The Newest Gluten Free Bakery in Japan (that's us!)

Hey, it's Valentine's day. Happy Valentine's Day everyone! May chocolate flow freely wherever you are. 

Things here progress, though it is hard to believe it is already mid-February. We're slowly settling in to new routines - this year brought so many changes that a month and a half in few things yet go as expected, but we're getting the hang of elementary school (well, sort of) and seeing that we have two kids now comes as less of a shock each day (a happy shock, always, mind you; full of wonder and delight (and a small dose of exhaustion, but, as I say, happy exhaustion)). Family life is wonderful and very, very full. On the work side of things, the idea that I can not only walk into the bakery without fear but actually eat anything I find there is a source of constant delight - I had a fantastic grilled cheese sandwich today on a homemade biscuit with imported real cheese for the first time in YEARS today - totally made my day. So work life, too, is wonderful and, also, very very full (so much so that I am meant to be doing the bookkeeping right now, not wandering around the internet. Oops.).

Work has been a baffling puzzle these past few weeks, as we struggle to find that nice place where we make something that people want and we feel good about feeding them (still no brownies as Shuzo isn't too keen on feeding people in general, and perhaps me in particular, the amount of sugar involved). We've settled on the Hototogisu Bakery and Farm Traveling Deli (or 屋台デリホトトギス) for our serving-food-at-markets-and-events name and have tried out a number of different menus. At this point we are feeling pretty good about Okayama jidori chicken burgers on our (fantastic, if you don't mind my so saying) gluten free biscuits as the thing to run with ... we've a big weekend coming up so we'll see how that plays out! Other events will see my new favorite - a happy coincidence of extra biscuit dough and the deep-fryer have brought the world gluten free cheese covered savory donuts. (So, so good) The future begins to take shape!

In other areas, we've been checking out other gluten free stuff in Japan and discovering a)there seem to be more people looking for gluten free pet food than people food, and b) nearly all of the gluten free food to be found is imported and has ingredient lists three miles long. Given the state of things referred to in point b, we are really beginning to feel the webshop, that long-elusive Hototogisu goal, is hovering nearby. With a little (truthfully, a lot) of luck and similar amounts of focus and drive, we may be able to make it happen before summer. I am hoping we can manage it, because sharing the gluten free goodies with people who are allergic to wheat gives me such a boost! A little girl and her mama wandered in on Wednesday and when the mama told me her daughter was allergic to wheat I pretty well overwhelmed her with my joy that they had found me. They got some chocolate cookies as well as the more prosaic (but still yummy) biscuits - I hope that little girl gets as much happiness from them as I do. A webshop would mean the majority of our customers would be people like me, wandering in a land full of off-limits foods, to whom the gluten free goodies would be so much. Time to get to work!