End of August bento

A bento to celebrate going back to school! This bento (starting from the top right) contains:

• chinese leaf salad with mandarins
  
• spinach wrapped in omlette
  
• grilled rice patties
  
• soy boiled egg with seaweed
  
• blueberries (centre)

Okonomiyaki Hiroshima fu

This was a lunch I made myself a few weeks ago based on a recipe by Harumi Kurihara. She said in her book that this is "almost a complete meal in itself", well it nearly beat me! It was gigantic. It's made of a pancake filled with mangetout, sweetcorn green pepper, and springonion, there should then have been some meat/fish but I didn't have any so I skipped it. Then there's a layer of fried noodles and a plain omlette on top.

I served it with ketchup and pickled daikon on the side. It's probably not a traditional Hiroshima style okonomiyaki but it tasted delicious.

Soft shell crab

I was treated a delicious meal by my love a few weeks ago at a posh place called The Thai Terrace. It was a great meal, and the star of the meal was... soft shell crabs.

I'd seen them cooked on tv and they looked interesting. I can't say tasty because it went against my better judgement to eat the shell of the crab when I am so used to prising the little morsels out of the shells with regular crabs.

I took the plunge and wasn't disappointed. They were so tasty! I was so inspired that I made it my mission to hunt down some soft shell crabs of my own to cook. They were in my local Thai food shop so I bought them, defrosted them, and then panicked! How do you prepare them?!

A little research on the internet revealed that you need to remove the gills and some dark stuff. So I did that and then prepared a light batter to fry them in. They smelt amazing. The taste? Dreadful! I'd clearly not removed enough of their insides! The best part of them was their legs that were crabby and delicious. The rest tasted like a bucket of sand.

Another attempt is required, I think!

Butterfly cakes

Mmm butterfly cakes. The kind you used to make at school, only a bit posher. REAL butter not marg! Luxury!

These were giant cakes really because the plastic cake cases were that size. They are so clever. I am a convert because the plastic cases can be squashed together in a drawer and so take up so much less room than a traditional fairy cake tin.

Nanny

After 3 years of being unwell and frail my Nanny died on 20th August 2008. She was 85 years old. It was expected and yet a total shock as the whole thing accelerated and few people had the opportunity to say goodbye in person.

That is the role of the funeral, isn't it? So we all gathered to say goodbye. My cousin did a really good reading. When I've looked it up I'll post it here.

May Nanny be happy wherever she is. She's not in pain and her family love her.