Candied Sweet Potatoes by Elizabeth Andoh

(Part of a weekly series by a group of bloggers, featuring Gourmet Live's 50 Women Game Changers in Food - see end of post for list of bloggers participating & their blogs)

I know I'm not a child, but, I unconsciously went into my own mode of Spring Break - ending up with a Blog Break. I haven't blogged in over a week and somehow it was good to take that break. I did miss blogging and not catching up on a lot of my favorite blogs. I will be getting to all of them this weekend and I apologize for not being there all this while. I did something for my blog during this period though - I bought my own domain name! :D It's not a big deal but it felt like my home got a face lift. And over the next week or so, I'll be tweaking some design stuff too. But next week's going to extremely busy, with Easter coming up and a lot of choir commitments during Holy week, so let's see. It's going to be fun!

Source: The Japan Times

For now, I'm getting back to my blog with the 50 Women Game Changers Series and we have one of the culinary world's leading experts in Japanese cuisine at #41 - Elizabeth Andoh. Though she's not of Japanese heritage, Elizabeth's heart and home have found their place in Japan for over 4 decades now. How she ended up in Japan happens to be a "happy accident" as she puts it. She was born in America, grew up here and studied in New York and the University of Michigan. While she was a student here, she learned of this unclaimed scholarship to Japan and took it thinking it would be interesting. So, in the mid 60s, she landed in Shikoku in rural Japan, where she later met the love of her life. Overcoming the initial cultural shock, she grew to love the place and all of Japanese culture and food. She learnt a lot from the Andoh family during her initial years - Senior Mr Andoh was the one who first took interest in teaching young Elizabeth how to speak Japanese and his wife was an inspiration when it came to food and matters of the kitchen. Her mother-in-law was a vegetarian much like the people born in the late 19th and early 20th century in Japan - Elizabeth later dedicated a book on Kansha cooking, inspired by this. 

Having developed a deep interest in the philosophy and art of Japanese cuisine, Elizabeth enrolled at the Yanagihara School of Traditional Japanese Cuisine in Tokyo. Shortly after, she launched her own culinary arts program in 1972, called A Taste of Culture. The program hosts tasting sessions, market tours, cooking classes and workshops for foreign tourists and expats who are interested to learn the intricacies of Japanese food and cuisine. She has since been the greatest advocate for Japanese cuisine among english speaking chefs and cooks.

Roasted Portobello & Spinach Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I'd been dreaming of a grilled cheese sandwich for a while now. Not literally, but figuratively.

During my sleep though, I never have ordinary dreams. Only over-the-top bizarre ones where I wake up wondering what in the world just happened. My dreams will start with one scenario but switch to different scenarios seamlessly. It's actually fun waking up and piecing things together. Like watching a movie with a random storyline which shifts and changes during the entire course with no purpose at all. I never remember my dreams beyond half an hour, but for that half hour, it's a thrilling ride to decipher what I dreamt about.

For the longest time, I had a recurring dream where I'd be all alone in a deserted place. The place resembled the house and colony we lived in at that time. I'd be running through the streets and eventually the house looking for someone, anyone. But, there would never be anyone. It was quite a disturbing dream, come to think of it. All I'm glad is that I don't have those anymore. Nowadays my dreams mostly revolve around friends and family and some random storyline. These I'm actually cool with.

But, even better than the real dreams are my dreams of a delicious grilled cheese sandwich. I'll take dreams of that ANY DAY. In fact, I pray for these grilled cheese kinda dreams to become real. Who wouldn't??