After 19-1/2 hours of nonstop travel, Scott and I have finally reached our honeymoon destination: Japan!

The flight was twelve hours long because of good winds. When we got the tickets, we thought is would be 13-1/2 hours. Thank goodness for small favors, sleep masks, ear plugs and a continuous stream of movies. I caught Shrek 3, Spiderman 3 (enough the realize that I didn’t need to see more), Blind Dating (great flick; go rent it) and Next.

Getting downtown was easy on the train. The lovely young lady at the Japan Rail Travel Office warned us how crazy Tokyo Station would be. The only things that come close in my experience is Penn Station during rush hour. This was much busier!

The Shinkansen, the bullet train, rocks. It goes so fast that my ears popped when we entered tunnels.

It was raining when we reached Kyoto. The bellhop quipped, “The weather report said this [meaning the downpour] is nice.” She assured us that it would be cooler tomorrow. I’m still probably going to buy both a fan and an umbrella tomorrow.

Not sure whether I should go to sleep or order room service. In either case, the adventure has definitely begun.

For Scott’s perspective on the matter, check out his blog at scottj.net.

I’m always on the lookout for healthier cooking solutions. I was wondering if I could substitute unsweetened soymilk for cream in a sauce and recently had the opportunity to try it out.

Ingredients:
1/2 C. sake
1-1/2 Tbsp. flour
1 C. soymilk (I used a vanilla flavored variety!)
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
salt and pepper

I had coated boneless, skinless chicken breasts in seasoned flour and herbs and cooked them in olive oil. When they were done, I placed them on a plate in a warm oven while I made the sauce. Instructions follow.

Pour the sake into the pan and deglaze. Bring to a boil until the liquid is reduced by half. Add flour and stir into a paste. Add soymilk in small increments stirring constantly to avoid getting lumps. Reduce heat to medium and add Dijon mustard. Continue over heat for another minute. Stir in rice vinegar and season to taste. Serve immediately.

Quite nummy!

Since my move from New York, I’ve had a chance to get in touch with my Inner Cook. We were often estranged because I had a crazy (work) schedule, but I’m glad to say we’re happy as two peas in a pod these days.

One thing I love about summer is the Vidalia Onion. It is mild and sweet and makes AWESOME onion rings! They’re scrumptious and yummy and I’ll be doing extra penance in the fitness room as a result. Onion rings, like Christmas, come but once a year.

As I am an unabashed fan of Alton Brown, I love his show Good Eats (Iron Chef and Feasting on Asphalt). What’s not to love about an award-winning food geek? Every time I watch his shows, I either want to buy gadgets at Bed, Bath, and Beyond or pull out a cookbook and try a new recipe. So it’s funny that I haven’t checked out his recipes. I think that’s one of the dangerous things about a cooking show. It’s seductive and makes cooking look easy, but is easy looking, easy doing? The granola bars (that I finished this morning) certainly were so much so that I’m making another batch today. Can homemade beef jerky (or perhaps buffalo jerky) be far behind?

Boo! has also been enjoying a number of new treats. He gets apple slices on occasion. This summer he’s tried seedless grapes, strawberries, peaches (from the farmer’s market), and a couple of varieties of oranges. Oranges are his favorite by far. He hasn’t gotten any watermelon (another favorite) because I’m allergic to it, but he will when Scott and I go on our honeymoon. Moan as he might, he didn’t convince me that he should have a taste of the cherry pie I made last night.

Via Bill Shunn:

Your Score: Cheezburger cat

75% Affectionate, 59% Excitable, 60% Hungry

Sure, you deserve one. You helped popularized lolcats from a running gag to an online sensation. Now mainstream media writes asinine columns on this ‘phenomenon’, students write theses on the topic, programming languages adopt the grammar, and losers write tests about them on dating sites. Now take your cheezburger and never touch the internets again.

To see all possible results, checka dis.