Kobe: Luminarie + Beef

After spending the day at Hieizan Enryaku-ji I headed to Kobe to see the Kobe Luminarie.  I had been to Kobe before but never had the chance to see the Luminarie so I was excited to be able to do it on this trip.

The Kobe Luminarie is a light festival that began in 1995 as a way to commemorate those lost in the Great Hanshin earthquake.  Held for a few weeks every December, the Luminarie has now also come to celebrate the rebuilding of Kobe.

I had heard from a friend who went last year that the line to get to the Luminarie was very long so I thought that if I arrived at 5 when the lights first turned on the wait would be a little less.  Unfortunately, I was wrong and it took an hour to make it through the line.  Luckily for me I had a companion while I was waiting.  When I left the Sannomiya train station and was trying to figure out how to get to the Luminarie I asked a girl for help and she said that she would just show me since she wanted to go, too.  Unfortunately, my Japanese is not as good as I would like so our conversation was pretty superficial but I learned that Satomi-san lived in Kobe and was in school studying how to make Japanese sweets.  She even gave me a sample sweet that she had made that day in class which was very kind.  It was fun to practice my Japanese and made the wait seem much shorter.

Finally arriving at the lights was impressive.  Huge illuminated gates arch over the street so it looks like you are walking through a tunnel of lights.  The end of the street opens up to a plaza which is decorated with more lights and is ringed by yatai (Japanese food stalls).  Normally I love eating at yatai, but I was in Kobe so I had other plans.  After thanking Satomi-san and saying goodbye I headed to Moriya for a dinner of Kobe beef.

I'm the kind of girl who buys her clothes on eBay and doesn't hesitate to stay in hostels to save money, but I love food and am willing to splurge for nice meals. I chose Moriya because I had read some good reviews and it was conveniently located by Sannomiya station.  I got a 130g A5 Kobe tenderloin that included a crab appetizer.  The server brought out the steak to show me before it was cooked and then I got to watch the chef prepare it.  It was absolutely delicious and made for a wonderful cap on the end of my day. 

If you are interested, check out the rest of my December 2011 Japan Trip here: Visiting Hieizan Enryaku-ji, Autumn in Kyoto, Favorite Eats in Toyota-shi, Centrair Airport Bath

Michigan vs. Ohio State Tailgate Cake

Since moving to Ann Arbor I've adopted the Michigan Wolverines as the football team I root for.  Neither my undergraduate or graduate alma mater have a very strong college football program and the way everyone in town backs the team and tailgates made following the team inevitable.

As part of the tailgate that I participate in I make a themed cake each week. Yesterday was not just any game, it was the game, Michigan vs. Ohio State, so for this week's cake I made a chocolate buttermilk cake and iced it with green tinted buttercream icing to make it look like a football field.  I made the field markings, school initials and football on the cake using fondant.  To make the intials stand up I inserted skewers inside them that extended into the cake. 

Watching the game was a lot of fun, albeit quite stressful, especially during the last few minutes when the fate of the game was held in the balance.  In the end Michigan pulled out the win with a 40-34 final score and ended the 7-year winless drought against Ohio State.  Is the next stop a BCS Bowl Game?  I sure hope so!

Making Pumpkin Puree

With Thanksgiving over the plentiful supply of sugar pumpkins in my local grocery is coming to an end so I decided to take some time to make and freeze some pumpkin puree for use over the winter.  The process is pretty simple and it tastes so much better than using pumpkin puree from a can in recipes.

To start I scrubbed the outside of my sugar pumpkins, sliced them in half, and then scooped out the seeds to save for toasting later.  For cleaning out the membrane I usually use a melon baller which makes the scraping easier.  After prepping the pumpkins I placed them cut side down in a greased baking dish and put them in a 350 degree oven.

After baking the pumpkins until the flesh was soft (about an hour) I took them out of the oven and then scooped out the flesh when the pumpkins were cool enough to handle.  Using a potato masher I pureed the pumpkin until it had a smooth consistency.  Since the puree is a little watery I lined a colander with some cheesecloth and let the puree drain for a bit before packing it.  Since most of my recipes call for two cups of pumpkin puree I measured out two cup portions into freezer bags and stored them in the freezer.  Now I am all set for a winter of making pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread and pumpkin soup.