Pain-au-Lait a la Rose

Life goes on… but what will happen next to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant? It’s our prefecture’s concern, because it is situated next to the Fukushima Prefecture.  At this moment, we are just observing what is going on, but it seems such a long ordeal. I hope it will solve safely and quickly as possible.

One day, we made “Pain au Lait á la Rose” using milk infused with rose petals. The fragrance of Damask rose made me feel calm and warm. Such an inviting scent! Out of uncertainty under the current stressful circumstance, I have felt not sure for everything.

So, the smell of dried rose petals was a great blessing!

Milk bread with rose? One might think it’s awful. , actually, it tasted wonderful! Something you don’t expect what’s inside. It tasted fantastic and nostalgic, which I heard from people who had this soft bread. They all loved it.

Take a time to smell a rose. That’ll be wonderful. But before that, I gotta go find one!

Anyone wants to try this bread???

Passion fruit magic

 Yesterday, my husband went to get a pack of strawberries and brought me also a nice surprise. After the earthquake, I was rather doubtful if I could get strawberries or my favorite fruit!




It’s a passion fruit. Of course, I have to wait until it becomes wrinkled all over for eating. Just thinking of a juicy sweet and tangy flavor makes my mouth watered…yummy!

It was like finding a small miracle in the chaos (because there was scarcity in food for a while), though things are slowly getting back to normal. Today, also there was a big miracle which an 80-year-old woman and her 16-year-old grandson were rescued under the demolished house in the inferno after 9 days of the disaster! It’s a great miracle, isn’t it?

Our English friends, Keith and Elaine who live in France sent us several e-mails worrying about us. This cup and saucer were given to us as a farewell gift from them when we left from France to have a business in Japan last May.  Thinking of you both fondly! Thank you so much for your friendship.

I still have a clear flashback of the hit when the earth shakes frequently several times a day, especially when a big one comes. My heart pounds so fast and I feel dizzy afterwards. Surely, it was a traumatic experience.

I made this passion fruit meringues for my upcoming pastry-making book. Last week, I was supposed to have photo shootings for the book; but of course, it was canceled. I wonder if the book will be published as scheduled by the editor.

Anyway, I shall not worry about a small thing but take one day at a time. But some action! Back to a normal life as much as possible, it’s a key to a further miracle.

Earthquake aftermath

Aftermath of the devastating earthquake and Tsunami has brought a huge headache to our region. We are about 113km (70 miles) away from the Fukushima Daiichi where the grievous nuclear problem has been breaking up. 

But alas, people are leading a normal life as possible in this chaotic situation as if nothing unusual had happened. The earth is still shaking at least several times a day. It’s not a big problem. The only problem is that we are always under pressure of finding fuels for our cars. Sometimes we have to wait for a very long hours in order to get about 15-25L (58-98 gallons) of gas. At this moment, my brother is lining up from 10:30 pm so that he can get that much gas for the following morning. We heard this gas station would open at 6:30 am tomorrow. Of course, there is no guarantee to get gas. A fiasco!

Our lifeline was not established for a while after the tragedy. So we know what a blessing to have electricity and running water. And warmth! It has been a cold month in this part of Japan.

Just having a steeping cup of tea is such a blessing. I dropped some rose syrup for taste. The rosy aroma helps me to gain sanity in this calamity instantly.

We don’t know yet when and if Japan ever can become normal again but we DO have HOPE!