Snow days

I miss snow days, the unexpected gift of them. Waking up to a thick blanket of white and knowing school would be cancelled. There was such satisfaction in those random holidays, so much sweeter than an ordinary saturday spent at home. The excitement of listening with fingers crossed to the endless list of cancellations and delays on the radio, listening again and again to relive the elation of hearing your school coupled with the word 'cancelled'.

City kids enjoy no such thing. Neither snow, nor rain, nor gloom of night keep them from attending school. But a good snowfall does make the commute to school a lot more joyful, at least for Uta. This morning he threw snowballs at my back the entire way, from our front door to the front steps of the school, peals of laughter mixing with the cold air at every step.

Backtracking

I can not possibly recall all the occasions upon which we have had to retrace ours steps, eyes desperately scanning the sidewalk in search of a lost toy. The odds are rarely in our favor, in a city over crowded with scavengers big and small, that a brightly colored treasure will go unnoticed. But there are always tears and desperate pleas on Uta's part, so we embark on these backward treks regardless, equally full of hope and dread (the dread being mine, of course).

Yesterday two tiny plastic cartoon figures, Anpanman and Vikingman, given to Uta by my friend only moments earlier, went missing. They were in Uta's possession a total of thirty minutes tops, and only about ten minutes had elapsed from the moment he had put them in his pocket until the time he discovered their absence. And within that ten minute span, only four blocks had been traversed. It seemed hopeful. So we backtracked and searched, but still found nothing.

Uta handled the loss surprisingly well. "Oh well," he said. " We will just have to go to Japan tomorrow to get new ones. I want to see Baba and Jiji anyway."

The Year of The Robot

Robot number 2 of 2009....

First Lego Robot 2009

New Years Day (one day later)

Photo (and people squished together) by Uta

Christmas Day

On Christmas day a rare phenomenon occurred, never before witnessed in Uta's young life, his Grandma and Grandpa both came over, at the same time! Uta asked me how they knew each other. Introductions were made, old chips and grudges were given leave, and Christmas was celebrated. Uncle J came too, which made it a true family reunion, like old times? Well, not any old times I can remember.

What seemed a real formula for disaster, or certainly a lot of awkward silences, turned out to be nothing of the kind. I can honestly say it was a fun christmas day. Strange, yes, but fun.




Uncle J and Grandma spent Christmas eve with us and helped Uta prepare for Santa's arrival. These preparations are taken very seriously in our house, knowing it to be Uta's last chance to make a good impression. Uta decorated cookies and wrote Santa a note (detailed instructions on how to eat the cookies). He then tried to serenade Santa with Christmas carols, humming his way through and coming up with only every third or fourth word. The mornings bounty did not disappoint, thanks to Grandpa, Uta's secret Santa. Thank you Grandpa!

Grandpa is growing quite domestic in his retirement. He came toting gifts and a homemade loaf of bread, made in his home! It was made in a machine, but still! We applaud his enthusiasm. And it was good too. We toasted it up straight away and enjoyed it with the rest of our breakfast feast.

After all the presents were opened, tried and tested, we gave Christmas a little Japanese twist and headed out to a ramen shop for dinner. We took a detour through Tompkins Square Park and were lucky enough to come upon a red tailed hawk. A true gift!



And then there was Grandma. I guess its no secret that Uta's Grandma is a little crazy, in a good way, most of the time. But nobody could have predicted what would happen when Uncle J gave her her first ipod. There are no words. Luckily Uncle J made this amazing video. Want to laugh out loud? Watch this.

Tachibana Soup

I launched 2009 in the kitchen, making a batch of Tachibana soup, more traditionally known as Ozoni. Ozoni is a hot soup eaten on New Year's day that contains mochi (steamed sticky rice that has been pounded and formed into rice cakes). Each region of Japan has their own variation of this soup and each family their own special take.

The Tachibana family soup is started with a kombu (seaweed) stock, which is then simmered with daikon (a large mild-mannered radish) and satoimo (known as taro root or mountain potato). Broiled tofu is then added, followed by white miso (a thick paste made from soybeans commonly used in broths and sauces). The mochi is then simmered in the soup until soft. When done each serving is topped with a big pinch of dried bonito flakes. The bonito wiggles with life in the hot steam. It is not really alive, but because the bonito is so thin and light it simply gets blown about. The first time I saw this I was more than a bit taken aback. But despite the popular misconception about Japanese cuisine, they rarely eat things that are still alive, rarely but not never. (The lobster seen below certainly had a good amount of life left in him when he hit the table.)



There is a curse that accompanies the marriage to a man whose mother is a good cook, and that curse is only strengthened when said mother comes from a country half way around the globe. Sometimes I feel that the cooking instincts I have naturally are simply contrary to success in a Japanese kitchen. Try as I might, eliciting the famed 'Oishii' (Yummy) is next to impossible for me.

Gambarimasu. ( I will do my best.)

Good Morning 2009!

Uta's first words in 2009...

Good Morning 2009!

I love 2009, I think.

Am I seven yet?

Is it summer now?

I hope my whole family has a good year.