Warming up the kitchen for January's feast over the weekend! Quite a few smaller things to make so getting a head start tonight and trying my hand at homemade mochi What's your favorite flavor?

Well 2 failed batches later I guess my rice cooker just doesn't like this kind of rice?

Well looks kinda like mochi I guess. Unfortunately the rice didn't cook through consistently so didn't combine fully and left a grainy texture. The red bean filling was delicious though!

Ok the stage is set! Preparing a 3 course meal to snack on as you roam the Japanese gardens, with tea and a showstopper cake to sit and relax with when you're done!

I've had a new batch of mochi rice soaking overnight to try and new technique, and found some glutinous rice flour in case that fails again.

Sad to be missing the tabletop and tea time event today but I'm living the lifestyle

Third time's a charm, we have mochi! The new cooking method was more involved but much more consistent. Final consistency was much nicer, easier to work with, less sticky and tastes great! Flavored the dough with matcha and filled with red bean paste

Tried a batch of ice cream (green tea) mochi but couldn't get the dough consistently thin without tearing it and the icecream melting. Need to work on shaping the dough for both varieties next time.

Important update: it's time to make cake!

I hope y'all appreciate that I'm overcoming my fear of fondant for this project...

Baking is fun'dont ya know!

Ok I broke one of the pretzels and now it's flacid

Well after a long day of baking I don't have much to show for it, and my fondant turned to goop overnight
But can now start assembling everything

Well the fondant failed, the candy melts failed, the mochi is going stale already, just about ready to call the loss on the project

Well now I've broken my ceramic knife and I'm losing followers, an auspicious day...

Finally for some good news: we have onigiri!

And for the final entree: Yakitori

I think I'm done! That's enough cooking for a week or two Now just to film and edit something. But in the meantime, here's a little teaser to satiate your hunger

The kitchen is now closed, time for an apron check