Culinary inspiration can come from just about everywhere and television has to be one of my favorites. Watching another cook or chef at work is magic. So when I stumbled upon the final episode of River Cottage's Autumn series, I was in for a treat.

River Cottage is in Dorset, UK and is the setting for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's series on smallholder landshare and back-to-basics cooking. In that episode, it brought forth the reality of rearing chickens for the table, pig butchery, brine making for ham, medlar and apple chutney and medlar jelly, and real mashmallows.

And then there was the chinese style pigs' trotters.



Now I know many people aren't keen on the random other bits of an animal that reminds them of... well, the actual animal. But having been raised in Asia, I was raised to believe that when an animal has sacrificed its life for you, you don't waste it. Any of it.

And the fact is you will often be rewarded with some unique flavours and textures, if you are willing to put in that little bit of effort to prepare the dish well.

The River Cottage recipe serves 8 and we prefer a little more kick in our spice, so I've adjusted the recipe to suit our palate.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 2-3 tbsp sunflower or ground nut oil
  
• 6 pig’s trotters
  
• About 2 or 3 ‘thumbs’ of fresh ginger
  
• 3 - 4 large cloves of garlic
  
• 200ml organic apple juice
  
• 37ml organic soy sauce
  
• 20ml organic cider vinegar
  
• 10g unrefined caster sugar
  
• 4 large, whole, dried red chillies
  
• Freshly ground black pepper

To serve: Fine noodles and wilted greens; in my case, I used kang kong.

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the oil over a medium-high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Brown the trotters and knuckle of pork, turning to ensure they are evenly browned all over. Don’t overcrowd the pan, as you’ll steam the meat instead of browning it – you may need to brown the meat in batches.
   
   
2. Break off one ‘thumb’ of ginger; peel it and slice it thinly. Peel the rest and grate it. Peel the garlic and crush 2-3 of the cloves; finely slice the remaining one.
   Or if you're as lazy as me, just smoosh them with the flat of your knife and roughly slice them.
   
   
3. Add the ginger and garlic to the meat and stir everything together. Next, add the apple juice, soy sauce, cider vinegar, sugar and enough water just to cover.
   
   
4. Finally, add the whole red chillies and a few grinds of black pepper, bring to the boil and then lower the heat and cook on a low simmer for 1-1.5 hrs. The trotters should be really tender and the sweet-and-sour sauce nicely reduced. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
   
   
5. Serve with fine noodles and wilted greens.

This recipe is also perfect for the slow cooker. Just pop the browned trotter into the preheated slow cooker. Stirfry the ginger and garlic in a little oil to get the flavours going, then dump everything into the slow cooker on 'high' until it boils. Once it starts boiling, turn the cooker down to 'low' for 4 hours.



Thus the result: a thick syrupy tangy spicy and sweetness that leaves its yummy stickiness that sends shivers down your spine.

Taken for ivoryfox (Miura), averseofmelody (Oguri) and ainead (Eita)

Japanese celebrities endorse so many products and pop up in the most random places.

Edit: SOLD

Finally tweaked these to fit the fatter cigar shaped pens. Only one of each colour available.



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Carry your pens/brushes everywhere while protecting them. Leave them out or rolled up, secured with the attached ties to travel. The top flap prevents your pens/brushes from slipping out when rolled up in your bag.

These wraps interior holds 6 pens/brushes (one with an extra wide for those really fat pens/brushes or a pair of scissors). And there is enough space in the quick pocket to fit another pen. It is perfect for standard pens/brushes (up to 18cm).

And just cuz I could, I've handstitched a decorative scribble on the exterior. (^_^)

Made from batik patterned cotton and broadcloth. Batting also protects your pens/brushes. This wrap measures 28 cm (L) by 19 cm (W).

Price: USD 28/- each

Shipping (Australia Post):
New Zealand: USD$2.30
United States: USD$4.20
Everywhere Else: USD$5.60

After work and trooping to the PO box to pick up mail, the SO and I dashed to the RNA Showgrounds for Oktoberfest - beer, pretzels, cheesy music and apple strudel. And not necessarily in that order.



dvoid has been organising tables for us in the private area, which translates to dedicated tables, more space (ie. no shoving with the crowd), a gingerbread cookie necklace and free stein of beer upon arrival, a cold cut platter, champagne, a bar wench to get our beers for us, private toilets (a godsend) and apple strudel.

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As we walked through the Valley on the way home, some hobo asked the SO for change.

Hobo: "Got some change?"
The SO: "No."
Hobo: "Then how do you pay for her?" [pointing to me]
The SO: "Oi, she's my fucking wife, fuck off."

I am more expensive than pocket change, yo.

People photos from the day are on this Facebook album.

180ml for AUD$19, 360ml for AUD$36


As a birthday treat to the SO, I booked us a table at Sono Japanese Restaurant for dinner. It's a lovely restaurant with traditional wood floors and booths, though the waitresses unfortunately are not very tidy with their yukatas and obis.

And as it had been an especially long day at work, the SO encouraged us to share a tokkuri of sake as we perused the menu.



The SO opted to have the sukiyaki, a sweet soy hot pot served with a variety of fresh vegetables and any source of protein. In the case of Sono, it's wagyu beef.



Yummy melt-in-your-mouth meat, though the AUD$43 per person (served with a bowl of miso and rice) pricetag is a bit hefty.


Sono Japanese Restaurant
Level 1 Tattersalls Building
Corner of Queen Street and Edward Street
Brisbane QLD 4000
Tel: +61 (07) 3220 1888
Email: contact@sonorestaurant.com.au

As the SO and I were walking hand in hand home from our bus stop, we suddenly realised today was our 2nd year wedding anniversary. In all the hubbub of work and life, the occassion failed to dawn on us, so the SO insisted we head out to dinner to mark the occassion.

That he's still alive after 2 years of marriage, no doubt. (^_-)-☆


This was my favorite course of the meal.
The crab meat is so fresh and sweet, and I wouldn't be surprised was hand-pried out of the shell.
The soba noodles are also thinner than the dried pre-packaged types commonly found in supermarkets, so not as starchy.
And the fancy lettuce? Cold and crisp.
Major yummage!


While fresh and sweet and wonderfully yummy,
I have to say the bar has been set with Melbourne's Ibuki.
Still at AUD$20, this is a lot better than a number of Japanese eateries in the city.

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Overall, a really nice eat with small to moderate portions, but a little pricey for my tastes. I'd love to go again to try their weekend breakfast menu.

Mizu also runs sake tasting events and cooking classes. The last sake tasting session has been fully booked, so we'll have to wait for their 2010 schedule to be announced. You get 3 sakes to taste with 3 nibbles for AUD$10.


Mizu Restaurant
2 Macquarie St
Teneriffe QLD 4005
Tel: +61 7 3254 0488

When I was the student editor for the school paper in junior college, a student exchange group from Japan visited the school and I was excused from classes to cover the activities organised for the group.

Among the group, I took a liking to several students and exchanged email/snail mail addresses with some to keep in contact (ie. penpals - yes yes, such as old fashioned communication tool, but I still like it).

But the only one who wrote back regularly was a girl named Yoshie.

I must admit my letters must've made her laugh, since I was obsessed with Sailor Moon and otaku-ish stuff. Such an embarassing past. (^__^;)

Anyway, my family moved and the email address I used became a defunct company one. And in the move, my mum threw out a lot of stuff, including sentimental items I owned, such as letters. So I wasn't able to contact Yoshie, but I held onto this little black clay cat bell she had given me on the last day the exchange group was in the school.

Fast forward some 12 years and I get an email from Yoshie!

She found some old letters and an email address, but as they bounced back and she didn't get a reply, she tried Google and discovered this LJ. I can't believe it and am thrilled to bits to be in touch with her.

So hello, Yoshie!!! (^0^)/

And Google, you are awesome! (笑)