Author Archives: Helen Otori

Good morning everybody.皆さま、おはようございます。 Hope that you’re feeling fresh and bright this Friday morning. この素敵な金曜日の朝、ご機嫌はいかがでしょうか？If not, one of these delicious treats might be exactly what you need for a pick-me-up before the weekend. 少し疲れ気味であれば、週末前に元気を出すためには今日のレシピはぴったりかも。This week’s recipes are all about lemons!　今週はレモンオンパレードです！On Tuesday, we had some freshly baked lemon drizzle scones with our Afternoon Tea. 火曜日のアフタヌーンティーの生徒さんと一緒に焼き立てのレモンスコーンを食べました。Today, we areContinue reading “Ode to a lemon”

Hello everyone. 皆様、こんにちは。For those of you who don’t know who I am, my name is Helen Otori, owner-operator of White Rose C.C.C; and as well as teaching English, I spend an awful lot of my time either baking, eating or talking about cakes! ホワイトローズの大鳥ヘレンです！英語講師を務めていると同様にケーキを作ったり、食べたり、よく話したりしています！However, today, I’m going to take a break from ‘talking cake’ toContinue reading “What is White Rose all about?”

With the temperatures rising here in Japan, it’s a last chance to enjoy a good chocolate recipe before the summer arrives and carrying the necessary ingredients around becomes impractical! This recipe requires a good quality orange chocolate and, on a recent trip to the local outlet mall, I came across what can only be describedContinue reading “A last chance for chocolate?”

The weather here has been beautiful and I have been spending quite a lot of time in my garden.今週は天気がとても良く、毎日ガーデニングを楽しんでいます。 I’ve also been baking as usual. そしてもちろん今週も新しいお菓子作りに挑戦しています。With the heat beginning to turn up, I decided to go with a tropical theme this week: Coconut and mango cake. 気温が上がっていますので、少しトロピカルなココナッツ・マンゴケーキに決めました。With a decadent dollop of Greek yoghurt included inContinue reading “Hot sunny day? Why not try this chilled coconut and mango cake?”

　I have been teaching English in Japan for over 25 years now and although self-introductions are a popular first lesson for many courses, I tend to stay away from them. 私は２５年以上も日本に在住しており、英語教師として長いキャリアを持っています。毎年新しい生徒さんとの出会いがありますが、最初のレッスンではどうしても’自己紹介’を教材に取り入れるのが苦手です。When you’re nervous and accepting a new language into your life, talking about yourself can be the last thing on your mind.なぜならば、緊張している時や慣れていない言葉でしゃべている時、落ち着いて自分の話をするのは大変でしょう。 I find thatContinue reading “Let me introduce myself…or maybe not!”

If it’s one of those days when you can’t decide whether to go with vanilla or chocolate, why not enjoy both with this super simple chocolate marble cake recipe. バニラにしょうかなぁ？チョコレートにしょうかなぁ？決められない貴方、このチョコレートマーブルケーキはいかがでしょうか？レシピはこちらへ。。。。

So, after a few days off work last week, it’s business as normal on this rainy Monday. 朝から雨ですね。連休明けはいやですね。今日から皆様と一緒で、普通のスケジュールに戻っています。と言うか。。今週は普通ではない！Or should I say, it’s not business as normal. Business is booming! This week, I have a full schedule and have just spent a marathon day and a half planning to teach 15 different lessons.今週、ホワイトローズでは、大変忙しくなりそう！昨日から今週に予定されている１５レッスン分の教材を一生懸命作っていました。 As well asContinue reading “A busy week ahead!”

Here in Japan, and in many other countries around the world, today is Mother’s Day. 今日はたくさんの国では母の日が祝われています。Although I am spending the day alone, working in my office, my 16-year-old son has promised to make me pizza for dinner. 私は事務所で今週のレッスンを準備して、母の日を一人で過ごしていますが、今夜１６歳の息子が自慢のピザを作ってくれるそうです。How are you all spending the day? 皆さんはどう過ごしていますか？ As you may know, although I have been in JapanContinue reading “What? Two different Mother’s days?”

Happy weekend everyone. Wherever you are in the world, I’m sure that it must be time for afternoon tea. This week’s treat is rather naughty. Calls itself a flapjack, usually a healthy snack made from oatmeal; but, covered with a wonderful ginger fudge sauce, this one is definitely for those with a sweet tooth. CheckContinue reading “This week’s treat is naughty but nice!”

  These days, I get to bake not once, but twice a week.最近、週２回ベーキングを楽しんでいます。 Tuesday’s students got to sample my own mum’s secret recipe for spicy Yorkshire biscuits. 火曜日の生徒のため、ヨークシャー生まれの母自身が考えたスパイシーなビスケットを作りました。They went down a real treat with a cup of white tea. ホワイトティーと美味しく頂きました。For Thursday and Friday’s Afternoon Tea classes, I tried out a new recipe: Lemon mascarpone blondies.Continue reading “A cake called blondie…”