Momiji Manju Kitkats

Momiji manju is a traditional Japanese sweet made of red bean paste wrapped inside of a sweet dough that is baked or steamed in the shape of a maple leaf (momiji means maple, manju is a bun with filling). A friend gave me these  momiji manju kitkats a couple of months ago, and I am finally getting around to writing about them.

I love the packaging, even though it's not fall anymore, and the print of the maple leaf on the actual candy. It always feels special when they print something into the kitkat.

The flavor is a surprisingly accurate and enjoyable, a mixture of white chocolate and red bean paste. You'll need to be a fan of red bean paste to enjoy this one though - if you're not, or if you've never had it before you'll probably be wondering why your candy bar tastes a little bit like kidney beans got mixed in with your chocolate.

Momiji Manju Kitkats

I love the leaf detail

February Update

I've been pretty absent around here, haven't I? It's not just the blog though, I've been pulling back from other forms of social media as well. I've given it a good bit of thought, trying to really understand what's behind it. It's still hard to say. In some ways I think social media makes me feel more isolated than connected - I'm definitely happier since deleting the facebook app from my phone.

But my blog is different. As I've slowed down, I've found myself wondering if I'm running out of things to say. If this blog is coming to an end? But I don't really think it's time This has been such a fun/therapeutic/helpful space. I still love ever comment I get, whether it's someone thanking me for advice about gluten free food in japan, or just my mom saying that my pictures are cute. And having this space to think and write has really helped me process all the aspects of life here, especially in the early days when there was so much change. Often when I was struggling with writer's block I found that I could "warm up" by posting here on my blog, and then get into working on my book. Truth be told, my writing there lately has been pretty slow too. So maybe it's a problem of discipline.

I'm going to commit to a month of regular posting, and see what happens. Hopefully it will me good for me, and for my other writing as well.

In the meantime, here's what I've been up to.

Yet another birthday cake - German Chocolate this time

Dear Starbucks, this is a gross idea!

Godfather (the non-scary kind)

Valentine's Dinner - plus wine and chocolate!