tablespoons Butter


1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
2. Combine eggs, sugar, oil and butter, and mix well.
3. Add egg twice (half at time) and mix well after each one.
4. Add baking powder, flour and apples, and stir until just combine.
5. Bake at 350 degree F for 40 minutes.

Apple 2

Still I have a lot of apples, so I made "Apple pound cake" today. It looks good, isn't it?

Recipe : Apple Muffin

*For Apples
1.5 cup fine chopped apples
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice





1. Combine fine chopped apple, sugar and lemon juice.
2. Boil then until water is disappeared.
3. Place to be cool.

* For Muffins
1.5 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
7 tablespoons salt-free butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
2. Combine butter and sugar, and cream until light and whitish.
3. Add egg twice (half at time) and mix well after each one.
4. Add baking powder, baking soda and half of flour, and stir until just combine.
5. Add milk, half of flour and apples. and stir well.
6. Put them into the muffin cups.
7. Bake at 350 degree F for 25 minutes.

Arirang (Korian Restaurant)

I went to have a dinner with my friends at "Arirang". This restaurant serves Korean, Japanese and Thai food. We ate Korean food. I tried "Bibimbab(Rice topped with vegetables, meat and red pepper paste)" and it was delicious but I want to serve it hotter. My friends ate "Dumpling soup" and "Jeyuk Bokkeum(Stir fried pork with spicy sauce)". Both of them looked very good. I love Korean food, especially winter day. Fortunately, this restaurant is near my apartment. So, I will go there several times in this winter.
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Arirang
1558 Central Avenue,
Colonie, NY 12205
TEL (518)452-6878
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Apple

Because I went to apple picking last week and still I have a lot of apples, so I made "Apple muffin" and "Apple tart" today. Apple muffins are for my breakfast and apple tart is for tomorrow's study group.

Pumpkin !

My friend told me to buy interesting sweets for Halloween at "Crisan". So, I went to there but there were not any sweets for Halloween. I was disappointed.
However, there were many kinds of pumpkin cakes and breads, such as "Pumpkin tart", "Pumpkin pie" and "Pumpkin roll cake". They looked so cute and delicious. This shop's sweets are so unique and they are cheaper than other shop. Every time I go there, I want to try all of them. Today, I bought some of them(Pumpkin tart and Pumpkin bread) and tried. They made me happy!!

Dinner Club in this month

Dinner club in this month is in "Sushi-tei(http://www.sushiteialbany.com/index.html)". I like this restaurant these days. I love deep fried pork and ate "Katsu ju(Deep fried pork with egg over the rice)". Most of the members ate Sushi and we ate dessert, too. There were 3 kinds of dessert; Ice creame, Ice cream Tempra and Sherbet. I ate Red bean Ice cream and it was so nice. I love it! I tried Ice cream Tempra which my friend was eating. taste is not good and not bad, but batter of the Tempra is little bit thick and it was difficult to eat. As for the dessert, I recommend to eat Red bean Ice Cream. After eating, we moved to Starbucks coffee at Stuyvsant Plaza and chatted until 10pm. I was so happy to meet Japanese friends and talked a lot.

Apple Picking & Picnic Lunch

I joined "Apple Picking & Picnic Lunch" at Indian Ladder Farm(http://www.indianladderfarms.com/cgi-bin/ilf.cgi). Unfortunately, the weather was bad and it was cloudy and sometimes shower. We bought a bag and put apples in it. We picked "Fuji-apple" and "Mutsu-apple", which are Japanese apple. The ground of apple picking area was wet and apples were on the top of the tree. It was difficult to pick for children and they used the tool for pick.
After picking, we had a potluck party in a hatch because of rain. I enjoyed eating many kinds of food, such as sandwich, potato salad and Tonjiru(Miso soup with pork and many kinds of vegetables). After eating lunch, children went to pumpkin farm and pick own pumpkin. They painted and carved own pumpkin. It was so interesting. Each children enjoyed very much and had a good job!

Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner

Carl and Joan invited JLCC(http://www.freewebs.com/jlccsuny/index.htm) to dinner. I went to their house. There were 6members(3 Japanese, 1 Korean, 1 American and 1 Chinese). They prepared many food such as turkey, salad, lasagna and mash potatoes. After eating these food, we ate apple crumble and brownie as a dessert. I was so satisfied these food. We talked about American economy these days, Japanese culture, and our work and study. We chatted a lot and had a good time. I really thank to Carl and Joan!

Turnip

I got many turnips at Troy's farmers market today. I found 8 turnips($2.50) and bought them. However, I returned to my apartment, I regretted little because 8 turnips are too much for me. Immediately, I cooked all of them. I made 4 meals.
First, I fried Turnips' leaves with dried bonito and sesame. Second one is fried Turnips' leaves with chili and baby sardine. Third one is fried Turnips and pork with soy-source. Last one is boiled Turnips and Turnips' leaves with ginger and soy-source. Oh... they looked good and I will eat lunch and dinner!

Lindt "Hot Mango"

I went to Crossgate Mall(http://www.shopcrossgates.com/) to get a small present to my friend. I found Chocolate set which are decorated by Halloween design wrapping paper at Lindt(http://www.lindtusa.com/index-exec/) . Moreover, I found new flavors. One of them is "Hot Mango". It is pure dark chocolate filled with dark chocolate mousse and mango-cayenne filling. The chocolate is bitter, and filling is sweet ant spicy. This taste is very strange and interesting for me. The filling taste is similar to mango chutney in Indian restaurant I went before. It is enough to eat 1 bar. Another flavor is "papaya and chili pepper", I remember.

Souvlaki Fest !

I went to "Souvlaki Fest" at St.Sophia Orthodox Church. I arrived that church around 5:30pm and there were many people here. At first, I bought "Gyro($7.00)", which is wrapped with grilled chicken, sliced tomatoes and minced onion. Then, I passed salad area and went to the dessert area. I bought "Cheese pie($3.25)"、"Assorted Greek Pastries ($5.00/ 1 small bag)"、"Vanilla cookies($5.00/ 1 bag)". I found "Loukoumades(Fried dough with honey, $5.00/ 1 big bag)", but it looked too much for me and I gave up to buy. I took all of them and ate at my apartment. Greek food are very similar to Turkish food and I realised I like Greek sweets!!

DVD Drive

The DVD drive of my notebook PC were broken. so I got new external DVD±R drive. New one is

LightScribe(http://www.lightscribe.com/) enabled. So, I bought new LightScribe CD-R and tried to burn label. It took about 6 minutes (the design below) but it was beautiful. My husband said LightScribe is not popular in Japan. I wonder why???

Cafe Madison

I went to have a lunch with my friend at "Cafe Madison(http://www.cafe-madison.com/)". I love this cafe because of its atmosphere and good foods. I ate Belgian waffle and my friend ate English muffins. Belgian waffle is butter taste and, whip cream and fruits were topped in it. They made me happy. On the English muffins, there were poached eggs with hollandaise sauce. It looked delicious,too. We satisfied these foods and had fill of happiness.

Cookie Press

I used the cookie press and made cookies! I have first time to use cookie press. At first, I could not understand how to use but I got it. Then, I could make sooo many cookies. It was amazing!! I am so happy!!

Souvlaki Fest

This Friday and Saturday (October 3rd & 4th), there will be Souvlaki Fest in St.Sophia Greek Orthodox Church. I went to this church when they held a Greek fest. There are big and beautiful church. I think Greek foods are similar to Turkish and I lobe them. Especially, Desserts are very fascinated me. I will Go this Fest!!!

Favco again!

My friends and I mail ordered and got fresh fish from Favco last June. These fresh fish was good and we ordered again. We got fish today. This time, I bought "Salmon Caviar(225g, $25.00)"

"Shiokara(consist of small pieces of the calamary's meat in a brown viscous paste of the calamary's heavily salted, fermented viscera, 200g, $8.00)" and "Sardine with cod ovum(255g, $13.00)". Immediately I made "Bowl of rice topped with Salmon Caviar" this dinner!

Fall Gathering

There was a Fall Gathering in my department. It was welcoming party for new graduate students. All graduate students, facilities and other staffs, also their friends and family were invited to this party. At first, this party was held at the courtyard in front of the building but today was rainy day, so we had a party inside the building. The room was little small and some people were in the hallway. I talked with new graduate students and have a many kinds of food, such as Pizza, Samosa, salad, Sushi, Fried fish and so on. Also, I ate fruits and cakes. I made small size Cheese cakes.
During the party, there was a raffle. Some people could got the prize; Towel, T-shirts, Mug, Coffee cup... Then I got !! I got USB memory(500Mb). I was soooo surprise!!

Dinner @ Sushi-Tei

We had a plan to have eat dinner with JLCC(http://www.freewebs.com/jlccsuny/) members but only a few members can join the dinner, so the dinner was canceled.
However, I went to have a dinner with my 2 Japanese friends at "Sushi-Tei(http://www.sushiteialbany.com/)". In my opinion, as for the Sushi, "Yoshi-sushi" at Latham is the best in Albany, but As for the other Japanese food, I like to go "Sushi-Tei". Today, I ate "Oroshi-Katsu(Fried pork with grated Japanese radish)". It is really Japanese style to eat pork. Fried pork is oily but I did not feel oily because of grated Japanese radish. This combination is very good. My friends ate "Chicken Teriyaki" and "Unaju(Bowl of rice topped with boiled eel)". Both of them look delicious. We are satisfied this dinner!!

I got them

I payed my tuition with credit card, so I got Amazon.com(http://www.amazon.com/) gift card ($75) from the credit card company. Immediately, I looked for some goods and I bought them. Here are goods I bought; "CROCS(http://www.crocs.com/) Sandal", "Le Creuset(http://www.lecreuset.com/)Whisk" and "Cookie Press". I wanted the CROCS's sandal but I could not find my size (5 or 5 1/2), so I got it and am very happy!! I am interested in Cookie Press. It looks convenient and I will try this week-end.

Recipe : Stick Cheese Cake

* For Cookies (Base part)

1 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter
1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
2. Combine butter and sugar, and cream until light and whitish.
3. Add egg twice (half at time) and mix well after each one.
4. Add flour and stir until just combine.
5. Place batter into pan and make thin and flat.
6. Bake at 350 degree F for 15 minutes, then place to be cool.

* For Cheese cake(Top part)

8 ounce cream cheese
2.5 tablespoon salt-free butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup yogurt
2 teaspoon lemon juice
2 eggs
1/4 cup cornstarch

1. Combine butter and cream cheese well.
2. Add sugar, yogurt, lemon juice, egg and cornstarch, and mix well after each one.
3. Pour batter over the cookies which you baked.
4. Bake at 350 degree F for 60 minutes.
5. Cut and wrap.

Stick Cheese Cake

I made "Stick Cheese Cake" last Sunday. This type of Cheese Cake is popular in Japan. It is easy to eat during walking and we do not need dishes and forks. I have not seen this type in America even if American people really like Cheese Cake.

Lark Fest

I went to Lark Fest(http://www.larkstreet.org/festivals.php) today. There were many people there and I was excited. I walked around the street and saw many stands. I bought some leaf tea and bobble tea at the Good Leaf Gourmet Tea (http://goodleaftea.blogspot.com/). Then, I bought "Farafel" at Al-baraki Ⅱ, "Spring Roll" at Sukothai and bread at "Crisan". Only food..... I could see many kinds of clothes and accessories, and heard rock music on stage. I met some friends and had a good time with them.

Dinner with My Friends

I went to "Mari's Japanese Cuisine(2049　Van Vranken Avenue, Schenectady, NY 12308)" with my friends because one of my friend's birthday is tomorrow! However, unfortunately, he got sick and he could not join us today.... I really recommend this restaurant but there are any chance to take my friends because it is little far from the SUNY.
Because today Friday, there were many customers in this restaurant. I ate "Chicken Tempura" and "Rainbow roll", and my friends ate "Sukiyaki", "Chicken lever", "Pork Katsu" and so on. I like this rainbow roll because the fish which is used are fresh and tasty. I love it! Off course, tempura are good, too. Chicken were very juicy.
We talked a lot and laughed a lot. I enjoyed today's dinner very much because of good food and good friends.

I am waiting !!

My friend sells her bread & cakes every 2 weeks(http://yuttysr.fc2web.com/) but last month, she got summer vacation and I could not buy them. I am waiting for her sale and today is the day she sells breads & cakes. I bought "Peach & Custard Tart($3.25)"、"Cheese Cake($3.25)","Cream Cheese Bread($1.75)",Sausage Bread($1.75)", "Walnuts & Ram Raisins Table Rill(5 in a pack, $4.50)" and "Special An-Pan($1.75)". I like all of them but cakes are really delicious. I love her cakes very much.

Dinner Club in this month

Every 2 months, my Japanese friends and I have a dinner together. This time we had a dinner at "Buca di Beppo(http://www.bucadibeppo.com/)". There were 8 Japanese women joining this dinner. In this restaurant, each meal is so large and we ordered 1 entree, 1 salad, 2 pastas, 1 pizza and 2 deserts. But still we could not eat all of them. During eating, we talked a lot about our American life, job, children and so on. We could not stop talking. After eating dinner, some of us move to Starbucks coffee and still talk a lot. Finally, I return to my apartment at 11:00pm. It was fun day!

So-men Party

One of my friends invited me to have a "So-men(So-men are very thin, white Japanese noodle made of wheat flour) Party" in her garden. She have this party every summer and this summer is her 20th. party. I was so surprised. I asked some my Japanese, Taiwanese and American friends who are interested in this party.
Before join this party, I went to the farmers market in Trot and bought "Peach pie". I really like peach pie and tried it many shops. This shop's is better and filling are sour and sweet.
In the party, we experienced "Nagashi So-men". The noodle are placed in a along flume of bamboo across the length of her garden. The flume carries clear, cold water. As the So-men pass by, people pluck them out with their chopsticks and then dip them in a container of some seasoning. We are so exciting and it was so fun. I am Japanese but I have never done it before coming America because it is special event and we can only experience in summer festival or something like that. I was satisfied and enjoy eating and talking with other guests!

Albaraki Ⅱ(Lebanese Restaurant)

I was attracted to Celina's Web site(http://celinabean.com/) and went to "Albaraki Ⅱ" in Lark Street. This shop is small and like fast-food restaurant. staffs are lively and one of the staff can speak Japanese a little. I was so surprised! Most of menus are wrap and I bought "Beef Shawarma" and "Baalawa". "Beef Shawarma" is a wrap with marinated beef strips and fresh vegetable. Wrap has 2 size; small ($4-$5)and large($6-$7). "Baalawa" is a kind of dessert and layers of filo. Main restaurant(http://lebanesefood.tv/index.html) of this shop is in Troy, I heard. I am so interested in this restaurant. I have to go and try some Lebanese foods.
Next, I went to Crisan to buy bread. Today, large cake was showed in this shop. It was so lovely. Inside the cake is artificial but surface of the cake is real cream and sugar. Especially, flowers were so beautiful.

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Albaraki Ⅱ
185 Lark Street, Albany,
NY 12210
TEL (518)445-0445
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Karavalli (Indian Restaurant)

My Indian friend recommended me to go to "Karavalli(http://www.karavallilatham.com/index.htm)" for long time ago... I went to there to have dinner with my husband today. We went around 6:00pm, then there were many people in this restaurant. We ate "Chickpea Salad", "Karavalli Meat Sampler" and "Chicken Ammwala". As for the "Chickpea salad", it was good but amount of it was big for us, then we took half of them to our apartment. "Karavalli meat sampler" was really nice. We could taste 4 of different kinds of meat menus and all of them were spicy and tasty!! I like them. "Chicken Ammwala" was the first meal that I had a strange feeling during eating. There were some Chicken which was marinated with mango and some spices. So, this curry's taste was mixed sweet with spicy. It was so interesting for me and love them. Also, my husband liked this taste. I want to try other menu in this restaurant. Furthermore, my friend recommended me to try lunch buffet on Saturday and Sunday. I will try!!
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Karavalli
9-B Jonhsin Road, Latham NY
TEL (518)785-7600
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Vacation

My husband took a summer vacation and came to see me today. Unfortunately, my new semester will start next Monday. So, I do not have enough time to go out of town...
This time he brought some Japanese souvenir for me, such as sweets, books, medicine and portable pot. I like Japanese sweets very much and I am really happy to get them.