Kozue came in, bringing some interesting pickled ingredients for us to test. And had a taste of Chizuko’s apple pie cups. Verdict: she liked.
Here’s Chizuko entertaining being entertained by our guests.
We made a new friend! This is Rio, with her mom. Rio is 8 years old, speaks good English, and likes cookies. They’re originally from Japan’s Akita prefecture.
Rio told me about the Namahage (生剥) folklore native to Akita.
A dancing drummer wearing a Namahage costume, performed Namahage-Daiko in Akita Station. Photo by by Akira Kouchiyama
More (in English) about the Namahage legend here. 
Chizuko made more apple pie cups, with cranberry and walnuts. And brownies, and pancakes. 
Uni and I like it when the kitchen makes mistakes, we get to eat them! Here’s Uni with a liberated pancake.
This is Chizuko’s cousin Sonoko, who helped us in the kitchen this weekend. 
We also had special help from Shoko this weekend. 
Besides good organizational skills, Shoko has excellent handwriting.
Also helping us this weekend was Sanae. She taught us a few things about baking!
More of my favorite customers, with their best Sunday smiles. 
Only three weeks ago Tono was as cold as the north pole! Now the snow is melting, and the weather is clear and much warmer. It’s surprisingly pleasant, after the long winter.
We’ll be back Wednesday! We’re closed Monday & Tuesday. But with spring coming, our hours might change. See you next week!
Black Ship Coffee 