It's hard to believe that another year has gone by so quickly. The renovation works at our apartment is almost finished and we will be going back this week. I will have to close my cooking class for relocation this week. I will be doing classes at my home in Meguro between 23 and 25 Dec. and then break for winter holiday from the 26th. I will resume classes on the 9th of January. 

We are all looking forward to going back home and I can't wait to do classed in my new kitchen. For those of you who have come to my class, thank you so much for your support. For those of you who are interested to come, I hope I can meet you soon! I wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! 

Just a glimpse of my new kitchen that just arrived last week:

Yesterday was the last day before we break for spring holiday. I have two graduation ceremonies to attend this week with a public holiday in between. I will be closed until April 9th when school starts with an exception of one class scheduled on March 28th. This will be an Ohanami Obento Class, as the Sakura blossoms along the Meguro River in front of my apartment will be in full bloom on that day. You can enjoy Ohanami (Sakura Gazing) along the river before you come to my class.
If anyone is interested in joining, please contact me through my contact form.

Ohanami Obento Class

• Date and Time: March 28th at 11 am. - 4 spots left.
• Menu : Yakitori (grilled chicken on skewers, Tamagoyaki (Egg Omelette), Three vegetable side dishes. Onigiri (rice balls)
• Class fee :7000 yen per person

Yesterday was my class before I break for one month. Simply Oishii Japanese Cooking Class and Wagashi School will resume business on Feb. 21st. Also, we will be closed during spring break (March 20 - Apr. 9th) Apologizes for any inconveniences caused. You can still email me for bookings for during my break. 

I look forward to resuming class with more hands-on fun activities for my mochi class.

For class dates, please go to my class calendar.

My new course, "Mochi & Wagashi Class" has proved to be quite popular this month. This course will teach you how to make strawberry daifuku mochi and Tofu warabi mochi in addition to the  two types of nerikiri wagashi. 

I will have another Mochi & Wagashi Class this Friday (Dec. 15th) at 10 am, so those of you interested, please contact me.

The autumn wagashi has been very well received and we had a lot of fun making wagashi. My class on Tuesday was joined by a group from Singapore who insisted in coloring the autumn leaves green as the leaves do not turn brown in Singapore. They also used unconventional bright colors to make the last piece, which was very interesting.

I always say that we use things in nature as the motif for wagashi, and since nature is never perfect, you don't have to be perfect. We can use our imagination to make our own shapes and that is the beauty of making  nerikiri wagashi.

We also received a visit from the writers from Via Magazine. This magazine can be found in the pockets of the airport limousines. My class will be featured in the Winter Issue to be released in January. 

Following my 2 weeks of Wagashi teaching, I will be holding another one next week (Nov. 9th) Please sign up if you are interested.
 

My cooking class will be closed for summer holiday from tomorrow, which is a national holiday in Japan.  My children will be home most of the time now as the summer cram school is over and that would make it a bit difficult to do classes in my dining room. Thank you for your understanding.

My wagashi class has been popular during summer, making seasonal motifs such as sun flower, morning glory and gold fish in water. Although the sakura is not a summer flower, I will still do this one as it is my favorite as you can see on my logo.

From September, we will be doing the autumn motifs such as the persimmon,  chrysanthemum, and maybe something with autumn colors.
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We will be going to Hakodate City in Hokkaido on the bullet train to spend time with my family. It's great that I have recovered from all my illness and strong enough to travel. I look forward to doing more classes in September. If you would like to book a class just let me know. 
Have a great summer holiday! ( I will still be updating this blog during summer!)
Miyuki

Following up on my previous post regarding my health condition, test results are out and seem like I have to go through surgery. Hopefully they won't keep me in the hospital for so long, but I will have to close my cooking class in June (Last class will be my wagashi class on June 2nd.)

I will resume taking bookings around end June depending on how I'm recovering. I apologize for the inconvenience and hope to see you all soon!

Hope everyone has had a great holiday. My children are finally back to school and peace has arrived this morning and I am busy tiding up the house.

I've recieved a request for the intensive cooking course to start in February. If anyone is keen on joining this course, please let me know. I can arrange a day that is convenient for all the participants (weekdays at 10:00 unless otherwise requested).

This is a great course if you are new to Japan and would like to learn the basics of Japanese Cooking. The course will start off with a tour to the local supermarket to introduce you to all the basic condiments and ingredients. The first class will teach you how to make dashi, the fish stock which is the basis of most Japanese dishes. We will make couple of dishes using the dashi.

The other classes will guide you through the most basic ingredients, soy sauce, mirin, tofu, miso. In each class you will make one soup, 1 or 2 side dishes, main dish and a rice dish. You may choose what you would like to make for the last class.

For details of this course please visit this page.

The latest class schedule is out. I have some spots left for these classes. If you are booking for two or more people, other dates can be arranged depending on availability.

• October 11th (10:00 am) - Sushi & Home Cooking Class 
• October 18th (10:00 am) - Cooking for Special Occasions
• October 25th (10:00 am ) - Vegetarian Obento Course
• November 2nd (10:00 am) - Vegetarian Gyoza Class
• November 12th (10:00 am) - Vegan Home Cooking Class
• November 15th (1:30 pm) - Wagashi (Traditional Japanese Sweets) Class 
• November 16th (1:30 pm) - Tofu Class  ​

School has finally started today, and my two boys are off to school. Since the new school year is in spring, they are just starting their 2nd term with loads of homework to do during summer (poor Japanese children!)

Peace has finally arrived and I was able to do some house cleaning for a couple of hours today without any disruption.  So, I am now ready to start my classes.

​I'm open for booking on weekdays between 10 am and 5 pm. Just send me your request through my contact form. I just need : requested time and date, number of people - min. 2 and max 6, and the course you would like to take and I will get back to you within 24 hours. If you have not received my reply, please check your SPAM folder or send me a message on facebook.

I've also started to post recipes on Cookpad as well as added new recipes to Oyshee Recipes (new recipes not published yet). So do take a look and follow me for more recipes to come.