noice

If I told you this shot was taken in Paris you might not think it was that unusual to see such beauty in the city...but this was taken in downtown Tokyo.....and it was so beautiful :) soon all the leaves will be gone....but I think winter is already here....

My xmas ornament swap is going OK...I havent quite resolved what I wanted to but it is happening. I love kirigami, like origami but you cut and fold, not just fold. So, I wanted to include that element....I'm getting there. I have until 10th Dec to get them out so I have plenty of time...amazing....(I visited Yuzawaza today, the biggest craft shop in Tokyo....so I hope some added supplies will help...or maybe its just an excuse to hang out in that store....)

so last night while my computer decided to have a seizure, I did more xmas birds while my loved one worked on fixing its many issues. At once stage, I saw smoke coming out of his collar, so in a useless act of help asked if there was anything I could do...."bring me a hammer" was his reply......so I kept on with the birds....all I can say is that it is wonderful to have a truly skilled IT man about the house to fix up computer problems....if it were left to me I'm sure I would have thought I needed to buy a new one.....

....we did have a nice dinner, home made gyoza dumplings. I have avoided making these as I always thought they were really fiddly but in actual fact they are really easy and so tasty. I wanted to have a kind of 'family dinner making activity' where we could all do a job, but it kind of got a bit complicated so I made them while moo gave bean shoots to Daddy one by one.....it was nice to hang out while making them and talk and just spend the last of Sunday together :)

If you want to have a go:

Ingredients:

Finely chop

1/4 Chinese cabbage

1 cup bean shots
4 spring onions

3 or 4 cloves of garlic

3 cm of ginger

a few shiitake mushrooms

mix with:

300-400gms minced pork

season with:

pinch of salt and pepper

soy sauce

fish sauce (the good one)

add enough for your taste

MIX WELL

make a watery paste of 2tsp of cornflour and pour into the mix and mix well.

I bought the ready made gyoza skins.

Takes about 20mins to make the mix and 20 mins to fold the dumplings.

You can boil or fry the dumplings......

Dipping sauce can be store bought or simply mix a bit of soy sauce with vinegar

YUMNESS :)