February 13, 2012

Tomo Choco/友チョコ

Yesterday, I helped my daughter make cookies to give to friends as "tomo choco" for Valentine's Day.
Tomo = Friend
Choco = Chocolate
昨日は、娘がバレンタインデーに「友チョコ」として友達にあげるクッキーを作るのを手伝いました。

Recipes my daughter selected:
"Choco mori" (a single piece of chocolate with various decorations on it)
娘が選んだレシピ:「ちょこ盛り」(チョコ1ピースに色々の飾りを載せたもの):
She didn't need any help for this recipe. She did all the decorations by herself.
このレシピでは手伝っていません。娘が一人で飾りを全部つけました。

She needed major help in making the cookies.
クッキーを作るのには随分と手伝いました。
I baked the cookies in the toaster oven!
It's very easy to bake cookies in a toaster oven. You will need a sheet of aluminum foil. A few minutes after you turn on the toaster oven, just place a sheet of aluminum foil on top of the cookies to prevent them from burning.
It took 12-13 minutes to cook these cookies.
クッキーはオーブントースターで焼きました。
オーブントースターでクッキーを焼くのは簡単です。アルミホイルが一枚必要です。オーブントースターを点けてから数分後に、クッキーの上にアルミホイルを載せて、クッキーが焦げるのを防ぎます。
このクッキーを作るのに12~13分かかりました。
Later, my daughter and I went to the 100-yen shop to buy some bags.
後で娘と100円ショップに行き、袋を買いました。

She gave me this one:
私にはこれをくれました:
I had them today (Feb. 13). Needless to say, both the cookies and the decorated chocolate were delicious!
今日(2月13日)食べました。言うまでもなく、クッキーも飾り付きのチョコも美味しかったです。

11 comments:

Sissi said...

Very cute cookies! I don't celebrate St Valentine's Day. It is so commercial and recent (I have heard about it first as a teenager) in many European countries (like France or Switzerland) that it makes us both (me and my husband) rebel against it. Here they insist on the "love" side of St Valentine's (restaurants organise special, expensive meals for couples, so they make more money) and all those who live alone and don't even have a boyfriend/girlfriend feel particularly awful and lonely this day.
My Japanese teacher has told me in Japan it also includes friends and, as I see, also the family :-) I think I would love St Valentine's Day if it was similar here.

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: I think that your teacher will readily agree that Valentine's Day is as commercial as or even more commercial than in your country. Don't you think it's a good thing if the Day is limited to loving couples only???

Yangsze said...

Those chocolates and cookies are so cute! And how nice of you to help your daughter :)

Hiroyuki said...

YSC: Thank you. Valentine's Day has become such a strange day in Japan, making girls feel obliged to make some sweets by themselves and give them to friends...

Joanna said...

Lovely chocolates! In Canada, Valentine's Day is often celebrated by children giving (usually store-bought) cards to their classmates along with some candy. To be inclusive, everyone gives cards to everyone in their class. One of the most popular candies are Hersey Kisses, a type of chocolate, and also Cinnamon Hearts. I'm allergic to the cinnamon hearts so I dreaded receiving them from classmates.

Now that I'm out of elementary school, Valentine's Day is much easier on my poor stomach. Instead, my boyfriend cooks a home meal that is a little fancier than usual. Unlike Japan, Canadian Valentine's Day usually has the men treating their girlfriends/wives.

Hiroyuki said...

Joanna: Thank you for your detailed description of Valentine's Day in Canada!

In Japan, boys and men will be busy in one month, because we have White Day then!

Fräulein Trude said...

The cookies are very cute. A very unique design and there was even written Hiroyuki on your bag. In Germany Valentine is a day for romance. There are no rules but no cards and no gifts for friends - for lovers only. Some say Valentines day was imported for florists and chocolat producers. Members of the american army made it popular in germany after WWII. I like it. Received a DVD - film about a japanese tatoo artist and husband chocolat.

Hiroyuki said...

Kiki: I wanted to say something about the name written on the bag. I'm her dad, not a friend, so I expected that she would write お父さん or something like that instead.

Another Japanese DVD???

Sissi said...

Hiroyuki, my teacher says it's very commercial in Japan, but somehow I imagined it cuter since not only couples are concerned... There are so many single people sad on ST Valentine's Day...

Anonymous said...

Do you have any recipes that are easy to make and that dont require a lot of materials cuz i live in a country that doesnt celebrate valentines day so there's limited shopping supplies available

Hiroyuki said...

Anonymous: Sorry, I don't, but you don't require many ingredients to make cookies or something, right?
As they say, it's the heart that counts!