Warm Autumn

So far so good, for Autumn that is.

We are getting very close to winter and can only hope it will not be too severe, as the last two winters were.
Until then, though, the weather has been good for us. The mild temperatures, little rain or wind make it a pleasant, maybe not too cosy, Autumn. I heard that it actually should be much worse, at least it used to be like that in Scotland.
For now I and S are enjoying the favorable weather. I took a day off yesterday and S had the brilliant idea to go to the Botanic Gardens. We went by bus and had a lovely walk in the gardens; this was one of the best memories this year, possibly, walking with S, getting some sun even, having a super-tasty sandwiches and hot (warm) tea from the thermos. It is really nice to be married, just to feel good not doing anything special, as long as it is with the other half. You do get stressed, especially if you have a lot of work, or the other person has a lot of work, but it will mostly pass.
We have also recently discovered the tv drama shinya shokudo, good thing we are always eating while watching the series - we would get really jealous otherwise. I especially respect the simple foods - nekomanma, butter rice, tamagoyaki, basically I could eat everything else too, maybe not tarako. Soo tasty and so simple (well, many of the things)
That is also the reason we had Egg and Mayo sandwiches yesterday - good idea picked from the movie.
I will definitely have some nekomanma today (I am currently extremely full and still when I think about this taste, I feel getting hungry, or greedy...)

We eat (from my point of view) extremely good things - S makes wonderful meals. I only cook very occasionally, last week it was Thai Red Curry based on Jamie Oliver and was really good, tomorrow it is going to be Lasagne, made in our new lovely ceramic casserole dish. I do like cooking but I cannot say I cook a lot, considering that S makes like 80% of our food. She is also a much better cook than me, has a great sense of balance and taste. I am and should really be, extremely grateful to her for her time and effort. She even looks tasty herself.

One last thing I cannot let pass unmentioned - it is our nuka-zuke or rice bran. I am extremely glad to have been able to find a decent clay pot (made in Italy even) for our pickling purposes. We have so far tried nuka cucumber (lovely), daikon (great) and carrot - heavenly. Probably it is too salty but the taste is really full bodied and tangy, combined with a mild smell. In other words, so good.

I love Japanese cuisine. Oh by the way, I advanced one level in Japanese food - I had eaten Inago no tsukudani (just one though) so it is + 1 level  of food experience, already dan level, or?