It seems that everyone we know has been to Japan; everyone except Ham and I. My mom asked me once if I regret not traveling. I didn’t have an answer for her at the time. As I’ve noted before, Ham and I spent the greater part of five years renovating our home during the weekends. Our purpose was singular and we needed to keep our 🦆🦆🦆 in a row. Build our home, then see the world. I try not to live with regrets so I guess the answer to my mom’s question, two years later, is nope. 😊

As you read this, we’re on a flight to Japan, a country that I’ve been in awe of for a very long time. I’ve been preparing myself for complete sensory overload, oodles of noodles, inspiring centuries-old architecture and the irresistible lure of the gachapon. I’m dying to spin that dial…no whammies! 🤣

There may be a brief hiatus on Gray Cow while we immerse ourselves in the Land of the Rising Sun. Meanwhile, here is a quick and easy recipe for baked beef teriyaki rolls. The recipe is adapted from Just One Cookbook, the best site ever for approachable Japanese dishes.

For this recipe, we used thinly-sliced beef earmarked for shabu shabu from an Asian supermarket. The lazy in me baked the main ingredients to create a quick one-pan meal but you can surely follow the original recipe by blanching the veggies and pan-frying the rolls. It’s delicious either way and the possibilities for the filling are infinite as beef pairs well with just about everything.