OK, I've been experimenting around a bit with noodles and that kinda teriyaki flavour and tonight I think I hit the jackpot. The recipe is so simple and quick. The only real stumbling block is the ingredients. They are all available from the supermarket, but it's annoying having to buy whole bottles just for a small amount. But hopefully you'll like it and make it again and again!
Ingredients:
noodles (ordinary stir fry ones are fine. Soba noodles if you can be bothered)
some spring onions
some sesame seeds (toasted until golden brown in a dry pan)
1,5 teaspoons rice vinegar
2,5 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons honey
4-5 teaspoons soy sauce
any vegetables you want to add, perhaps prawns or something
Combine rice vinegar, sesame oil, honey and soy sauce in a bowl. Boil noodles. If you want cold noodles (very nice) then just run them under cold water after boiling. Combine the sauce and the noodles. Mix in sesame seeds and the some chopped up spring onion. You can also mix in some lightly fried peppers or mushrooms or whatever you like. See how simple it is?
Created: 2008-01-10 20:32,
Tags: food,
japan,
recipe,
Comments: 0
I seem to have a deco tape fixation at the moment. I once was given a lovely flower print deco tape roll by a good friend and I use it all the time to brighten up packages and letters. I was also inspired by a post on this site all about tape. But there just isn't enough of the stuff in Britain. I've seen some brilliant tape on the Korean stationary site 10 x 10. Take a look at its wonderment:
I also came across another Japanese stationary site which produces zakka inspired goodies such as these stamps:
I've already mentioned the latest trend for using Russian type in Japanese/Korean stationary. Well, I stumbled across it again on the above mentioned website. An illustration book dedicated to the Russian alphabet. Check out a sample of it here.
I need to go to Japan/Korea! There aren't enough websites out there selling these things. I've been surfing and surfing in vain. But I guess I won't be going for a long long time. I have other travel plans first.
Oh and why can't you ever get the last bit of juice out of the carton? Well I decided to teach it a less and I cut the carton open. Aha! The last bit of juice. Don't cheat me out of the last bit of juice! Then I drank it and it went all down my face. Carton 1 Anna 0. :(
One more thing: indie from biting the hand that feeds is dedicating a week of blogging to magazines and online magazines. Can't wait for that. Love her obsession for printed media.
The clocks went back last night! We didn't even know and didn't even appreciate the extra hour in bed. What a waste. I'll have to wait a whole year for that extra hour.
Created: 2007-10-28 20:34,
Tags: Japan,
Korea,
stationary,
stuff,
Comments: 2
I'm in no way an expert on graphic design or even design in general. The closest I ever got to designing a product was making a chair back when I was 16. To be fair, it was a damn good chair with a damn good design, but I'm not going into details here. But when it comes to graphics, patterns, colour combinations I know what I like and I know what makes the level of electrical activity in my brain increase. I know what looks good, I know what looks bad. Basically, I would like to think I have a certain amount of taste. I browse around in magma...I have taste! :)
Yeah, so back to the actual point of this post and this is to let you know about an excellent blog all about patterns and print. There's everything you've ever wanted to know and you can scroll for literally hours through all the lovely colours and ideas.
For pages and pages of inspiration I highly recommend these books all about pattern. There's a whole series of books inspired by different themes from Scandinavia to dots and stripes. Each page is dedicated to one pattern and it's all just a big party of colour and wonderment. They are available in Magma or on Amazon, but unfortunately they are a little pricey as they come all the way from Japan.
Created: 2007-10-18 20:56,
Tags: books,
colour,
design,
graphic design,
japan,
patterns,
Comments: 0
I wrote about the millimeter/milligram matryoshka cards in a previous post. I've now realised that the matryoshka doll motif seems to be popping up everywhere and seems to be bringing with it a new wave of Russian coolness. I guess we're all familiar with Russian retro Soviet coolness. Hammer and sickle T-shirts, Soviet era posters, Lenin posters etc. But the appearance of the matyoshka doll takes takes the coolness all the way back to folk art. This makes me so happy. When I was in Russia I took a folk art class and painted dolls and other wooden things in the traditional style. It got me through the dark winter and showed me that I wasn't all that bad at painting. The matryoshka doll makes a perfect motif for fabrics or stationary: it's bold, has a beautiful, curvaceous form and can be as colourful as you want it to be.
Look at this wonderful Japanese fabric I saw on this site. I love the way it has short Russian words such as "happiness" and "friendship" alongside the matryoshkas. I also love these bold wall decals which are sold on etsy. The matryoshka motif is just as impressive in one bright colour.
Also I've noticed something cool that the Korean stationary designer millimeter/milligram are doing. You probably know how Japanese and Korean stationary designers use cute English or French phrases on their work. Now they are even using Russian text in their designs! Well, we always knew that the Russian alphabet had certain aesthetic qualities...
Created: 2007-10-18 19:42,
Tags: design,
japan,
korea,
print,
russia,
stationary,
Comments: 0
I'm a total sucker for eye candy and colourful things...kinda like a magpie. Japanese packaging really hits the spot: it's fantastically multi-coloured and cute, it often has wacky cartoon-like characters splashed all over it and it's so different from what you can see on the supermarket shelves in Europe. The packaging in Britain and Germany sticks to the rule of "it does what it says on the tin". Japanese packaging on the other hand is far more adventurous. Even the most boring of products can have the most pleasing aesthetical charm. Just take a look at this carton of banana juice (yeah the contents are pretty disgusting, but the packaging is a beauty):
I just wish I had enough money to fly to Japan. I would just take an empty suitcase and fill it with colourful Japanese stuff. However, there are ways of getting Japanese products without getting on a plane. Cybercandy is a site (the company also has shops in London and Brighton) that sells sweets from around the World including Japanese candy. My best friend once bought me lots of things from there and it was the best birthday ever! I've also got a bit obsessed with Korean stationary at the moment after the friend mentioned above bought me some totally cute birthday candles and a mini birthday card. The stuff by millimeter/milligram is particularly hot right now. Notice all the matroyshka themed stuff and the quirky English phrases on their notebooks. Love it! :)
Created: 2007-09-27 21:34,
Tags: design,
japan,
stuff,
Comments: 0
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