Happy New Year!

In Japan, New Years is an important celebration with special foods.  One of these is mochi, which is a sort of HEAVY dumpling made out of pounded rice.  It is considered good luck to start the new year eating mochi but you must eat an uneven number of them.  So, it's one or three.  Eat two and you might end up with a broken foot like Vince did one year...at least that's what his aunt told him.

There are several ways to prepare mochi.  Vince makes a soup which is delicious so when he roused me out of bed this morning with an offer to come up and share it with me, I accepted.  Mochi can also be roasted, sprinkled with sugar, or stuffed with ice cream but I think the soup is the most traditional.

The bag of mochi.  Toby waiting just incase...

 

Reconstituting the mochi in a soy based fish broth; I think they are dried (you don't want to drop one on your foot).

Soup base with fresh shitake mushrooms and a bit of carrot

Fish cake (pink roll), napa cabbage, onions, and carrots for the soup

Grated daicon (radish)

Vince opening a bottle of cheap sake.  We also had sushi (the little pockets of rice), salted salmon, and flank steak marinated in teriyaki sauce.

Soup also includes tofu cubes.  This fish cake (pink) is a fancy one; I think that is a Japanese character incorporated in it.  Not much mochi left in this photo...

Mr. Toby actually had a special treat also.  Vince brought him some roasted tri-tip and he got some salmon skin.

So, Happy New Year everyone!

New Look!

I updated the title photo of our blog. If you read the blog by email, go to the blog page to check out the updated cover!

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Christmas morning at Barb's

77 degrees on Christmas Day

A 3.5 mile to Prospect park with 3 leashed dogs is like 15 miles without a dog!  (Note Roxy's bow).

You try and get 3 big dogs to pose for the camera!

Isn't this pretty? (This is before the Brussels sprouts, onions, and potatoes were roasted.)  Unfortunately, it was overcooked.  Deb left the potatoes in the turned-off oven while the meat was grilled and they were crispy critters.  Fortunately, the flank steak was delicious and made up for it.  And the dessert was not bad either!

And finally--dessert!  Barely edible--we both had two pieces.  Oink!  Barb will take the rest to work tomorrow.

Merry Christmas from Arlington!

Merry Christmas everybody!

Ted and I are having a quiet morning together. He just opened his present from me - orienteering gear. I got him some gaiters (they cover and protect his shins as he runs around in the woods) and a finger-mounted check-in device (SI card).

If you've never heard of orienteering, you are not alone.

Basically, Ted goes to these events in the wilderness where he gets a map, a compass, and his SI card. He uses the map and compass to find checkpoints ("controls") that have been hidden all over the terrain, and he has to check in at each control using his finger device. It's a type of race to see who can get to all the controls and reach the finish line the fastest. The SI card tracks your time as you check in at each control.

A couple nights ago we had the family Christmas since the nieces and nephew are elsewhere today. You may not realize this, but around here I'm the aunt (pronounced "Ahnt Mackenzie")! :)

I got to read some books with our nephew, Dylan, who I tutored this summer. He was very proud to show me his reading progress this year in 2nd grade.

We have 5 nieces, two of whom were present on this night (Hayden, 6, and Amelia, 17 months).

And finally, let's not forget the cats. :) They each got a new catnip toy. Milo got the Kong Kickaroo, which he has been doing his best to destroy.

Minnie got a petite, pink catnip pillow, since she prefers to gently lick her catnip. They are both very happy and seem to remember Grandma and Grandpa's (Jo Ann and Ed's) house from this summer.

I hope you're all having a nice Christmas day. I'd love to see some pictures and posts!

A Walk Around Redlands

 The owners are in debtors prison to Southern Cal. Edison!

We liked the bulbs hanging from the swag.

Merry Christmas Grandma!

Yep - this is Grandma's car. And no, she wasn't driving - it was her very skilled, Indy-trained daughter with millions of miles under her belt. That couldn't protect her from a 16-year-old driver who had had her license for 13 days in a public parking lot with her 16-year-old girlfriend. 
Ho ho no.

Kinda hard to see out of the mirror.

Christmas Eve

"Suffering" from "cold" weather in San Clemente....

I had to water this AM; it is so dry.

Gardener pruned back the tree that's why it's bare.

Christmas cactus is still blooming like crazy!

Baja--enjoying the sun...

And just a warning, Barb and I may overdose on chocolate...

Whipped cream and sugar sprinkles to be added later.

Recipe is from The Food Network magazine