Miho's favorites

Happy New Year , 2013 !   I wish 2013 will be filled with love, good health and happiness   for everyone in the world. The area I live in the USA   gets super dry especially winter season.  I had been trying many kinds of skin care for dry skin since I started living here. Actually, even when I was in Japan, I was always looking for something good for curing my dry skin problem. And a few days ago, I happened to find a Japanese discussion thread which talks about skin care cream. Guess what ? It’s Nivea .  Yes, original version of Nivea cream ! I suppose everyone knows that product. I was using Nivea cream when I was a little girl until I became 18.    Little girls are often curious what their mother is doing. In my case, it was my step-mother who was in her 20S at that time.  She was always doing her skin care with Shiseido-cosmetics with her make-up box with mirror after took a bath.     And I was copying what she wa

Today, I would like to talk about life.  This post is going to be personal.  Until when I was around late 30S, I thought death mostly happened when people became senior ages.  Or people who are much older than me.  My dad died at the age of 46 when I was 14.  My mother died at the age of 60. Since I left Japan, and started living in the USA, several my relatives passed way, who are my grandmother ( 89 ) and three uncles (82, and 70S )  And this year, the most recently, my older brother who is only 2 years older than me passed away.  He was 51years old.  It was very shocking and made me sad.  In my childhood, I grew up with him in the same room.                                        My brother (10) and me ( 8 ) He got serious illness when he was 19 years old and since then his health condition was often ups and downs and he had to spend his life at the hospital until the end.  Originally, he was very smart, active, sensitive , al

I love cooking which is easy and simple.    And today, I made wanton vegetable soup & fried rice for lunch. Eating out is sometimes great   but usually I feel the most comfortable to eat meals I cook by myself.   Because I can control the taste based on my favorite taste. Wanton vegetable soup  Ingredients ·         * Dumplings   (6 – 7)   ·        *   Sprouts   ·         *   Cabbages    ·         * Daikon ( Japanese reddish )   ·         *   Green onion       Soup ·        * Chicken soup stock    - 1 to   1 ½    ·        *   Salt - a little   ·        *   Pepper - a little            * Soy sauce   - 2 table spoons   ·        * Sesame oil – 1 table spoon     Dumplings ' s ingredients     1. Dumpling sheets -    40   2. Ground chicken – 200g   3. Green onion – 2 sticks   4. ginger – 1 ½ grated fresh ginger root       5. Seasonings – A( say sauce – 1 ½ table spoon, sesame oil – 1 ½ table spoon,