Halloween Cookies

I updated my page "My Kitchen". Please check Halloween icing cookies!

Renew the Ironing Board

My friend left me the ironing board when she returned to Canada many years ago, and it seems well used ironing board need to go now... 

The other day, after I used it, the word "Repair" just popped up into my head. I never done it before, but I thought it would be really nice if I could make it. I went to the nearest craft store and found the nice pattern cloth on sale. I also got a craft bond.

Soon I came back from the store, I started to repair it. Then, I realized I need a big paper which can cover the back side of the ironing board. There was no paper which is enough to cover the back side, but I didn't wanna go back to the store again. I tried to find a paper and decided to use the shopping back from Mituskoshi department store. One more thing, I prepared was the hemming tape. The tape made it easy to handle when I need to cover the front side by fabric 

It was easy to do and it didn't take much time to finish.( Maybe 30 min or so) I'm happy that I didn't need to waste it and can continue to use it ! :)

Magnoria Bakery at Matsuya

Magnolia Bakery was opened at Omotesando, Tokyo on 6/16 this year. Their cupcakes become popular where Sarah Jessica Parker ate it in front of the bakery in Sex and the City. I've heard it triggered a boom of decorated cupcakes in NYC. I saw some decorated cupcakes in US while I was travelling, but all were pretty expensive and I didn't feel to buy it.

I love cooking and making sweets at home, and I feel making cupcakes are pretty easy and the decoration doesn't seem complicated…

It’s pretty cute though, but I lost my interest right away when I check the price and the cupcakes in the showcase.

When I have heard the bakery was opened in Tokyo, I imagined people stand in line for hours or more to get cupcakes. I just wanted to check the bakery how it looks like, but I don’t feel to stand in line and I didn't. From 10/8-10/21, NYC fair "New York Week" is started at Mastuya Ginza(department store) , and I knew Magnolia Bakery sells their sweets at Matsuya during the New York Week. I was not planning to buy cupcakes, but I wanted to check them.

I found they sell whoopie pies and I suddenly wanted to try them. Once I made Whoopie pies, but it took so much hours to make them and made me so tired. Taste was really good, and I am very much confident Whoopie pies I made was the best I've ever eaten:) However, I haven't tried to make them again. When I think about the total amount of time to make, I feel I don't want to make it again.

I thought it's worth to pay money for it even it costs a lot than I expected, because I don'tr want to spend hours and hours for making if I want to eat. I got one Velvet Whoopie pie and Snapginger Whoopie pie. While I was waiting a line to pay, I found the Banana Pudding in the show case which I read many positive reviews from Yelp before. 

                                                       

 

Velvet Whoopie pie

I expected the middle cream was made by marshmallow, but icing was filled instead. I was very disappointed the taste, and I regretted to got it...

Snapginger Whoopie pie

Cookies were really nice, but it was also filled with icing, not marshmallow

Banana Pudding

I was too excited before I opened it, and expected how good it is.

Mmm...It was OK, but I felt like I was eating just the banana flavored whipped cream or unchilled banana mousse. It took two days to finish, it was quite a lot for me.  

I don't think I will try their sweets again. One time was pretty enough for me. :P

Knitting Scraf for my Friend

My friend brought me back some knitting yarns from her parents’ house. They looked very nice for a scarf and it seems like enough yarns to make two. I’m just a knitting beginner and I only know few stiches. It’s very simple, but it looks OK for the scarf. I just finished it last week and gave it to her :)

She always gives me a complement when I present something handmade, and it makes me happy when she gives me nice words and shows me a good reaction. Winter hasn’t arrived here yet, but it will works great in winter (I hope!)

Now, I need to start to knit one more for myself. 

Knitting, again!

I had plenty of time in August, and I knitted the cap for my friend's kids. One is for baby Sara. Last winter, I knitted two caps and one was already just right size for her head. But it became small now. (Please see "first-time-knitting") The flowers on the cap are pretty cute, so I knitted another cap and reused the flowers on the new one.This time I added the earflaps and strings. It became more lovely!

              The flowers on the earflaps are different on the right side and left side. 

Baby Sara

 My friend said she loves the cap so much, and she tried to wear it even winter has not come yet :) It suits her very much, doesn't it? :)

I knitted another one for Haruto who appeared on my blog(Please see Day Trip to Kyoto). My friend told me he likes cars, Shinkan-sen(Bullet train) and tires... Even he likes it, it seems difficult to make it with knitting yarn. It was sort of tough to think about the design. While I was googling, I found the bus which is designed on the cap, and I tried to make the similar one on his cap... It looks very different, but I am satisfied it. Because it looks bus without doubt... hahaha. I don't know he likes it or not, but he called me the night he received and was saying something on the phone. I could not understand the baby talk　at all, but my friend translated it. He kept saying "Thank you" to me. 

Trip to Russia, Estonia and Finland

FInally, I completed my journal of last year's travel and it is posted on my "travel" tab. Please check it out!

KitKat Chocolatory at Tokyo Station

Found the specialty KitKat shop at Tokyo station, it was just opened on July 28th. The chocolate bars were created in collaboration with Japanese chocolatier "Yasumasa Takagi”  I got "Orange Flavored KitKat", "Sublime Bitter KitKat" and "Submlime Raspberry KitKat" for my friend and myself.

The sublime bitter and sublime raspberry (black boxes) are limited, and it is made from couverture chocolate. Maybe because of that, the price is pretty expensive. You can only find one piece of KitKat in the box, but I didn't know until I opened it...   I  think I too expected the  sublime one, and it wasn't much special to me. 

The orange flavored KitKat is less expensive compared to the sublime KitKat and the taste was good, too. There are four packaging in the box.