Upon Request: Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken Cacciatore is one of the easiest Chicken recipes around. Cacciatore is Italian for “Hunter” so basically it mean’s Chicken Hunter style. I like to think of a couple of suave Italian hunters out there in the forest. With their chicken they just hunted (Really, how hard can that be?) Hunter 1 chops the chicken up, while hunter 2 goes out & finds a few wild tomatoes & smashes them up & hunter 3 collects a few wild mushrooms (hoping that they’re not poisonous) they throw it all in a cast iron skillet & drink down a bottle of wine as it simmers & they recount the tale of how they hunted down that chicken. They then go on to eat the chicken cacciatore in true hunter style. Arrrgggg!!!

Well, there you have it. I make mine a little different. It was one of those things that my mother in law made, & I don’t know about you but when my husband does that “My-mom-used-to-always-make-us….” Thing, that’s usually all I need to get down to business. I’m sure there are a many ways to do this but here’s how I do mine. I usually do not use measurements so this is just off the top of my head. A true chicken hunter has no recipes! Grrr!!

Chicken thigh 1 kg
½ c flour (couple shakes of salt & pepper)
Few tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, cut (don’t worry about tiny pieces, I like them bigger)
2 or 3 cloves of garlic (pressed)
2 bell peppers, chopped (if the crowd is not all kids & nursing/pg moms)
2 cans of whole tomatoes (16 oz)
½ c of water
10 15 white button mushrooms sliced or 1 large bunch of shimeji mushrooms divided (NO, PUT THE SHITAKE DOWN!!)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 bay leaf
Salt & pepper to taste

Cut the thigh into serving size pieces, dredge in flour, fry on medium heat in a large heavy bottom skillet till browned on both sides. Chuck in onions, garlic, spices & pour canned tomatoes on top. Cut tomatoes or give them a couple of secs in the blender & pour over the chicken & veggies. Add water, Cover & simmer on low for about 1 hr. Check on it from time to time & stir to prevent burning on the bottom. About 10 min. before you take it off the stove, add mushrooms & salt & pepper to taste. This is best served with pasta.

Fancy this dinner up by adding olives & parmesan cheese at the end. I have made up some bread dough have my kids make some caraway or basil bread sticks to go with this. Great activity & gives extra class to the meal. (Not to mention something to soak up the extra juice). And it’s Buon Appetito!

Hint: If you don’t have a good skillet, then use a good stew pot. I’ve had a few burn experiences with this recipes because the pot I put it was a pasta pot or one with a thin bottom. I tried baking it in a greased casserole dish (covered) at 200c for 1 hr. And it worked just fine to.

PS: I would have added a picture of this recipe, but as anyone who’s made this meal knows. It’s not popular for it’s looks.

Banner Time!!

Oh, look at that! My friendly friend Elaina made this nifty banner for me. Thank you, Elaina! If you’re wondering what the holey business is in the back….it’s not poison (Nina) it’s BREAD!! OK? And the ultra cool "Bread-Man" is Elaina's skillful magnet board art. In other news today:

- Travis had a 2 day “vom-bomb” session but is back to eating, with a vengeance
- Uncle Smarky had a birthday & we made a day of it with the kids making pizza from scratch. Uncle Jono would be proud (I’m ashamed to say it was my very first time) And Elaina made the most wondrous coconut cream pie on this side of the planet. Pictures are at hand. Josh had great fun taking them of the kids making their own Pizza.
- Got a late start on the post Christmas break school. New resolutions & visions of grandeur. We’re trying Arithmetic & Language in the morning & S.Studies, Science, Japanese or Vocational studies in the afternoon. We’re packing our day tighter. Using motivational words like “goals, incentive, prizes” etc… Whew, send up a prayer for me.
- I’m gonna try to step out of the kitchen & give Elaina a chance to do dinners, so I can concentrate on the kids afternoon class.
- Dylan’s new name shall be henceforth: Yokozuna Dill

And that is all for tonight.

Erika Carolyn is 1

Erika had her birthday on the 4th of January. Here's a few pics of her over the last year. She's a great kid & I think we'll keep her. Thanks Ambie & Ryan for some of these pics.

Erika at 6 weeks
Erika at 6 months
Erkia with Rosiola. And for anyone who doesn't know, the "island" is a strawberry birthmark. That's been fading slowly.

Serious Capricorn.
Goofy Erka the burka, Cuz-cuz, Eurika!

Akemashite Omedetogozaimasu.

I hope you had a restful wonderful new years break, where ever you are. Something about New Years always makes me think about Grandparents. It seems like New Years brings out the Grandparents doing “Grandparent-like” things with their kids; little kids being brats & loving it, preteens cringing & enduring it till they get their long awaited tiny precious envelope. Maybe it’s because we always visited our Ojichan & Obachan for new years that I'm reminded of Grandparents. To me, my O&O’s was the place of fairy tale breakfasts & elaborate Japanese dinners by my “career-cook” Obachan, who probably slept in a sleeping bag in the kitchen. She rarely came out except to eat leftovers from the fridge at the end of the meal & then was quickly back in to start on dishes.
There’s nothing like waking up & stumbling into the dining room snuggling under the kotastu & being served fluffy scrambled eggs with ham, thick white bread with strawberry jam & whole milk. Needless to say, it was a far cry from the fare that we ate daily and I was in breakfast heaven.
For some reason my dad recalled these visits with pain, it seemed to us like he was being tortured to have to drink beer at breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack & bedtime. I have my suspicions. My parents also seemed tortured to have to watch TV at breakfast, lunch, dinner & bedtime. I don’t doubt this at all. Naturally we kids pretended to act tortured as well, unsuccessfully. That is until Ojichan would turn on the marathon channel. I believe it was the top universities yearly competition. It was pretty sad, as it was an all day event & Ojichan insisted on watching the whole thing. I had a sneaking suspicion that the marathon channel was God’s way of punishing me for enjoying the TV watching. The part I looked forward to was when the runners would get to the finish line & then collapse into a group of concerned coaches & attendants who carried their skinny body away. I was secretly hoping maybe something really dramatic would happen, like CPR or something. Unfortunately it never did. Well, besides that, at the end of this feasting-TV-watching-ofuro-taking event, we were each given our own 2 envelopes with our otoshidama. It was like getting paid to have New Years. Wonderful! And we’d joyfully torture Mom & Dad singing on the entire 8 hour traffic ridden ride home!

I was given a tip by an “alert-foodie-blog-reader” to check out the Yuletide feasting on this blog. WOW!!! I have no comment. My initial reaction was to feel an incredible sense of hunger & a slight feeling of…well…..ok…it was green….and had (e-hum) one eye….. OK, well that lasted for about 5 seconds because I soon realized that most of the people at this “eat-a-thon” were obviously deprived & lacking. Why you ask? As you gaze upon these pictures from the blog of my dearest Niki, who lives there as well you will observe there are those (and I can count at least 5 heads)who right about now willing to give up their left pinkie for a bite of freshly made shogastu mochi with butter, shoyu & brown sugar, or kinako, a bite of oden, a scoop ozoni, nama beru & edamame, a momentary snuggle under a kotastu. Yes, I may be wrong, but it makes me feel good to think it’s true.
So I took a praise walk down to the department store 2 minutes away. And felt very smug as I sauntered down the oden section, the tofu section, the dried wakame-shitake-&-other-miso-zairyo section, the tsuyu, shoyu & mirin section, the su section, the cup lamen section, the sembe section & the ocha section, for once I enjoyed the shogastu music & had seconds on nasu-pickles that were being offered. Call it green grapes if you like, but I intend on going home & making ozoni with a renewed zest for this New Year.

Christmas foodie pics

A cheese & ham scone with a pinch of dried basil.

Sweet corn bread. Sweeeeeeeeet!!

See this for “Al’s Messed Up Stuffing" recipe. Yes, well, it definitely looks like messed up stuff. See the goma? I would have to say, that goma is essential & lovely all at once.

Pear & Almond Tart. Oh Joy! My first try at a short crust. First time making a tart in general & I really did nearly eat the whole thing. That’s like, a 10” around tart pan.

In the foreground is husband’s 2nd love fresh mozzarella & tomato salad. We’re looking into getting a female lactating buffalo on Yahoo!Japan Auction so that we might be able to produce mozzarella daily. The negotiations with our neighboring home, (Bayside) is still in the works concerning her grazing in their back yard, please keep it in your prayers.

A classic winter dessert. A "serve warm" pear & raspberry cobbler. The raspberries are sweet & tart & the pears are creamy & mellow. This cobbler has a unusually crispy, buttery topping that goes perfect with a little ice-cream melting on top & a dollop of whipped cream...and you're set for a great Christmas dessert. Or at least, Elaina is, apparently!! I don't know what happened, one day she was a purely rational sweet mommy & the next she's having bouts of grabbing & shaking my arm & talking about "THAT COBBLER". I'm alarmed! I try to avoid saying the word "raspberry" or "cobbler" for fear of sending her off. Please don't show her this post!

And that's all the foodie pics I have for today. I've been ambushed by friends for the New Years and will post more about that momumental event later.

Basic Pie Crust

Kari, I hope I'm not too late. Here's the most basic pie recipe. The key is 1) keep all the ingredents cold. Use ice water, if at all possible use shortning, or unsalted butter, but if you don't have that then you can use margarine, but have it be COLD!!! 2) Minimal handling, just mix in the water till it's just mixed in, bring it all together (if its really dry & won't hold togetherthen add the 4th tsp of water), put it on the floured surface. I prefer to do it on some saran wrap so that I can lift it into a pie plate easier.

1 1/4 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c shortning, or unsalted butter
3 or 4 tbsp ice water

cut the shortning into the flour & salt, use your fingers till it looks like bread crumbs. Use a fork to mix in water. Mix till it's like larger chunks of dough. Bring it together, chill in the fridge for 20 min. Flatten on floured surface & roll out with rolling pin. (Start at the center & roll out). Poke holes with a fork in the bottom & sides to prevent cracking. If you want a "pre-prepared" crust bake at 180c for 10-12 min or until golden. You can check out the Irish creme pie post for a cookie crumb crust.

Hope it works out good.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hope it’s been a good one. I imagine we were the only people on this side of the world that actually celebrated Christmas on Christmas Day. I may not have gotten to do this, maybe next year, but I had a spelendid Christmas. Wonderful pictures shall be forthcoming. It was great, and at times even relaxing. (No, that was not a joke) I had my children stay in their room till 9:30 so I could get up & get some Word, coffee & start on a nice Brunch of:

Maine Pumpkin bread
Cheese & Ham scones
Eggs, toast & sausages

My wonderful son Travster stayed asleep till 9:30 if you can believe it. Why can’t every day be Christmas day? We had devotions around the table with the kids & then delved into the presents. I am trying to remember why we got Travster a mike stand. It’s lethal no matter how he uses it. If it’s not a mike stand it’s a bass, if it’s not a bass it’s a sword/whipper-snapper, taiko sticks, machine gun, etc….Oh, well! The men-folk took the kids out of the house so I was left in the kitchen alone. (Nya ha ha ha, could it really be?? Shouldn’t there be a baby trying to yank off the oven knobs, or a small child cracking eggs on the countertop?)

What a relaxing Christmas cooking experience. And just incase I forgot the Lord loves me, he did even supply me with wonderful ingredients, my favorite fruit, 12 pears for 300Y. I tried a French Pear & almond Tart recipe with (get this) Apricot jam for the glaze. You will only understand this if you receive provisioned goods from the PC. I mean, it’s written right there, “Apricot Jam & Lemon Glaze”. Words fail me to describe this tart, I nearly ate the whole thing, just because I was doubting my own tastebuds, marveling the whole time. "Did I actually make this? Is it allowed to taste so good?" Mascarpone cheese (thank you Kari) and Espresso coffee & maker (thanks Mike & Aich) for Tiramisu. I just had a fun time in general with my unusually short menu:

-Turkey, (Niki I followed your good example & stuffed the turkey with an orange, pear, onion, 2 cloves of garlic, bunch of fresh rosemary, bay leaves & sage, thank you for teaching me the "way")
-stuffing (see recipe below)
- gravy
- raspberry sauce (it was a great substitute, since I could NOT find cranberries anywhere this year, not even COSTCO, and the color…..ahhh, don’t get me started on raspberries, I'm still polishing off the rest of it with my toast, wait till I get my hands on an ice cream, nya ha!)
- minuscule amount of potatoes for those white guys,
- cornbread,
- tomatoes & mozzarella salad,
- jello & punch for the kids,
- pear & raspberry cobbler,
- pear tart
- Tiramisu.

As for my favorite part of Christmas dinner it most definitely is the turkey sandwiches & turkey soup the day after. And if you haven’t had your Christmas dinner yet, here’s my stuffing recipe for you which I have decided is my favorite until I try out yours. The list of ingredient can be shortened by using either not both varieties of bread nuts & dried fruit. But please, please don’t nix the apples. Whether you’ve had Christmas dinner or not, Merry Christmas & a Happy New 2007

AL’S MESSED UP STUFFING:

2 c whole wheat bread
4 c white bread
1 c onion
¾ c celery (leaves & all)
2 ½ tsp sage
1 ½ tsp rosemary
½ tsp thyme
1 apple chopped
¼ c raisins
½ c dried cranberries
¾ c turkey broth or stock (can use chicken bullion)
¼ c pecans
¼ c walnuts

Toast the bread cubes in the oven for 10 min at 180c. Sauté the chopped onion & celery for 10 min. in butter, COVERED! Add apple & sauté for another 5. Toss all ingredients into bread cubes in a large bowl. Stuff turkey or bake, covered for 1 hr at 175c (or the same temp. as you’d cook your bird) And that’s it

Screaming Amy's Holiday in the Boonies!

Yes, that's right my very own sister, is here from LA for the Holidays. My kids deemed her "Screaming Amy" quite awhile back, as they have 2 Aunties named Amy & the name stuck. She is the one of the "screaming" variety. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaa.......RyRy.........Eeeeeeeeeeeee...You're soooooo cute!! (repeat with other 4 children) " Well, you know....it's all very loving. She showed us some of her movie & TV work, it's weird to see what she does. And she's good too. Always the dramatic one.

Here are some pics of the last time all us sisters were together (Jan 2005) nearly 2 years ago. I have to preface these pics & say...well...gee...what is there to say. Except I hope none of them get sore about me posting them. Chala & I have to be the most awful models ever. And I shudder to imagine that Dad is probobly scheming to take yet another "family picture" this year. I love you, Dad!

Christmas Pies Part 2

As promised (to most likely a one person readership) my second installation of "Christmas Pies". Here are yet more fun-loving ideas. Not all pies but tried & proven.

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie:

Ewwww....Look at that kitchen. My dad will faint dead away! No, the Baysidian Kitchen does not look like that anymore. Yes, there are indeed 8 pies in the above picture. Long story, got paid to make them. Hey, is that the first picture of me? I look awful, that 1 year old nursing look!

I referred to this in my "Christmas Pies Pt 1". It is my most beloved Pumpkin pie recipe. It must be something about growing up in Japan that makes you pretty impartial to using vegetables in desserts. As in Japan it seems like nothing is too horrible to try. Spinach, carrots, renkon, & God forbid, the “forbidden fruit” goya. Ewww!! Back to reality, this is a light non-bake pumpkin pie. It can be made the day before which is a real plus & makes Christmas dinner prep. all the less stressful.

Pre-prepared cookie crumb crust (or plain baked crust)
1 envelope gelatin (2 1/2 tsp)
1 tbsp water
2 c cooked mashed pumpkin
1/2 c granulated sugar (or 1/3 c honey)
4 egg yolks (beaten)
1/2 c cream
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 egg whites
another 1/4 c granulated sugar

Dissolve gelatin in the water, @ 10 min. Mix pumpkin, sugar & soft gelatin add egg yolks, cream & spices & cook until thicker (about 10 min?) Cool slightly beat egg whites with 1/4 c granulated sugar till stiff. Fold into pumpkin mixture. Pour into prepared crumb crust chill till set (2 hrs). Top with whip cream. Other additional toppings could be pumpkin seeds, walnuts, mint leaves. ENJOY!!

Mom's Cheesecake:

This is called "Mom's" not because she made it but rather because the way to my mom's heart is through a giant piece of this no-bake cheesecake. I get almost irritated at the predictability of her asking for it for every birthday, & every Christmas & every time I make a dessert. I want a bit more of a challenge. Don't ask me why she likes it so much cuz' it's so simple it's crazy. As a matter of fact it's from that "family produced" cook book series. You know the colorful ones. It's in the pink "Dessert" one. So for anyone who doesn't have that cookbook, (I don't) here's how it goes. It calls for 1/2 c sour cream but as you all in Japan know, that costs as much as 3 containers of yogurt, so just use 1 c yogurt One thing you ABSOLUTLEY do need for this recipe is a blender. I've tried it without. Huge lumpy sorry mess!! Don't do it!

1 cookie crumb crust
1 envelope gelatin (2 1/2 tsp)
3 tbsp cold water
1 egg
1/3 c honey
1 8 oz (250g) cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c yogurt
1/2 c sour cream

Dissolve the gelatin in the water. Put the egg, honey, cheese, vanilla & yogurt (& sour cream if you're using) blend till...well....blended. Nuke the gelatin for 10 sec. or so till dissolved, but not boiling. Blend into the cheese mixture. Pour into crust & chill till firm. Top with berries. Better yet cherry pie filling (yes, another arm & leg in Japan) the picture above is blueberry pie filling, try strawberries, canned cherries, canned peaches, frozen raspberries, frozen blueberries. I did a topping with raspberries that went really great with it. Blend 1 c (defrosted raspberries) in the blender 1/4 c sugar & 1 tsp gelatin softened in 4 tbsp water & dissolved in the microwave (10 secs) blend in the blender & cover the top with it. Don’t get me started on Raspberries

And that's it for today folks. Happy Christmas baking!

Recent Pics.

Here are some recent goodies. The good photos are from Mark's camera & the lousy ones are from Josh's keitai.

Look at that stud-muffin! Ry is 5 now. And it's not every day he looks that contemplative. (Didn't I just say this about Trav? ) What a dude!!

Erika on her park-time with U. Merk. She's constantly getting stuck, falling over, eating something horrid, getting muddy etc... I think she had climbed the stairs of the slide up to there.
Ah yes, the whole gang/mob/tribe/team or what have you. That was a cold family day where we did some Christmas witnessing & went on an "exploring" drive with daddy (aka: we won't get grouchy when daddy gets us horribly lost)
Ah yes, this is the "Guitar Cake" for Trav's 3rd Birthday on the 3rd of Dec. As you can see, Travis has reverted to the chicken smile & no longer has eyes. I discussed with him what kind of cake he wanted, the runners up were: "Blues clue paw print, "T" for Travis, Mike playing drums (No, GOD!!!) Uncle STEM playing guitar (MAKE IT STOP!!) or a guitar" Somehow we convinced him he wanted this one. He liked it well enough, though it's got like, 3 1/2 pokey strings.

Numbers of the day

- 10 mouths fed
- 9 year old girls with convincing arguments of why they shouldn’t have to…..
- 8 braids I fixed on my daughters braided head
- 7 is what time I almost started my Word time
- 6 6 & 6 is the song Travis has been singing all day
- 5 children were just put in bed.
- 4 hugs I’ve gotten today
- 3 loads of laundry, which I did with inspiration.
- 2 meals that I did with mediocrity, & not deciding till the last minute Libra style
- 1 letter of apology that I wrote today to a friend that was way way overdue
- 0 kids with broken bones

Thing I’ve done today that I hope I won’t have to do again tomorrow (WARNING: excriment story follows):

Today Travis stepped in what had to be the biggest pile of poo on this side of Chiba. No doubt by a champion Great Dane with a healthy digestive system and his consciousless master. Did you know that there is a 50,000Y max fine that you can receive for leaving your pet-poo around? At least here in Chiba! Maybe a better incentive like having the owner wear special shoes with poo smell imbedded would motivate. Apparently he stepped in it just because “I could not see if dat was poo, so I did step in it to check & it was really poo…..waaa…..I have poo on my shoes…Unco Mark!!” I took care of the unpleasentries & oh how I wished shoes were disposable along with his socks & pants (I kid you not) or that I could say his shoes were falling apart anyway, but NO they weren’t falling apart in fact they are fairly nice, or – er, were fairly nice. Yes, if you need your shoes covered in something, anything, ask my son. I guarantee a stellar performance. I hope to God he doesn't have this same attitude about other things in life, "But Mommy, I just wanted to see if dat was really a cliff & so I did fall down du cliff". Sigh!!

Happy Birthday Niki!!!

Happy Birthday to a wonderful friend & an even more wonderful Sagg. I will have to say that you give me hope that my dear Sagg son may turn out OK. It's wonderful to know that you made it through your 25th year (& all that that implies) I don't have a huge long post but I do have a lot of love for you & admiration for your willingness to follow the Lord wherever He's leading you. Thank you for being my friend. I'm praying your year will be filled with lots of love, fun, & men. (or just one man, if he's man enough for you) I love you!! XXXXXX Kisses of love ----- Alisa

Christmas Pies Part 1

I’m really itching to get some recipe in here, what’s food blog without food? I’m a little short on recent pictures as I can’t figure out how to move pictures off my phone & onto the computer so for now I shall now amuse you with ideas for possible Christmas desserts. You may discover soon enough that I’m not a cake person but a pie person. (No offence cake people, I love cake people too!)

Now for your cooking pleasure I shall list some regular pies (well, regular at festive meals) in what I hope will be an enjoyable series of Christmas dinner recipes. These are in my “Al’s-cookbook-of-science” cookbook.

Fresh Pumpkin Pie:

I know My pic is not that great but believe me it was a great textured pumpkin, baked but not dense. Well besides my Pumpkin chiffon pie recipe which I consider the best pumpkin pie recipe, this is the 2nd best pumpkin pie. And definitely the best baked one. The honey gives it a great "shine", so it's a real pretty cake (unless you have a “hotspot” in your oven like I do, see the pic.) & VERY wonderfully fragrant & spice filled. Use a small kabocha or about 500ml of mashed kabocha.

INGREDIENTS
1 medium pumpkin (kabocha)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 premade 9 inch single crust pie
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup honey, warmed slightly
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

DIRECTIONS
Cut pumpkin in half, and remove seeds. Lightly oil the cut surface. Place cut side down on a jelly roll pan lined with foil and lightly oiled. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) until the flesh is tender when poked with a fork. Cool until just warm. Scrape the pumpkin flesh from the peel. Either mash, or puree in small batches in a blender.
In large bowl, blend together 2 cups pumpkin puree, spices, and salt. Beat in eggs, honey, milk, and cream. Pour filling into pie shell.
Bake at 400 degrees F ( 205 degrees C) for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a knife inserted 1 inch from edge of pie comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Honey Crunch Pecan Pie: (the title will take you to Allrecipes.com)



Yes, I know what you're thinking, does it involve a certain story regarding "eschewing the evil?" Thanks to Costco I have made this for a few C’mas dinners. Some N.American brethrens’ heads did indeed spin.

Note: I nix the white sugar & you can use mizuame for corn syrup. (does anyone remember the “golden syrup that we had a ton of way back? That stuff was awesome for this. And don’t forget to cover your crust or it will burn

Sweet Potato Casserole: (This fills a 9x13” casserole dish, for a good size group (16-)

8 med. Size sweet potatoes mashed
2/3 c butter
2/3 c milk
1 ½ c granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs beaten
Mix till smooth & put into a greased casserole.

Topping:
1 ½ c brown sugar
1 c flour
2/3 c butter
1 ½ c pecans

Crumble butter into flour & sugar & mix in nuts. Sprinkle over potato mixture & bake for 25-30 min in 175c oven.

This is not exactly a pie but it very well should be classified as one. Very quality. Again calling for the elusive pecans (if you’re in Japan) but walnuts will do fine. Simple ingredients. And if you want to spice it up a bit more add some cinnamon & nutmeg. Serve it warm with ice-cream & whip cream & you have yourself a dessert if I do say so myself.

And there you go! That's all for now.

Post from Lani, Ashley, Ryan (A Parent time Project)

(Ashley:) This is our brother Travis, he's very surprised at the camera.

(Leilani:) He just turned three.

(Ryan:) That's our room.

(Travis:) Mommy, look at Travis' tounge.

(Leilani:) This is me peeling the cucumbers for dinner. I'm peeling them "naked". I call them that because I'm peeling off all the peels. I'm helping my Mom in the kitchen. I usually help set the table. My favorite job is to fill up the water pitcher.

(Ryan:) This is our thanksgiving night and Grandpa came over to visit with us. And he brought some chips. The best thing was the cake, I mean pie.

(Mommy:) Actually it was a cobbler, Ry.

(Ashley:) I set the table for this dinner and it was a lot of fun. When I finished setting the table I went up to watch a video. And then I heard a "ding-dong", then Ryan & I ran downstairs & we saw Grandpa at the door. The focaccia was my favorite part of the meal, not including the cobbler


(Lani:) After dinner we watched a fun movie. In the picture Travis is squinting his eyes...


(Ashley:)....so tight that he can't see the camera.

(Ashley:) We're visiting the museum in Aoba. We saw a picture of Charles Darwin. He's famous for Evolution. We're pointing down because we don't believe in evolution.

(Lani:) We believe in creation. That God created the World. (Can you underline things, Mom? I want to underline "God")

(Ashley:) We hope you like the blog. Hee hee hee!!

(Lani:) Eh-hum....We also had a lot of fun at the museum.

(Mommy:) OK, go brush your teeth! I'll show you the post when you're done.

Mr. Trav Trav

My dear Son Trav will be 3 tomorrow. Whew! If you know him you'll have to agree with me that this is a major feat. He was my largest baby (4.2kgs) & 10 days early. Certainly the most active (from the womb) and adventuresome. Heck, I mean this in the best of ways but he's a Sagg, that should say a lot. He's great with figuring out any kind of equipment. He's curious & likes to experiment with things he finds, very active & gets into no end of trouble. Off the top of my head & to name a few, in the last month or so he's:

- Locked himself in the ofuro to squeeze out the toothpaste he doesn't like
- Drawn on the walls
- In hopes of a bath smeared himself with conditioner & filled up the bath
- Cleaned the toilet & surrounding area with the plunger
- Plugged & washed his own slippers in the sink after peeing on them
- Put Deodorant on every inch of his body
- Cracked his own eggs
- Stuck cars in the CD player

Travis is constantly has something that he's obsessed with & the obsession changes on a VERY regular basis. Observe: From the time we came to this house a mere 3 months ago, he's gone through the following very serious obsessions

- Blue's Clues (Can't get enough of Steve, dutifully answers every dumb question Steve asks)
- Beginner Bible Video (Must watch the opening song & all the following corny songs)
- pretending everything flat is a skateboard (Rule of thumb if it has wheels ride it, if it is flat jump on it till it breaks)
- guitar obsession (pretend everything is a guitar & jump on mommy's bed with it)
- Steve (STEM) obsession "Mommy I want to nisten to Steve music, du Enaina song"
- Present obsession coming out of the "STEM" phase & passing quickly into the "New Worlds to Discover" phase. This one is particularly scary as he walks around the house going, "So what's wrong with 666? Listen to this" or "Now I'm going to introduce you to Jennifer we're going to sing the next song together". I REALLY thought we were done with the whole "New Worlds" dance steps but obviously TIV is here to stay!!!

Well, there's too much to say about this little nut but I'll keep it short. I'm so grateful to the Lord for protecting him. He's had so many accidents but no real long lasting damage. He's not hurt anything or anyone too badly, so that's nice. And above all, though he's terribly wild & has boundless energy he is still (at times) a very loveable & gentle man. And honest too, YIKES! "Mommy, I just hit Erika, nike dis" (Shows me exactly how) "Mommy, I just dropped du cup out du window, nike dis" (Shows me how he deftly hurled the mug out the window) When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, "Umm I think maybe candy." ????? I tried again "Mmmmm (mumble mumble)" "What did you say Travis?" (Big silly smile)"Maybe I want Moneys" OK, one last time, "Is that it, Trav?" "Ummm....I just want a happy birthday".

Now that, I can try for. Happy birthday Trav Trav! We nuv you!

PS. Sorry no pics looks like Blogger is having some outage problem)

For a certain brother-in-law: Spicy Peanut Chicken

You asked for it a million times, I almost got to forget about it again. Just make it for once & tell me how it turns out. OK? A nice sort of "Asian" tasting meal, not too adventurous for the gaijin tastebuds. I would have to say the peanuts make me think it must be somewhat Indonesian, just PLEASE don't go claiming that it's Chinese or Japanese though. So here it is for the Million & oneth time. :

SPICY PEANUT CHICKEN (serves about 6)

1/4 c chicken broth (or if you're in Japan you can even use dashi)
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp shoyu
1 tbsp white vinegar (apple cider is fine but sake vinegar is the best)
1/4 tbsp red pepper (adjust that to your abused or pure tastebuds)
1-2 tbsp oil
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thigh cut into 1/2" pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp grated ginger root
1 bell pepper cut into 1/2" pieces
1/3 c dry roasted peanuts (fry them in a pan with a few drops of oil for 1 min or so, DON'T BURN, gawd awful taste, ewww)
2 medium green onions (ko-negi) sliced (a few tbsps for garnish)

Mix the first 6 ingredients together in a bowl & set aside. Heat wok or pan over high, fry chicken, garlic & ginger in oil about 3 minutes till the chicken is cooked through, (drain the extra liquid if you don't want the sauce to be too thick) add bell peppers & stirfry for 1 min. Add the broth mixture, stir & cook @ 1 min. till the sauce is thickened. Stir in peanuts, sprinkle with negi. And it's DEKIAGARI!!!!

REST-MORNING DAY

I’ve made or eaten some things that I’m itching to blog about. As for the rest of my life you will find is fairly hectic. Pressured but not Stressed! Well, at least that is the goal. Yesterday thanks to my jolly in-law “Marky-Mark” S.O & I were able to have a “rest-morning-day”. (See, where I live, that is as good as it gets when your sister has just had a baby, your husband is busy & it’s 2 ½ aduts with 6 kids, cooking, dishes, clean ups & lets not forget…..LAUNDRY!)
I choose to spend the evening drinking a bottle of sparkling wine that was hangaku & I dearly loved every drop, including the rather large drop I spilled on my favorite blanket. We watched the movie “Casanova” & I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t a soppy, ridiculous, man-fest, but had rather a somewhat humorous plot.
So after foolishly wasting 2 hours of my rest-morning sleeping in (Gasp, shameless!!), I biked to the store & picked up a loaf of still warm freshly baked French bread from the bakery & found some fresh Mozzarella that was also hangaku. (gotta love these Chiba folks) So I slapped together the S.O’s favorite breakfast of: cappuccino, eggs, French bread, tomato & mozzarella with basil, freshly ground pepper, salt a touch of balsamic vinegar & lets not forget THE OLIVE OIL. Ah yes, the olive oil. If my husband could choose one condiment to be the only condiment he could use for the rest of his life it would be OLIVE OIL. Not just any olive oil but EXTRA VIRGIN. “A little French bread with your olive oil, my dear?
What then? 1 hr of reading or rather listening to Word, 1 hour of napping with Erika & we had 2 hrs left over for going to the “2nd hand Costco Store” & a little Nativity-scene-globe-music-box-glittery-light-thingie for the kids, in as much as we have zero Christmas decorations. A quick stop at the MASSIVE warehouse-like restaurant & kitchen-ware store in Soga, where I got a much needed heavy bottom 2L pot. (THANK YOU, GOD) And we’re back in time to take the kids for round 10 of who forgot to flush the toilet.
In other news, my kids now know what a blog is & that I have one. Today at lunch Ashley said, “Mom, the crust on this casserole is so nice, you should blog about it!” Cutie!

ODEN

Well, I’ve always been a bit in denial about Thanksgiving. I never really understood about Thanksgiving dinner & Christmas dinner. Which is bigger? Which one do you go “all out” for? BOTH? It confuses me & no one seems to have a reasonable explination. We do have a small bird in the freezer that we got on sale at Costco (REALLY small: 2.5 kg) I’ll pull out once I’m over my outstanding cold & have any energy.

But for now it would only seem appropriate then that we should have ODEN for dinner on Thanksgiving. I shall now expound on the wonders of Oden.

Clears throat & jumps upon soap box:

Oden is what separates Japan’s 7/11’s from the US’s. Oden is what you eat at your Obachan & Ojichan’s when you go for Oshogastu. Oden is what my Mother in law wishes was never invented. Orignating in KANTO area (that’s right all you Kansai folk) It used to be called dengaku & was just a fish dumpling on a stick dipped in miso, not much to look at. Soon they were just calling it “den” then gave it the honorific “O” at the beginning, I guess to show that thy REAAAAALLLY liked it on freezing cold nights. And didja know that in Osaka they sometimes call it “Kanto Daki” (see…see, told you, we started it). And I do it the Kanto way, where all the ingrediants are simmered together to blend the flavor as opposed to quickly so that each item retains it's own flavor in the Kansai way.

So here’s what I did to get my Oden last night. First off I shall tell you the list of ingredients I used last night. (Please don’t faint for the length) The good thing about oden is that you can stick nearly anything in it. Well, OK, not celery, but squash, turnip, carrots, potatos are fine too. Gobo, renkon, agedofu & any kind of chikuwa or fish cake. Any gaijin daft enough to put beets in it will have to learn the hard way though.

- 100 g. Gyusuji (I’m not sure what this is called in English, but it’s the really fatty cut of beef, tough as rubber unless it’s simmered for hours)
- Dashi (4 cups)
- ¾ c shoyu
- ¾ c mirin
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 daikon
- 3 cakes of konyaku
- 2 packs of chikuwa
- 12 hardboiled eggs, peeled
- 4 larger sato imo (country potato, boil for 5 min & peel & cut)
- 4 pieces of konbu (It was actually konbu for making my dashi but it worked just as good for oden, I thought. Don’t tell my Obachan)
- 4 potatoes peeled cut & pan fried for 5 min w/ oil
- 2 prepackaged “oden” kamaboko & other oden fillings (S.O got these for 200Y each at the “cheep veggie store”)

OK, 3 years ago my sweet & eccentric neighbor lady told me that the secret to good oden is gyusuji. So that’s where you start.

- Gyusuji: Fry up the gyysuji & put it to simmer in about 6 c of water in your LARGE pot, for at least 2 hours
- Daikon: Peel & cut your daikon into 1 inch slices & boil till tender (knife goes through clean)
- Konyaku: another lesson I learned the hard way, you have to get the bad taste off the konyaku by washing then liberally shaking salt on both sides & rubbing it on the cutting board for about 30 sec. each side. Cut into triangular shapes
- add 4 cups of dashi & shoyu, mirin & salt to the gyusuji stock, mix & bring to a boil. Don’t be alarmed. It won’t smell like oden first off. The first time I made it I was feeling doomed at this point. It’s the ingredients that give it the “oden” taste.
- first ingredients in should be daikon & konyaku & konbu, simmer on low with the lid off for ½ hr
- add the rest of the ingredients & simmer on low for at least 90 min.

And it’s Dekiagari!! Bring it to the table & let everyone take what they like. Serve with libral amounts of karashi (mustard paste) & shichimi (7 spice) This recipe was quickly consumed by 5 adults & 5 kids who were under the impression that it was their last supper.

If you’re not in the country where they have a whole section of the supermarket dedicated to Oden fillers then I guess you’ll have to settle for a turkey dinner. Happy Thanksgiving!

Dylan James

Ohhhh.....Look! It's Dylan James McNair. Awwwww!! In this first picture he's saying: "I'm a McNair, YO!! You better reconize! Respeccccct YO!" Below is when Dylan screen test for LOTR, Gandalf the Grey. They said he needed more faicial hair. Oh well.
Ah yes! This picture really captures his "Rider" side. Don't you think? I can't blame Shelly for wanting to squish him with love. Sort of like Michael & and the Rabbit story. (Only Baysidians will understand this one)

Irish Creme Pie

I’m posting this for a lovely Frenchy friend of mine. This one has become a staple on my Christmas dinner menu. I got it from my very first cookbook. And check out his twin brother, Grasshopper pie. Enjoy!

Irish Crème Pie

1 cookie pie crumb crust (for extra touch use Oreo cookies, discard the filling)
½ cup of milk
30 large marshmallows
1/3 cup Irish Crème
1 cup whip cream (US. Measuring cup 250ml, not Japanese 200ml)

-Melt the marshmallows in the milk in a saucepan till melted. Cool in the fridge till the mixture makes a “mound” when dropped from a spoon.
-Mix the liquor into the marshmallow mixture
- Whip the cream & fold the cream in
- Fill the pie crust & chill

I suggest freezing the pie & then pulling it out about 5-10 min. before serving. Top w/ cream for extra heavy look, mint? Ichigo? Chocolate bark? Or nothing at all

Grasshopper Pie:(don’t ask me why, it’s just mint flavor) add 1/3 c. crème de mente. Top with chocolate shavings or bark. If you’re a choco-mint fan you can add some finely chopped chocolate. Truffles are best as they’re softer & don’t compromise the soft texture of the pie.


Cookie Crumb Crust for good measure:
In case you don't know how. Simply put cookies in a ziplock bag or plastic bag. Roll with a rolling pin or a sturdy mug works till they're crushed fairly fine. You need about 2 c (USA cup) of crumbs for one 9" pie. Melt 1/4 c. butter/margarine & mix into the crumbs press against the bottom & sides of the pie plate. Use the bottom of a spoon or your fingers. Bake in a 200 c (400 f) oven for 10 min or less (till golden brown). If you're using oreo cookies I wouldn't go by the "browning" though.