Christmas Baking 2008

Two finished bags in front of a bag of treats for my husband to take to work (he assembles his bags at work).

I'd apologize for the lack of updates if I didn't think everyone was just as busy as I and therefore not really missing the distraction of my posts. I've been on a baking treadmill over the last week and a half or so getting baking goods together as gifts for students.

Last year, the CH and I gave students a goodie bag with a variety of chocolates and peanut butter cookies. This cost quite a lot and I'm not sure that the students necessarily were keen on the chocolates anyway. They seemed to be far more impressed by the cookies. This year, we decided to go with bags of only homemade goodies both because we felt the students would enjoy them more and it costs about 1/3 of what buying a bunch of candy cost.

Because of this, I've been trying to streamline the baking process and string it out so that things are fresher. Instead of baking 6 dozen cookies and freezing the finished product, I made a double batch of the dough, split it into 6 discs and froze the dough. When we need more cookies, I thaw out the dough and bake up as many as needed for the following day. All in all, this is a labor saver and it also spares me one day of absolutely exhausting baking. One of the biggest drawbacks of of living in Japan is that the oven is so small that you can't get make many cookies at once. I can't even bake two trays at once because they won't bake properly.

What I'm saving time-wise on the peanut butter cookie front, I'm losing on the fact that 3 baked goods take more time than one. Well, "baked goods" isn't really quite right because one of the items is Rice Krispies treats. Yes, I know they are low rent and considered pretty nasty by a lot of people, but the truth is that the students really enjoy them. One of the CH's students liked them so much when she had them during a homestay that she special ordered boxes of the cereal so she could try to make them for herself in Japan. Unfortunately for her, they were spoiled by Japanese marshmallows (which are not make with gelatin like American ones so they don't lend the same texture or flavor to the Rice Krispies treats).

The third item is brownies. Tonight, I made the third pan of them and I think that should be the last of them, but there's still more need for pans of buttery molten marshmallow and another tub of peanut butter dough. We aren't giving the students that much per person (5 cookies, 1 brownie and 1 treat for the CH's students), but when you're doling things out to about 30 people, it really starts to add up. Anyway, I'm hoping to see some free time starting the last week of December and hopefully can get back to life as usual.

Tiny Bouqet

One of my students surprised me today with a small, but extremely beautiful bouquet as a Christmas gift.


The colors are incredibly deep and lovely.

There are some tiny pine branches in with the flowers that give it a nice Christmas feel. It really brightens up my desk and I very much appreciate the student's thoughtfulness.

Doctor Swag

Among the items are super soft micro cleaning cloths for eyeglasses, tons of ball point pens, a pass case, white board markets, correction tape, cable organizers and a dehydrated dish towel that plumps up to full size once you get it wet.

One of my students is married to a doctor and, on occasion, she has handed off portions of gifts that have been given to her husband. Some of the gifts she shares with me are from patients who give him case-size portions of various food items. She's given me fruit jellies, melons, and dried sweet potato. She's also give me notepads and pens before. A few weeks ago, she also gave me some facial tissues that her husband had been inundated with by companies selling allergy medication.

I mentioned to her that I could make use of the items she gave me and would be glad to take her "cast-offs". Today, she brought a small shopping bag stuffed with the assortment above. All of these items are freebies given to the doctor by various companies that want him to prescribe or recommend their products to patients. While this may look like bribery, I'm guessing it's more about brand name recognition.

One of my other students works for a pharmaceutical company and she spends a lot of her time visiting hospitals, clinics, etc. and hawking her company's wares. A lot of what she's encouraging nurses, doctors, and medical professionals to recommend are nutritional supplements. Her company spends a fair amount of their resources taking beneficial components of naturally occurring substances and extracting them to put into pills, powders or liquids so people can ingest them more efficiently on a regular basis.

After receiving this bag of doctor swag from my student, I couldn't help but wonder just how much her husband receives and how much is wasted. He's a single doctor with a single clinic and the amount of stuff he gets overflows such that he, his wife, her family, and his staff couldn't possibly use it all. My student gave some of it to me, but I'm guessing there is far more piling up in a corner somewhere. The way in which business is done in this way must contribute greatly to the wasting of resources in developed countries. How much oil is used on unwanted pens? How many trees are cut down to make gift boxes for those pens? It's a shame, really, but there's not much to be done about it. Still, I feel a little better knowing that I can either use these things or pass them along to someone else who can.

Stuff and Happiness

I'm not the type of person who finds much happiness in "stuff". I don't shop for amusement. I don't collect anything (at least not anymore) and I don't expect (but do appreciate) gifts. That doesn't mean I'm utterly immune to the charms of material possessions in life. While, the thing that makes me happiest is attention from my sweet little hairy hubby, there are objects that give me pleasure. I think that's part of the nature of corporeal existence and that we can embrace the pleasure we get from things as long as our lives are not defined or totally fulfilled by them.

Lately, I've been feeling pretty down for a variety of reasons. One is that I seem to be slowly succumbing to a cold. Another is that some of the discussions and circumstances surrounding the recent election were a bit depressing. For instance, when I learned that 69% of black California voters voted to support the ban on gay marriage, I was greatly disheartened to see a formerly oppressed minority act so strongly to oppress another minority, particularly in light of Obama's victory. I also was not happy that a student I hoped never to see again was heading back into my life, albeit for a temporary stint.

Bad times can often be lightened unexpectedly though. The student I didn't want to see canceled her lesson today as did another student so I get to rest a lot today when I feel under the weather. I also got two big surprises yesterday in unassuming packages which really brightened my day.


The CH went to Costco 3 days ago and he picked me up a few surprises. Ferrero Rocher is one of my favorite candies and he procured a large box of them for me in addition to some gorgeously yummy almond roca. I haven't broken into them yet and, in fact, will be hiding them in the closet for awhile so that I'm not overly tempted to indulge. Ideally, I'd like to save them such that I have an appreciable amount left around Christmas. However, the thought he put into buying things he knows I like is warming weather I get a sugar high off of them immediately or not. Also, frankly, with a looming cold, good sweets are wasted since my sense of taste may be diminished.

The second gift came from my sister and that was Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium collection for Macintosh. I'm extremely happy to get this update. I'm looking forward to learning how the new stuff works and installed it on my aging Mini yesterday. There's a CD with the discs with two hours of tutoring. I'm very, very grateful to her and one of her associates who are responsible for graciously giving me this.

So, even though I don't focus excessively on material items or tend to use them to make me happy, they do sometimes shine a little light into my darker days, and yesterday was a very good day in that regard.

(Not) Taking Things For Granted

Imagine that you could only have ice cream once every three months. If you don't like ice cream, consider having some treat that you enjoy a lot in the place of ice cream. If you could have it only once in awhile, it'd be very special when you did have it and you'd really appreciate it.

One of my students is studying sociology and she had to write an assignment answering one of a number of questions. The question I recommend she consider was how social status affects your life. As we discussed the topic to help her flesh out an answer for her essay, she mentioned that her mother and husband, who are both physicians, often take gifts and acts of kindness for granted because they receive them so easily and often. I told her that this was an excellent example for her to use in her essay since doctors have high prestige in most cultures and this showed how their status both changed the way they interacted with others and others interacted with them.

While English teachers have far lower status than doctors, they do have rather personal relationships with their students and, Japanese people being the generous sorts that they are when it comes to gifts, they often give us nice things. One thing I can definitely say is that neither my CH nor I ever take the gifts we receive for granted no matter how often we receive them. Mind you, we don't get them nearly as often as doctors, but it is a steady trickle of generosity.

So many goodies, such weak willpower. The student who gave these cleverly put the Ho Ho's and Ding Dongs ("Ding Dong, man, Ding Dong, yo" - if you know where that comes from, here's a geek star for your forehead) in the Lipton green tea box to protect their delicious junk food integrity.

If you go back to my original example, imagine you can have something you love only about once a year or less. With that level of frequency, you are really going to enjoy that treat when you get it. Recently, one of my CH's students gave him the lavish assortment of goodies you see pictured above. I'm sure to people back home this is just a random assortment of goodies they can get any time (well, maybe not the See's candy which is a super incredible box of decadence and joy), but, to us, it's a rare parcel of fun from the U.S. that someone kindly procured for us. Suffice it to say, we do not take it for granted and are always very appreciative when students do such things for us.

Twinkies and Krispies

America has an interesting relationship with the Twinkie. It is held up as a nutritional scourge and those who consume it are viewed as polluting their body by ingesting one the deadliest of high fructose corn syrup and sugar delivery methods. All that being said, Twinkies seem to sell pretty well and remain a favored bit of junk food. If their nutritional value had anything to do with sales, they'd be long gone by now.

Personally, I've never been a huge Twinkie fan. When I was a kid, I recall eating them at exceptionally infrequent intervals because Hostess snack foods were far too expensive for my family. In fact, having much of any sort of pre-made snack cake around was rather rare for us because of the cost involved. On most occasions when we did have such types of snack cakes, they were store brands, "Little Debbie" or Hostess knock-offs. The only time we had the real deal was when Hostess goods were purchased from the "day old" bread store where semi-squashed and almost outdated baked goods were sold at bargain basement prices. For me, I can enjoy a Twinkie once in a blue moon, but a box doesn't beckon to me. There isn't enough creamy filling and the cake is a bit sticky and a little greasy for my tastes.

My CH, on the other hand, really likes them. When one of his students said she was going to the U.S., she told him she'd bring him back Twinkies or Reese's Peanut Butter cups. Since we can get Reese's (miniatures only) from the Foreign Buyer's Club, he requested the Twinkies. Getting any sort of Hostess snack in Japan is very difficult or prohibitively expensive so this was a very rare (like, one time in years, literally) chance to enjoy a favorite from his childhood and young adulthood.

There's something very peculiar about seeing American-made goods like this after so many years in Japan. The packaging seems much clearer, bolder, and more eye-catching than Japanese package design. I've been told that one of the reasons for this is that the Japanese designers design with an eye toward getting as much information as possible right in front of the customer without forcing the customer to look around. I noticed a similar difference in packaging with imported U.S. butter which is being sold for an absurd price at a local market. The design of a lot of U.S. packaging is bolder, cleaner, and more vivid than Japanese packaging in many cases.

Apparently, their services are not required in Japan.

The same student also bought my husband the exceptionally plain-looking box of Rice Krispies pictured with the Twinkies. Rice Krispies are not sold in Japanese stores and the student bought this through a special outlet which caters to restaurants or other businesses. I guess that such businesses don't need the added incentive of seeing "Snap, Crackle, and Pop" to encourage them to purchase the cereal.

The fact that Rice Krispies are offered to restaurants or related businesses (bakeries?) is a curious one to me. I don't think I've ever bought anything made with Rice Krispies that originated in Japan. It is a nice type of cereal just for eating plain though. It's not too sweet and has a good texture, so I'm surprised that it isn't more popular as a regular breakfast cereal in Japan.

The student bought them, incidentally, because she had eaten Rice Krispies squares in America. She tried to make her own in Japan, but they didn't turn out as well. I'm guessing that's because she used Japanese marshmallows which are firmer, denser, and less sweet than American ones. You can't get a good melt out of most Japanese marshmallows and they're a bit rubbery when you eat them plain. You can be down on sugar all you want, but the truth is that it plays a critical role in adding to the texture and moisture content of various foods that it is used in (as well as adding to caramelizing, melting and browning).

We'll probably use some of that box of cereal to make Rice Krispies squares and hopefully at such a time that my CH can share them with the student who gave him these gifts. Of course, when and whether they get made depends as much on being able to get some imported marshmallows as anything else.

Mamador Bean Cakes

Two gifts from two different students (for my CH) in one day. A box of Mamador bean cakes from Takashimaya in Shinjuku and some macademia nuts from Saipan.

Sometimes I wonder how long I'd have to live in Japan to sample every white bean cake on the market. No matter how many we try, more keep popping up. And, we've tried a lot. My husband was given a new variety today as a gift from a student for no particular reason. Japanese people are like that.


When I say "new", I mean "new to us" only. Apparently the company that makes these has been in business since 1946. It's easy to miss any particular Japanese sweet when you're shopping. Department stores have miles and miles of them available and it'd be impossible to buy or try them all. That means that some real gems can slip under your radar and these cakes are pretty, shiny diamonds amongst white bean cakes. In fact, they're my husband's new favorite among the types you can pick up pre-boxed (and locally).


The picture of the inside of these cakes makes them look like like they're full of some sort of yellow or fruit jelly, but they are full of super moist white beans surrounded by a moist cake-like shell. Most bean cakes are relatively dry and their fillings can be downright powdery at times. These are full of butter and milk and the flavor is reminiscent of vanilla cake.

It strikes me that these would make an excellent souvenir to take back home as it's a Japanese sweet which I'm sure even squeamish eaters would enjoy. They're just a little hard to find though unless you happen to live in the right location.

Summer Gifts 2008

What secrets are hidden inside?

As the Japanese population continues to decline, many English schools have been specifically targeting having kids take their classes. The not-so-dearly-departed chain conversation school Nova had a "Nova Kids" class to attract parents who wanted to give their off-spring a leg up on their English learning. It's not that parents care if their kids speak English so much as they want them to do well on university entrance exams.

Teaching kids is a whole other kettle of fish than teaching adults. You have to have a different bag of tricks since they are likely complying with a parents' directive to study with you, not seeing it as something they want to do. Some people (God bless them) are all for teaching kids and know how to handle them. They can make them laugh and learn at the same time. I'm not one of them. I have no rapport with children. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I'd get along better with an alien if it dropped from the sky and perched on my sofa with the intention of learning to communicate with me.

My CH, on the other hand, has a natural rapport with kids. However, he still has little interest in teaching them for the aforementioned reasons. Fortunately, his school doesn't tend to attract many children and the ones he has taught have been pretty cooperative. Incidentally, his school doesn't attract them because its raison d'etre is pretty much one to one lessons and kids don't tend to like being on the spot all the time so much as being in groups where they can hide or carry on with friends.

One of the two kids he has taught has a very traditional mother who follows the tradition of giving summer gifts each year. This tradition is fading more and more as time goes by. Yesterday, the lovely boxes pictured above were proffered.

The kind of tasty secrets that need refrigeration.

Inside them are sweet treats. We haven't sampled the cake yet, but it's very, very dense and heavy. It's rather reminiscent of a fruitcake in terms of its weight and by touch. All we know right now is that it's chocolate and has walnuts. I'm betting it'd pair well with some vanilla ice cream. The other cakes are like dense madeleines with an ultra-thin slice of somewhat bitter orange on top.

Though these gifts in no way indicate affection as they are from the mother and a formal gesture in accord with very traditional Japanese culture, the student himself is rather partial to being taught by my husband. There was a scheduling mix-up at one point and my husband wasn't available to teach the young man. The secretary at the school said he (the boy) could just take another teacher's lesson but this made him somewhat visibly upset and he declined and told them he'd have his mother speak with them as he always took my CH's lesson. The next day, he got the lesson he wanted.

Of course, it's not like I don't sympathize with his sentiment. I would accept no substitute for my CH either. ;-)

Hiyoko Bean Cakes

Their Peeps.

One of the earliest commercials I saw when arriving in Japan was a video where a slow pan was done around an object that looked exactly like the one pictured above on the left while what sounded like a chorus of children sang, "la, la, la, la, la, la, la" again and again to a tune I didn't recognize. When the camera reached the angle that showcased the product in the best way, a man said with super clear and somewhat slow enunciation "hi-yo-ko." (hee-yo-ko)

I didn't know what it was, nor did I know what "hiyoko" meant, but brand name recognition for this product was stamped into my brain through the distinctive and repetitive commercials. Occasionally, I'll see one of the commercials these days, but with not nearly the frequency that I once did.

Despite having been in Japan for a long time, I had never actually seen one of these cakes in person until now. My husband was given a little box with two of these cakes. If you haven't guessed by the shape of the cake, "hiyoko" means "chick". Despite the fact that they are wrapped in differently colored papers, both are the same. They are a thin shell of bland cake wrapped around a lump of white bean filling. The beans are very finely ground and mixed with sugar and flavorings. The texture of the beans is hard to describe, but it's a tiny bit dry yet quite pleasant. It's not at all what you'd expect from a bean and reminds me more of light sweet potato puree (without the flavor of sweet potatoes).

Our Peeps. (Image ripped off from Wikipedia - with respect)

The cakes are quite nice, fresh and tasty, but not spectacularly better than other bean cakes (and not as good as some of the best I've had). The company that makes these has been in business since 1912 and the student who gave these to my husband said they are the most famous white bean cakes in Japan. I imagine that their popularity is due more to the distinctive and cute shape rather than anything particularly different about the recipe. The Hiyoko site is covered with "I love Hiyoko" pictures, wallpapers, and commercials for download. I guess it's like the Japanese equivalent of Peeps minus all the tooth decay.

A Butter Footnote

Yesterday my husband came home from work with a gift from a student. He told me I was going to be amused when I opened the bag and I was. It contained two blocks (that's 4 sticks back home) of butter. Fortunately, it doesn't expire until November so we can save it for awhile.

You know that it's scarce when you're given butter as a gift.

Kokeshi

One of my students went to an onsen for 5 days and brought back a little gift-wrapped box containing a pair of Japanese wooden dolls called Kokeshi. The dolls are hand-painted and very shiny. They're the sort of classic souvenir that people who travel around Japan buy and take home for relatives or to display as a classic slice of Japanese culture. They're cute, but looking at them makes me ask the question, "which one is the evil twin?" ;-)