Date Night - Sushi in Spring Arbor? Really?

My darling husband gave our weekly date night a surprise treat by discovering Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar just a few miles away in Spring Arbor. The restaurant replaces a Chinese restaurant that was, to be kind, disappointing.

Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar does not look like a "sushi bar" - more like a strip mall coney island with some Japanese flair - but the food we were served was top notch.

My darling husband has teriyaki salmon: two small salmon fillets with stir fry vegetables and rice. His meal came with a house salad that had delicious miso ginger dressing. The salad dressing was one of the best items we were served.

I wanted a bento box, since all the selections were meat or shrimp I passed. My meal was a la cart - sushi cucumber roll, tempura vegetables, fried tofu, miso soup, and seaweed salad. Everything was very well prepared, but to break things down: the sushi roll was similar to any other cucumber roll, but very fresh - you could still taste the cucumber! The tempura was crisp and hot, served with yakisoba sauce with a dollop of chili paste in the middle, like a spicy floating island. I didn't care for the chili paste so avoided that when dipping. The tofu was the best! Crispy tender shell surrounding creamy tofu. I haven't had tofu that good since Portland!

My one disappointment was the seaweed salad. I LOVE seaweed salad and always order it! But this offering was old looking, smelled really fishy, and tasted like refrigerator. When our server came by I sent it back. No big deal, I would have still paid for it, after all I was one that ordered something like that from a Spring Arbor sushi bar! But, toward the end our meal the chef came out and asked about the salad - I fumbled through my explanation. I did want to seem like a stupid American who ordered something they know nothing about... I can't tell you how many times I've tried to make seaweed salad myself... but he took it off our bill.

While at our table I asked the chef if would make a vegetarian bento. YES! I can't wait. I know that Japanese vegetarian usually means that there is some dashi in there somewhere - I can deal with that. I can't wait to go back!

The Jackson area now has two Japanese restaurants - Asa Sushi and Ichiban - who would have figured!

Today's brew - Jackson Coffee Company - Panama!

Just a Cheap Date

I'll confess.

I'm a sucker for live entertainment. Being a person who has no musical ability I love to watch a good performance and will even sit through a bad one. Last night was not a bad one.

The darling husband and I are practicing being empty-nester's. We have been scheduling date nights and have had a few spontaneous evenings out during the week. This has been great, it has helped take my mind off of my impromptu retirement from traveling the forensics' circuit and we get to be each others captive audience for a few hours. Last night, the darling husband and I went to Jackson Coffee Company for the their free Friday night entertainment. Performing last night was Bill Bynum and Co. (www.billbynum.com). While I'm not a country music fan, and own very few folk albums... this group charmed me. Bill, the lead singer and song-writer is funny and charming in a Garrison Keillor kind-of-way. He had me cracking up during their version of "She left me for Jesus." At one point during the performance he asked me why I was sitting over there with a big grin on my face... Hey, I was having a good time! I even bought their album last night.

Andy posted a clip on Facebook which I will share to my wall.

I'm glad the evening ended on a high note because it started out bad.... very bad. We were looking for a cheap date... and you get what you pay for!

For dinner we went to the Michigan Avenue Los Tres Amigos. We eat at both locations on a pretty regular basis and usually really enjoy the food and find the ambiance amusing. More about amusing later.... Last night we started out by ordering the special - two dinner combinations for $10.99. We have ordered dinner combinations before. As a matter of fact, the guys usually order dinner combination when we go there because they like to sample a few things. We were NOT served the standard combination: the rice was flavorless and had chunks of potatoes in it; the beans were canned... had to be - flavorless and smooth like baby food; the taco and enchilada were okay, but there was nothing to put on them... no pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole, or salsa. I ate what I could, but Andy asked for a menu and ordered something else!

I can understand a restaurant trying to bring in more customers and offering a special at a very reduced rate... the combination plates are usually $8.99 each. But, we were not given what we are used to getting at Los Tres Amigos... A lesson in "buyer beware" - we got what we paid for when you order a $5.50 meal... something that wouldn't even pass at Taco Bell!

And about the ambiance... Why do restaurant put television in their dining areas? We don't eat in front of the television at home. Even to this day, when all the kids are home we turn the TV off and sit together at the dinning room table. So, who thinks its a great idea for televisions... big screen tv... to be the focal point in a restaurant. Do you have any idea how many people I see staring at the television and not talking with the people that they are paying good money to go out for a meal with. Maybe this is just a Jackson thing... I will have to investigate... Mangia, Mangia... keep the television out!

Today's brew.... Jackson Coffee Company - House Blend.

It had been my intention to celebrate VeganMoFo by eating vegan this month... We all know how plans go! So, to make myself feel better about the turkey burger, whitefish, Lawry's pasties, and Tonkatsu I've had I have been reading vegan blogs.


This survey has been going around the vegan blogs for VeganMofo and I feel the need to share..

1. Favorite non-dairy milk?
I’m not picky. I use Silk unsweetened a lot because it is available, but the local Meijer’s has a nice soymilk. When I can get to Ypsilanti to shop I buy Rosewood unsweetened soymilk.


2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
Soy Chorizo Empanadas are in progress right now… I also have plans for a tofu cheese cake and Adventist “Meat” Loaf … of course I am also out of cupcakes!

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
OK, I know this is weird… I really like plain popcorn. If I feel adventurous I like a bit of garlic salt and nutritional yeast.


4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
There are too many to think about, but one that happened after I started cooking more vegetarian/vegan recipes was first time I tried to make the Italian Layered Vegetable Casserole from the Fat Free Vegan Blog. I stood over the food processer, recipe in one hand and a can of white beans in the other. I re-read the recipe…Am I supposed to drain these? No? Trusting that this recipe would not let me down… What do I know about making white bean filling? I pour the entire contents in. I prepared the recipe as directed and watched it turn into a brown slurry as it baked. My son says it turned into Italian bean soup and he likes bean soups now.

Since this disaster…this recipe has become a favorite with either the bean or tofu filling!


5. Favorite pickled item?
Duh… pickles! Sweet, dill, garlic! It doesn’t matter I love them all!

I would also like to put in a plug here for Dill Relish. I love dill relish for sandwiches, on veggie burgers, in veggie burger mixes, on top of Sloppy Steve’s… but why does it only come in the smallest of jars!


6. How do you organize your recipes?
I have a cook book stacked on a shelf with no order, but on the computer I have a file for recipes and in the file are folders:
Fondue (Christmas 2008 theme)
TOFU
Meat (I live with meat eaters… and cook for them); Muffins & Cupcakes (my latest food obsession)
Vegan Burgers (We eat Bento style lunches almost every day and go through a lot of mini burgers… my son likes mine better than any store bought brand)

I also have a file box at Epicurous.com… I think I’ve tagged every vegetarian recipe!

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
COMPOST! Made my own kitchen waste composter using a large rolling trash can!


8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be (don't worry about how you'll cook them)?
Coffee… carrots …. Hey, I was wondering if this is all I’m going to have… because I could probably live off the land if I had to… but live without coffee… What would be the point!

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
I have two…

First – Across from my elementary school was a Sir Pizza and when I was older, fifth or sixth grade, some of us would go there for lunch. We went home for lunch back then and this was a treat for me and my friends. I always got my favorite pizza, anchovies and black olives! It grossed my friends out, which was an added bonus! The anchovies were salt packed making them dry and crumbly. I have never been able to find anchovies like that.

Second – My grandmother always had the most delicious spicy gingerbread Christmas cookies. They were decorated with a royal frosting in pastel colors with silver balls and colored sugar. The cookies were firm and crisp, but not hard. I have never been able to find a recipe that tasted quite the same. Now, Grandma has passed on and I may never know how to make those cookies.
10. Favorite vegan ice cream?
Sorry… I have tried several without success. Real ice cream upsets my stomach and I have stopped eating it. I have tried several of the varieties available around here and found them to be too sweet and more than a little nauseating.


11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
That is like making me choose my favorite child! If we eliminate the stove and refrigerator, than it would be a tough contest between my husband’s Kitchen-Aid mixer and the bread machine…If I had a fuzzy logical programmable rice cooker (http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-NS-WAC10-Fuzzy-Logic-Cooker-Warmer/dp/B0014JCY1E/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1255542596&sr=8-11) then there would be not question!


12. Spice/herb you would die without?
Cruel questions… I buy cumin, cinnamon, garlic salt, and Italian seasoning in big boxes! But I also love and use often nutmeg, turmeric, cayenne, curry … for crying out loud! I have three baskets with spice jars in the cupboard by the stove…

What about the Seasoned Salt… Vanilla… do lemons count?

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?
Joy of Cooking… just replaced the one that fell apart! Recently, I have purchased the Veganomicon and Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World!


14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?
Keweenaw Kitchens blueberry jam


15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
Italian Layered Vegetable Casserole (http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2009/05/italian-layered-vegetable-casserole.html) from the Fat Free Vegan blog… excellent!


16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
Tofu… there is just so much you can do to it! I buy Rosewood in the bulk containers and Nasoya when it is on sale. My omni eaters love my tofu too!


17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
Bento lunches! I love the planning and pampering while preparing. Dinners can be rushed or come at the end of the day when I’m whipped… I do a lot of the bento lunches in advance and find it relaxing!


18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
Tubs! You know, those tubs for sour cream, margarine, yogurt….


19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
Edamame. Peas. Boca Burgers.


20. What's on your grocery list?
I haven’t finished the list for this weekend… but so far I have the fixings for a tofu cheese cake and a vegan nut loaf from Vegweb.com. Oh, and I’m out of soy-yogurt!


21. Favorite grocery store?
Hiller’s – I like to shop at the one on Washtenaw in Ann Arbor. Wonderful selections and a great produce department

Hua Xing – wonderful Asian selection and I’m getting really good at picking things out

Trader Joe’s – a lot of my prepackage items come from this store but I really dislike their produce section

Horrock’s (http://www.shophorrocks.com/) – Wish I got to Battle Creek more often!

Marquette Food Co-op (http://www.marquettefood.coop/) - Wish I could shop there year-round

22. Name a recipe you'd love to veganize, but haven't yet.
I would love the make a pasty that tasted just like Lawry’s (http://www.lawryspasties.com/ ) and I would like to make a sausage that tasted like cuddighi.


23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa's because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?
Fat Free Vegan
Vegan Dad
Just Bento
Chocolate and Zucchini


24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?
Do Lara Bars Count?


25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
Pure Yooper maple syrup!


26. Ingredients you are scared to work with?
These aren’t vegan, but I am curious and a bit scared of the fish balls at the Asian market where I shop a lot. There are at least three cases of the different fish balls. Some are packaged and some are just in a plastic bag in a cardboard box. I am intimidated by their unknown quality.

Where have you been? ... Mystery Solved!

For the last couple of years my studio has been plagued with leaks. One problem spot was in a built-in shelf unit that stuck out from the rest of the addition. This was covered with a flat roof that butted up against a wraparound porch and the roof of the main portion of the house. My darling husband has kept this patched, and most of the time under control. That ended this winter.

The shelf unit became very mouldy and mildewy. I could no longer work in there and resorted to storing a lot of my beads in other parts of the house. Not an easy thing to do and no one was happy with me!

Last Spring, right around tax time and toward the end of my final forensics season (another sad story), the leak got worse. My darling husband looked into re-roofing that portion of the house, but there were other leaks, too. We finally decided that the whole thing needed to be done.

This became one of those home repair nightmares where everything keeps getting worse.

Tear off, which should have taken a day or two took a couple of weeks. There were four roofs up there... four! Deck-shingles-shingles-deck-shingles-shingles.... A new deck had been placed over an existing and rotting deck. In places, the roof was rotting from the first deck out. The valley where a phony roof line was created had been tarred through to the first deck beneath the final layer of shingles... this was a mess that has consumed most of our summer.

We now have a new metal roof. The roof line has been extended over the entire length of the house taking in my studio. I now have a covered porch. No more shoveling snow from my oxygen tanks in the winter.

The roof over my studio spans the entire width of the house. My studio, which is only half the width of the house, will connect to an addition...but that is a project for another day.

So, I am remodeling some. I lost my office at the college and have decided not to pursue another coaching position. I have a new (old bookshelf) for my communication texts and am sorting through the years of office supplies I have accumulated. I'm a couple of behind schedule as far as getting my act to together with the jewelry and beads... but I have a new dry roof over my head and more time than I know what to do with... Time to get to work.

Where have you been?

Coming soon a detailed explaination of what I have been up to. A dark tale of roofs, job interviews, college students coming home, and other adventures... Tune in for more information...Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!

The green bean plants were heavy and ready to harvest the first picking of the season. I almost filled a 5-quart ice cream bucket. They were so tempting that I could not wait - and wasn't going to be home for dinner anyway!

My favorite way to eat green beans: water sauteed and served with a wee bit of butter (actually I used Earth Balance Spread) and sea salt. Yum. I had a large bowl for lunch.

Last year I was in Michigamme this month and missed the green bean harvest. In a small way I'm glad I'm still in the land of trolls.


One cucumber plant had a couple ready to harvest. We're having those for dinner tonight. Too good to cook, so I am going to slice and serve as a side dish with a bit of rice wine vinegar.

The zucchinis have about fifty blossoms between the plants and some lovely little babies beginning to grow. I have never had zucchini blossoms and am going to try some for dinner tonight if I get a chance to get back into the garden.


I was bent over the green beans, looking for some hidden in the center of the bed. I raised up to put a handful into the bucket and spooked a buck that was about 10 - 15 feet behind me at the edge of the pond. He was a younger one with a cute little rack. He sprung up the pond bank in a quick bound and ran into our wood behind the old garden shed. Usually, I just interrupt the herons!

I have plans for next year. In Michigamme I have some pine boards that we took out of the house we tore down. They are rough boards from a local mill and in really great shape. I am going to bring back enough for two more long raised beds, about the same size as the green bean bed. I want to expand the garden and have a bed for kitchen greens and herbs.

I am also redoing all of the tomato pots next year. I have had nothing but trouble with the potted tomatoes this year. They were flooded a couple of times by heavy rains and started to set a couple of tomatoes while still small. I'm going to research this and decide if I am going to raise tomatoes in pots next year or dedicate a bed to them.

On a good note... once construction is done on the porch - more about that later - I will have a place to start my own seeds.

Today's Brew: Beaner's French Roast - We needed an "auxiliary bag" of coffee so I bought a large bag of this at Sam's. Disappointing! Strange bitter aftertaste. I am going to try it in a blend with some regular roast 8 O'clock coffee and see if that is any better. Sorry Beaner's ... I mean Biggby!

Today's treat - Blueberry Muffins from Flavorvegan.blogspot.com - I changed up the recipe a bit with applesauce instead of oil and brown sugar instead of raw sugar. Great! Very tart berries in a sweet batter.

Day 24

My meatless month has been a great success. I have really tried to add more variety to the proteins by experimenting with seitan and new tofu recipes. The websites I found - and wrote about in the previous post - have been a great help.

The month hasn't been without some ... difficulties. My best friend RM has made me some delicious vegetarian dinners. She made an incredible vegetable soup and as we were eating she was explaining how easy it is..."just open a can of chicken broth! Oops! - It was wonderful and I had two bowls! I, of course, planned on the whitefish when we went to Yooperland a couple of weeks ago. Whitefish sandwich, homemade chips, and a salad at the White Tail in Brevort, Mi. Oh, and there was that spoonful of tuna salad...otherwise, GREAT!

Do I miss meat? I was really surprised by my reaction to sausage on Sunday. B-I-L made breakfast sausage, fresh from the butcher, and I was actually turned-off by the smell! Me, turned-off by sausage - I love sausage! Sausage is my favorite meat. Keep the steak, pass the dogs! I hope this was just a momentary psychosis and will pass by the time I get to Yooperland again and can have some cudighi.

I dream about cudighi and whitefish! Not together! That would be gross!

Tonight's dinner - Okonomiyaki

Today's brew - Jackson Brewing: Black and Tan