new item of today

taken with Mamiya RB67 on Polaroid peel-apart 690 film

This morning, I was so excited to open a new jar of orange marmalade.
Of all fruits jam and preserves, I love orange marmalade the most, so.
And just imagine the moment that the crisp sound of opening a jar sounds around your favorite table!
It's definitely the happiest morning ritual, isn't it?
I think you've already understood how I was excited as I'm posting two days in row ;))

Tiny happiness of a jar of marmalade:

1, I love opening a new marmalade in a cold and dark cold morning.

2, Sniffing the first scent of marmalade.

3, Spooning and directly bringing that to my mouth, then melting and swallowing very very slowly.

4, Sipping a cup of extra bitter coffee within the bitter sweetness of marmalade still remains in my mouth.


For my today's breakfast, I ate a homemade blueberry oat and bran muffin, a small cup of greek yogurt with a spoonful of marmalade.
It was a very very cold and happy morning :))

Dear marmalade,
I love you, I love you, I love you .....
Sincerely,
Tomily

Some excuse around the table with an almost forgotten picture

taken with contax-rts on superia 200

I totally skipped November here.
To those who remember this place and me, I'm sorry that I'm not a frequent blogger this place.
I sometimes tried to update new episodes, but I was lack of power to do that.
Physically I'm OK, and more than OK.
I'm enjoying this wintry weather.
Taking photos of snow, knitting by warm and weak sun beam, drinking a cup of cocoa, reading endlessly long novels.....
Doesn't all sound fun?

So, so, today, I've just jumped in for excusing that I don't really forget this place.
And also I wanted to upload my favorite but missed to have been uploaded picture.
The picture of my favorite fruits of autumn, figs.
A slice of Barvarian pumpernickel bread with reduced fat soft cheese and slices of figs on the plate.
I loved this combination very much this autumn.
Sometimes I ate this for my breakfast, other times for lunch.
Since I'm a such person who wants to eat breakfast-like-meal for whose every meal, I really wanted eat this all the time during autumn. ( but I didn't do that.)
Oh, I'm missing figs so much.
Figs are one of my four most favorite fruits.

And now, I'm enjoying persimmons.
Persimmons are also one of my most favorites.
I'll promise you that I'll update here before the persimmon season go away.

FYI, my two other most favorite fruits are apples and loquats :))


Dear figs,
I don't know why I love you this much.
And I don't know from when I have loved you, because I didn't like you when I was a child.
It sometimes happens, you know.
Anyway I love you, I'm missing you and I'm looking forward to your next season :))
Sincerely yours,
Tomily

great pizza in the town (but not for me)

taken with contax-rts, superia200

some of you who have good memories might be curious about today's post, but i'm going to tell you about the experience of having been to the pizza house in my town the other day.

well, as i've already mentioned several times before that i seldom eat out because of my diet.

i don't eat any meat but seafood, also my stomach doesn't accept too oily stuff, too much cheese and garlic.

so, can you come up with any idea for restaurants that i can enjoy in the U.S.?

it's so tough to choose the menu.

maybe i can carefully choose the very menu which doesn't contain meat products, too much oil and too much cheese ( although its selection is so narrow.)

but speaking of garlic, oh no, i don't have any idea how i can eliminate this guy which is full of magic to make food so savory and flavorful.

i think most dishes in restaurants contain garlic to some degree.

and now, i want to talk about pizza.

actually i enjoy pizza every weekend, for dinner on sundays.

without very few exception, i eat one whole small size pizza every sunday.

but i have to tell you this, that pizza is so different.

so original, and so customized.

firstly, my husband knees the pizza dough with 100% whole wheat flour with only water and salt.

no oil in the dough.

secondly, i don't use pizza sauce but spread no-salt-added tomato paste. ( this is the great way to escape from garlic!)

third, i use soy cheese instead of cow cheese.

thankful to these 3 points, i can enjoy our own hand made pizza every sunday.

and i don't think there is any healthier pizza than this! ( we put a lot of veggies on the crust.)

one day, the local paper said that one of the town's oldest pizza house would cerebrates its 20 year anniversary and offer us to get a slice of cheese or pepperoni pizza for a dollar.

my husband, whose stomach is glad to accept cow cheese, was very interested in the article and suggested to go there together.

he went there 2~3 times for his lunch with his co-workers before, and he said he loved their pizza.

as we live in central mountain area, and thick crust pizza have been popular in this area, their thin crust pizza was kind of innovative at the time they started the business in my town.

and they say that this pizza house's pizza still has the thinnest crust here.

although we prefer thin crust pizza, and i know that we sometimes need opportunities and reason to eat out, i hesitated over his suggestion because of apprehension i've talked above.

but we went there.

i surrendered to the phrase "a slice of pizza for a dollar" !!

although my brain surrendered, my stomach didn't allow it.

i got just one small bite.

very sharp triangle part.

but i fully enjoyed its thin crust, heavy cheese and garlicky pizza sauce by that small bite.

my husband ate his and mine with a bottle of bud. (they also offered most domestic beer for a dollar!)

well, even though i didn't enjoy their food, i enjoyed atmosphere a lot.

it was sunday noon, and i enjoyed our pizza at night.

dear pizza,

because my stomach is such picky, i can't eat every pizza, but could you understand how i am excited with our own pizza every sunday night?
i can say this, the sunday pizza gives me to live through coming whole week!

sincerely,
tomily

fall color

taken with contax-rts

days have passed so quickly.

i have to apologize to my friends who kindly left comments for me and have been looking forward to new post. (especially big apology for having not published precious comments. i thought i successfully did that, but actually didn't.)

i'm so sorry, dear friends.

i was so lazy here lately because i worked so hard on my renewed cooperated website with my husband.

if you're interested in my photo around the table, please check here.

i'm exhibiting some of my tabletop photos with some japanese words. (sorry, no english.)

that place is created as an imaginary cafe on the web.

to tell the truth, i want to my own real cafe in future :)

by the way, i feel fall has been approaching day by day.

the smell of the air has totally changed from that of summer.

i don't see much change visually, but my smell sensor sensitively catches much.

so i'm gradually shifting to fall color on my table.

the photo above shows that obviously, doesn't it?

recently i'm trying to eat whole grain a lot.

even though i sometimes want to skip that heaviness, i still try to stick with that.

few days ago, i met my naturopathic doctor after about 400 mile drive ( she lives in the next state to mine.), and she suggested me to do so.

i have loved every whole grain and also enjoyed that.

but, as some of you have already known, i've loved bagels so much, and i have kept eating bagels almost every morning.

now i quit that.

really. ( she doesn't like me to eat bagels made from white flour. she doesn't even like whole wheat ones.)

so now, i eat a bowl of oatmeal or granola and fruits with low-fat yogurt for my breakfast recently.

and the photo above is one of my lunch.

i made a bowl of instant rice pudding not from scratch but by using ready-to-eat soy pudding.

firstly i heated about 1/2 cup of pre-cooked brown rice with some soy milk in a pan, then cooled it down.

put it in a bowl and mixed with a cup of soy pudding (i love this product so much, especially vanilla flavor! i call this a "panda pudding" :)) ) and add some flavors like cinnamon and nutmeg.

topped with a handful of granola (add crunchiness) and blueberries and blackberries.

as i love the food like for babies, it was so yummy for me :)

now i'm enjoying whole grain in some ways.

and i noticed that whole grain usually have fall color, and that entertains me a lot!

dear whole grain,

i have noticed you're full of energy and nutrition originally, but i sometimes neglected that.

i'm sorry for that.

now i truly love you not only because it's fall and you're wearing fall color, but because i consider my total long-standing health care.

i promise you that i respect you more than before.

sincerely,

tomily

an interesting play with croissants

taken with contax-rts

one sunday morning in July, i finally did an "イタリアごっこ ( italy-gokko)" which is a japanese word means " imitating italian way".

it's really hard to explain this word because it has a very personal meaning and a very curious to call that way.

so, i'll try to explain that the easiest way.

 

1, my husband i had a trip to italy last may, and we ate a croissant and a cup of cappuccino for our breakfast everyday there.

2, we seldom eat croissants for our breakfast usually.

3, we are missing italy very much since we visitted there.

4, "ごっこ(gokko)" is a japanese name for some kind of play in which kids can pretend to be someone they want to be.

5, so, my husband and i came up with a new play and that is "イタリアごっこ(italy-gokko)".

we eat croissants with cups of cappuccino for our breakfast when we do that pretty play!

now, you understand that.

then i'll teach you how to do that. ( everyone has to have their own favorite way to do that, but below is a very helpful suggestion for you.)

1, you have to get 1~7 croissants ( depends on the number of your family. but you know, 1 is still great to do this play :) ) on one sunny saturday afternoon at your local bakery shop.

if you have a french style bakery shop in your neighborhood, that'd be great!! 

in our case, fortunately we have the one in downtown :)  hooray!!

( please don't ask me why french even though you do the play related to italy. i still don't know if eating a croissant for breakfast is popular in italy or not. and speaking of croissants, i believe french ones are the best of all.)

2, on sunday morning, it's so nice if the weather is good.

but you know, we can't choose the weather ;) ,so let's do the play even though it rains.

just one caution, you can't sleep over once you decide to do this play.

our case, we wake up about 7 weekends and i think that's enough :))

3, prepare a pot of espresso and foamed milk (our choice is unsweetend soy milk) while preheating your oven.

don't forget to put everything you need ( 'nutella' is necessary, i think) on your table with clean table cloth.

on this step, you'll probably feel tired from series of bustle.

but please remember this, you're still before the play and you're just preparing for the most excited play for your precious sunday morning :)

need patience, ok?

4, now's the time to put croissants (or a croissant) into the preheated oven.

don't put them on the top rack but lower as possible.

you don't bake or burn those but just warm those up.

5, congrats!, you're ready to play "イタリアごっこ" now.

let's enjoy this bewitching play and indulge in that sweetness :))

now i'm a bit tired as i was too much excited with typing all above, i'll skip my love letter today.

thai cuisine

taken with nikon-fe2

2~3 weeks ago, one saturday afternoon, i went to the thai restaurant in my town with my husband for our lunch.

we seldom eat out (approx. once in 2~3 months other than during trip).

as we are vegetarian, it's much easier to fix something in my house.

so this was the first time after we had a vacation in italy in this may.

as you who like asian cuisine have already known, you can choose your meat from couple of option, like " pork or chicken or shrimp or tofu, $1 added for shrimp".

and besides, you can chose fried tofu or steamed tofu, if you choose tofu.

i like shrimp the most, but i want to be frugal for my lunch, so i usually choose steamed tofu for my thai food.

for that day's lunch, i decided to have a pad-thai ( with steamed tofu) set from lunch special.

in that affordable restaurant, they have quite good selection, probably 12~15 option for lunch set menu ( all the set menu come with a cup of egg soup and steamed/fried rice).

the picture above is the plate that i had, pad-thai and fried rice.

they all were so delicious, and pretty good price too! ( i don't remember exactly how much, but i'm sure all the lunch menu cost less than $8 :)) )

probably i'll go back there in this year, and i can say this is the very honor for them because we seldom eat out!

dear thai cuisine,

i love your subtle flavor of sweetness, hotness and sourness!

and i also love your pretty elephant pattern i can see around everywhere in your restaurant.

i have loved elephant the most in zoo since i was a child :))

sincerely,

tomily

some recent favorites

taken with nikon-fe2

finally hot summer has arrived in our land.

i was afraid that i could have summer this year because of cool spring and early summer, even though i'd hated summer.

but now, i have enough summer heat and i think my body and soul are enjoying that very much!

probably i won't say " i don't like summer." this year. ( i'm not sure next and following years... )

btw, i 'm enjoying taking pictures inside the house these days.

my favorite way to spend summer is being stuck inside the house and staring at brilliant light and sparkling greens outside.

i'm also enjoying mild bluish light that occupies in the room.

and for all pictures above, which i took with a film camera, they all got that bluish tone.

it may be partly because of the characteristic of the film i used ( lomography 100).

i think almost all of you have had the idea that the color of blue doesn't make food looks delicious, and have i.

but here, i don't think these pictures aren't bad very much, aren't they?

probably our eyes are eager for this tone under this hot weather :))

ok, i'll explain these pictures simplily.

clockwise from upper left, 

a: cubed watermelon which a friend of mine gave me. the jar right side has salt in it. in japan, it is a popular way to eat watermelon to sprinkle a pinch of salt over it. the saltiness makes it much sweeter. but watch out for your blood pressure ;)

b: red plums. usually i don't cut them, but bite them. keep them fully cold in a fridge, and just bite them. that's the pleasure of summer :)

c: i love this simple tomato and cream cheese bagel sandwich with this vivid light blue plate. especially in summer :)

d: my bagel had a big hole. that's not fun at all ;)

so, have fun summer experience with your favorite blues!

(today, no love letter. oh, but you remember? the plate in "b" has a love letter with its back :) )

 

refreshing

taken with nikon-fe2

hi!

i'm sorry for this long absence, but i needed that ( as you know).

and i want to express enormous thanks for your warm messages to the last entry.

i haven't written back to a couple of last comments yet ( i'm so sorry), but i've read all and appreciated a lot.

i'll try to keep this place, i've decided finally :))

the photo here is the one of refreshment i had these days.

it seems to be very refreshing, doesn't it?

actually i didn't drink that, but my husband did ;)

it stimulated my eyes a lot, and it was enough for me to have some refreshment.

so i drank a cup of coffee  :D

dear a glass bottle of coke,

you're so nostalgically pretty.

i love your cute round butt :))

sincerely yours, 

tomily

a deep sigh around the table

taken with nikon-f

i've just come back from a long trip.

while i've been trying to get back to my normal life, i was hit by someone anonymous's thoughtless comments left here.

they were filled with malice i thought, so i remove those.

or now i think i shouldn't have done that, because they told some kind of truth.

but it really hurt me.

they said that my english is terribly bad as i've lived in the u.s. for 9 years.

then it suggested that i should use some translating method and left a link to some web page.

i don't know exactly if 2 comments that hurt me were made by same person or not.

also i can't tell if they were made by a serious thought or just because he wanted to hurt me without any reason but pleasure, or it might have been for his business.

anyway i felt so sad when i read them.

i know that my english is not good, and  that's why i started this blog.

i've been trying to learn and improve my english all the time since i started living in the u.s..

to tell the truth, i'm still not confident with my english at all.

so could you imagine that blogging in english is very hesitating for me.

as it is, i still enjoy learning english at this place by blogging something i love the most in my usual life.

the anonymous guy ( or girl) told that he (she) is originally from the other country than the u.s. and his (her) native tongue is not english.

so his (her) english used to leave 2 comments was also bad.

i don't know if all these were true or just made up.

the most saddest thing made me feel very bad is this.

this person knows how people feel anxious and afraid to manage the language that is not native.

so i can say that the thing that hurt me most is not that i was told that my english is very bad ( because i've already noticed that), but the truth that such a sad person came by and left its malice here.

i'm so sorry that i've been telling you this deep and sad thought today.

i just wanted to share this instead of hiding.

i don't know if i was right that i removed those 2 comments.

anyway, thank you for listening to me.

i feel much better now.

btw, i've been considering how to make my usual life after i came back to home from a trip.

usually while i'm on a trip, i don't use a pc at all.

and that makes me feel so good.

originally i'm not a techy person and i've been thinking i should concentrate more on my real life for these months.

so, i might quit some of the activities in pc than my original japanese blog "flower child".

the more place i have to check in, the more time i have to use before a pc.

speaking of the cooperative photography website with my husband, that's o.k. because  i don't update that so often.

i really want to keep this place for my english study, but i can't exactly tell how i'm gonna do about it.

so, please don't worry that i'm terribly hit by this time's incident even though i quit here.

i'll tell you my dicision later.

see you soon.

white on the table

taken with hasselblad-500c

today i don't have much time, but i wanted to stop by to avoid long absence here.

so very quick and simple post today.

i love white things on my table.

especially white and antique silver.

they go quite well each other, i think.

 

i feel fresh air is blowing on the table.

can you feel it?

have a good day, guys :)

(today i'll skip a love letter 'cause this post itself is exact a love letter.

also i'm sorry that i don't reply to your lovely comments for me.

i really really appreciate all your kind and warm words.

thank you, thank you all :))

soy cafe-latte

taken with polaroid-sx70

i'm so sorry that i've been so lazy here lately.

since the spring has been approaching step by step, i've been busy to adapt my pace to that.

some days it's like an early summer, other days it's still chilly and i have to wrap my body up with bulky clothes which i'd already washed by hand with so much thanks.

i've already knew that the spring is always whimsical, and i can't blame it because i'm much of that ;)

anyway i still appreciate hot drinks.

i'm loving homemade soy-latte these days.

i hate sweetened soy milk, so i use unsweetened one.

this lovely small bubbles tickle me mildly :)

i like to drink this with my little lunch.

looking through the outside with sipping a cup of latte is such a lovely way to enjoy spring.

dear soy-latte,

i'm sometimes heartbroken when milk boil over from a pan while i'm heating it up.

why don't you wait patiently like this year's spring?

sincerely,

tomily 

tiramisu

taken with hasselblad-500c

i'm so sorry that i haven't been here for long time.
i've been busy for planning next vacation lately.
and yes, next our vacation place is the birth place of this cake, tiramisu!
i've been so excited, and also i'm so sorry for this time's disastrous earthquake in the middle part of italy.
since i've tried to know about italy these couple of weeks, i've started to feel deep intimacy for that country.
i hope less damage and puick restoration.

btw, i made this tiramisu for my husband's b-day last february.
he's now so looking foward to eating this in its mecca.
since i'm not fun of this cake, i'm gonna enjoy espresso drink there :)

today, i'll skip a love letter to tiramisu, because i really don't like it very much ;)

i'm sorry ,tiramisu!

lady finger buiscuits

taken with polaroid-sx70

thin lady finger biscuits and white powder on them.
wow, so subtle, so beautiful, aren't they?
i love their look.

well, talking about lady finger biscuits, i probably make these 1~2, maybe 3 times a year.
baking these biscuits,soaking those in nectar of strong espresso and dark beer, whipping a pack of rich italian mascarpone cheese and heavy cream, piling all those in a transparent pie plate, just that fun!!
now you know that i'm talking about tiramisu :))

since my husband loves tiramisu, i make that once in a while.
i really don't like this type of rich cake, but it's ok.
why i use dark beer ( i like to use "cimay-blue label" ) instead of some coffe liquor is that he is true mad at craft beer.
so we usually call this cake "beeramisu" not but "tiramisu".
staring and admiring a beautiful cake and his pretty smile, taking some pictures of them, those are all fun!


dear lady finger biscuits,
you're so adorable.
sometimes i fail to make you look so pretty and you look like farmer's fingers, i still love you as such :)
sincerely yours,
tomily

white tableware

taken with hasselblad-500c

these days i have tried to organize my old photos.
and i came across this picture that was taken about a year ago in san francisco area.
i haven't forgotten this picture since i took it.
as i have been such, i just have left it without touching any.
you might think it is typical or nothing special.
actually, i think so too.
but, i haven't forgotten it any.
this image has stuck in my inner screen.

i don't know why, and i don't think i can give a proper reason for this enough.
only i can say is this, i always love white tablewareware. ( especially those someone has already used and left on a table.)
this kind of image always makes me feel so secured and comfortable.
so i understand why i took this nothing-special-picture.

i think i want to accumulate these images in my mind.
so, at this point of view, i took this picture just for myself.
and if someone who see this picture feels comfortable as i feel, that's simply because he/she has same tendency to feel comfortableness on particular things.
and through this type of steps, we share our artistic sensor.
i don't try to take a picture everyone is gonna like, but want to take a picture that i'll never forget and maybe someone is gonna like.

oops, i'm sorry, this is the place i talk about around the table ;)
excuse me today for talking much about philosophy over photography.
i'm such a person who always and everlastingly think about photography.
sometimes i'm so tired of this, other times just want to share agonies, questions, points of view to make my mind clear.
thank you for listening to my mumble :))

(today, also skip a letter.)

mug'n mug

taken with hasselblad-500c

i'm so sorry about having been absent from this place so long.
i had worked so hard on renewing our (me and my photography friend mori's, who is actually my husband) website.
our website's name is " mug'n mug".
we started that place about 1 year ago, 5, may, '08.
while we had been preparing launching our new website 1 year ago, we brainstormed about the name of the place.
we caught up with some interesting ones. ( or i'd say some of them were weired and i don't dare to say about those here ;) )
we finally chose "mug'n mug" as it is, this tells some story about us.

first of all, and most important, it comes from the episode that 2 white mug cups are the first tableware that i bought just after we began our relationship about 16 years ago.
for 16 years, we experienced a lot of things, like 2 years geographically separated realationship because of the graduation from the school and beginning the new start, the mariage, moving from japan to u.s., .... and so on.
and through all of those events, we'd always brought those 2 white mugs with us.
so those are the symbol for our everlasting relationship.

meanwhile, on weekend mornings we like to talk about photography with sipping coffee.
also i personally love to take pictures of a cup of coffee or just an empty mug cup.
all in all, we thought " mug'n mug" is the perfect name for our new endeavor.

i talked kind of long.
anyway i proudly want to introduce our new place to you, friends.
please come by with sipping your coffee :)

(today, no letter. i've already talked the words much love letter like, i think ;) )

milk

taken with contax-rts

her name is milk.

she has been with us since 1 and a half months ago.

my husband gave that name to her because he looked her fur pattern as cow's.

she is a little, skinny and light girl.

but, but, she is really a glutton, to my surprise.

i'm afraid that cows could feel embarrassed before her.

anyway, what do you think is she doing around the empty table?

dear milk,

please, please keep yourself from eating something which you suppose to be food, but actually not that.

i'm so fed up with your vomit.

please, please, honey.

sincerely yours, 

tomily

peanut butter

taken with polaroid

this is my yesterday's lunch.
some sliced apple(red delicious kind), egg salad sandwich with rye bread, soy milk tea(apple cinnamon flavor).
these days i like eating apples with peanut butter.
my favorite is crunchy one.
and i also like its simple ingredient, only peanuts.
dip a sparing amount of butter directly from a jar, spread it over sliced apple.
that simple way, but rich natural taste.

i hesitate to do this in front of my husband.
he doesn't think of this way (directly sticking a butter knife into a jar of peanut butter and spread over apple, then repeat it maybe 7~8 times) cool.
maybe he a lot concerns about a sanitary matter as he was a science student.
well, i really don't matter at all, to be honest, as i was an art student ;)
so this is allowed only for my secret lunch.


dear peanut butter,
i sometimes love you, sometimes don't like you because of your rich flavor.
please allow me of taking such vague attitude toward you.
sincerely yours,
tomily

a cup of joe

taken with hasselblad-500c

it's march already.
or, at last, i could say that instead of "already".
since i have been waiting for any little signs of spring, even only the character of "march" on my calendar makes me feel a little happy.

it's monday morning.
the beginning of the day, the beginning of the week, the beginning of the month.
it's kind of overwhelming, isn't it?
i'm such in confusion between a bit pleasantness and a lot awkwardness.

so, i decide that i'll take it easy with my daily cup of joe.
i hope you'll do the same :)


dear a cup of joe,
i think i'll write you a love letter again and again.
i hope it doesn't bother you much.
sincerely yours,
tomily

a sourdough batard - epsode #2

taken with contax-rts

recently i've felt so slow over everything.
i take more time to do one thing than usual.
cabin fever, winter blues, miserable physical condition, ... whatever.
i can say this, i'm totally ready for spring.
i need active fresh air!!

anyway, to continue last day's post, today i'll talk about a little story related to a sourdough bread because i'm so ready for new meeting with something in spring.

when i firstly came to the u.s., i was totally stunned by sourdough bread.
i'd hardly imagined that bread could be sour.
in my country (far east japan), i'd never met such sour-taste bread.
so, meeting sourdough bread was the big event ever that overturned my understandings for bread.

for the first time, i couldn't accept its flavor and decided not to get along with them forever.
regardless of such firm decision, i easily rendered a generous permission into my admiration for bread to sourdough bread!
after the first moment i made a compromise, i'v been loving sourdough bread.


i'm such a girl who adores something that i hated the first ;) (same thing happened to my husband, i hated him when i firstly met him!)


dear sourdough baguette,
i'm sorry that i hated you before.
now i learned that if i don't stick to my preconceived idea for something, i can accept anything that seems strange firstly but is worthy to be understood by nature.
thank you for a meaningful lesson :)
sincerely yours,
tomily

a sourdough batard - episode #1

taken with polaroid

now, a sourdough batard is in personally.
i know i'm in love with so many food at one time, but who can blame me about that?

this is a sourdough batard from my town's local bakery.
they make a lot of delicious bread.
they all are competitive, but i dare to choose this for my most favorite bread from the bakery.

today, i don't talk about how i love it, but i'll talk about a note of caution about this bread.
to get along with this bread, we need to keep some important points.
if you can keep these, you're gonna be able to be a good friend for her or cousins of her in your town.

here's those.

1, have a plenty of time to eat her.
'cause it's super extra chewy!
it's gonna take your time even for just one swallow, really.
and also eating hastily doesn't become her.

2, don't eat her two days in a row.
'cause her ultra tough skin is gonna hurt your pretty mouth. (especially a ceiling of your mouth)
you'll need some days off after a lunch meeting with her for healing your scratch of the mouth up.

3, don't eat her in front of anyone.
'cause her super extrra chewy flesh and ultra tough skin are gonna make your face the ugliest ever.
when you are biting and chewing her, you have to use all your face muscle and this results in that ugliest face.
it's quite an intensive exercise for your face muscle.

o.k.?, now you've got all the points needed to know, i think.
i hope you'll have a good relationship with this kind of hard bread in your town.


dear a sourdough batard,
i hope you'll get more friends.
good luck!
sincerely yours,
tomily

a pancake platter

taken with nikon-fe2

it's not my table, but a table from one of my favorite cafes in my town.
i found this place quite recently, about 7 months ago.
everything is pretty here.
tables and chairs are all individual, never the same.
funny old signs are hung on the wall.
even this place seems to had been a garage formerly.
now you know this cafe is quite something.

well, recently i've been in a mood to eat a pancake platter at this cafe.
i took this picture at my 2nd visit and also my 1st breakfast here.
i ordered "plain pancake ( plain pancake only, the menu said so)".
so i didn't expect much other than a plain pancake.
as you can easily imagine, i was really stunned with this pretty plain pancake platter, really.
yes, i can call this " a platter", right?
this was amazing, this was quite a wonderful reward for waking up early in the morning, brushing my teeth, putting the day's clothes on, driving from the top of the hill down to the town before breakfast!!! ( i usually don't do this, 'cause i'm a such person who wants to seek indulgence in breakfast, which is most favorite and important meal of the day for me, very lazily.)
it had 2 rectangular pancakes (it's interesting, i think. i seldom saw this shape.) sprinkled with powder sugar (you know, this simple decoration just makes food very pretty), warmed syrup (i was moved by this little but sensible treat), 3 pieces of wrapped butter (their gold wrapping paper became this platter very much!).
now i'm wondering if i'v mentioned all about this pretty platter, but i think you've already understand how i was excited with this platter enough and why i'v been in the mood to have this platter.
i can't wait next weekend!!


dear a pancake platter,
you know, it's still wednesday, a middle of the week yet.
you make me strongly yearn for weekend.
how many nights do i have to count till i meet you?
sincerely yours,
tomily

an empty jar of strawberry jam

taken with nikon-fe2

i'v been feeling just like this empty jar.
i can't explain well, nor can i understand well what's going on inside of me.
just feeling empty.

i've been patiently waiting the time when an empty jar is filled with something.
something i don't know now.

it's kind of ridiculous, but i can't help seeing an empty jar of strawberry jam in me.
some kind of introspection.

dear an empty jar of strawberry jam,
hey.. how're you doing?
me? well, not bad, yeah ... , maybe.
so, the winter's almost done, isn't it?
are you thrilled with the spring coming?
well, take good care of yourself.
sincerely yours,
tomily

embroidered cloths

taken with polaroid

when i walk into my favorite antique shop, i usually have a theme of the day there.
otherwise i'm at a loss in that spacious shop, because i love all old things.

embroidered cloths are one of my favorite things to seek.
even if they have some stains on them, they make me feel cozy and warm for their memories with their former owners.

eating my lunch on them by myself, washing and ironing them, folding them neatly, ..... this series of events is an important ritual in my life, i believe.


dear embroidered cloths,
every single your stitches are filled with love for life.
thank you for embracing my everyday.
sincerely yours,
tomily

honey bear

taken with polaroid

a bear is standing on his head!
i love him very much.

my husband loves this bear, too.
when the bear is about to lose all his golden blood, he transfuses some hot water into the bear.
not for saving his life, but for sucking all his blood up!
he lays his body down on the floor, then hold this bear upside-down about 2 inches above his mouth, then keep on lying for a while during the bear's blood drops into his throat.
can you imagine how this looks?
it's just pretty!
oh, it's such an innocent cruel murder!!

so, my honey loves honey :)

dear honey bear,
you're so cute!
and you know, my honey is as cute as you, i think.
so could you allow him for all his rude attitude toward you?
sincerely yours,
tomily

a cup of joe

taken with nikon-fe2


it's monday morning.
it's just a start of the week.

take it easy.
just take it easy with your cup of joe :)


dear a cup of joe,
you're the most necessary thing to start up my day.
especially in the monday morning,
you soothes my tension as well as pinching my brain.
love you always.
sincerely yours,
tomily

le croissant

taken with contax-rts

about a year ago, i was so stuck on croissants.
i thought i had preferred leaner bread much than rich bread.
and so do i now.
so, i don't know why, but i loved croissants from the french bakery restaurant in my town over a period of time last year.

btw, whenever i see a croissant, i can't help thinking of my most favorite actress, audrey hepburn.
have you ever seen the movie, " breakfast at tiffanys"?
in the first scene of that movie, she got off a yellow cab, and had a cup of coffee and a pastry with looking into tiffanys' window on the 5th street in manhattan.
that's a pretty scene, and i really love that.
as it is, i 've read some episode about that scene.
it said that since audrey had never liked rich bread like pastries, she experienced difficulties with shooting that.
i love this episode, too :)

anyway, going back to the original topic of this post, after a few days' fad for croissants i'd completely returned to the usual preference.
i just wanted to talk about my curious croissant story, because i met him today (but i din't get him according to my usual preference. instead of le croissant, i got a sourdough baguette :) ).


dear le croissant,
oh you're so french!
whenever i call you aloud, i feel so french :)
le croissant, le croissant, .... i'm still not good at french "r" sound, but i know that it's so romantic.
i'm dreaming of my perfect french pronunciation someday :))
sincerely yours,
tomily

a table and chairs

taken with nikon-fe2

this is one of my favorite pics.
i took this sometime before, i don't remember well.
one of his(my cat's) favorite seats is there.

we bought this table set 5 years ago in portland, oregon.
just a few weeks before we adopted him from the shelter.
we've been sitting around this table for 5 years now.
we and he have been a family for 5 years now, too.

1 and 1/2 weeks ago,we adopted a new cat.
i heard that she's 4 years old now.
i don't know if it's true or not, and maybe it doesn't matter any if she's much younger or a bit older than that. ( i just don't want her to be much older than that, because i want to be with her as long as possible.)
anyway, now she loves one of these 4 chairs and whenever she can't find anything to do other than staying quiet and thinking of something, or maybe falling asleep, she is always on that.
so now, all the members of my family love around this table.


dear my table and chairs,
probably you're gonna be able to tell our story to someone in the future.
please remember us forever.
and now, please just be with us.
sincerely yours,
tomily

a sugar doughnut

taken with polaroid

one sunny spring day last year, we hit the road without any purpose but eating a doughnut for our happy snack time.

after driving through the sticks for quite a while, we found a cool local market that reminds us of something of from the western movies.
there we also found a pretty red old table outside of the market.
so, that was it!
we bought our drinks and took a tiny wonderful event of the day there.


dear a sugar doughnut,
doughhhhh-nuuuuuuuut!!
where're ya??
i can't see you!!!!
don't be that shy, darling.
i won't bite you ;)
sincerely yours,
tomily

pizza margherita

taken with contax-rts

the day before yesterday, it was a super bowl sunday.
it was quite a big day for me.
really a designated day for having a party!

as for me, i'm not a nfl fanatic at all, nor know much about american football, so.....
so, i just had a good excuse for having a pizza party :)

well, this party was a little tiny party whose participants are only 2 people and 2 cats ( this means that this party was quite same size as usual dinners).
so why do i call that "a party"?
'cause we ate pizza!!

we like to bake our own pizza from scratch.
he kneaded the dough (ours are always ultra-thin, super-crisp :) ), i prepared the rest of ingredients, tomatoes, basil, karamata olives, anchovy, mozzarella cheese for him, soy cheese for me and 2 cats sat around kitchen waiting for their own dry cat food.
we both have our own pizza stone because we each usually make our own pizza for ourselves.
since i don't take much dairy products (as i mentioned this before, they really hurt my tummy. ), we have to separate our pizza.
ok, so the picture above is his, because look at the cheese there!
it's definitely that of buffalo.
my soy cheese pizza didn't look that fancy.
i admit that his looked much fancier, yet had much more calories ;)
oops, forget about calories now!

till both pizza was perfectly baked, 2 quaters had already gone.
we also missed a half game show.
i'm afraid that the super bowl had nothing to do with our pizza party, but you know, it's just all about the matter of mood, isn't it?


dear pizza margherita,
you're a party queen!
no party can't go without you.
sincerely yours,
tomily

a hard boiled egg

taken with contax-rts

since i was little, i have loved eggs.
for 4 years of entire my 34 year life, i had been apart from eggs.
i had had the macrobiotic diet during that time.
it recommends people to eat brown rice, moderate amount of veggies, seaweed and vegetable protein, sparing amount of seafood maybe 1~2 servings a week.
this idea comes from the old time japanese people's diet.
it doesn't really prohibit any of food but recommends not to eat meat, eggs, dairy products, many fruits daily. ( those should be saved for some rare occasions, which is called "hare - ハレ", should be pronounced "ha-rέ", in japanese.)
since i used to have had almost same preference for food as that diet recommends, it wasn't so difficult to obey that recommendation.
as i practiced that diet, i was able to appreciate simple flavors food naturally have.
it was so exciting experience for me.
though i don't follow that diet strictly now, i still don't eat any meat but moderate amount of seafood, many dairy products and fruits.
eggs?
oh, i so love eggs, i eat an egg almost everyday and my naturopathic doctor allows me to do so :) (thanks, doc!)

here, i took a picture of a hard boiled egg for my lunch the other day.
as you can see, i had a bit difficult time to eat that.
you know, it just happens without expectation.
i was very irritated by this, so i decided to take a picture that i can enjoy this ugly situation!


dear a hard boiled egg,
oh, your smell, you're so different!
also your stubborn shell!!
that expresses enough that you're so shy!!!
though you are that difficult to get along with for me, i promise you, i'm a lifelong fan of you :)
sincerely yours,
tomily

a bagel

taken with hasselblad-500c

today's saturday.
saturday morning with a bagel is one of the happiest time for me.

dear bagel,
you're much more beautiful in saturday mornings.
sincerely yours,
tomily

strawberries

taken with polaroid

i've been eager for the blue sky, the warm air, the colorful world so much.
i'm dying of thirst for brightness.

the day before yesterday, i got a pack of strawberries.
it seemed that they had already met spring.
they were fully red and ripe.

really.
i'm waiting for you, spring!


dear strawberries,
i was so green with envy, because you were so red!!!
sincerely yours,
tomily

a slice of toast

taken with nikon-fe2

i think i'm a bread person.
although i was born and raised in one of rice countries, japan, i admit that i prefer bread.

thinking about from when i have been like that, it started quite long long ago, probably from the age i don't have enough memories of myself at.
when i was a child, i had really a sweet tooth, also had an extreme preference for food.
i hardly enjoyed almost anything fixed for lunch and dinner but for breakfast.
my family's breakfast used to be some bread and some more, and breakfast usually had something sweet like fruits jam that cradled my little heart.
from my quite earlier age, i have been a morning person.
i'm good at waking up early in the morning, enjoying my breakfast of bread, being happy from thinking of the day with the first natural light of the day.

so, i think bread is something symbolic, something related to ritual of the day, something like a good-luck charm for me.


dear a slice of toast,
your warmth, your smell, your touch just makes me the happiest person in the world.
so i've been wishing that my true love for you won't be interrupted by celiac disease.
sincerely yours,
tomily

a red rose

taken with minolta-autocord lll

one day, i got a gift of a red rose.
can you feel its passion and serenity?

a rose, a cup of coffee and the soft light from the sun made me just happy.

it's enough, isn't it?


dear a red rose,
you're the most emotional flower for me.
you always wear profound color, so i can't express it enough.
you're such beautiful.
sincerely yours,
tomily

red bowls and blue plates

taken with polaroid

sometimes imagining as if i were around the table somewhere in the world other than around my table helps me to enjoy my ordinary food.

these red bowls and blue plates came from italy.
well, actually i bought these in portland, oregon last year.
there's a pretty ceramic tableware shop which deals largely in these colorful things made in italy on 23rd street near downtown portland.
since i used to live there for about 1.5 years, i am familiar with the town.
i've kept on visiting there since i said good-bye to the town (maybe 3~4 times a year), and my interest there are shopping things around table, searching for the yummiest bread in the town and hanging around its famous farmers market in summertime.

when i met these hardware on a simple table outside in front of the shop when it has a large sale, i just dreamt of the table in italy.
i closed my eyes, touched the plate and felt its material, inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, soaked myself in the dry air of itaily, felt the atmosphere of its cheerfulness.
at the completion of this procedure, i decided to take these to my table in idaho.

this is the one of ways of refreshing my table.


dear red bowls and blue plates,
you traveled quite a long distance and finally have gotten a home.
so great welcome to the white cloth spread over my table.
please make yourself comfortable here :)

french fries

taken with nikon-fe2

this shot was taken in japan.
while i stayed in japan for about 3 weeks last autumn, i went to one cafe twice.
firstly my friend who i met for the first time (we became friends through each other's blogs and flickr) introduced me to this pretty cafe in my hometown, and i went there again with my mom and husband because i really liked this place.

i'm not really a big fan of french fries, but i ate that at both visits.
for the first time she orderd and we shared it, second time i orderd for a huge-fun-of-potatoes guy (my husband ;)).
for both time we asked to sprinkle some vinegar on them, and that definitely made this fries much yummier, i believe.
thinness of potatoes, crispness of its skin, subtlety of taste, ..... all those combination and its beautiful balance were just beyond description!


dear french fries,
since i live in idaho, i was so proud of you as if my son had made success in japan. (actually i don't have any children ;)) )
it was a great moment that i missed my pretty idaho.
thank you french fries for making me to be sure of love for my land and idaho potatoes.
sincerely yours,
tomily

a flowery plate

taken with nikon-fe2

i got this plate at an antique shop in the next town to my town.
it cost only $3 or something.
it's cheap for its good condition and its pretty flowery pattern, isn't it?
beyond all these good things, it has its most fascinating thing on its back.
can you imagine?
do you want to see?
no, i can't show it to you, sorry.
why?
because it's an love letter from some gentleman to some lady written on some lovely day in old days.
in honor of being given this plate, i have to protect this gentleman's love to her.
it was written with black pen, so i'v tried not to fade that out when i wash this plate.
this plate is such a most romantic plate i've ever met.

dear flowery plate,
i'm sure that flower is always the best present from gentlemen to ladies.
btw, could you tell me if his love fruited or not? ;)
sincerely yours,
tomily

french bread

taken with nikon-fe2

the simpler, the better.
this rule always is adopted to me.
talking about bread, i prefer leaner bread than rich ones like croissant, brioche, focaccia... any other bread contain a lot of dairy stuff or oil or eggs.
of all kinds of bread, i love french bread and bagels the most.
their ingredients are so simple.
they are only flour, water, a little bit salt.
the more you chew, the sweeter it gets.
i love this simple incident that happens in my mouth.
i satisfactorily feel its gorgeousness.
last year i totally stack to bagels, so this year i'll do to french bread more.

here's one of my favorite way to enjoy that.
it was from my local grocery market which situate next to my apartment.
this was a " ready to oven" one, so after taking it to my home i put that into my 350°F-preheated oven and baked it for about 12 minutes.
i knifed its hot body, then stuffed some sliced cucumber and some sliced almond cheese.
i don't take much dairy products other than low-fat or non-fat ones. ( 'cause my tummy easily gets hurt by dairy's fat and sugar ;) )

dear french bread,
i love the way you scatter your skin so gorgeously with your fresh smell when i bite you.
i hope i meet you everywhere i travel this year.
sincerely yours,
tomily

a sweet omelet

taken with polaroid

when i was little, my mom used to make this sweet omelet for my favorite days, like my b-day, christmas day, what else?..... , gosh i don't remember well, but anyway for a little special days.
inside of eggs, there are some veggies that are boiled, then sauteed lightly with only salt and pepper.
tender potatoes, thinly sliced carrots (cause mom doesn't like carrots!), sweet onions, sometimes diced fishcakes.
talking about eggs, she put 1~2 tbsp of white sugar per egg!!
yep, it's really sweet, but i liked that very much.
now i don't use much sugar when i cook eggs, but i sometimes can't help wanting this sweet omelet.

you know, sweet things we ate in our childhood always connect us to our mom's eternal loves to us :)

dear a sweet omelet,
i'll never forget how you were sweet forever :))
sincerely yours,
tomily

an apple

taken with polaroid

here's my most favorite fruit, an apple.
i chose this picture for my first posting because i thought that it is the most proper subject to talk about when i start something new.
everytime i hold an apple in my palm, i feel so sweet, warm, energetic, ....
yes, the start of something must be along with all such feelings.
and also today is the hopeful start of the u.s's history, isn't it?
in this inaugural day, a ripe red apple was chosen honorably :)


btw, talking about apples, i love "gala", "red delicious", "golden delicious" the most of all apples.
those texture is soft, not too crisp, the taste is mildly sweet, mildly tart.
i love to eat those by whole, bite them in a wild way.
that action makes me feel as if i were a wild animal.
it's pretty to feel i'm the simple part of this earth.
ok, i tell you the truth, most of time other than i'm outside i cut them ;)
but i know that the taste are a bit different each other between those two way.

dear an apple,
i love you very much especially in wintertime, because you're so gorgeous.
sincerely yours,
tomily