2015-12

#965 東と西のアップルパイ〜Bubby’sと松之助〜

私はアップルパイが好きです。

東京ヤエチカの「Bubby’s」

東京の友人が「バビーズ」のアップルパイが美味しいと教えてくれてから、東京に行くと必ず食べに行きます。確かに美味しいです。パイの種類がアップルパイに限らずたくさんあり一瞬迷うふりをしつつも、結局定番のアップルパイに。なによりお店の立地が東京駅の地下街(ヤエチカ)にあるので新幹線で大阪に帰ってくる時に寄れる利便性がいいです。
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なかなかのボリューム。甘さ控えめの生クリーム。

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Bubby’s店内 カジュアルでリラックスできます。

京都本店「松之助」

一方、関西で有名なアップルパイのお店ということで京都の「松之助」に行きました。小さいショーケースに並ぶケーキは片っ端から平らげたい衝動になる程、魅力的。初回なのでビッグ・アップルパイをいただきました。
むむ、とんでもなく美味しい。温めたアップルパイと添えられたアイスクリームを合わせて口の中へ。あったか冷たい感覚の中にシナモンも優しく味わえます。これぞホームメイドアメリカンパイ♪間違いなくいい食材を使っていると思われます。
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添えられたアイスクリームも美味しい。

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松之助 京都本店内

どちらも絶品!決めてはアレ!

東と西のアップルパイ。どちらもアメリカの味を忠実に再現していて本物です。
…って上から目線、失礼します。でも私もアメリカでお料理の勉強を少しだけした身なんです。なので味は再現できなくても美味しい味とかアメリカらしい味とかそれくらいは判断できるんですよ。
ということで、今回のアップルパイは京都の「松之助」に軍配を上げます。アップルパイにはアイスクリームと決まっているからですw。バビーズにはたっぷりの生クリームが添えられていますが、やはりアイスクリームの方がよりアメリカンテイストを出していると思います。
そして素直に今、松之助のアップルパイが食べたいのです。

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Small Joy!!(2015.12.24)

2015-12-24 | Posted in Japanese2 Comments » 

 

#966 Bye bye my cup

I decided to throw a cup away!
It is a cup with a chip on the edge that I have been keeping for a while. The cup has a unique design. When you pour some liquid to the under the painted hotel, a lake appears in the cup. I really like this kind of clever design.
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This cup is one of the goods from the Hotel Butterfly series. Hotel Butterfly is a fictitious hotel created by a graphic designer.

By the way, I also have another cup with a different design in this series. When I pick up from the cup saucer, a three-dimensional butterfly appears on the saucer. It is a little surprise, isn’t it!?
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I keep this cup.
Hotel Butterfly is in some European country in my mind.

These goods are sold by a design company called D-Bros. D-Bros designers also designed the logo of the shop “Pass the batten” at Marunouchi in Tokyo.

Anyway, I decided to say good-bye to my cup, regardless of how much I like it and how expensive it was!!

Small Joy!

2015-12-18 | Posted in English2 Comments » 

 

#967 Do you know “Harper’s BAZZAR”?

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What is “Harper’s BAZAAR”?

Do you know a magazine, named “Harper’s BAZAAR”?
It is a magazine published in NY, in 1887, the year that Ryoma Sakamoto was assassinated in Japan. It’s the first women magazine in the world.

Free subscription for a year

Just a year ago, I attended a seminar for women only which was supported by Harper’s BAZAAR.
There was a typhoon on that day. I wouldn’t lose anything even if I didn’t go because it was free anyway. But I eventually went to the event.
The host of the event praised the attendances because in spit of the typhoon, many went to the event. Surprisingly, Harper’s BAZAAR promised all of us for a free subscription for a year. Therefore, I’ve got “Harper’s BAZAAR” for a year!

Key word is “fabulous”

This magazine’s theme is “fabulous”. Fabulous means marvelous, incredible and characteristic. In fact, it uses cover girls like actress, Anne Hathaway, model Miranda Kerr and singer Katy Perry.
There were many beautiful visuals about fashion, beauty, travel, living, art in the magazine. All the pages look like they are from a different dimension art of another world.

Who is this woman? She must be famous.
As this magazine is from the U.S.A., there are many people, places, information which I don’t know. It is fun for me to know about them. Moreover, I got inspired from those pop pictures.

Printed paper vs. e-publication

Unfortunately, I got my last “Harper’s BAZAAR” last month. I’m very sad.
Recently, people stop buying magazines. Likewise, I stop buying too. But I recognized that large, colorful printed images on page give me a different stimulus compared to e-publication.
Maybe I would buy a magazine sometime.

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Small joy(2015.12)

2015-12-10 | Posted in English2 Comments » 

 

#968 Gourmet from afar

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We enjoyed Kushi-age (skewered deep fried food)

A man from San Francisco is traveling in Japan for a few weeks with only his backpack. He is a friend of my friend M’s relative. One day, M and I met him for the first time. We went out for dinner, for Kushi-age at a restaurant called “Otone” in Houzenji-yokochou, Namba.

He took a picture for each dish, carefully. He even took picture of the bitten kushi-age to show what’s inside. He was also interested in every ingredient. As we explained each dish to him, we realized that he actually knew more about Japanese food and restaurants than us.

Truffle and caramel were very difficult for me to pronounce. About truffle, I explained that pigs dig the mushroom and he understood. Of course he knew what a truffle is, but my pronunciation was bad.
We had a wonderful time.

His interesting post on Facebook

After a few days, I read his Facebook. There were many pictures about that dinner with detailed comments for each food on Facebook.

And I found an interesting post that one day he had EkiBento for both lunch and dinner on a Shinkansen. That day, he went to Kyoto, but Kyoto was too crowded to have dinner. However, he sounded satisfied with the taste of the Ekiben “Gyuniku-domannaka” and “Gyutan-Bento.”

Gourmet from afar

I feel bad that tourists have problems with over-crowded restaurants and hotels in Kyoto and Osaka.
Actually one day, he couldn’t make a reservation at hotel in Kyoto and Osaka. Then he stayed at Nagoya. Next day he went back to Kyoto again.

I respect the tremendous effort he put in to trying out all sorts of Japanese food.

Small Joy!!(2015.11.26)

2015-12-02 | Posted in English2 Comments »