Coffee Ice Cream at Lottie's Creamery

New update on food blog! The weather has been driving me crazy lately, and more than ever I’m acutely aware that it’s summer and it’s only going to get worse. So I decided to hop over to a new ice cream place close by the moment I heard it served artisan ice cream with cool and unique flavors you don’t find in your local grocery store (unless it was some upscale fair trade import heavy supermarket).

Pictured above is Blue Bottle Coffee (famous in SF for those living outside of the Bay Area) ice cream, which was…well, ok. I suppose you can say it tastes better than your average pint of ice cream, but it still doesn’t beat Ici in Berkeley. If you’re interested, click here to read about it!

Rasetsu no Hana

I usually don't gush about new series, rarely picking up new shoujo manga. My weekly read consists of One Piece, Bleach, and Naruto, and then I pick up the monthly chapter of Dear Brother, but not much else. I recently picked up a series called Yukarism by Shiomi Chika, which led me to read her older works, in particular Rasetsu no Hana (already finished).

I didn't have high expectations for it with the exception of pretty art, but started reading anyways. It's about a girl who exorcises evil spirits for the community, and she herself is trapped under the curse of one evil spirit that threatens to take her away with him by her 20th birthday if she doesn't find someone who loves her. Along the way she meets Hoshino Yakou (another exorcist) who mourns for a girl he fell in love with in high school. Each story along the way is about her quest to conquer the curse as well as helping people exorcise evil spirits.

The ending was too sad, and to my surprise I found myself crying a little at the end (for the character pictured in the above cover). No spoilers here, but it's a series I highly recommend. I started reading it in English until chapter 18, and then went to read it in Japanese until the end (because I think that's when the publisher licensed it). You can easily find it online if you look for the raws~

Food blog update: Doria (Yoshoku) recipe!

Just updated the food blog! This time, it’s with a slightly different post, not a food review, but a recipe! Pictured above is Doria, a Japanese western dish I’ve had in Yokohama that I’ve been craving for ages since I’ve been back in the states. It’s basically a baked rice gratin dish filled with whatever you want (most often it’s chicken but I picked seafood), loads of Bechamel sauce (butter, milk, flour), and topped with loads of cheese.

It’s actually quite difficult to get any type of yoshoku here…all the Japanese joints here serve mostly just bastardized versions of sushi (I cringe at the mention of dragon rolls, lion king, and any other ridiculous name for those American sushi rolls). So I decided to make my own!

The recipe is filled with step by step photographs, since that’s the way I like reading recipes from other blogs. I found out that it’s actually quite difficult to take photos along the way (I kept smudging my brother’s precious DSLR with butter and oily fingers).

I hope you enjoy the recipe! Click here to read it!

Dear Brother Chapter 8 Summary

We're chugging along, slowly but steadily I suppose.  This chapter is a little more interesting, but it still hasn't made me run out to the bookstore with a shopaholic's purchase impulse (for the first volume, or the second volume that should come out soon).  Anyways, on to the summary!  If you want to follow along (or just look at the pictures), click here for the scans.

Updated food blog: Cako's Macarons!

Just updated the food blog!  This time, it's on everyone's favorite cookies as of late, macarons!  The above ones are from Cako (a bakery that specializes in cupcakes that you may see here and there in Bay Area), and flavors above include rose, sesame, white peach, nutella, and lychee.  I was attracted to the appearance (who isn't) at first since all of them had pastel colors that would appeal to the inner princess of every girl.

They were alright, I suppose.  I still haven't had a true one from Pierre Herme or Laudree, so I don't know how to judge macarons honestly, but these had quite big hollows in some of the shells.  Flavor-wise, some were pretty good and not too sweet.  If you're interested, click here to read more about it.

I also saw that chapter 8 has been updated for Dear Brother, so expect the summary soon!

CAFÉ BRÛLÉE!

Finally, a new post on the food blog! This time it's about cafe brulee, a dessert fusion between creme brulee and coffee. Yes, you heard me right, two of the best things in the world together! What could be more perfect? I'm not sure if you can see clearly, but there's actually latte art underneath the sugar. The barista draws it so it can be visible underneath the layer of caramelized sugar, which is pretty cool if you ask me.

If you are interested, click here to read more about it.

I haven't personally been myself yet, but if I have a chance to go to Santa Clara, that will be one of the spots I'll hit right away since the drink seems so novel. Still checking daily for that next chapter of Dear Brother, but I guess the group hasn't scanned or finished translating it yet.

October issue of Petit has new short story!

And I thought that I would never ever see Enjouji Maki contribute a short story to those mini manga compilations you get with every month's of Petit magazine! I mean, I know she's famous enough to get by without writing one...but it'll be in October's issue (released in September)! Still a long ways to go...but according to the website, it's supposed to be a sweet story. Meanwhile, I'm still anxiously waiting for the chapter 8 to come out so I can see what happens.