Banana Bread

You may remember that last week I baked an apple pie and immediately declared myself a baking fiend.  Well, the unbelievable success of last week inspired me to try again.  This week I planned ahead and got the ingredients for the banana bread I wanted to make.

Now, I don’t mean to brag, but I have an outstanding banana bread recipe.  It’s in my Betty Crocker Cookbook behind the Family Recipes tab.  The thing I love about this cookbook is not just the fact that it has all the very basic information that a non-cooking non-baking person like me needs.  I love it because before I moved to Japan my mom went through her old metal recipe box looking for all my favorites.  She typed them out and added to the book behind a custom made Family Recipes tab.    So not only did I get to make banana bread, I got to make the banana bread that my grandma used to bake for my dad when he was little.  The same bread he still loves to eat warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.  (It’s an almost religious experience – next time you have warm banana bread I suggest you give it a shot.)

Some people drink wine when they bake. I drink beer. Don't judge me.

Everything was going well until I realized I had no idea what happened to the 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup measurers.  I had to use tablespoons.  Measuring 3/4 cup of sugar in tablespoons wasn’t a big deal, but measuring out the butter was a bit more tedious.  I really need to get some new measuring cups.  I might just have to make the trek out to Ikea soon…

After mixing in about twice as many walnuts as Grandma suggested, the bread was put in the oven for an hour.  When it was done, we had a loaf of bread with sharp corners.  I mean, seriously, running with that loaf is akin to running with a pair of scissors.  But the little local shop only had the metal loaf pans you see in the background.  Yet another reason to go to Ikea.  Hmmmm…

By the way, that wooden cutting board you see is pretty much the only counter space available in the Kaizer Kasa.  The kitchen in this place is minuscule, but I digress.

Back to that gorgeous loaf of banana bread.  Well, it was Mr. Kaizer’s first experience with the family banana bread recipe and he couldn’t stop eating it.  He even said I may have to make more in the middle of the week because he doesn’t expect it to last long.  And that is the kind of response that gets me excited about baking.  Now if I could only figure out what to make next week…

May life continue to inspire you,

Miss Kaizer

Crafting Accident

This is why you should never use a rotary cutter and skype with your mom at the same time.  I’m just glad Mr. Kaizer still has all his fingers.

Friendly reminder to all of you – rotary cutters are sharp.

Although, as a credit to the quality of Olfa rotary cutters, Mr. Kaizer did say it went through the cord without so much as a bump.  He didn’t even realize he’d cut it until he couldn’t hear his mother anymore.

Oodles of Supplies

On Thursday Mr. Kaizer and I went shopping for supplies at Yuzawaya, the seven-floor Tokyo crafting mecca.  Ueda Joint, a weekend long jazz festival in the Nagano area,  is coming up at the end of the month and we’re going to have a booth.  So it’s in to super-sewing mode for the aroma healing pillows, children’s tote bags, appliques, and a few other items that I will reveal later.  While I’m in the office, Mr. Kaizer has been cutting all the fabric for me between his conference calls.  Such a fantastic guy!

So, what lovely things did we acquire on our trip?  I thought you’d never ask!

For the tote bags:

I’m using the adorable Hello Kitty fabric again.  It’s just too cute to not use it.  I wanted to get some more of the dinosaur fabric, but they were all out.  I have to start checking other Yuzawaya branches to see if I can find some more.  But we also got Shinkansen (bullet train) fabric for the boys with a bright green contrasting fabric.  I plan to make a cute little train applique for it as well.  For my second girls fabric I got multicolored polka-dots on grey (as suggested by Miss Tanya – thanks Tanya!).  I couldn’t decide which of the contrasting fabrics looked best with the polka-dots, so I’m going to do some of each.  I’ve already made a panda applique to go on this one.  I mean, who doesn’t like pandas?

For the aroma healing pillows:

We got a wide variety of colors in the traditional Japanese asa no ha fabric.  It’s a stylized interpretation of the hemp leaf that was popular in the Edo Period (1603-1868).  It was most often used for baby blankets and clothing for children so they could grow up fast and strong like the hemp plant.

We also picked up some nice purple linen with polkadots, clover and ladybugs, and some checkered cotton with little country girls on it.  They remind me of characters from a Ghibli movie, but when I said so Mr. Kaizer he shook his head like I was nuts.

The floral fabrics we picked up are extremely soft.  We think all of these fabrics will do very well at the festival.  Right now, I cant’ stop touching them.  I love fabric!

Other goodies:

Most expats in Japan are working here as English teachers.  (Ok, I should clarify that most expats from English speaking countries are working here as teachers.  And that isn’t a statistic or anything, it’s my guess.)  I first taught English when I came here and many of the Kaizer Kompadres are English teachers.  They’re actually very good English teachers, and provide a quality learning experience for the children in their classes.

Where is this going, you ask?  Well, I have been asked to make bean bags.  Gloriously multicolored, differently shaped, fun for tossing, learning colors, and learning shapes beanbags.  You may be thinking that beanbags aren’t that big of a deal.  But guess what?  It’s my first commissioned project! I’ve been hired to make something for someone else.  Happy dance…happy dance…happy dance…  Ok, I’m done.  But look at those colors.  They’re fantastic.

Of course, I had to get the thread to go along with all this new fabric.  Reminds me of a box of crayons.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some SERIOUS sewing to do!

May life continue to inspire you,

Miss Kaizer

Finishing things I start…

Pay no attention to the stray thread. I have trimmed it since this photo was taken.

I have a bit of a problem finishing things I start sometimes.  Ok, a lot of the time.  I start a project but never quite finish it.  Like most crafters I have stacks of partially finished projects all over the house, and I feel pangs of guilt every time my gaze lingers on one of them.  But not tonight!

No, today was a slow day at work and I was able to leave nearly half an hour early.  Today was one of those rare days when I got to leave while the sun was still up.  The light wasn’t there long, but it did a pretty good job of cheering me up.  So I finished a few stray projects that have been nagging me for days, weeks, and months.

“Months?” you say.  Yes, months.  I’m actually so terribly embarrassed about how long it took me to complete this one that I’m not even going to tell you the craft blog charity cause for which they were intended.  But now that they are finished they will still be shipped off to the same country that would have been receiving them before.  I will put my faith in the crafty lady who organized this whole charity drive and just ask her to send them to whichever charity she thinks could use them the most.

Anyway, it feels really really good to have these completed.  And I’m very pleased with how they turned out.  I made everything – the straps, the appliques, all of it.  Completing the project was sufficient for giving me warm fuzzy feelings inside.  But knowing they’re going to charity makes me feel even better.

Six of each.

Please ignore the kitchen shelves, the fridge, and the ironing board in the background.  I do live in Tokyo and apartments are small.  The dining room table is really the only place large enough for crafting.

May life continue to inspire you,

Miss Kaizer

Hello, Blogland!

Earlier this year I decided that I allowed fear to control too many aspects of my life.  So I started doing things that scare me – not a lot, mind you, but a little.  And let me tell you, starting a blog and learning a bunch of new things that go with such an endeavor definitely intimidated me a bit.  Ok, a bit more than “a bit”.  I blame it on spring and the rainy season.

My neighbor's blue hydrangeas.

With rain comes dreary, cloudy skies.  But you also get flowers and greenery.  Recently I’ve noticed I have a lot more appreciation for seasonal changes than I used to.  Yes, I’ve always noticed seasonal changes, but when I was living in the States, I didn’t really stop to appreciate them.  I don’t know if it’s because I’m older, determined to thoroughly enjoy my limited free time to the fullest, or because I’m living in a society that really appreciates the different seasons for the unique delights they have to offer.  Whatever the reason, I know that it was my neighbor’s beautiful hydrangeas that made me stop and say “I simply must take a picture of these flowers.”  And after that, “I simply must share these pictures with everyone!”

Another neighbor's purple hydrangeas.

After noticing the flowers, I noticed the lush grass growing in the field next to the apartment.  The field next to our building has been an empty field since we moved in two and a half years ago, and it feels like having a yard that we don’t have to take care of.  On the edges of the field are fruit trees and vegetable patches.  And our nearest neighbors.  It’s a very unique setup for Tokyo.  When people at work ask me in tones of shocked disbelief why I live an hour commute from the office, I just show them these pictures.

Aside from getting me to pull out the camera voluntarily, something which rarely happens, spring also inspired me to engage in other equally uncharacteristic behaviors.  I baked.  To you, that sentence may seem totally innocuous.  But to anyone who knows me they probably had to re-read it a dozen times before finally saying “no way would Miss Kaizer ever bake.”  Well, the truth is that I did bake.  And while my inner feminist wept bitter tears, I was secretly very pleased with myself.  I didn’t exactly make the dough from scratch, but I was still pretty darn proud.  I mean, I rolled out a pie crust.  Lil ‘ol me.  We don’t have a pie pan in the Kaizer Kasa, but we do have a Betty Crocker Cookbook (thanks, Mom) that provided me with the recipe I used for an apple pie on a cookie sheet.  The filling was four apples peeled, sliced, and mixed with brown sugar and a little butter.  What we got after 25 minutes in the world’s smallest oven was pure sugary heaven.  Awww, yeah!  I’m now a baking fiend!

Please forgive the darkness of the photo. It was late when I finished baking.

We each had a large piece while it was still warm.  Omnomnomnom!  It was an easy project and has given me confidence in my ability to actually bake.  I think I’m going to try Grandma’s banana bread recipe next Sunday.  I actually wanted to do that today, but we didn’t have any milk and neither of us felt like leaving the apartment.  I threw the bananas in the freezer so I can use them next week.  Don’t tell anyone I said this, but I’m actually looking forward to baking next week.  Ssshhhh!  It’s days  like this I realize how inspiring life can be.

Until next time, may life continue to inspire you.

Miss Kaizer