Monday, June 25, 2018

T Stands for a Beer, Ramen and Some Inspiration too

 Happy T Day Ladies.  Time for sharing a drink related post and let me add a little food to my post too.
We're back to Japan for part of today's post.  My first part f the post is my inspiration for Gill's June challenge at Art Journal Journey. Her theme is Inspired By, and I was certainly inspired by my snacks in Japan, 
First of all soft serve ice cream is very popular in Japan, and we had a lot of it. A popular flavor is Matcha Tea, and I tried it in the swirl variety with vanilla.
This is actually one of the students showing me her cone. I will say I wasn't crazy over Matcha Tea but I did like this swirl ice cream.  I also tried cherry blossom and some chocolate-both delicious too, as well as vanilla one day when my taste buds were feeling boring. That was all good.
And I showed you a photo of my bean paste filled fried  pastry before, but here it is again.
You can see many of them here. It was a popular snack also, but only in the cities.
Another  popular dish is also Ramen and we went to a restaurant that served many different varieties of the dish.
 I had mine with a beer.
And we were in Tokyo when I had this.
Funny how the flavor was roughly similar to the ramen we used to eat in our poor college days when you could get 4 packets for $1.00 and you made it by adding hot water.  But this was so so so much better. Certainly not a 4 for a $1.00 quality.
And the beer was pretty good too.
Stop by Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog and join in the T Day fun.
So I had some art time today,as well as starting to clean out the daughter's closet, that is jammed pack with things. She moved out almost one year ago and even though I've asked her to clean it out about a million times, she hasn't done it, so now, she is at my whim what is kept and what is gotten rid of. But that is not my point. The point is I made
a tag for the Gemini challenge at Tag Tuesday.
That's all for me.
Have a great T day everyone.

24 comments:

Wilma Simmons (Empress Wu Designs) said...

Thank you Erika - your tag is great - love those twin mermaids being called by the sea. I also enjoyed seeing your delights from Japan -love green tea soft serve ice cream!

Linda Kunsman said...

Not a big fan of ice cream but i would try the matcha one:) And I do love how the bean filed pastry sounds. The soup looks quite good too:) Fun tag for TiOT. Happy T day!

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Wonderful art today, Erika. I simply adore the beautiful journal page. I SO love those swirly soft serve cones you drew, and the fish is adorable, too. I can't believe after all you have shown us, I actually remembered these fish. It's a stunning entry for Art Journal Journey.

Yep, I still eat those 4/$1.00 ramen noodle packs, but mine don't look like those. Yours was fabulous, with the tiny bits of swirly fat in the broth, the snow peas (YUM), and of course, the other items in the noodles. You must have consumed a LOT of beer in Japan. So glad you shared it, along with your lovely tag and journal page with us for T this almost Tuesday.

Kate Yetter said...

Love the background on your tag, Erika! Especially that mermaid.
That cone looks so yummy! I really like matcha tea and that sounds very intriguing in a cone. And any kind of pastry filled is right up my alley.
Happy Tea Day,
Kate

Valerie-Jael said...

You certainly brought loads of inspiration home with you from your Japan trip. Lovely journal pages! The photos are good, they sell Japanese ice at a place in town, but I've never tried it. Here at our little place we have a Japanese restaurant, too. The Gemini tag is beautiful, thanks so much for joining us at Tag Tuesday. Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie

Gibby Frogett said...

Fabulous yummy page Erika and I know when I finish catching up on commenting... isnpired by you :) ... I am going to get a bowl of ice-cream as its sweltering ht here and only 10.20am
Great post, tag and food but it was the cooling ice-creams that got my attention today!
Thanks for another fabulous page for AJJ.
Have a great day...Gill xx

Lisca said...

I enjoyed seeing the Japanese snacks. I don't fancy tea flavoured ice cream either. But I agree the swirls are pretty.
Ramen and beer sounds good to me. I have never had ramen (I had never heard of it) but looking at your photo, it can easily be made with a bit of miso and I can spot chicken, beansprouts, bamboo shoots and carrot plus sugar snaps. What is the black stuff? Sea weed?
Here we have something called Pot Noodles which kids are mad about. I don't like it as it as I can taste the glutamates.
Love your mermaids,
Happy T-Day,
Lisca

CJ Kennedy said...

the Matcha Tea Vanilla Swirl ice cream on your page looks very pretty. The portion sizes look generous too. Ice cream will be a good snack for the hot days ahead. the fish pastries look too pretty to eat and that ramen soup doesn't even look like the ramen cups the Young One lives on. Beach days coming for your mermaids at the end of the week. Happy T Day!

Jeanie said...

Cherry blossom. Yum. And the beer looks great -- now THAT's a beer! Rick makes ramen off and on and we have miso soup in the winter. All the food here looks fabulous!

kathyinozarks said...

well I really enjoyed all the food-especially that ice cream I would love to try the matcha tea one. when I was first married to my husband and we would visit his Mom in the city we would also shop at the Japanese markets-we loved those bean pastries.
I love your tag!
Happy T Day Hugs Kathy

Eileen The Artful Crafter said...

Very cute page of your Japanese snacks, Erika. Gosh, the Japanese can even make green ice cream look beautiful. I have a hard time imagining what bean paste filled pastry would taste like. Sweet? Savory?

Love your Gemini tag!

Happy T-day! Hugs, Eileen

Let's Art Journal said...

Wow, even the ice creams are works of art ...lol 😉. I bet the cherry blossom one tasted amazing, such an unusual flavour! Looks like you had some wonderful snacks while you were in Japan and I love the colourful page you created to remember them - perfect! That beer looks good too - Happy T Day! J 😊 x

jinxxxygirl said...

Hubs and i still eat Ramen... He makes the best Ramen adding all kinds of things... Once in a while i ask him to cook for us and especially in winter this is what he makes..

Love your Gemini tag and that ice cream looks amazing.. Not sure i would like Matcha but it is beautiful!! lol Hugs! deb

Dianne said...

So fun to see your photos from Japan! love your journal page, and the ice cream looks delicious. Pretty tag too! happy T day!

froebelsternchen said...

Oh Erika just fabulous art today! What a fantastsic journal page you got those swirly soft cones drawn so well and the fish is adorable as well! It's a fantastic entry for Art Journal Journey.
Thanks a lot ! I would love to try the matcha tea ice cream and that beer and the soup looks delicios as well! I can imagine that Ramen is much better than
those ready made packages we get at the discount grocery stores. And bean paste filled fried pastry sounds delicious ! Your mermaid tag is wonderful - lovely background and the two mermaids pop so beautifully!
Happy T-Day and thank you once again for a fantastic entry linked to Art Journal Journey dear Erika!
Hugs, Susi

Divers and Sundry said...

I'm not sure about that ice cream flavor, but I'd definitely try it. The ramen looks especially good, and I can see the difference in quality from those soups of my youth. Happy T Tuesday!

Meggymay said...

I don't think I fancy an ice cream flavoured with tea, but the snacks and pies look delicious.
It is a wonderful journal page and tag, those mermaids look super.
Happy T day wishes.
Yvonne xx

Sharon Madson said...

Love, love your mermaid tag! The soup looks good and I love ice cream! My favorites are peanut butter , chocolate , caramel, and any of it really! LOL. Happy TDay!

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

In reply to your comment, it was a very stressful day, Erika, because I don't like funerals, but I know it's for the living, because the dead could care less!

johanna said...

my visitor has left and i can make my belated t-day blog tour.
thanks for bringing back the memories of ramen. i ate them in a japanese Restaurant in Berlin when i visited my son there in 2016... i had it with some meat in the soup, the noodles were just gorgeous. i could eat them every day!
i´m always fascinated with your reports from Japan:))
have a great week!

craftytrog said...

Beautiful mermaids! xxx

Wilma Simmons (Empress Wu Designs) said...

Hi Erika, I thought I had already left a comment admiring your mermaid twins being called by the sea - lovely tag! If I have already said this, it doesn't matter, it just means double congratulations. I am also salivating with the photo of the match tea ice cream!

pearshapedcrafting said...

Your journal page looks great - I would have ice cream every day if I could...especially now it is really hot not just warm!! The food looks interesting but not beer thank you! I really must get on with a tag! Belated Happy T day! Chrisx

Joan said...

What a good idea to create mermaid twins!! You made a very pretty tag!