We went by Hatoya, our favored Japanese grocer, today to re-up on some supplies. Sadly, they were out of Sun Tonkotsu and Pocari Sweat, but they did have some new pre-made dashi bottles I’d like to try. They also finally got in refrigerated noodles on their own, so those’ll be fun to try as well!
I haven’t done a lot of ramen experimentation lately, so I thought it was past due to try some new broth ideas. We’ll start simple, just to get the taste of these potential quick dashi offerings down, then start to break it apart – October is a great time to experiment with soup because the family loves a good, warm bowl of ramen for dinner.
I also picked up some more mirin, which I’ve been out of for a few months now. My current recipe doesn’t call for it, but I really like using it, so we’ll add that back into the rotation.
The really exciting thing is the refrigerated noodles. Hatoya doesn’t usually have refrigerated noodles to purchase on their own, so I’m pretty excited to try these out – they’re a brand I’ve never used.
I also picked up some freeze-dried Tonkotsu, that’ll be interesting to try out.
Part of the reason I haven’t had time to experiment with ramen lately is simply due to the season: October, and Halloween specifically, are a pretty big deal in the Bezner household. Not only have I been holding my almost nightly Halloween Horror Gameplay Streaming event, but is also the first Halloween Mia gets to go Trick-or-Treating. She’s a ginormous Powerpuff Girls fan, so I decided to make her a PPG costume. Now, I haven’t sewn (sewed?) in over a decade, so there was a bit of trial and error to the prospect.
The first thing I had to figure out: how to thread a sewing machine. I simply could not remember and had to watch tutorials online.
Anyway, I grabbed myself a pattern – a cute little A-Line dress called The Lucy Dress on YouCanMakeThis.com – and set about to modifying it for a PPG with a lining (to make it a little more durable for a toddler and because it might be cold that night).
I then tried to remember everything my friend Lindsey had taught me about sewing and generally screwed up. I think, in a way, she’d be proud that I was able to remember just enough to get the job done, but she’d probably cringe at some of the technique.
The front and back before adding the PPG black stripe…
…And the front and back after measuring, cutting, and sewing in the black stripe!
And, of course, the completed piece.It is, by no means, the greatest piece of work I’ve ever made, and it’s definitely not professional or even amateur in its construction, but Mia absolutely loves it and I got to make something for her from the heart. Furthermore, it kind of got me back into sewing. I think I’ll try making a few other things, see where this interest takes me. It was fun to work on, didn’t take a lot of time, and the only person who’s judging the quality is a 2 1/2 year old who loves the dress anyway. It was a huge success. So, I’d better step up my game… I’ve already got two more I have to make. Mia has demanded both Bubbles and Blossom versions as well.
Happy October everyone!
