Early Spring

Last week, we had heavy snow in Nara,too.



How tall of the snow on the red plum and the sparkle of ice- diamond on the next day in my garden

  This year, it's snowing heavily  particularly  around the side of Japan Sea. So migratory birds can't get food there and they visit the side of Pacific Ocean for food. At that time they also spread germs of bird-flu,and a lot of chicken in Wakayama prefecture,for example, had to be killed ,I heard. While the number of  human  with  flu in Japan is getting decrease but the amount of patient have a hay-fever will rise dramatically in this spring, according to a newspaper. Please be careful everyone! The cause of hay-fever may be in your garden.


Red plum covered with snow is getting  more flowers day by day



A couple of Hina-doll in my house. I like their Japanese-like face



Flower of peach usually accompanies The dolls'  Festival


 And spring is coming to Nara surely.
The sunrise time became at 6:39 and the sunset is at 17:45 today.
Two weeks ago it was at 6:54 and at 17:31.
The Dolls' Festival( or The Girls' Festival) will come soon.
We decorate Hina-Dolls and wish our daughters' happy or growth. Also we have a party in front of the dolls on 3rd March. The table will spread with Chirashi-Sushi, Hamaguri-clam soup, salad seasoned with vinegar miso and sweet white sake or hina-arare for sweets etc, as usual.




Ichimatu-ningyou . We decorate this together with Hina-dolls.



Kamakurabori was curbed by aunt-in-low before 33 years ago

  And I thought I will add also makarons for sweet this year. Because  I ate pretty colourful makarons  in Paris last Autumn and I wanted to make them on my own.  Happily I happened  to watch  makaron cooking  on TV .



At last I succeeded  makaron have jugged. This indent calls "pie" in French.


So I tried to cook makaron, watching a cooking book.
At  the first, I failed because I mixed dough of makaron too much. I made it too much soft.
At the second,The surface had cracks because I baked them just after I squeezed dough on the oven plate.
At the third, I succeeded at last. I could watch lovely pink makarons.

So let me talk how to cook makaron.

[ ingredient for 20 makarons ]
the white of egg          65g
granulated sugar         25g
almond powder          50g
powder sugar             90g
cocoa powder or soybean flour or powdered green tea or color powder etc you like  .                 a little



Look this thickness. I heard this shop made them at first. Many men made a line to buy them at the shop when I went there. I think men in Japan don't buy such sweet. So I was surprised to see the line.



[how to cook ]
(1)  Whisk egg white by a whip-machine, putting granulate sugar  three times till horn of  form  is made.
(2)  Sift almond powder,powder sugar,cocoa or other you like and enter it into (1) and mix them softly by a rubber spatula and then  make the forms  fine .   Don't do it too much. Lax of dough lead to failure

(3) Enter it into squeeze-bag  with 6mm mouthpiece and squeeze it to a circle 3 cm in diameter on the oven-      paper. And leave it for about 2hours to dry the surface.-----This is a secret of success.

(4) Bake them in the oven 170c  between from 1minute to 4 minutes( till the jagged  bottom(pie)  appear to makaron)

(5) After that, bake it 130c for 18 minutes.

(6) Sandwich  something (choco-ganache or butter cream of green tea or jam etc.) between two.




Makaron shop in Paris. I knew its good taste and many  lovable  colors for the  first time at last Autumn.