Below are the 4 most recent journal entries recorded in Just Hungry - Japanese recipes, healthy and fun eating, the expat food life and's InsaneJournal:

Friday, November 7th, 2008
2:29 pm	Quick update http://feeds.justhungry.com/~r/justhungry/~3/445545539/quick-update I’ve managed to sprain my left hand and wrist, so it’s very hard for me to type long articles. So I’m afraid the continuation of the Japanese budgeting series and other planned articles are on hold for a bit. If you want to know what I am doing, you can always follow me on Twitter. One-handed typing is easier when it’s limited to 140 characters. (Comment on this)
Friday, October 31st, 2008
11:33 am	The Kakeibo and Japanese household budgeting tools http://www.justhungry.com/kakeibo-and-japanese-household-budgeting-tools A few kakeibos, and Japanese womens’ magazines with budgeting-oriented articles. Look for these words: ?????? (household finances), ????????????(save money), ????????????(household finance ledger). (Intro: So why is there a money management article on a food site? Well, I think that the subject of our money is on a lot of people’s minds these days, and food spending is a major part of that. An it’s about Japan, and I know a lot of you read this site because it brings you bits of interest about my homeland. So, I hope you’ll enjoy this little derail.) Many people worldwide are concerned these days about the economy. While it’s difficult for us as individuals to influence factors like what our financial institutions do, we can control where our money goes. While this topic is not directly about food, I thought it might be interesting to see how Japanese people handle household budgeting. Why look at what Japanese people do? For one thing, Japan went through a severe economic correction (aka the “bubble economy”) in the late ’80s, largely in part due to overvalued real estate and resulting defaults on loans, which lasted well into the ’90s and even fundamentally changed the way Japanese society works. While the current Japanese stock market, yen, and banks are on a wild and bumpy ride just like the rest of the world, individuals (except for those who invested in stocks, currencies and such) on a whole seem to be a tiny bit less worried than people in North America or Europe. This may be because saving rates in Japan are amongst the highest in the developed world, estimated to be around 25% of income (though that has fallen from previous savings rates of 30 to 35%; in contrast, the saving rates in the U.S. average around negative 0.5%), or simply because household budgeting skills have been talked about for quite a long time. The wife is in charge of the household budget In the West, money is considered to be the domain of males. This is not the case in Japan. In a typical Japanese household, the wife (who may or may not work outside the home) is firmly in charge of the household finances. She decides on how the money is spent, how to plan for big ticket purchases, even in many cases how money is invested. Financial products are often marketed with ‘cute’ themes, to appeal to a female audience. (See the cute kakeibo in the picture above). The kakeibo, the household finance ledger The ????????????(kakeibo) is the essential tool used by any money-savvy Japanese household budget manager. Kakeibo literally means household finance ledger. You can buy all kinds of kakeibo (here are the Amazon Japan search results for ?????????). While there are several kakeibo software packages, Excel templates and the like, hand-written kakeibo are still popular. Many magazines aimed at housewives include a giveaway version as a supplement in their December issues, for use in the coming year. A typical kakeibo has: A monthly summary page, where monthly income is noted, and monthly budgets and savings/loan repayment goals are set. Weekly pages (or 2 pages per week) with expense and income categories on the left, and daily columns. A section for planning for irregular or unexpected expenses A yearly summary section. A truly diligent budget manager/housewife diligently keeps up her kakeibo every day, noting down items in each budget category, but there are alternative kakeibos and kakeibo methods out there for lazier people. Here’s the cover of a kakeibo where the user can just stick on receipts for example. I know that it’s a lot easier to use personal finance software, and in a bank account, check, and credit/debit card reliant society like the U.S. for example, it may make better sense, especially if you can automatically import your information online. But there’s something to be said for actually writing down amounts by hand too: it may give a more tangible sense of how you’re spending your money. Focus on food costs One thing that all kakeibos focus on is food costs, since food spending is both one of the biggest budget categories and one of the easiest areas to cut down on costs. Rather than lumping every eating purchase and activity into ‘food’ as a category, the kind of purchase or activity is sub-categorized too. Traditional kakeibo categorize food purchases by the nutritional type: carbohydrates, meat and fish, dairy and eggs, vegetable and fruit, etc. It also serves as a way to see if food purchases are balanced health-wise. More recent, easier kakeigo may divide it into larger categories like regular food, fun food (snacks and drinks), eating out, and so on. There are kakeibos that combine budgeting functions with meal planning and recipe tracking too. Cash envelope budget management In Japan, most people get paid by direct deposit (checks are rarely used by anyone) and pay things like utility bills electronically. But for other household spending, cash is still the king. One often recommended budgeting method is to draw out the cash you need for a week or a month, depending on how you manage your budget, and physically divide it into envelopes that are marked by spending category. Once the cash in an envelope is gone, it’s gone - no cheating afterwards. It’s a remarkably effective method - it almost becomes a game to try to have as much money left over at the end of the month. And having your money in your hand, rather than as numbers on a screen or a piece of printout paper, makes it much more tangible. Another cash-oriented saving trick (which isn’t that uniquely Japanese really, but is very popular there) is the coin saving method. At the end of every day, extra coins are put into a piggy bank or a jar, and when there’s enough accumulated, it’s either used for buying something extra or deposited into a bank account. Japanese ATMs even have coin deposit slots. This is just a brief overview of the budget management methods discussed ad infinitum in Japanese magazines, books and blogs. Next time, I’ll talk about my favorite Japanese how-to-manage-money book for money dummies like me. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
1:29 pm	Apple crumble cake (an everyday favorite) http://www.justhungry.com/2006/01/apple_crumble_c.html [From the archives. This very easy cake is especially nice at this time of year, when apples are in season. We don't actually eat this every day, but it's one of my go-to simple sweets to make. Originally published January 11, 2006.] Sometimes, you just don't want to fuss, but you still want something a little sweet and homemade. At times like that, I sometimes make this simple cake. It combines two of my favorite foods, apple and crumble topping; the cake part is a simple mix-and pour affair; and it can be served warm, or at room temperature. And, the sweetness of it doesn't hit you in the face. The only mildly fiddly part is peeling and cutting up the apples. It's a perfect accompaniment to tea or coffee. To me, it's a very American kind of cake - the crumble part of course, and the ease of making it, and the apples. The only thing you need to be careful of is to make sure that the cake part is cooked properly. The part underneath the apples cooks a bit slower than the rest of the cake, so once your toothpick comes out clean, bake it a few more minutes to ensure you don't get any doughiness. For my oven that's about 40 minutes total. This gave me a chance to use a new discovery - organic raw cane sugar from Italy, called Panela Granulata. Here in Switzerland it's always been impossible to find the kind of soft brown sugar with added molasses that you get in the U.S., but the regular Rohzucker (raw sugar) is is a very light brown. This Italian brown sugar is already quite dark without any added molasses, and tastes delicious just out of the bag (not that I'm eating sugar out of a bag, mind you...of course not...) You can use any kind of apple, but a slightly softer eating apple like Golden Delicious really fits best. Don't use a sour cooking apple for this. Incidentally, how do you peel your apples? After struggling for years to peel apples with a paring knife and such, trying not to cut off too much of the flesh with the skin, it finally dawned on me recently - just use a vegetable peeler. It was one of those 'doh' moments for sure. No one sticks around to admire those one-long-piece apple peels anyway. Apple Crumble Cake A note about the measurements: If you aren't in North America, 1 U.S. cup is 220ml. Remember that all the ingredients here are proportional, and can be scaled proportionately up or down. 4 to 5 medium or small apples - about 4 cups worth of cut up apple, but you can do it with a bit more or less 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 cup whole milk 1 'large' egg, beaten 1/3 cup melted butter, or a combination of melted butter and neutral-tasting oil such as safflour or canola For the crumble mixture: 3/4 cup of raw cane sugar, muscovado sugar, or regular light brown sugar 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 2 Tbs. butter 1 tsp. cinnamon (optional) Preheat the oven to 180° C / 350° F. Grease a standard square cake pan (20cm x 20cm x 5cm, or 8" x 8" x 2") with butter. Sift the flour and baking powder together, and mix in the granulated sugar. Add the milk, beaten egg and melted butter or butter/oil combo; mix together just until there are no huge lumps. Pour into the pan. Make the crumble mixture: melt the butter in a pan, add the flour, sugar and cinnamon, and mix well until it become crumble. Peel, core and cut up the apples, and put on to of the cake batter. Sprinkle the top with the crumble mixture. Bake for about 40 minutes. Cut into squares. Serve warm plain or with whipped cream. You can nuke this to warm it up quite successfully. Also nice at room temperature, such as in a lunch box. (Comment on this)
11:31 am	Zurich shopping news: Best of British store opening http://www.justhungry.com/zurich-shopping-news-best-british-store-opening (This item is only of interest if you live in Switzerland, specifically in the Z??rich area. Everyone else, just move along.) The Cheese Club (previously), a mailorder purveyor of fine British and other artisanal cheeses, is teaming up with Spiffing Ales, a microbrewery specializing in British style ales, to open a Best Of British store in Thalwil, ZH. The official opening date is November 1, but they’ll be open tomorrow (Thursday Oct. 29) and Friday from 15:00 - 19:00 for a ‘practice run’. On November 1st they’ll have their grand opening from 10:00 - 19:00, and thereafter they’ll be open to the public on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and early evenings (the rest of the time they’ll be doing wholesale; consult their web sites for more info when they’re posted). Besides cheese and beer, other British delicacies like back bacon and sausage, handmade pies, tea and biscuits, Christmas puddings and more are promised. The address is 11 Seestrasse, 8800 Thalwil. The nearest SBB station (and parking) is at Obberieden BH, a 3 minutes walk away. Map. See also. (Comment on this)