Hi! It’s me Keroleen. I would like to share this with you, our dear readers. ^_^ Besides donuts, Keroppi  likes rice balls. *giggle*

The rice ball is Japanese traditional food! It is more popular than the sandwich in Japan. Known as ”ONIGIRI” or “OMUSUBI”, it is eaten at lunch, picnic, party and at meetings. Rice balls can also be bought at Japanese convenience stores.

Japanese families cook plain white rice every day. And usually the ingredients for making rice balls are everyday items from the kitchen pantry or refrigerator.

For the Japanese, making rice balls is such an everyday experience that it’s hard to find a recipe in a Japanese cookbook. However, for people in other countries, the rice ball might be something rare and fun to eat. So I thought I’d write a recipe for rice balls using ingredients which can be found even outside of Japan. You can use any kind of leftover food in your refrigerator for the filling of the rice ball, but I have two suggestions:

1. The filling of the rice ball should not be hard, but fairly soft. The rice and the filling should make a good balance in your mouth.

2. The taste of the filling should be somewhat strong because the rice has a light taste. Japanese like salty fillings such as pickled plum (umeboshi). But watch out! If you eat a Japanese pickled plum, your mouth might bend from the saltiness!

Here are some suggestions for the fillings:

Tuna and Mayonnaise

Mixed canned tuna, mayonnaise and a bit of soy sauce.

Broiled beef or pork

Mix some chopped meat, soy sauce, sake and a little bit of grated  ginger. Then broil in a pan. Using meat with a curry taste or spicy taste is also recommended.

Corned beef

Mix corned beef and a little bit of soy sauce.

Now for the rice balls. This will be the steps in forming the triangular omusubi because that shape is more suitable for any filling. ^_^

Hold rice in left palm (or right, if left-handed).

Fillings can be set in the center of the rice and covered. Using other palm with slightly bend fingers and hold together on top to pack rice.

The upper palm forms a triangle while the lower hand holds the rice in between the thumb and fingers widthwise.

Repeat packing three times to form a triangular omusubi.

Ok, now that I have taught you basics, try it out with a filling of your choice. I’ll now go back to the kitchen and prepare Keroppi’s favorite rice balls. XD

I never got to show you where I live. Hehe.

This is where I live! Donut Pond! This is the largest and bluest pond around. I live in a big house with my parents and siblings.

My dad’s hospital is located near the pond and so is my mom’s restaurant.  My friends also live within the area, that’s why we get to easily hang-out at each other’s houses and play games.

Donut Pond has a lot of open spaces. If we’re not playing video games, we also play baseball and boomerangs, we also like to go swimming and diving.

Here’s a special entry for our Kero Recipes segment. No new recipes for today, but here’s a special Kero food showcase. I was looking for some recipes over the net and I found these. I feel so honored that people use me as an inspiration for their cooking. XD

Since I like cakes and pastries, this is a favorite of mine. Keroleen will love making cupcakes similar to these. She can even design for each one in the family and for our friends. Hmm…we’d better think of a unique recipe and start making those personalized cupcakes. Just in time for the many holidays this time of year.

There’s also a nice looking cake. Hehe. This seems to be a variant for an ice box cake or a special chiffon cake.

Too much sweets already? Here’s one for the main course, a cute Keroppi bento set. Take me with you to school. Nope, I will not answer your tests for you, I’ll just make sure you always have a healthy meal. Hehe. Isn’t that Den-den and fellow snail friend? XD

These special treats really made my day.

Technorati Tags: bento, cakes, cupcakes, den-den, food, food showcase, kerokero, keroleen, keroppi, pastries, recipes

A few minutes ago someone rang the doorbell numerous times. Whoever’s outside must be in a hurry. Keroleen quickly answered the door and after a few minutes came back with a lot of pink and purple colored boxes in her hands. According to her, inside the boxes were special mooncakes given by Kuromi.

Kuromi isn’t so bad after all. She even took the trouble of giving mooncakes for all of us here. I got a big family and my friends always hang out in my house. Her mooncakes taste really terrific! ^_^

What exactly are mooncakes? It’s a Chinese pastry eaten during the Mid-Autumn festival (15th day of the 8th lunar month of the Chinese calendar). They’re usually round or rectangle in shape with thick lotus paste filling and may contain salted duck egg yolks. Traditional mooncakes usually have a Chinese characters imprint on top that means longevity or harmony. Over the years, the mooncake has achieved a modern twist. Instead of the traditional fillings, bakers offered taro, pineapple, chocolate, nuts, fruits, etc.

That just gave Keroleen an idea. Hehe. She told me that modern mooncake varieties also use jelly mixtures as crust. Being the great chefs, she and my mother immediately made their own version.

Retaining the traditional lotus filling and egg yolk, they concocted a special purple colored jelly crust. The jelly is slightly sweetened. They didn’t use other flavorings because the taste might conflict with the delectable lotus filling.

This is our thank you present for Kuromi. I hope she’ll like it.

Technorati Tags: chinese, festival, kerokero, keroleen, keroppi, kuromi, mid-autumn festival, mooncake

It just suddenly occurred to me when Zashiki posted about growing a mustache. I don’t have one, but my father does…

I know, I know, mustache doesn’t look good on me, but it looks fine on my father. I’m confused…how can frogs grow hair, let alone a mustache? As for Keroleen’s pigtails, it’s a decorative clip to make her look more adorable.

There’s a simile “feel as fine as frog’s hair” meaning “extremely fine” (delicate and slender). The allusion to the hairs on a frog clearly points us to the ’slender, narrow’, meaning of the phrase. Just as clearly, frogs don’t have hair, and the ironic reference to it is intended to highlight the effect.

I wonder how father grew a mustache. Hmm…maybe when I’m a parent I’ll have a mustache.

Technorati Tags: father, frog, hair, kerokero, keroleen, mustache, simile, zashikibuta

Hmm…if one has a bad singing or speaking voice, it is said that they sound like a frog…Are our voices really sound that bad? We never complain when dogs howl or cats meow. Of course, everyone has a unique voice.

I remember, we used to sing for Sanrio and the musical director never mentioned anything about my voice being bad or being out of tune. I may not be the best singer around, but I can sing.

There’s actually potential for frogs to be in the music industry. Check out this guy. His name is Michigan J. Frog, he appeared in the Warner Brothers Classic Looney Tunes show entitled “One Froggy Evening.” With his deep voice, he’s a very good singer and would make a lot of ladies melt every time he opens his mouth.

“Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime gal…”

I actually like his music. Hehe.

Hear this friends! There’s light at the end of the tunnel. If others think that frogs really sound that bad and this frog guy can really sing that good, then everyone has the potential to be a good singer. Kerokerokero…resonance! XD

Since Keroleen is back, I’ll start this section in my blog about food and recipes. She’ll help me out with this.

French Crullers

Since we like donuts, we’ll start with Crullers which happens to be the “sister” of the donut.

The word Cruller originated from the Dutch word krulle, meaning “twisted cake.” It’s a type of donut made from choux pastry. They are usually shaped like a fluted ring and have a light airy texture. Sometimes these are also simply known as “crullers”, but they have little resemblance to the other kind of cruller other than that they are both types of doughnuts.

Here’s the basic recipe:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup shortening

1 cup boiling water

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

fat (for deep frying)

confectioners’ sugar frosting

Procedure:

Combine sugar, salt, shortening, and boiling water in a saucepan. Mix and bring to a rapid boil. Add flour all at once and mix and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla. Force mixture through pastry tube onto greased paper, forming circles. Heat deep fat to 375 degrees F on frying thermometer. Carefully turn paper upside down so crullers will drop into fat. Fry and flip over until golden brown. Spread with thin Confectioners’ Sugar frosting.

Technorati Tags: cruller, french cruller, food, kerokero, keroleen, keroppi, kitchen, pastry, recipes

I haven’t posted in awhile because Keroleen just arrived from France. Beautiful and always fashionable, she stepped out of the airport just as I parked at the pick-up point. Funny, isn’t it? When you’re with someone for such a long time, your minds get to be in-sync. She only gave me a rough estimate as to when the plane will land at Jump-Hop Airport. Good thing she didn’t have to wait for me.

She studied there for a a few months at the Le Froge Baking Institute, and she graduated with top honors along with a good baker pig, named Zashikibuta! He happens to be the only pig in the institute, but it didn’t bother the other baker frogs. In fact, according to Keroleen, all of them got along very well. Wow! Such a small world! Hehe.

I’m so glad she’s back. With all the things that has happened, I really need her strength, encouragement and support. Remember that she’s a peacemaker and doesn’t want any argument. She always look at things from different perspectives before doing anything.

Anyway, going back to Keroleen’s trip. After she finished her baking course, she toured France a bit. She even gave me a beautiful pewter Eiffel Tower replica.

Hmmm…I’d better invite Keroleen for a nice European tour one of these days…just the two of us. ~^_^~

Everybody’s arguing now…Kuromi’s even crying. I don’t know what to do anymore, I’m so emotional. I don’t want to put the blame on anybody. I think all of us is at fault here, not just Kuromi.

I’m guilty of doing the very thing I despise. True, I don’t like my biological appearance to be used as an insult against me. I also made fun of her. =_=

I actually pity her now. Maybe her actions are just her way of seeking love and affection. I think we’re all the same after all, we’re looking for something lost or missing in our lives — love, affection, attention, respect, etc.

If I were in her shoes (or hood in her case), I’d probably react the same…

I just want everyone to be friends again, or if being friends is too much to ask, at least let’s respect one another.  No more nasty side comments and insults.

*sigh* Anybody wanna join me for a glass of warm milk?

Ribbit! New character? XO? You seem familiar. I may have seen your name in one of the game forums I visit. By the way, Kuromi seems to be interested in you. Hmmm…Penrabbit?! Ranguin?!

I don’t know what she REALLY meant by potential. Be careful with her….she’s scary, especially those sharp teeth. @_@ I don’t want to hear news about a broiled penguin.