Pasta
I made a pasta dish loaded with vegetables.
It’s been a while since I had spaghetti.
I didn’t use any store-bought pasta sauce.
It was super delicious.
October 4 ? Nagareyama Fireworks Festival
We were able to watch it from our balcony.
At the same time, it was being broadcast live on J:COM.
An interesting experience.
Autumn Festival
It’s the autumn festival at our senior apartment.
For a single apartment building, it’s really lively.
There’s plenty of Bon dancing, and even food trucks and stalls come.
The concierge staff worked very hard for this event.
Sports Club
I joined a sports club located at the next station, Nagareyama-Otakanomori.
There are two studios.
For the past two years or so, I’ve refrained from dancing because I was concerned about my health.
I’m thinking of starting again little by little, taking it easy and enjoying myself.
To my surprise, I found that many of my acquaintances are there.
Yakisoba and Roast Beef
I was able to make them deliciously.
The beef, which had been tough and not very tasty, was slow-cooked for 17 hours.
It turned out extremely tender, with wonderful aroma and flavor.
Imported beef transformed into Kobe beef. Hahaha!
Guitar Concert
It was held at our condominium.
The performers were alumni of Aoyama Gakuin University.
One of the group members lives in this building, so they invited everyone to perform.
It was a delightful time.
I made chashu (braised pork).
Pork belly from France was surprisingly inexpensive.
Even with the weak yen, why is it so cheap?
I cooked it at a low temperature for 16 hours.
It turned out tender and wonderfully fragrant.
Is it really okay to be eating such delicious things all the time?
Meat Udon and Chashu Tanmen
Since I roasted a big slab of pork belly chashu, I used it for both udon and tanmen.
Delicious meat goes well with any dish.
So tasty!
Grilled Fish
Once in a while, I eat fish.
I bought some grilled fish from Senrei Hirashō and lightly reheated it in the oven.
It’s simple?and delicious.
Lots of Vegetables
Avoiding high prices.
I don’t buy standard products.
Slightly imperfect ones are much cheaper.
Unbelievably inexpensive and delicious.
Spicy Chicken
I bought a bunch of chicken wings at the supermarket.
I’ll cook them in two batches.
This recipe imitates Saizeriya’s style.
Super cheap and incredibly delicious.
Roast Beef
Using low-temperature cooking, I turned inexpensive imported meat into something tender and wonderfully fragrant.
It’s super delicious.
This time, I left it for 22 hours without touching it.
Strong Hybrid
My previous car has undergone a full model change.
The biggest feature is the improved safety functions.
For seniors, that’s the most important thing. The autonomous driving performance is excellent.
Due to the Trump tariffs, the delivery schedule was moved up.
Lucky! It’s packed with features and really fun to drive.
Fitness Instructor
I’m taking aerobics lessons from her.
She’s been teaching me for about six years, since my previous sports club.
Her Halloween costume is super cute!
Yakiniku Is a Drink
The short ribs were so incredibly tender that I didn’t even need to chew.
So delicious.
The shiitake mushrooms were fragrant and absolutely perfect.
Pacific saury
By the end of October, the price dropped to 100 yen per fish.
But it was the most delicious one of the season.
Nothing beats food in season ? it’s not about the price.
11月1日:秋空:
11月に入り空が澄んでいる。
富士山頂の雪が美しい。
Autumn Sky
Now that November has begun, the sky is clear and crisp.
The snow on the summit of Mt. Fuji is beautiful.
Spiny Lobster
I ordered live spiny lobsters online, shipped directly from a port in Chiba.
To my surprise?they were huge!
We enjoyed the sashimi, and the rich tomalley went into miso soup.
Pure luxury?nothing more to say.
Cosmos Flowers
The cosmos field at Akebono-yama Agricultural Park in Kashiwa City.
Today is the last day for the cosmos.
Starting tomorrow, they will be cut down and seeds for spring flowers will be planted.
The first cold wintry wind has arrived, bringing a strong cold front.
11月3日:寒波の夕暮れ:
我が家のベランダからの景色。
富士山と、スカイツリー、東京タワー。
Cold Wave Evening
The view from our balcony.
Mount Fuji, the Skytree, and Tokyo Tower.
Dry-Field Direct Seeding
I learned about “dry-field direct seeding” from the TV program Gaia no Yoake: Can Cheap Rice Be Produced?
I already knew the term from seeing it at Matsuya while eating their beef bowl.
It’s truly wonderful.
I want to support the efforts of those young people.
The happiness of being able to enjoy a beef bowl with miso soup for just 430 yen.
Somewhere, tax money is being wasted?but in the end, it all comes back to the lives of ordinary citizens.
Bento
After dancing through the studio program at the sports club and relaxing in the hot bath, I’m absolutely starving.
So I pick up a bento at the supermarket on my way home.
It’s incredibly delicious.
I feel so happy.
Lawson
The annual “Overfilled Challenge” 50% extra promotion has begun.
The fresh cream in my favorite Premium Roll Cake now comes with 50% more.
This fresh cream is the best in Japan.
Hamo (Pike Conger)
In the Kanto area, there aren’t many opportunities to eat hamo. Today, I was able to get fresh, pre?bone-cut hamo. I quickly made tempura with it. Plenty of vegetables, too. I love garland chrysanthemum now, though I hated it when I was a child.
Roast Chicken
I pre-cooked the chicken with a low-temperature cooker, then gave it a light roast in the oven.
It’s a rehearsal for Christmas.
I used a whole frozen domestic chicken.
Since it’s very inexpensive, I can practice without worry.
Lots of Vegetables
On Saturdays, the nearby supermarket sells vegetables incredibly cheap.
They even have a “fill-all-you-can” deal.
Since vegetables are expensive these days, it’s really appreciated.
All of this was under 1,000 yen?hahaha.
“The Overfill Challenge”
Lawson has started the second round of its event.
This time I bought the fluffy?chewy fresh chiffon cake and the big chocolate cream puff.
I was a bit late because I was doing aerobics, but thanks to the rain, they were still in the store.
Lucky me!
Roast Chicken
We can finish off a whole chicken in no time.
It’s incredibly fragrant and delicious.
It looks tasty just by the way it looks, doesn’t it?
Ribeye Steak
Cooked slowly at 55°C using the low-temperature method.
When you treat excellent ingredients with care, the result is always wonderful.
Enjoyable cooking leads to a delicious finish.
Studless Tires
This season, I’m getting my tires changed really early.
Being properly prepared gives you peace of mind.
And after all, snow is wonderful.
Sweet Potatoes
The reason I have so many is because it was a 200-yen “all-you-can-stuff” deal.
It’s great to find something like this in these inflationary times.
Prepared Dishes from TOP
Asuka Wada introduced the prepared dishes from TOP on TV.
I immediately bought some at the TOP store near our home.
They’re inexpensive and very delicious.
Their fried chicken is also exceptionally good.
Uobei
Their soy-sauce ramen and tanuki udon are only 90 yen.
Maybe it’s for a limited time, but it’s a wonderful promotion.
Their fluffy conger eel (anago) is truly outstanding.
It even received unanimous approval on the TV show Job Tune.
Christmas Chapel Concert
A concert by Eastern Bloom was held at Kashiwa Gospel Christ Church.
Their wonderfully beautiful singing voices truly enriched my heart.
Thank you very much.
12月7日:サンセット:
12月7日の富士山に沈む太陽です。
Sunset
This is the sun setting behind Mount Fuji on December 7th.
Making Kushiro’s specialty “Sanmanma”
It is made using inexpensive frozen grilled saury (sanma kabayaki).
The method is the same as when preparing frozen eel.
First, rinse off the original sauce.
Steam it for 30 minutes or longer to remove any odor and add the aroma of sansho pepper.
Lightly soak the rice with sauce, then top it with shiso leaves and the kabayaki.
Finally, grill everything in an air fryer to finish.
It’s so delicious it could easily be sold as a commercial product.
Making Shrimp in Chili Sauce
If you remove the odor from shrimp, almost any dish made with it will turn out delicious.
It’s really tasty and has a luxurious feel?even though it’s inexpensive.
It’s also amazing when sandwiched in a baguette.
Even simple foods I used to eat often, like dried and grilled saury, or Seven & i’s shumai, become outstanding this way.
Sukesan Udon
I finally made it to Sukesan Udon.
When it first opened, there were reportedly long lines. Would you really wait in line that long?
Of course, I ordered the gobo tempura and beef udon. I also wanted to try the tempura rice bowl.
I went at 4 p.m. to avoid the crowds, and as expected, it was almost empty.
My honest impression? I had really high expectations, but…
Yes, it’s definitely good?but is it that amazing?
Christmas Concert
An opera concert was held at the restaurant in our apartment building.
The performers were the singer Katsuyuki Nakanishi and the pianist Yoko Ishikawa.
As expected, live singing by professionals is truly amazing.
There was also a Christmas tree.
Already in the Christmas mood
Breakfast was pizza bread, lunch was eel, and dinner was a big fried shrimp.
Delicious food makes cooking and eating so much fun.
Men-Oh (Wakashiba Branch)
A ramen paradise with an amazing half-price sale before the end of the year.
I ordered the miso ramen with back fat and garlic.
Even without going for a large size, the portion was huge.
The main branch along the national highway is also running a one-coin (500-yen) sale.
This long-established shop once provided meals for Sota Fujii during a shogi match held at Kashiwanoha Campus.
12月21日:柏の葉キャンパス駅周辺:
ライトアップがとても綺麗。
とても上品な飾りつけですね。
Around Kashiwanoha Campus Station
The illumination is very beautiful.
The decorations are elegant and refined.
Jamón Serrano
I bought this product right after imports from Spain were banned. It looks like we won’t be able to eat it for a while.
This is an old story, but in the 20th century it was also banned from import.At that time, it was produced domestically in only one place, deep in the mountains of Kyushu. It was sold at a bakery in Meguro, Tokyo. I bought a 3-year-aged version for 3,000 yen per 100 grams. It was delicious.
Christmas Dinner
Everything was handmade.
The spare ribs and chicken were cooked using low-temperature cooking.
The lobster Thermidor took the most time to make?probably because I’m not used to it?but it was absolutely delicious.
My wife’s cake was exceptionally good.
Cooking is fun when it turns out delicious.
Christmas Eve
This is how it looks when everything is laid out on the table.
The flavors are incredibly luxurious.
But it was actually very budget-friendly.
Christmas Dinner
A Chinese-style appetizer made with chicken breast, and beef stew cooked sous vide for 50 hours.
When prepared with care, everything tastes better.
A truly satisfying Christmas meal.
Already in the New Year mood
We bought plenty of ingredients, so we’re starting to enjoy them even before the New Year.
Sashimi purchased at a fishmonger-style supermarket.
The bluefin tuna is incredibly delicious.
The New Year decorations are beautiful too, don’t you think?
Before New Year’s Eve
I’m cooking and eating up all kinds of things before the year ends. The New Year is for taking it easy.
Uni pasta, oyster fries loaded with tartar sauce.
The low-temperature cooked spare ribs are so tender the meat falls right off the bone. Jamón serrano goes into the pasta, and celery is paired with cream cheese.
Life is good ? it really was an amazing 2025.