KAZUKO's Organic Umeboshi Plums from California

Seed Kitchen http://seedkitchen.com/, our organic vegan macrobiotic restaurant, started offering
special organic umeboshi plums from Oroville, California.

Umeboshi plums are traditional Japanese pickles used in morning porridge, sushi, rice balls, salad dressings, beverages and more. Pickled with red shiso (beefsteak) leaves and sea salt, these plums taste tart and sour.
Umeboshi plums are a super alkaline food for maintaining balance and aiding the digestive process.

kazuko's organic umeboshi plums in our original blue bowl:



Our long-time friend, Kazuko Yamazaki, moved to Orland, California in1968 from Japan with her husband, Jyunsei. They planted about 450 ume plum trees to realize their dream of making umeboshi plums in the U. S. They also grew red shiso leaves (Japanese medicinal herb beefsteak) in their property for making umeboshi plums. (Umeboshi plums’ reddish color comes from red shiso leaves.)
They made their umeboshi plums in the truly traditional way, as they grew the ume trees organically, picked the plums by hand, and sun dried them for three days under California’s long hours of sunshine. While sun drying they have to be turned frequently. I remember when I went to help them I learned to continuously turn each ume plum for hours so they wouldn’t get burned and stick to the bamboo matt.
They have only used selected choice sea salt and their home-grown red shiso leaves to make their premium hand-made umeboshi plums for many years.

Jyunsei passed in 2000 and Kazuko kept up the work by herself, but she eventually retired in 2008. Since Jyusei passed, she was not able to promote her umoboshi plums widely. Settled in a retirement home, Kazuko still has umeboshi plums for sale, so we decided not only to help her, but to seize this opportunity to spread the love and care with which she and Jyusei prepared these umeboshi plums.

The umeboshi plums that we received from Kazuko are made in 2003~2005.
Umeboshi plums are like wine; aged ones are rich in enzymes and have a naturally sour delicious flavor. Most companies limit their production to a yearly basis, while others use preservatives. So this is the rare occasion to find such aged umeboshi plums.

Here is an umeboshi story from my cookbook “Love, Sanae,” on page 95 (including a photo of the beautiful umeboshi plums that I turned at Kazuko’s on page 163.)


An umeboshi story: There is “God” in the umeboshi plum!
My mom told me that when I was four or five years old, I really loved eating umeboshi. After eating the umeboshi fruit, I kept the pit in my mouth for a few hours as though it was candy. When there was no more flavor, I asked my mom to crack it open so that I could eat the insides. My mom got tired of breaking open the pits for me
and asked me why I liked eating the insides so much. My answer was “there is God inside the pit, and when I eat it, I feel God is helping me and making me feel good.” I certainly remember eating umeboshi, but I don’t recall expressing my rather profound statement. My mom just thought I was being a silly little girl, but as an adult, when I
started to teach macrobiotics and explained to her how valuable and precious umeboshi plums and pits are, she remembered what I had said as a
child. Perhaps my destiny in the universe was sealed right then and there — to follow the macrobiotic way.

Usually none organic umeboshi plums are sold at $15~16 for 7 oz.at a natural market.
We are selling Kazuko’s umeboshi plums at a special price of $15 for 8 oz or $30 for 16 oz(1 lb).
Please come and purchase some before they are gone!!!
If you can't come to our restaurant Seed Kitchen  http://seedkitchen.com/
we will ship anywhere in the U.S. so please contact us seedkitchen@gmail.com



Here are two easy a umeboshi plum recipes from "Love, Sanae" healing vegan macrobiotic cookbook. You see the cover is brown rice congee (porridge) with Umeboshi Plum!!!


1. Ume Bancha
This drink is easy to make. I find it to be a very effective
drink to perk me up in the morning before breakfast, and
the sourness of the umeboshi helps stimulate my appetite.

MAKES ONE SERVING

one-half or one umeboshi
1 cup Kukicha (twig tea)


1. Place the umeboshi in a tea cup.
2. Pour in hot tea and stir well. Drink while hot and eat the plum.

The combination of umeboshi and Kukicha (twig tea) is good for strengthening the blood and circulation through regulation of digestion.


2. Umeboshi Plum Dressing

MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP
1 1⁄2 to 2 tablespoons umeboshi plum paste (about one whole plum)
1 cup purified water or kombu dashi
2 teaspoons scallions, finely chopped

1. In a suribachi, combine the umeboshi paste and water until well blended.
2. Serve with Boiled Salad or other vegetables.


or just eat with your whole grains!!!
they are delicious so don't eat too much...

Love,
Sanae

Essential Foods to Help Protect Against Radiation

Soooo shocked to find out that Quake and Tsunami happened in Japan last Fri. March 11.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/world/asia/15japan.html?ref=todayspaper

Now Potential Nuclear Disaster as Radiation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/world/asia/15nuclear.html?ref=todayspaper

To help protect against radiation, people in danger of contamination should eat 1 or 2 bowls of miso soup every day, prepared with kombu seaweed and root vegetables and 2-3 year aged unpasteurized barley miso.

They should also consume brown rice, millet, and other whole grains prepared in whole form, Hokkaido pumpkin and other round or root vegetables, small amounts of seaweed cooked in other styles, shoyu(soy sauce) broth, umeboshi plums, gomashio and other condiments.

It is best to avoid or reduce oil, raw food, animal food (including meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, and fish), fatty food, fruit, nuts, stimulants, and alcohol until the danger is past.

If there is no facility to cook, just eat umeboshi plums, mix miso in drinking water or eat nori sea vegetables will help.
My recommendation is just chew, chew, and chew well with your prayers!!!

This approach should be more effective than simply taking iodine pills, but the iodine pills are recommended for temporary emergency use until such time as they are able to obtain miso and cook.

Here is photo of Sea Vegetable, Umeboshi plum, and Barley Miso


If you want help, please pray for people in Japan from your heart!!!
Close your eyes and send healing warm energy...

http://prayforjapan.jp/message/?lang=en

And please donate even a small amount.
http://www.globalgiving.org/

Thank you!!!! Arigatou!

Love,
Sanae

LOL Valentine Card!

This was 19th Valentine day for Eric and I together.

Since Eric had to work this year on Valentine day at Seed we decided to celebrate it on Feb. 12, Sat.

Eric made a delicious valentine pancake with berries and maple syrup in the morning.
I made heart shape coasters with an organic cotton and recycled cotton clothe for our teacups.
Later we went the SM beach for our early valentine sunset dinner.
We found out that we both had the same ideas of Valentine's cards this year.
They were both so funny and we laughed so much.
Hahaha…hahaha…hahaha…

Almost 20 years together we are choosing LOL (lots of laugh!!!)over a romance for our valentine day.

Happy Valentine Day for you too!!!

Valentine Pancake!



Look at Eric’s face when he opened the card that I gave him. (It had smooch sounds and it surprised him so much!)



Eric and the card!



The Valentine card form Eric was licking of dog for me.



These are my first heart shape coasters.



The coasters with teacups.

My favorite day..

What is your favorite kind of day?
For me, just an ordinary one...

It was a beautiful morning,
so I decided to go on the rooftop after breakfast and spend time with the sky, wind and sunshine.

There was a beautiful sound of music that the wind was making with the bamboo trees.
The birds were singing joyfully, the hummingbird was so cute as it darted about,
and the bees were busy going from purple basil flowers to flowers.
Even the airplane engine’s sound was like a musical instrument conducted by the sun.

My dogs and cat sleeping soundlessly next me was a relaxing sight and gave me a safe feeling.

So there is nothing special about this day,
but it is my favorite kind, when I am feeling connected inside and outside.
Feeling satisfied and content with the simplest,
most basic things may be the secret to happiness, after all.


Oro loves a ball so much she has to sleep with it:



Sky with Sage and Purple Basil Flowers:



Bubu and Mai-cat of 18 years old:


This red hamming bird is so beautiful and was taking a break:


Kula and Lumi (left to right)


Leo likes to keep one of his eyes open while he is sleeping:


Blueberries flowers are so cute:

New Year Seed Community Celan Up!

A New Year makes one motivated to kick off a fresh beginning,
or at least I had resolved to write about all the classes and events we had,
but January came and went already. Oh, boy…

Now it was just Chinese New Year here,
so here’s a fresh look at a tradition we hold dear to our heart,
as humble and small-scale as it may seem.

Sunday, Jan. 2

The year’s first Seed Community Cleanup (SCC) day met with a rather cold morning. There was a lot of trash for us to be dealt with after the holidays. We felt energized and ready for the task.

The volunteers were Vladcka, a ceramic artist who moved to the U.S. from Czech Republic, and a SCC regular, and there was newcomer Amanda, an actress who just moved to Santa Monica from New York. She is originally from Australia and a big fan of Seed. By the time we finished the entire block we were all warmed up and we felt as though our souls got cleaned up, too. Not too many people know about our little act in the eco-green movement, but we have welcomed volunteers on Sundays since Seed opened two years ago. We looked back and counted 62 times! Still, each time we feel it’s only a beginning. There is so much more we can do to help the earth.

The next SCC is on Sunday, Feb. 13. Hope you can join us (and get 10% off from Seed’s lunch)!

Amanda, Vladka and Eric (from left to right)

Greeting the New Year Sunrise!

Ten years seem like a long time.
It is possible to do something you thought was impossible to do when you have waited patiently for ten years. I used to go to the Santa Monica mountains to see the first sunrise of each new year,
as is the Japanese tradition. For ten years, after my car accident, I was not able to do this.

Last year was a very challenging year for me personally, and I really wanted to make a difference this year. So I decided to go see the New Year sunrise. I woke at 5 am even though we got in late from a new year’s eve party and went to bed at 2 am.
The Santa Monica Mountains were so beautiful, and I saw the moon in the dark blue sky.
Waiting for the sun to come up was so calming and peaceful.

Ten years were worth the wait!!!

3 Funniest and Most Sustainable Best Christmas Gifts of 2010

We are very blessed to receive gifts from family and friends. Even more blessed to be able to give some gifts, as simple as they may be,

to family and friends and staff of Studio mugen and Seed restaurant.

We are a small company. Most of our staff are part timers, but 16 people in all!!!
We are blessed to have them, and happy that they are healthy.

In Japan, we have a tradition of giving "oseibo," a gift to say "thank you" at the end of year.

I did not grow up exchanging Christmas gifts much, but I like this Japanese tradition of “oseibo” a lot.
Eric, of course, having grown up as a Catholic, loves to exchange gifts, so this year we did something different: we picked funny and sustainable gifts and ranked them!

* These are the gifts of 2010:

* Our cat, Mai, want to observe by the fire place:

* All the dogs are getting excited to receive their gifts:

Eric’s best 3 gifts:

1. Pen – from our assistant Kumi

This simple pen was the funniest story maker. Eric was opening this pen while he was talking to his mom in Québec on Skype.

When he opened it he found three batteries so she asked him what are they could be for?

He could not come up with an answer and suddenly said “a vibrator???” and she said “what?" silent... "A pen vibrator???” We all could not stop laughing. Well, we found out that it was a pen with a light, but to us it was a pen that brought us so much laughter. Thanks to Kumi!

2. Roast Beef Knit Hat – from Eric’s mom

We haven't eaten meat for 18 years, but Eric’s mom decided that a knit that said, of all things, “Roast Beef,” would bring us more laughter and jokes, and she was right. Aha, ha, ha...

3. Double Vintage Army Watches – from Sanae

I saw double rainbows a few days before Christmas, so it occurred to me to give Eric two watches (since he likes watches), but he thought he needed two because one was not enough to keep him from not being late.

* Eric and his best 3 gifts:

Sanae’s best 3 gifts:

1. Solar powered plant and bee – from Vladka, friend

When I saw it in the box they were all separated, but once it was put together, how cute it was! And it moves by sunlight!!! I love it.

2. Flying pigs - another gift from Vladka, friend I was telling some people that I am an "ochoushimono," a Japanese word that means someone who gloats maybe a bit too much at the risk of backfiring at her own expense, so when I receive compliments I am like a pig who climbs a tree. The flying pig gifts are (hopefully) a manifestation of my ability to stay a float! What an insightful gift from dear Vladka.

3. Mini-flower base – from Eric I love arranging small wild flowers and herbs so Eric made a wonderful choice. Thanks to Eric!
   

After laughing endlessly and enjoying our holiday meal (Ummm, so good!)

we headed for the couch....zzzzzzzzzz... guess who was snoring???

ahahaha.. LOL!

Love,

Sanae