Seasonal Greeting

Dear customers and friends,

I have bought boxes of Christmas Cards and haven't written any... I am so sorry, but I have given up posting those now.

I had really exciting year as you all came to see me at my cafe.

There was ups and downs emotionally, but works of cafe always gave power. Sometimes I needed to make sweets night and day to forget everything, sometimes I was having so much fun talking with customers and burnt my important pans!

Anyway, I recognized I like cooking and baking more than I thought.

In 2015, I will make my cafe very relaxing. It would be lovely, if you feel your power is charged up when you leave my cafe.

I will be there till the last day of 2014, apart from 24, 25, 26 and 28th December.
I sincerely hope you all have lovely Christmas and New Year!

Noriko x

2015 is Sheep's year.

I am thinking about sweets shape of this round one.

Opening hours of Christmas and New Year's Day

After long recovery, I have just managed to get back on my feet again.

So now I can announce the opening hours and events for this festive period.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Opening hours and events to come

Dec. 22nd(Mon）11:00－15:00 or 18:00　Pumpkin fair
　　 23rd(Tue） 11:00－15:00　19:00～Language Exchange 
　　 24th(Wed） Closed
　　 25th(Thu） Closed
　　 26th(Fri） Closed
　　 27th(Sat） 11:00－15:00 or 18:00
　　 28th(Sun） Closed
　　 29th(Mon） 11:00－15:00 or 18:00
　　 30th(Tue） 11:00－15:00　19:00～End of year Clearance
　　31st(Wed） 11:00－15:00　End of year noodles Fair
Jan. 1st (Thu） Closed
　　 2nd(Fri） Closed
　　 3rd(Sat） Closed
　　 4th(Sun） Closed
　　 5th(Mon） 11:00ー14:00　

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

On 22nd, it's the Mid-winter Day. Japanese eat pumpkin on this day to hope good health through coming cold winter.
I will serve 3 course with pumpkin specially on this day!

Starter
 Spiced Kabocha pumpkin soup
Main
 Pumpkin Corroquets Lunch
Pudding
 Kabocha Pumpkin custard Tart or Kabocha Pumpkin Kintsuba

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

On 23rd, it's the English/Japanese language exchange session in the evening.
This time, Theme is Christmas in Japan and England.

Let's talk about the difference between Christmas in Japan and Christmas in England.
Some typical Japanese Christmas foods will be served! (non-alcohol, please!)

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

On 27th, I am planning to serve Wagashi afternoon tea.
You will get Sushi, Baked sweets, and Seasonal Jo-namagashi.
More information will come soon.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

 On 30th, it's a big cleaning time!
In the evening, I will polish the cafe to prepare the new year.
If  you are willing to help me, please come along. (-_')b

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

31st is the big day in an-an.

I will sell mini-Osechi (New Year's Day bento box).
So many good luck items in the box for longing the happiness in the coming year.
If you like to order, please email me.
order@an-an.co.uk

here is some ideas... sorry in Japanese!
(You may find this information helps...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osechi)

£12.00 each for the special bento box.

I will serve Soba noodle in hot broth with tempra.
£3.38 for Eat in or Take away.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Let's get ready for the happy healthy new year 2015!

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

和 Cafe an-an
27 Boundary Road,
Hove
East Sussex
BN3 4EF

Learning till I die.

It's my Motto.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Thankfully, my cafe is having more customers who are interested in what they eat.

Well, "Japanese Food" tends to be "Healthy food" in British people's idea. Some of the dishes are not healthy, but I could not help loosing words in some dishes.

For example, I could not say "yes/no" without any hesitation, when I was asked for the agreement to "Sushi is healthy, isn't it?!"

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Before I opened my Cafe, I had an idea of displaying a lot of small side dishes for sale...
But once I started checking the ingredients of ready made Japanese side dishes, I thought I should give them up.

There were so many unknown ingredients and chemicals... Some chemicals are come from natural source, but it's too hard to distinguish what is good and what is not so good by my limited knowledge of food.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

I am surprised by so many people who are suffered from some kind of allergy and food intolerance. They need to choose what they eat in the very limited menu out side of their house.

Luckily, I don't have any eating difficulties, but I needed to study about allergy as my son had to have a very strict diet without any nuts and sesame seeds.

I always carried Epi pends and anti-histamine Syrup in my bag whenever eating out with my son. He is now 10 years old and better dealing with the problem.

However, some problem happens time to time. Even if we make sure the dish does not contain any sesame seeds, my son's got a reaction. It was Gyoza dumpling in one of a Sushi Bar. I tried it and tasted Hoising Sauce. It contains Sesame seeds paste. I talked the shop manager, but she did not believe me as it was not listed.  We often disappointed when we order Cucumber rolls in most of Sushi Chains and Supermarket packs. Sesame seeds are always hidden in the rice...

I just want to make my cafe for those people to enjoy food safely.
I will be dead honest about what in the sauce I use. Please always ask me if you are in doubt.
It's not easy to make Japanese meals to show all, as most of sauces are not domestically made... it means I cannot make them from simple salt and peppers... But I will show the list of ingredients if you like.

Nuts, Sesame seeds, Eggs, Fish, Soy beans, MSG, Wheat and Gluten...

Endless list I need to check.
If you care about diabetics, even the list will be longer!!!

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

One day, I had a customer who is a vegetarian with gluten intolerance.
At the moment, I could not serve any of usual menu for her.
She told me the way to get around this problem.
Just one ingredients I change, I can serve more menu to more people who has gluten intolerance!

It's Tamari Soy Sauce!

For me, Tamari means soy sauce for Sushi or Sashimi. Traditionally, Tamari is made only with Soy beans (normal soy sauce are made with about 50% Soy Beans and 50 % wheats) and rice.

These days, not only Tamari are made from 100% Soy beans, but i found it here.

I can prepare Sushi and Teriyaki Tofu lunch for her in my cafe. I can extend more...

Since I opened this cafe, I have learnt a lot about Japanese Food from my customers .
I re-investigate so many things which are regarded as "just Japanese Foods". How interesting!

I really want to serve food everybody can enjoy  without any concerns about not feeling well afterwords.

I will receive Brown rice soon. I shall start serving it, too.

November...

Unbelievably warm days... How are you doing?
It was very stormy outside today, but winds are not cold at all!
I could go out without a winter coat.
Very strange.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Apology for taking random closing of an-an cafe in the past few weeks. It's been over 4 months since I started this cafe, I needed time to resolve a pressure of running this business by myself.
The trigger was ... maybe the accident happened at the beginning of  October.
I was very down and could not settle down at all. There were so many things need to be done, but I even could not know where to start with. I was also very anxious if I could carry on this business like this.

But I am fine now. I had some time to think about it. The answer was "No going back. No looking back.".
Sometimes, I will need to have some time off from this cafe to keep myself on the track. I will come back, so don't give up on me!!! Anyway, I will let you know when I will need time well in advance.
Now I should be ok at least for a few month, though.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

So, I already finished the first sales in November. It was at Croydon Japanese School HuruhonIchi.
Thank you for people and friends who bought my sweets. I am so sorry I could not make enough.
Actually, There are some sweets could not make the sales...

I am thinking about sales at some places in Brighton again... a little by little...。

November, 3rd（Monday・・・well, tomorrow？）Japanese toddler group (Cornerstones Church, Hove)
from around 10am. If the weather is bad, it will be postponed to 17th. Sorry for the short notice.

November, 8th (Saturday）Brighton & Hove Japanese Club
2:00 - 4:00 pm. If it is dry, I will be in the parking area. If it is wet, I will be in the main Hall.

November 18th (Tuesday）Japanese Cafe an-an
7pm -9pm  Japanese and English language exchange session. If you want to talk in Japanese, please join us. Maximum number of people is 8. Fee- £5.00 (One drink and nibbles)

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

November's sweets・・・


Kintsuba.
You can chose Pumpkin or chunky adzuki beans.
Dorayaki (Pancake sandwich) 3 filling to chose.
Satsuma Daifuku (Mochi) is a Limited edition till Christmas.
Chestnuts cake is out of stock. But I will make it very soon.

If you want to buy more than 10 sweets, please make an order in advance.
Sweet are not delivered now. Only delivered by a courier, using next day guaranteed. Therefore, please mind the Courier delivery charge will be added separately.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

November seems to be another unstable months.. I mean weather.
Please take care of yourselves. We need to get ready for Christmas soon. ww

Cafe is closed today.

Due to hospital appointment, cafe is closed for today.

It will open at 10am as usual.

Sorry for inconvenience.

When I realized... It's already in October!

Seriously, I just did not know how fast time goes after I opened my Cafe.

It's a really problem.
I have so many things to do and plan, only time goes by.

・・・Anyway, I managed to bake 60 Chestnuts cakes last night.

These are some I made last year... this year, 
they are not as pretty as these... why?


Tomorrow, I have planned to steam Kimi-Shigure. Well, my to-do list carries on and on...

I don't want to believe, it's already in October.

This year the weather is too mild... yes, it's still just like summer during midday. Nice and sunny... not a lot of rain nor wind.
This should be a season for strong rain and gust... right?

This month's sweet "Kimi-Shigure".
"Shigure" represents the surface of soil after large rain falls and dry period. You will see a lot of cracking on the soil.
This year, no rain before dry period, so not a lot of "Shigure" can be seen....

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Here is an announcement.

Next weekend, 11th and 12th of October, I will have a stall in a large event of traditional Japaneses Flower Arrangement Group, Ikenobo. There are a large number of exhibition as well as demonstrations by the future successor.

There was a request from them.

To make and serve some Traditonal Japanese sweets based on flowers and plants.

So I thought and thought.

There would be chestnuts, lespedeza, chrysanthemu, Japanese anemone, acer, ginkgo, rose and lavender, etc, etc... I am in the way of planning, so I still don't know what kind of sweets I can make.

If I have a chance, I would like to show some of photos here.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

The hall is just 5 min on foot from East Croydon station. Could not be any more convenient.

To be honest, I really don't know about flower arrangement.
However, beautiful flowers lift me up whenever I am down. Maybe it's same that tasty sweets lifts me up... ? This could be a good chance to get know about traditional flower arrangements.

So I hope you enjoy "not-so-traditional" an-an's sweets in the event of "inventing-traditional" Ikenobo Flower Arrangements.

I strongly advice to book the ticket on line, 

but there also tickets available at the door on those days.

My new project

There are so many people suffered from food allergy and food intolerance.

My friend unfortunately developed a very difficult condition and she seems to loose any interest in eating food. Which is really sad for me. Especially, she was one of my favorite customers.

Currently, I have quite a lot of people who needs to be careful for what they put in their mouth around of me. My son is one of them. He has nuts and sesame seeds allergy, and I need to be careful for sesame seeds oil sneaking into any foods.

Therefore, I cannot help thinking about her case as well.

As well as my son's allergic reaction, there are quite similar foods triggers reactions. It could be something oily, or it could be foods with protein (such as gluten), or some kind of food with sugar (lactose etc).

So, I started to think about sweets doesn't contain any of above for my customers.

My friend, mentioned above, cannot eat wheat or sugar for her life. On top of that, she is advised by doctor to avoid any carbohydrate, oil apart from coconut oil, daily, some fiber rich veges, egg white and chili.

It means, "OK foods" can be counted no more than 20.

I checked Wiki and it recommends high protein + low fat diet. But, if I remove the foods above, I cannot cook anything in my cafe. Well, I cannot find any of my menu not using rice, soy sauce nor wheat flour.  

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Now I am looking for an answer for her, who once enjoyed my sweets.

If I can find any hints to reach the answer, I will write another blog about this project.

For now, I am gazing at the book of  Standard Tables of Food Composition, which I have given at elementary school. I really like just looking at this text book and spend ages. Because of that, I can tell most of foods' composition even now. 

I really like using my brain to think about food.
However, it make me hungry after my brain consuming a lot of energy.

I should take bath and go to bed, before my brain started craving foods in the kitchen.

Good night. xx

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊


This is my new sign.
I need to talk about this girl as well.
So many things to write on my blog!!! Hopefully soon....