This was our second rainy season in Japan and I don’t regret repeating a season. I think I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: If you can’t go to Japan during sakura season, go for the rainy/hydrangea season and you’ll hardly miss those delicate pink blooms!
We spent a day in Kamakura visiting three temples that are known for their hydrangea blooms. Japan has so many varieties of hydrangea and it’s always fun to see the different colors, shapes, and sizes.
Naoto, who was clearly in charge of his own packing, was basking in the bamboo forest and enjoying the blooms almost as much as I was.
I think we were a little early for peak hydrangea season on this particular day, but it wasn’t too hot and humid and it wasn’t raining so I think we planned it perfectly, even if by accident!
Ok, how about a little break from the present day? Let’s go back to Japan where we ate this meal a year ago today!
On our first day in Tokyo last spring, we decided to go to Tokyo Station where we could go to the Travelers store and to the post office in Kitte (a shopping center just across the street from the station.) We visit Kitte almost every trip (I’ve talked about it before here.) because the post office usually has the best stamp and merchandise selection. And in the mall area, there’s a great tenugui store. (I should probably talk about my little seasonal tenugui collection sometime!)
We knew we wanted some kind of noodles for lunch. One of Tokyo’s most famous ramen places is at Tokyo Station but like last time, the line was too long for us to wait. So, Naoto asked the woman working at Travelers if she had any recommendations and she pointed us back to Kitte for tsukemen. (If you don’t know what tsukemen is, this post might help! It’s similar to ramen except the noodles are served separately and cold and they are dipped in the thick soup broth. To me, they are the perfect way to eat a ramen-like meal in the summer!) Naoto looooves taking recommendations from people, so we decided to take her suggestion and go to Matsudo Tomita Memban.
When we got there, the shop wasn’t open yet, so we debated about getting in line, but we did. Fortunately, we were second in and beat the huge rush of people who lined up behind us! Unfortunately, we were second in line behind some know-it-all from New York who tried to impart his Japanese traveling knowledge upon us. He was one of those people who talks at you and he just assumed we had never been to Japan before based on…nothing. He had read about this noodle shop in on a travel website and couldn’t stop trying to tell us where else we should go in Tokyo. I checked out of the conversation almost immediately and Naoto did a lot of nodding and smiling. Needless to say, the New Yorker was quite surprised when Naoto started speaking to the chef in Japanese and carrying on a conversation with our server.
We both got tsukemen. In the broth was a slice of char sui (pork), bamboo shoots, fish cake, and seaweed, but you could add on additional toppings. (Naoto got additional toppings and a larger serving!) The noodles were perfect–chewy and delicious and the thick, salty broth clung to them for the perfect bite every time. We were so pleased with our lunch, Naoto went back and thanked the Travelers woman for her recommendation.
I should also mention that this is an English friendly place to visit–you order at a ticket machine that has an English option so no worries about translations. It was all very seamless, even if I didn’t have my own personal translator by my side!
How cute are we in our little slurping noodle bibs?!
It wasn’t until we got back to the hotel that night that we realized how famous the noodle shop was! It’s the Tokyo version of a very popular tsukemen restaurant in Chiba, Chuka Soba Tomita, considered Japan’s #1 ramen shop, where people line up for the tsukemen at 7am! Owner Chef Osamu Tomita trained at Japan’s original Tsukemen restaurant, Taishoken in Tokyo, and he’s featured in the documentary Ramen Heads, which I highly recommend if you like ramen and food journeys. Kitte recruited him for their “ramen street” in the basement of the mall. What a lucky get for them–and for us!
I’ve been wanting to throw a Murder She Drank party for a few years now and we finally made it happen!
Years ago, I started occasionally playing Murder She Drank on Twitter with random strangers (and one of the MSD founders, Kathy Zadrozny who I know from the Letter Writers Alliance.) It was SO fun to watch old episodes of Murder She Wrote and laugh with each other about the fashion, the hair, the storylines, and the guest stars. When I would tell people about the game, everyone thought it sounded so fun but no one ever joined in online, so I figured I needed to just invite people to play in person.
For Valentine’s Day this year, we decided to dive in and throw the party. I printed out paper invitations (my favorite part of throwing a party!) and invited a few friends over for a cozy night of soup, snacks, cocktails, and Jessica Fletcher!
Naoto made his famous chicken noodle soup and a vegetarian chili and we crammed extra furniture in the living room so everyone had a place to sit (somewhat) comfortably. We watched two classic episodes of Murder She Wrote: “Murder By the Bus” (Season 1, episode 19) and “One Good Bid Deserves Another” (Season 2, episode 17.) Both episodes were perfect for Bingo!
I made two signature cocktails, The Bestseller, which is a spin on a Sidecar and was our “welcome cocktail” as people joined the party, and a punch, the Cabot Cove, which was served throughout the evening (along with wine and beer.) Both were tasty and batched well for our small crowd.
Even the people who claimed not to be fans of Murder She Wrote had a good time! We want to try to do it again this summer with a backyard viewing of the Murder She Wrote/Magnum P.I. crossover episodes. Maybe Naoto will dust off some of his Hawaii cookbooks for the occasion?
Born in an Ohio barn, she was given to us by our friend Bonnie who knew we needed her before we did. We are so lucky that we got to spend the past 17 years with her and we are grateful for every moment, even though it feels like it wasn’t enough. Presley’s favorite activities included managing Naoto, napping in her too small box in my studio, snoozing on the wine cabinet, chasing sunbeams, tapping our arms (or eyes) when she wanted pets, dining on mackerel and salmon, drinking from my water glass, sunbathing on the deck, judging my book club books, howling at 3am to make sure we were home, hanging out with the Holiday Gang, and intimidating guests. We’re so happy we got to spend the holidays with her and that she got one last season dozing under the Christmas tree.
2024 has been lonely without my little grey shadow.
(I know most of you probably saw this announcement on Instagram, but I wanted to add it to the (neglected) blog for my own sake, so I’m back-dating this post so it can live here in my own world and not just on Instagram.)
Have you ever heard of Inciardi paste tomatoes? I hadn’t until last year when I started following Anastasia Inciardi on Instagram. She had just learned of her family connection to the tomato!
In 1900, Enrico Inciardi came to America from Sicily. He sewed vegetable seeds into the hem of his clothing in order to bring familiar foods to his new home while passing inspection at Ellis Island. What is now known as the Inciardi paste tomato was included with those seeds! Enrico (Henry) ended up in Chicago where he was a cabinet maker. His first wife, Antoinetta, was one of 844 passengers who died in the infamous Eastland disaster in 1915. He later remarried, had a son, and grew the tomatoes throughout his life until his death in 1948. Since then, his tomatoes almost became instinct, with only a small handful of gardeners growing them in an around Downers Grove, Illinois.
When I learned about this tomato, I immediately wanted to grow it! Downers Grove is only about 20 minutes away from Forest Park and I loved this seed’s story and that it came all the way from Italy. I looked for some seeds online, but had no success, so I turned to Reddit to ask if anyone knew where I could get my hands on some. A nice Redditor suggested they’d seen them in the seed bank at the St. Charles Public Library. I happen to know someone who works there so I reached out to see if she could confirm. I was fully prepared to drive to St. Charles, but she kindly offered to mail them to me! (Thank you Anna and Mollie!)
Back in March, this envelope of priceless seeds arrived in my mailbox. I was so nervous to plant them because I’ve never successfully grown tomatoes from seed before. I got some grow lights and a growing mat and kept an eye on the 12 seeds every day until I finally saw some teeny seedlings emerging!
Most of my seeds emerged and made it to the hardening off process. I managed to transplant four strong plants in my garden bed and another two in a large pot in the yard. I gave my dad a few seedlings as well. Then, we left for Japan, so the fate of the plants was left to Karen who was caring for Presley and our garden while we were gone.
Here’s what they looked like when we got home in June. They were all healthy and happy thanks to Karen’s diligent watering during what ended up being a long drought that lasted almost the entire time we were in Japan. Whew!
A few weeks later, we had tomatoes!!
We’ve lost a few fruits to blossom end rot, but so far we’ve harvested ten Inciardis. I’m trying to pull them at “first blush” so they don’t split on the vine or get eaten by a critter. They then finish ripening on my counter.
When they’re fully ripened, they are a really lovely shade of red-orange. Last Wednesday, they were ripe and ready to become a fresh tomato sauce. I chopped them up and cooked them down with lots of garlic, olive oil, and salt, pureed it all with an immersion blender, and we served it over fresh pasta. Four tomatoes was just enough for the two of us.
It felt so gratifying to take this heirloom tomato all the way from seed into a homemade dinner! I am looking forward to cooking more sauce this week and freezing it for the winter.
Oh, and I’ve already started saving seeds from my best fruits to plant again next year!
kimberly ah 