Rose Hips Jelly as Year-end gift-giving tradition-Oseibo/Christmas gift!

I grown up as a Buddhist, but love Christmas gift-giving because it almost like Year-end gift-giving tradition in Japan to send seasonal gifts called Oseibo at the end of the year.
( also Ochugen in summer)
It's a gift for someone who has done something for you, like a teacher or a boss and other people to show appreciation, but I like Christmas gift-giving because I have a chance to give gifts to family and friends and anybody.

I have started make some gifts myself last five years.
Thinking about what I make every year is fun.
This year I decided to make wild Rose Hips jelly.
Since Eric and I have been harvesting wild rose hips in North Fork, California every Thanksgiving season. 


Eric is harvesting wild rose hips


It is a big bush of rose

I have been making Rose hip tea to enjoying it and offer at Seed Kitchen to purchase it.


Wild rose hips tea


One day I heard about rose hip jelly and jam so I got so curious and was wanting to make them last few years, but it take more rose hip to harvest to make it and challenging was takes time to make it.
Finally,  I was able to make time to make it successfully since we were able to harvest about 10 lbs wild rose hips.

10 lbs wild rose hips

Of course it had to be vegan macrobiotic rose hips jelly for me so I have created a recipes and came out very delicious. 
I love the taste of this jelly...mild sweetness and sourness make you feel so pleasantly balance  and when I taste it I sure feel the nature's kindness. 

I am very happy to be able to give this special seasonal gift as a Christmas gift this year to some of my friends.
I thank you so much for many people who are supporting me and what Eric and I do for Seed Kitchen. This is a token of appreciation!
People who are not able to taste my wild rose hips jelly I want to send you this recipes (the last part of this page) and photos to you to enjoy it and try it out for you to make it. Make sure let me know how it come out when you make it.


1. Wash wild rose hips


2. Cut all the steams


3. Start cook with water


4. Bring to boil


5. Cover and simmer for 1 ~ 3 hour


6. Mash them with a potato masher till puree


7. Strain them with fine mesh strainer

 
8. Put the all the liquid from strainer back into a pot



9. Add agar

 
10. Add  kuzu and



11. Add brown rice syrup


12. Put into a canning jar


13. Made sticker for special friends who will enjoy this special jelly


Pan fried Mochi


Pan fried Mochi and Wild Rose Hips Jelly



By the way, I spent so much time to making this wild rose hips jelly and I did not have much time to pick a gift for Eric this year and I think Eric was working so much time and he did not have much time to pick a gift for me either so... we did not know, but we gave each other the exact the same gift which was a massage gift certificate to each other LOL...we laugh so much!!!


Massage certificates as a Christmas gift for each other!

Rosehip Jelly Recipe for you

Ingredients

• 1 quarts rose hips (4 cups)
• 1 1/2 quarts water (5 cups)
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tea spoon agar
• 1 TBS kuzu
• 2 TBS brown rice syrup

about 3 cups liquid at the end.

• 6 8-ounce sterilized canning jars and fresh lids

Happy year end of 2013, have a good one everyone!

Vegan Macrobiotic Thanksgiving from North Fork

Thanksgiving day is my favorite holiday in America.

Eric is from Quebec, Canada and I am from Nagoya, Japan and we do not have family in the U.S. to celebrate Thanksgiving holiday here so we used invite friends who did not get together with their family at our house in Santa Monica.
We cooked lots of delicious vegan macrobiotic foods and had a good time.

About 10 years ago we started to come to North Fork, California where we have been practicing our Vipassana meditation. North Fork is near Yosemite National Park and the exact center of California where they have pure water, organic farmers, clean air and beautiful zillion stars.


Coming to North Fork definitely has given us an essential balance to our busy city life.
It is small village town and we have met a few good people here and we have gotten together with them past Thanksgiving, but this year everyone was busy except our good friend, Keith from Santa Barbara who moved to North Fork about 10 years ago.


This Thanksgiving was very good, started with going to the Vipassana meditation center for one hour in the first thing in the morning, had a good breakfast, went to a creek with our 4 legs family, and relaxed with tea of rose hips that we harvested last Thanksgiving time.

We really enjoyed just being with Keith and our 4 legs family to shared our gratitude and of course our vegan macrobiotic plant based foods of Thanksgiving!

With much love and gratitude,
Sanae ❤


Homemade Sage Tofu Unturkey 




Eric is slicing Homemade Sage Tofu Unturkey




Keith's Portobello Mushroom




Thanksgiving plate:  Homemade Sage Tofu Unturkey, Rice & Squash Stuffing with Almond and Sage, Mash Parsnip, Brussels Sprout Leaves, Japanese Roasted Sweet Potato, Fresh Cranberry Sauce,  and Rosemary Gravy




Wild Rose Hip Tea




Pecan Pie with Chritmas Cystus from Aj Trotter

Summer in Manzanita Lake and Creek side

Our favorite thing to do in the summer has been going to Manzanita lake and Whisky Creek of Cascadel Woods in North Fork, California.

North Fork http://www.north-fork-chamber.com/visit.html

is at the exact center of California. 

It is at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada near Yosemite National Park.  
North Fork is at an elevation of 2638 feet (804 m), 9.89 miles (15.92 km) miles south east of Bass Lake and 14 miles (23 km) from Oakhurst. 

We found North Fork through our meditation practice of Vipassana center in North Fork in 2008 and have been going there every two months or more to gate a way from the city.

Manzanita Lake is a small lake only about a mile long and perhaps a couple hundred yards wide but this little-known jewel is great for fishing and relaxing for people and a great swimming spot for dogs, especially our brood.  When I first time saw this lake in 2008 I thought I had found paradise!

Manzanita Lake is well hidden from the roadway leading to the lake and is completely edged with vegetation and trees. This makes the lake a fine place to canoe / kayak while fishing or watching birds.

In recent years a few pairs of Canadian Geese have been nesting and raising their young there. The geese and assorted ducks can often be hand fed according to the locals. Osprey, Red-tailed Hawks, Acorn Woodpeckers, and Red-winged blackbirds can also be seen. The lake is regularly stocked with trout and has large- mouth bass as well.

The stream that feeds the lake offers a fine upstream paddle that's not difficult and gives you a bit of exercise. The water ways meander around little islands of wild growth and trees. A few well placed sand bars give you an opportunity to park your vessel and watch birds or simply take in the sounds of the running water. 

Whisky Creek of Cascadel Woods

The elevation is 3,648 feet. It is a little higher than North Fork. Cascadel Woods is very good for hiking. Whisky creek is a good place for dips on a hot day. We just love to take our dogs there to hike and dive in the cold mountain water.

There are the photos from summer.

An adventure in North Fork and General Updates

I arrived in North Fork on Thursday. The drive was beautiful. It was snowing heavily on Friday morning and my original plan was to leave from Sanae's and Eric's cabin in North Fork on Friday but I got snowed in! I had to wait until it stopped snowing, and they finally plowed the roads so that my little 2-wheel truck had enough power to move through the 6 inches of snow!

Here are some pictures of North Fork and me clearing the snow out from under my truck. I took the dogs for a hike and they just love to play in the snow. It is really pretty here, especially as the sun comes out and melts all the snow. I'll be able to drive out of here now! Don't get me wrong though. I loved being stuck here because it gave me extra time to spend on my little vacation. The cabin is gorgeous. Eric and Sanae spent a long time and put in hard work to remodel it, but as you can see from the pictures, they did a great job. I've been happy to help Sanae around the cabin.

I've been proofreading Sanae's new book which is called, "love, sanae" and it's almost finished! Sanae made some excellent dishes while I was here. She made miso soup, mochi, brown rice, kukicha tea (I like to mix the tea with grain coffee. It may not sound appealing but I like it!), vegetables, seitan, and some other great foods. Now I know what her recipes in her book must taste like if prepared properly.

On another exciting note, Seed was listed in the top 10 best vegan vegetarian macrobiotic restaurants in Los Angeles (by Blackbook), and this is only after being open for 3 months! I'm looking forward to seeing what impact this will have on Seed; I think it will be a very positive one!

Things are really starting to gain momentum in Eric's and Sanae's world. 2009 is proving to be a great year!

So my macrobiotic journey continues, and as I spent these last two days here in North Fork, I notice what a difference being in a secluded part of central California makes. I slept like a baby. It's very quiet here. I'm glad I was able to come up here and give myself a chance to get away for a couple of days, while at the same time helping Sanae with what she's up to in her life. I noticed that my macrobiotic meals here in North Fork were more enjoyable and meaningful, and I think it's because I am out of the city; this gave me a chance to really clear my mind and enjoy the present.

I'm going to stop at Yosemite on my way back to Los Angeles. Hopefully they'll let me in since I don't have chains on my tires. I want to go hiking and take some pictures.

I feel so warm and comfy after having winter foods; it warmed up my body temperature. It's cold here but I think that the drive back won't be too bad. In fact, I'm looking forward to it.

Make a note to eat at Seed this week and buy "love, sanae" when it comes out. You'll be doing yourself a favor!

Until next time,

Joel