An English Breakfast and an Japanese Obon Festival!

Good evening everyone! Today I was quite the foodie and had a delicous adventure. It started this morning when my Father cooked me and my family a traditional English breakfast. Here’s a photo I took before I dug in:

It included English beans in a tomato sauce, toast, English bacon (aka rashers), eggs made to order (I got sunny-side-up because that’s my favorite), black pudding, roasted red tomatoes (not on my plate), pork bangers, and bubble and squeak! (For our recipe to make Bubble and Squeak, see my Food Blog, Tuck In and Chow Down, here!

Later today, I went shopping with my father and found these really good herbal-infused waters:

To be honest, I got them at Shop Rite for $1.29 each. I tried each one then decided to drink the lemongrass, mint, vanilla one first and save the lavender mint for before bed, since lavender is supposed to be relaxing/calming. The taste of the herbs is subtle and they’re more of an aftertaste than an initial taste, but they’re very good and I highly recommend them!

Later, I went to a Japanese Obon Festival. It was in Seabrook, which is in South Jersey. I carpooled with my friend Kel (not to be confused with Kels, although sometimes I slip up and call her that) and her cousin Sharon.

The festival started around 4p. There was a karate demonstration for a local dojo. I attended an “Introduction to Buddhism” inside the Temple, visited the Zen Garden in the back of the Temple grounds, and watched the Odori Dancing and the Tokai Drumming! I even took videos for you guys! But…I can’t figure out how to upload videos to my WordPress Blog! Sadness! -cries in a corner- I really want to share, too!

Ah…but I also got food while I was there. Since it was a Japanese festival, they served Japanese stall (vendor) food. I had beef and onion stir-fry over white rice:

And Somen noodles (yum!):

Somen noodles are a Japense thin-noodle (about 1.33 mm (think angel hair pasta or vercimelli), usually made of wheat. They are served cold and mostly eaten during the summers of Japan as Japanese summers are hot and humid and it is easy to loose your appetite by the end of the day. Somen is served in a soy sauced-based sauce (men-tsuyu) and can be garnished with your choices of grated ginger, chopped green onions, or Katsuobushi (which is dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna).

“Somen is not something you normally eat at restaurants. It is truly home cooking…[an] easy one too!  You can find dried Somen noodle along with noodle sauce at many supermarkets in the US.”     –Japanese Cooking 101

All in all, today was a deliciousness-filled day! Looking forward to more adventures!

Look for my words again soon!

-Soleil

English Food

I love the smell of woodsmoke, so tonight I had a nice campfire outside in my backyard. Yes, I know, of course it was outside. There was really no need to specify that, but I felt like it…just for clarification. Just in case, haha!

In the morning, my Dad said he’s prepping a big English breakfast for us! I can’t wait! I love good food! Of course, the old pun that the English can’t cook and have bad food comes to mind….

For the record, for those of you who don’t know, the blonde guy on the right is a personification of England. There is an anime known as “Hetalia” where all of the countries of the world are personified and run amok together. To be honest, it’s sterotyped cultures and a great history lesson! Plus, it’s hilarious. We all really need to learn how to poke fun at each other and ourselves like this. Each episode is usually only 5 minutes long. If you get the chance, I highly recommend this show. You can google it on YouTube: Hetalia.

I think there are 5 seasons total…? The first two seasons should actually still be on Netflix!

Good night and look for my words again soon!

-Soleil

Disney and an Accomplice Blog!

I am no longer in consideration for the Concept Artist position at Disney Interactive Gaming. That’s a bummer. I really wanted that internship. -sigh- As they say, one door closes, another opens. Next month, I will try to make it to Disney World in Florida to audition for the part of Dory in the Finding Nemo Musical that they do at Animal Kingdom. Wish me luck in that endeavor!

In the meantime, I will continue work on my commission. It’s coming along nicely, I must say. I’m very pleased with how it looks so far. Since I’m working with oil paints, when I’m not painting, I leave the easel and painting set up in front of the air conditioner to help the paints dry a littler faster so I can work on different areas without smearing anything.

Currently, I’m roasting some chick peas and then I’ll spice them for a tasty snack. I’m trying very hard to eat healthier. Since my mom is diabetic, I want to try and avoid that myself. As it may run in the family, I’m at a higher risk, so as of late, not only am I trying to eat better, but I am also trying to exercise on a more daily basis.

Jae has been sick since yesterday. I went to the local CVS to buy him medicine and saltine crackers last night. When I came home, after a half hour, he asked me for gatorade. So, I made a trip to Shop Rite at 1030 PM at night. After I came home, I told him he’s lucky I like him, haha!

Wow this is delicious! I just got my roasted chick peas out of the oven! I officially am declaring that I will start a food blog, too, and share the recipes that I find. Would any of you follow it? Here, I’m going to start it now, so that I don’t forget. Okay, almost an hour later, I’m done! Here’s the link to my second blog here on WordPress. I’ve ttled it: Tuck In and Chow Down!

Please enjoy my adventures there, too! Thank you very much for treating me so kindly thus far. I continue to hope that we can be good friends and readers together here!

Look for my words again soon.

-Soleil