yes we can...

just for something a little different today...
"Yes We Can" is a collage-style music video inspired by a speech delivered by Senator and now President-elect Barack Obama following the 2008 New Hampshire primary, derived from similar union catch cries.

Abby's Legendary Pizza...

we went out to Abby's tonight and after almost 20 years of not having gone there, the pizza was still delicious as ever. aunt dee used to take us there quite often when we were in junior high school. what fun memories! they still had the large glass window to look through as they made the pizzas. thankfully the decor had been updated so it looked quite cozy along with the roaring fire.

popovers...

because of limited schedules and my parents incredibly busy schedule we had wanted to set aside some 'quality' family time before they leave to paraguay. we decided to have brunch, watch a movie, play games and eat pizza, all in one day. rarely does our whole family get to spend time together so today was the day. our brunch menu included popovers, which has been a family tradition for many years. growing up in the high altitude city of La Paz at over 12,000 feet elevation, there were certain things we could not bake due to the altitude. popovers were one of the baked goods we could not make thus when we vacationed on the peruvian coast in the summers my mom would make popovers. they are quite easy to make as they only contain flour, salt, milk, eggs and butter. the trick is to mix the batter just right to create lovely puffs as well as using room temperature eggs and milk. they are best with lots of butter and honey!

年賀状 - Happy New Year!

the end of december and the beginning of january are the busiest times for the japanese post offices. the japanese have a custom of sending New Year's Day postcards (年賀状, nengajō) to their friends and relatives. it is similar to the western custom of sending christmas cards. their original purpose was to give your faraway friends and relatives tidings of yourself and your immediate family. in a manner of speaking, this custom existed for people to tell others whom they did not often meet that they were alive and well.

japanese people send these postcards so that they arrive on the 1st of january. the post office guarantees to deliver the greeting postcards by the first of january if they are posted within a time limit, from mid-december to near the end of the month and are marked with the word nengajo. in order to deliver these cards on time, the post office usually hires students part-time to help deliver the letters.

it was fun during my years in japan to receive a nengajo from friends. 2009 is the year of the ox so there are a lot of ox shown on nengajos.

recycled bags...

there are more and more businesses that are offering recycled tote bags as an alternative to plastic or even paper bags.


they seem to be quite popular here in oregon that various stores are creating quite hip looking bags. target has had the recycled bags for some time now. upon coming back to oregon i found that there are many stores that have designed some creative looking recycled bags. i'll have to say that trader joe's has the funkiest looking recycled bags.

spa day...

we went to the lovely Bonneville Hot Springs today and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. we went to lunch before our full body wrap in a very open dinning area with large glass windows that looked out over patches of snow on the ground. the ride up was very scenic and the gorge was quite impressive! thank you to my mother-in-law for the fun treat!

inside...

this is what you'll find in my hand bag if you were to dump out its contents. i think the bigger the hand bag, the more junk that is collected in a hand bag. i'm wondering if that happens to the homes we live in, that as we acquire a bigger house the more junk we collect?! : )

Whole Foods and yummy 揚げ出し豆腐

this afternoon we went to Whole Foods and i realized i had not been there since i was in college. it originally started in 1980 by two young guys living in dallas and has expanded rapidly through it's immediate success. much of the growth of the company has been accomplished through mergers and acquisitions. so A and i enjoyed sushi made from brown rice along with a nice bowl of agedashi dofu (揚げ出し豆腐) which was so nice and hot. not as crispy as in japan and the tentsuyu broth was a bit off but delicious quite the same!

RainSource of Newberg & Oregon Rain...

looking at the newspaper this weekend, the five day weather forecast describes various forms of rain that will be falling this week. only in oregon can we describe 'rain' in a variety of ways. showers, sprinkles, light showers, drizzle, rain, rain, and more rain! on another note related to rain, i found an interesting article about a man in newberg oregon who decided he would bottle rain and sell it. he had moved from california to the willamette valley and wanted to make all of the rain in oregon that falls 'a good thing.' it seems as though the rain water tastes quite good and is filtered and treated before bottling. yet it is unusually clean before it is treated so the tests for contaminants don't pick up anything. the company now has contracts with Burgerville, Fred Meyer, and Made in Oregon, who is trying to introduce the product into the Japanese market. and to think that this started here in my home town. i'll have to go out and get a bottle of this special water!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! we missed you J today as we gathered around the dinner table to celebrate christmas as a family. it just was not the same with you gone. we'll have many more happy holidays and family get-togethers to join in on in the years to come! we miss you!

the turkey brine...

this is what we're doing to our turkey this christmas. we're doing a turkey brine. i tried using a turkey brine when i cooked a turkey last year and it made the meat very juicy. let's see how it turns out thursday!



INGREDIENTS

* 1 gallon vegetable broth
* 1 cup sea salt
* 1 tablespoon crushed dried rosemary
* 1 tablespoon dried sage
* 1 tablespoon dried thyme
* 1 tablespoon dried savory
* 1 gallon ice water


DIRECTIONS

1. In a large stock pot, combine the vegetable broth, sea salt, rosemary, sage, thyme, and savory. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to be sure salt is dissolved. Remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature.
2. When the broth mixture is cool, pour it into a clean 5 gallon bucket. Stir in the ice water.
3. Wash and dry your turkey. Make sure you have removed the innards. Place the turkey, breast down, into the brine. Make sure that the cavity gets filled. Place the bucket in the refrigerator overnight.
4. Remove the turkey carefully draining off the excess brine and pat dry. Discard excess brine.
5. Cook the turkey as desired reserving the drippings for gravy. Keep in mind that brined turkeys cook 20 to 30 minutes faster so watch the temperature gauge.

cookies...

we made these today and had a great time! it's always fun making things for friends and family during this time of the year. it's still snowy and icy so we'll probably have a white christmas!

israel & jordan

hmmm...these places are looking real appealing as a place to visit. we'll see what develops!

the storm...

yes, this is really unusual for this part of oregon, here in the willamette valley! this was taken early this afternoon. when the 'beast' goes outside to do his business he can now walk across the snow as it has become a frozen hard surface, perfect for a 10 pound dog to walk on!

j. votruba...

with all this snow we've been having and the very cold temperatures, it has reminded me of my trips to the czech republic. the four times i went were in the winter months, thus very cold weather and snow. during my time there i discovered the popular artist of j. votruba. anyone who has ever been to prague is familiar with his work. he's an architect by training yet his love lies as a painter and illustrator. he's also a celebrated graphic designer by providence. he can create these humorous depictions of life in prague as well as the inclusion of the fictional writer frank kafka in his work. he has made it in japan as well as he worked on an animated projection for a festival in Japan in 2005, celebrating the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth. i thoroughly enjoy the depiction of tokyo and the 'salary man' as seen above!

snow and more snow!

need i say more? we're in for a cold one. we got A from the airport at noon and headed home to about 6 inches of snow. it is deeper now as i type. the snow is getting up to pabu's shoulders even.

metabo kenshin

in America, where the average male waist size is 39, the idea of some national enforcement campaign against obesity seems hilarious coming from japan. in japan, they are enforcing a rigorous 33.5 inch maximum on male waist size. companies and municipal governments will face financial penalties if their employees or citizens don't comply. they've made up a friendly term, "metabo" to denote metabolic syndrome, a collection of factors that heighten the risk of developing vascular disease and diabetes. those include abdominal obesity, high blood pressure and high levels of blood glucose and cholesterol. they even have a song:

“goodbye, metabolic. let’s get our checkups together. go! go! go!

goodbye, metabolic. don’t wait till you get sick. no! no! no!”

i wonder how one would be able to cheat on a test like this. fast? suck in your stomach? i'm also wondering how the words 'fat' and 'japanese' are associated...

森本正治 - Morimoto Masaharu

i've been reading The New Art of Japanese Cooking by Morimoto which has been quite an experience. it is really interesting to see how he has used distinctively japanese dishes and has infused them with multicultural influences. he believes most of his customers would not relate to traditional japanese rules of presentation and garnish so he prefers to draw on more suitable points of reference for his visual puns. the presentation of his food though still reveals the simplistic nature of japanese cuisine at its core. a little interesting fact in his work are the deer horn handles of the knives he uses retail for between $4,000 to $5,000! the pictures in the book are very visually appealing as well.

hmmm...

i think someone around here is looking just a little too comfortable!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

happy birthday to my mother-in-law nancy! hope today was a special day for you!