Summer sweets workshop

This Saturday, May 25th is the summer sweets workshop

It will take place at Issoan Tea School, 17761 NW Marylhurst Ct. Portland, OR 97229

From 1 -3 pm,  cost is $25. All recipes, ingredients and molds provided. Bring apron and container to take home your sweets.

We will be making mizu yokan, kudzu yaki and koi in a pond. 

Mizu yokan is a favorite summer time treat.  In Kyoto we would buy them chilled in these green bamboo tubes and they would poke a hole in the bottom so you suck them out and eat them.  You can also mold them in a pan and slice them into squares or if you have cooking cutters, cut them into shapes.

Kudzu yaki is made with kudzu starch and cooked until clear. The kudzu is poured into a mold and dusted with potato starch and grilled. 

Koi in a pond is an white bean paste koi sculpture in a round mold with kanten surrounding it.

Please mail me or call me if you would like to attend. 
Margie 503-645-7058
margie@issoantea.com
There will be a limit on the number of people to as many as I can fit in my kitchen.  (5-6 people).

Midorikai notes

My very good friend from Seattle has just started his year at Miorikai.  For the first month he is posting nearly everyday. For those of you curious about study in Japan at the heart of the Urasenke school, he is quite articulate. 

Unlike me, Philip has spent time in Japan going to University, he has friends in Japan and speaks Japanese, so his experience is quite different than mine.  I had never been to Japan, I didn't know anyone, and I could only speak three phrases not in the tea dialog or greetings: hajime mashite, Marjorie desu, biru onegaishi masu, and oishi desu.

And I know you will enjoy his photos of the fabulous sweets they get to eat every day.. Check out his blog: Drinking Liminality: Tea across borders
 

From the Archives

Last month was a very busy month with demonstrations, new classes, workshops and other things going.on.  You will hear about them in later posts but for now, here is my inspiration for a tea sweet I made.  It is a tsubaki (camellia) from my yard.  Picture of the tea sweet appears at the end of this post.

 It is hard to believe that I started this blog 5 years ago this month.  I was going back through the archives and I think there are some posts that haven't been seen if you have just joined recently.   One of these days I will organize everything and publish it in a more coherent manner.  In the meantime try looking at these:

1 year ago  Appropriate dress

2 years ago It's the water -- and a lot more

3 years ago: Where do things go in the mizuya?

4 years ago: Acquiring tea utensils part 2 for those curious here is part 1

5 years ago: Tea ceremony planning

If you are interested, please browse the rest of the archives.  There may be something you might find interesting.

Next year's Sakura mochi

The delicious sweet we have in April called Sakura mochi is composed of a bean paste and sweet sticky rice wrapped with a pickled cherry leaf.   We enjoy it while the Sakura cherry trees are blooming.  The interesting thing is that the Sakura blooms before there are leaves on the tree.  After the petals have all fallen, the leaves then come out.  So for next year's Sakura mochi, pick the leaves now and preserve them using this recipe:

How to pickle Sakura leaves:

Choose the double blossom cherry trees.  Make sure that they are not sprayed with chemicals.
Pick leaves in the Spring when tender but large enough to wrap sweets (about  4-6 inches long).  Most of the leaves come out after the blossoms have fallen. Don’t wait until they are too tough.

Wash leaves in cold water and remove stems.  Arrange in a single layer and steam for about a minute.  (it smells heavenly).  Rinse leaves in cold water to cool.  Put a layer of kosher salt in the bottom of container (plastic or ceramic). Do not use aluminum.  Over the salt put a layer of leaves, then salt, then leaves. End up with salt.  Pour hot water over the stack until leaves are submerges.  Put plastic wrap over and put a weight on top. 

Let pickle for 3-7 days.  Remove weight and layer leaves together in plastic wrap Do not wash.  Wrap and  put in freezer bag and freeze for next year.

Bloggers and Blog posts

I have been writing about Chado on this blog for nearly 6 years and there is always more to write about the way of tea.  I am opening it up again to my readers and taking requests.   What I'd like is to have more conversations and comments.  I'd like to write about things that interest readers so we can explore aspects of Chado together.  What would you like to see here on this blog?

For your interest I have updated the Issoantea.com site.   Please explore the new Articles, new Links and New Workshops.