So Saucy....

Ah The Tomato!

Well we had received a bunch of tomatoes from friends.

(we still had quite a few left-over tomatoes, even after filling our sink, pictured above.)

So on Saturday my mom decided to put them to use.

We canned tomato sauce!

For pizza, lasagna, spaghetti...etc.

.

Above you can see all the spices added. I was the official mixer-girl. Although I had other unofficial titles, such as tomato-retriever, spice-dumper, and labeler, among other things.

This is the finished product. Turned out well from what I can see. Since I haven't actually tasted it since cooking....was fun though. The house smelt great after too; smelt a lot like when you make salsa.

A Personal First!

Ah the smell of baking!

For the first time, I baked with no outside help whatsoever. Normally when I actually bother to cook or bake it's with someone else. I mean sure I've made the occasional no-bake cookies by myself...but otherwise I've been pretty dependent on people for help. Well no longer!

Above is a picture of one of my scones I made today. I even mushed it/kneaded it with my fingers (which is an accomplishment I assure you.) Though they differed slightly in the size department, the taste seemed un-effected.

With determination, reading abilities and a good recipe the previously thought impossible was brought to light! (I even filled the flour canister up, which weighs a ton!)

I feel so...independent now. Like I could cook rice and chicken and have them ready at the same time.....Actually I better not push it, last time I made chicken....well....lets just say Tandoori chicken will never be the same in my mind.

Anyways there is the amazing story for today, they were ほんとうにおいしかった！ (Really very delicious) If you too want to experience the thrills of scone making, let me know! The recipe I have is great, whipping cream....vanilla.....stuff that's not in the average scone. Easy enough too!

If I can do it, you can to!

Jya~ ne Rei! <3

Well today I said good-bye to my exchange student from Japan.
It was sad to see her go, after spending two weeks with her.
Nonetheless I felt no need to shed tears, as I phone over enough,
and hopefully will be returning this year...tabun (maybe)

Top 5 Things I Did w/ my Exchange Student:
1) Talking.
This might seem like a stupid answer, but I really loved talking to her.
We mainly spoke in Japanese, and really talked about a range of topics.
2) Cooking.
Since she doesn't have an oven in Japan, we baked a lot;
Boston Creme Cake, Choc. Cookie Pie, Choc. Chip Cookies,
Banana Choc. Cake, Vanilla Heart Cake, Cream Cheese Tarts, etc.
Which was a delicious time filler.
3) Watching Japanese Television
Thank-you Youtube and various other sources.
We watched Rookies together, although I had to go the last two episodes
w/o subs. As well I am now rather addicted to ShuchiShin's songs, so catchy.
4) Bowling
My Birthday was on the 15th and we had a small party.
The alley had no a/c so we all were dieing of heat,
but the second game was an awful lot of fun. We played crazy bowling,
i.e. bowling through your team's legs, bowling while on your stomach...etc.
5) Going to a Magic Forest (name changed to protect the innocent)
The nature walk was just gorgeous.

It was hard narrowing it down, as we also went swimming, to English lessons,
gave each other manicures, quilted, went to museums, used face-masks, and so much more.
I will miss having my "sister" around. She probably isn't even home quite yet,
as with the lay-overs her trip will probably take about 10 h.

Anyways that is my interesting update.
Oh by the way, I might soon be taking Korean lessons.
Let's hope for the best!