Wasabi Snacks from Hokkaido

Ikeda Shokuhin are located on the northernmost island of Japan, Hokkaido. They have some innovative snacks made from cashew nuts and different kinds of soy beans. The wasabi flavored black soy beans are my favorite. They have other funky flavors like barbecued shrimp, barbecued calamari, toasted soy sauce and sesame seed salt.

Their line of nut products have a smooth crisp crunchy coating and also come in various flavors. They have cashew nuts, walnuts and pistachios that come in different flavors. If you love wasabi, you might check out their wasabi flavored cashews.

They send samples to my mother every year, and I've consistently been amazed at the quality of their products and the attention to detail they pay to flavor, quality and packaging.

Ikeda Shokuhin

Fax: ＋81-11-811-2214

Email: info@ikeda-c.co.jp

Note: I don't have my camera with me and the photographs were taken with an iPhone.

David Lebovitz's Chocolate-Almond Buttercrunch Toffee Recipe

We're in that period leading up to Christmas now and the supermarket is full of Dulces de Navidad. I bought a whole array of dried fruit, including Spanish Fig Bread, French truffles and other things and stuffed them in a box to send to Sweden. Then, I went home and decided to make Chocolate-Almond Buttercrunch Toffee.

I did some research but in the end decided to follow David Lebovitz's recipe because his recipes always work, and I can tell you I wasn't sorry I did. It was very easy to make and as long as you have a candy thermometer and didn't fail chemistry (and it's not one of those bad candy days) I think you'll be fine.

I used 100g of hazelnut and 100g of almonds in mine. Other than that I followed the recipe to a tee.

For the recipe please go here.