#CreativeCookieExchange

Japanese yuzu citrus pucker passion commenced in 710 AD Japan. The Chinese import looks and tastes like a cross between a lemon and a lime. The pungent yuzu fruit remains popular today in Japan.  (Yuzu brightens, and punches up the flavors of both Japanese desserts and dishes.)

Chocolate – often affectionately called “choco” in Japan – is also wildly popular. Compared to yuzu, however, chocolate is a fairy new commodity in Japan. Milk chocolate made its debut with the Japanese audience in the early 1900s. From my Google Japan and Google USA research, it looks like white chocolate won over the hearts of Japanese girls as White Day was introduced in the 1970s. White Day is an attempt at equal affection expression.  Translation: In Japan...

“The spring breeze wearing cherry blossom petals,” is a breathtaking sight in Japan. Seeing the frail flowers fall to the ground is a tug on the heart. The blossoms of the cherry tree are exquisite but short-lived like the time of mere mortals on planet earth. To ensure precious life is enjoyed, many a picnic with loved ones take place under the cherry blossoms in the months of March and April. (Typically cherry blossom season. The southern regions of Japan see cherry blossoms in March. As the southern blossoms fade, cherry trees begin to bloom in the Northern Japan.) Picnic baskets are often brimming with veggie sandwiches, traditional Japanese sweets and beer! Thanks to the latter, much singing is also heard in the groves of Japanese cherry blossoms.

Given the Japanese reverence for cherry blossoms, it is no surprise that sakura (cherry blossom in Japanese) is...

A hush of peace, a rush of joy, December brings a bundle of contradictions.

An explosion of chocolate, cookies and cakes crowd kitchen counters. Shoppers shimmy past one another in malls, snatching toys of technology, which promise happiness.

Yet, a sense of the profane also presides over the season.  Candles are lit. Songs of praise to the Creator spill from homes, synagogues and churches.

I’m comfortable with the holiday paradox. In my hometown of Tokyo...

Japanese ninja are skilled in the art of stealth, secrecy and surprise. I’m wondering if Father Time is the original ninja. The arrival of the holiday season has caught me off guard. Thanksgiving is next week! AND Christmas trees sporting ornaments and tinsel line Beverly Hill’s Rodeo Drive.　Thanksgiving may have to be a fend for yourself sort of affair. But, I did stop reeling from the dizzying blow and realization that Christmas is nearly here. I baked up a batch of ginger chocolate ninja cookies donned with Santa caps.

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Blinged out in a pink, poufy prom gown, Glinda asks Dorothy, “Are you a good witch or bad witch?” (In the film classic, The Wizard of Oz.) Besides handing Dorothy the ruby slippers, Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, also offers up gems such as, “If we know ourselves, we’re always home, anywhere.”

Getting to know ourselves can be scary business though. Truly looking sometimes means...

As I readied two batches of cookie dough, one for rich espresso and the other for elegant matcha green tea, Garth Brooks’ Unanswered Prayers played in my head. In the song he softly suggests, “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers"...

 

Is it summer or fall? Temps are 80 degrees and upwards in Southern California. However, reminders of autumn are everywhere when I get in my car. Orange-jacketed crossing guards demand stops in front of schools I only recently zipped past.