This Cream Puff Will Make You Go Bananas!

Today I'm posting up the Najika's recipe for a Banana Cream Puff. The first time I heard of a Cream Puff, was from Yumerio Patisserie. Even though it's an anime, that sucker looked so good! I'm serious, and if you have a chance be sure to check out Yumerio Patisserie.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cups of water
• 4 TBSP of butter
• 2/3 cups of flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of whipping cream (for the filling)
• 1 TBSP of sugar
• 2-3 bananas
• A bit of lemon juice

Prepare the Puffs!

Before you cook the Puffs, be sure to:

• Sift the flour into a bowl and set it aside (Sifting the flour removes the lumps)
• Crack and whisk the eggs in a separate cup then set it aside
• Place wax paper on a cookie sheet
• Preheat the oven to 390 degrees Fahrenheit

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, put the water and butter inside. Melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, remove the saucepan from the stove.
2. Immediately add the already sifted flour to the butter/water mixture and mix. Then place the saucepan back on medium heat for one minute.
3. Slowly add the eggs and mix until the mixture folds. If over mixed, it will not puff up (That's why it's called Banana Cream Puff)
4. Put the batter into a pastry bag. If you don't have one, then you can put it into a zip lock bag and cut the tip.
5. Squeeze the batter into circles on the cookie sheet. Make them around 1 inch in diameter.
6. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. TIP: Do not open the oven in the baking process. If you do the puffs will shrivel up and lose it's puff!
7. After it's done, allow them to cool on a wire rack.
8. As it cools, prepare a large bowl of water with ice and a put a smaller bowl on top. Pour the whipping cream and sugar into the smaller bowl and whisk!
9. Thinly slice the bananas and pour on the lemon juice.
10. Cut the cool Puffs in half. On the bottom half, squeeze out the whipped cream. Next place a few banana slices. Then put more whipped cream on top. Finally, put the top half on top and your done!

Bannana Bread, Kitchen Princess Style

A while back I was really into Kitchen Princess. Since its been a while I reread the series, and then I realized just how much I loved it. Aside from the story itself, my favorite thing about the book was how the recipes in that particular book was given to you at the end of the story. So I decided to type them up on here for you guys to make.
Today's recipe: Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 banana (Because you can't make Banana Bread without the star ingredient)
• 4 TBSP of sugar
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 2 1/2 TBSP of salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1TSP of baking powder

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Get a loaf pan and cut parchment paper to fit the bottom.
3. Take the butter and put it in a microwave safe dish. Microwave the butter for 2 minutes.
4. Put the melted butter and sugar in a bowl. Mix well with a spatula.
5. Whisk the egg, then add it to the butter/sugar mixture and combine.
6. Sift the baking powder, flour, and salt into the bowl. Combine all ingredients.
7. Peel and slice the banana and add to the bowl. Be sure to smash the banana as you stir the mixture.
8. Pour the mixture in a pan and bake for 35 minutes.
9. Once bread is finished baking, allow it to cool, remove the parchment paper, and enjoy!

Banana Bread!

Clannad, Sad and Loving it!

This has to be one of the best anime dramas ever. But beware, you WILL cry (especially in Clannad After Story) at least once.

Just like in the Anime!

School is almost out, and summer is quickly approaching! Wouldn't it be great to sit down in the park while enjoying a freshly made bento box? Let Chef and Francis take you on a journey to making a traditional Japanese Bento Box!

Tis the Season to watch Junjou Romantica

Christmas is the best time of year, to sit down with family, enjoy a cup of hot chocolate, and open a generous amount of presents. For some people, Christmas means sitting in front of there computer with a bag of chips, and watching anime day and night.
So for this holiday season, I give to you the gift of Junjou Romantica. Written by Shungiku Nakamura, Junjou Romantica released in 2003 in a very successful manga series. The anime adaptation was released in 2008, and Junjou Romantica fans went wild.

Romantica

Junjou Romantica is broken up into three different couples. The first, and main couple, is named Romantica. The second is Egoist, and the third is Terrorist. These three couples are loosely intertwined with each other, and often bump into each other throughout the series.

Let's start with Romantica. This couple contains two people named  Takashi Misaki and Usami Akihiko, or better known as "Usagi-san".  He is a well known author for Marukawa Publishing, and writes novels as well as BL novels. Along with being an author,  Usagi-san and Misaki's brother, Takahiro, were best friends since high school. Ever since that time, Usagi-san had a crush on him. Unfortunately, Usagi-san never told him his feelings.
Misaki wants to get into collage, but he is in need of desperate tutoring in order to up his grades. This is when his brother suggests that Usagi-san should tutor him. Shortly after meeting Misaki, Takahiro gets engaged which crushes Usagi-san. After seeing how much Misaki cares for him, he then falls in love with the younger brother.



Egoist



The second couple is named Egoist. Kamijo Hiroki has been friends with Usagi-san ever since childhood. He's a literary teacher in the same college Misaki goes to. Hiroki initially loved Usagi-san at first, but then fell in love with Nowaki. Hiroki is a bit of a loner, and has a bad temper, but he's really shy and can be really flustered at times. Kusama Nowaki meets Hiroki as he's crying after realizing that Usagi-san will never return his feelings for him. He then begs him to be his tutor. Pretty soon, a love grows between the two, but the road ahead is far from smooth.

Terrorist

 The final couple in Junjou Romantica, is named Terrorist. Miyagi Yo is also works in the college along with Hiroki. He was married at one time, but then got divorced. His ex brother-in-law, named Shinobu Takatsuki, takes an interest in Miyagi and believes that it's fate that he fell in love with him. There's just one problem, Shinobu is 17 years younger than him.

I personally loved this anime. The infiltration of pandas and teddy bears, really help calm the mood if it begins to get a bit awkward. I find all the couples unique and interesting in there own ways, and it's never a bore to watch.

Here's a link to the trailer for anyone who is interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GSmjrg0rC0&feature=relmfu