I started today by taking some chicken liver out of the freezer. I thought, "I don't like chicken liver very much, but it's good for you, and it's cheap, and we have it so we need to eat it." Little did I know, at that point, how hideous my day would turn out to be. The last thing I wanted was chicken liver for dinner. But I had it out, so I had to make the best of it. And the very best you can make of chicken liver? At the very last minute, I took out a chicken breast, and decided to thaw it super-quick and have yakitori. Our meal consisted of liver and chicken breast yakitori (chicken grilled on skewers), cucumbers in miso sauce, hijiki salad, miso soup, and rice. I smoked up our whole kitchen, but I think it was worth it. Yakitori done right is pretty delicious. Of course, I can't do it as well as the street vendors in Japan, though.
A close-up of the yakitori. Chicken liver is pretty good cooked this way, and I make a competent teriyaki glaze, if I say so myself. The chicken breast was fantastic, and almost made up for my craptastic day.

Another plate of yakitori.
Partly to comfort myself with not-so-good for you food, and partly just to distract myself I also made some desserts today. First I made a kiwi and papaya kanten dessert (which, my brother helpfully points out, is used in petri dishes. To which I reply, it's also quite healthy and delicious, so try it).　I'm trying to eat more kanten. It's so nice, just a little sweet, and is apparently good for dieting. That's excellent, if it works. Anyway, the dessert was pretty good, although there was a bit of seperation that wasn't supposed to happen.
Then I made a pie. I am particularly proud of this pie, because I made it from memory. In high school, one of the mothers of a good friend of mine made the most delicious pear and custard pie. She was Japanese, but I loved it so much she translated the recipe into English for me. I made this pie repeatedly throughout high school.
I had two nashi (Japanee pears) I needed to use, and so I tried to reproduce the recipe. Of course, I haven't made the pie since high school, and I no longer had the recipe. So I did the best I could from memory. I think I was one egg short, but it came out edible and pretty yummy. It got my husband's seal of approval, too. Hurrah!
Oh, and I am especially proud of the crust--which I made from scratch. I never realized how hard it was to roll out a pie crust. But I enjoyed it, and I suppose it was therapeudic.
I really want to eat eringi. It was so cheap in Japan this summer, and I often bought some and grilled it, but in America it's expensive and hard to find. But you trade off. It's hard to find yummy cheese in Japan.
Tomorrow will be a better day, right? 明日がある、さあ明日がある．．．