Chili Night

One of the fun things here, is that we have close friends in the neighborhood, and Tim's work buddies in the area. Therefore, we get to have parties. I like to cook, so usually there is a theme.

Since it is winter, and crock-pots are my only real cooking option, we did chili! It was great!

This is my taco chili. I use taco seasoning, and add black beans, olives, and corn to the regular chili items.

This is a green chile chicken chili. I use great northern, white lima, chick peas and navy beans. I use green chiles and tomatillo sauce (enchilada sauce in a pinch). Then, CHEESE. The secret is the big blob of Monterey Jack cheese.
This was my 'Texas chili.' I put big hunks of steak, larger chopped onion and celery, and heated it up with spices.
Then, there was the Tenderfoot chili... for the kids. Hardly any spice, finely ground meat, etc. Really kind of wimpy, but great.... once I added hot sauce! :)
As always, there was a veggie tray, and sour cream, cheese and onions to top the chilis off with.
I had friends compete for the best cornbread recipe. This is the winner.
This one almost won. The voting was close. Mine didn't place. Mine was 'from the box.' I do the basic box mixed with a can of sweet corn and call it good! :)
And the non-adults had a great time!
It's all about the toys. :)
I didn't get any pics once the party got started. We have a great bunch of folks here this year. They're fun to have over. Lots have small children. It's a new dynamic, and a fun one to boot. We are very fortunate to have such wonderful, supportive friends live so close, who are willing to come hang with us from time-to-time. And I love to cook. Life is good!

Parent Teacher Conference 2/4/11

This parent teacher conference was a little different. It was set up to show us what a typical 'day in the life' of our children would be. Ms. Bailey greeted us while the kids started going through their folders.
There was a list of things to do. A few math problems, a reading task, etc.
I think he's such a cutie, and here is his nameplate. BTW, his handwriting is pretty good, when he works on it. Usually, he has so much to write, that he writes fast, and therefore isn't as neat.
Both Tim and I were able to attend this parent/teacher conference.
This must be the view of his table-mate of William.
This is looking at his classroom, the other way. There are reading stations, and books they can immediately access.
Tim is giving William his spelling test. No peaking at the words! William does well at spelling, as long as we practice it.
Ms. Bailey took a family portrait for us. Proud parents of William. William was first done and crowing about it (making another child feel badly). I told him, "Bad form!" Then on the way home, I asked him if he'd like someone 'rubbing it in' or 'making fun' of him. Also, since he's smart, it is his duty not to make fun of others. And the child may be doing excellent first grade work, so don't be that way.

I want him to be proud of his accomplishments, but also have compassion for others. It's a fine line.

Korean Store in Chinatown

I love finding new things, and going new places. Sometimes, I like going old places with old friends to see new things (things I missed the first time, 'cause I didn't know what in the heck I was looking at!).

So, when Jun-yi said she knew where to find a great Korean store, I was curious. So, where's it at? The obvious place to hide a Korean store... in Chinatown! :)
So, off we went to Chinatown. I said, 'Let's go early, and get there at 10." Well, nothing really opens 'til 11 at Chinatown. But, the smells in the morning were already there. The steamed buns with nummy ingredients on the inside.
And it's all about marketing. They look like pandas!
An hour from now, this street was crowded with people. Who knew when to come to Chinatown, that happens to be in Japan.
It was quite pleasant to be here at this time of day. There is a Chinese school here, and it was funny to watch a lady hurry up with her child... they were late... but other than that, it was just store owners receiving deliveries, setting up their vending areas, and eager shoppers (us).
The temple was already open. We didn't go inside. We've all been here before.
Some of the sundries shops were already open. With both Jun-yi (reads and speaks Chinese) and Reina (Japanese, who has lived in Shanghai), as guides, I found some pretty tasty stuff. Although, it was agony to buy something at one store, then find it cheaper at another. Oh well. I enjoyed being able to ask what things were.
Okay, there's a cute factor here.
Hiromi, Keona, Jun-yi and myself... and we were talking food, buying ingredients, but there were no restaurants open, yet! We were starting to get hungry!
Bruce Lee (Bluce Lee) outfit. You see Bruce in a similar looking outfit in the picture.
...but this one was for a baby! :)
Finally, a restaurant was open. I had cashew chicken. It was very good, and the soup was delicious.

Then, it was time... the 11th hour had arrived, and it was finally open...

THE KOREAN STORE!!!
I loved how they put posters on the stairs. Cool, huh!?!
There is quite a following here of Korean TV and music. I think there are almost as many channels dedicated to Korean programming as English. They are all subtitled. But, the boys are cute, the HD is amazing... even I find myself watching them sometimes, and I have no idea what the heck they're saying! Okay, I'm a videot, I admit it. It's all about the HD...
Some of the guys are really good looking...
Jun-yi was in hog heaven. Some of the compartments are just for a particular actor.
And there was the "Korean" food you could buy. They must use high priced hogs, 'cause these were $6.96 per can.
The Asians believe a woman needs to be warm 'down there.' That explains the wool skivvies worn over the underwear, but under the dress. This will give you a hot vee-jay-jay.
And, you know how I love the dog thing over here. These are all dressed similar. Their little Skandahoovian sweaters...

All seen on a nice day in Chinatown (in Yokohama, Japan).

Han-ba-gu, not Han-ba-ga

I love my Japanese class, because we do things that are Japanese, not just befuddle me on the language. Now, eating, that's something I understand. So, what is the difference between hanbaga, and hanbagu? Well, a hanbaga is a HAMBURGER with bun. Hanbagu is what you see on menus here, and usually come with a side of rice. They are extremely moist, and have a unique sauce.

You'll find that it's a sort of meatball recipe.

My classmate, Jun-yi's son, Liam, loves hanbagu. So, we got a lesson in how to make it!
Here are the ingredients: ground hamburger, ground pork, onion, minced, carrot finely grated (more like pulvarized), egg, pankow, and salt.
Different than meatloaf, you saute the onions before mixing with the raw meat.
It was amazing how little pankow (dried crumbs) were used. So not like any meatloaf recipe I've ever seen. The egg and the pankow bind it together. But now for a secret ingredient:
Carrot, yes carrot (ninjin). You can find fine shredders in the stores here. Not only are there little holes, but sharp points up, that chew and shred the carrot at the same time. It looks like the same kind of thing they use to grind up the wasabi.
Here's the pro doing it... fast (hayai).
After it's all mixed together, it goes in a pan with butter in it. Cover, and brown on both sides.
Then, take away any blackened meat particles, add a bit of butter, and saute some mushrooms. There are so many varieties here, I love them all. And then what makes that unique sauce? Add catsup. Yep, catsup. Then, cream.
Add the hambagu back in the sauce to re-heat and meld with the sauce, then serve...
with rice. There's a simple daikon salad. Shred, and add mayonaise.
And then we ate! Hanbagu is cut off a bit, grabbed with a bit of rice, and NUM!

Orange Daikon Salad

Daikon is really cheap here. I big tubular 'radish' if you will. So, I have been told and revised a few recipes for it.

This is 'Orange Daikon Salad.' You either shred or finely dice daikon, peel, section and chop a similar amount of orange. Mix with poppyseed dressing, and viola, a nice salad.

I usually use a bit of salt to help the daikon taste come more forward. And I really like it after marinating for awhile in the fridge.

Bon appetite!

One of these days I'll make the shirasu daikon recipe again, and take pictures while I make it to post here.

Karifurawa - Cauliflower

Sometimes I think something is 'NEW' and exciting here in Japan. I tell the world about it on my blog, and then people from back home say that they've already seen that.Here are three types of cauliflowers (I've seen purple, too). One is normal (foreground), one is deep yellow (mid), and one is just funky.
That katakana says: Ka ri fu ra waaa. That's 'cauliflower' to us English speakers.
And this is what it looks like. So funky looking! It tasted really good, too!

William's SOLO Hakuba Ski Trip

With Tim's knee injury sidelining him, we intended to do something else on MLK weekend than the traditional ski weekend. As the weekend drew closer, no big ideas or fun things to do emerged.

So, we swapped kids with friends, and they took William skiing with them to Hakuba. There were many of our friends on the bus, so William was well chaperoned. Plus, there's always 'THE INFORMER.' I love it that he has a friend who tells on him to me. Sometimes I'm surprised at what I hear, but Stefan always tells the truth. Kinda funny what is revealed that only a friend knows...

He got sick the first night (late to bed, up at midnight to leave, long day...) and slept 15 hours solid. He fell asleep on a couch. He woke up and skied like a big dog. In the snow. The deep, deep snow. You'll also see him going to the hot springs in his green robe. Boys go with boys, as they go naked. I wonder what new things will be revealed to me from my 'insider informer.'

Hallie has an iPhone and so when she took video, some of it is portrait video. Tim put it together in a wonderful style. I figure it has to hit the blog before Tim and William head back up to this resort at Hakuba (there are several ski resorts there), this weekend.

William is the one with the red ski helmet.