A Gift Fish

On Sunday night, spouse sent home 2 kg of chicken breasts (sasami) from the restaurant, as wouldn't be used before the expiration date.  He uses only Awa-odori chicken, which is a local bird, large size, and quite delicious.  That gift led to last night's dinner.  I split it with the neighbor, who is a fish wholesaler, and she gave me half of a Katsuo (skipjack tuna).  I'm not very creative with fish, so after a consulting with the family, we decided to have half as sashimi, and half as Katsuo tataki.  Served with salad, a chicken dish and rice, it was a delicious meal. (Also a "use-up whatever possible before it spoils meal") 

Sashimi

Always very popular. Dip it in soy sauce with wasabi mixed in, and squeeze in some sudachi juice if you have it (other citrus fruits like lemon or lime are OK too) Avocado dipped in soysauce with wasabi is also quite good.  I said I received half a fish, and had to separate the bones, as well as remove the skin.  I'm sure there must be a "proper" way to do this, but I don't know it.  I think I'll need to get my neighbor to show me how sometime... Somehow we managed it, (Son and I were cooking...punctuated by his comments of  "I'm STARVING...can't I eat this now????")  and there were no injuries.  I still think I prefer buying fish that only needs to be sliced, but am thankful for the gift regardless.  We put this half in the fridge to chill after slicing it for sashimi.

Katsuo Tataki

I have never made this before, but it actually garnered a compliment from Chef spouse.  Lightly salt the fish, then grill it for 15-20 seconds on each side.  Place it in ice water to chill. I prepared flavoring for it by mixing grated ginger, garlic and daikon radish with just a dash of lemon juice and soy sauce added.  Dry off the fish by patting it with paper towels.  Coat it in the flavoring, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate until just before serving.  Slice and serve with thinly sliced onions and soy sauce for dipping.

The rest of the menu was this simple salad, onions, shiitake mushrooms and chicken flavored with pepper and dipped in ponzu sauce, and of course, steamed rice.  Not beautiful and artistic, but still delicious!

Sunrise

I can't remember the last sunrise I actually saw...more of a nightowl than an early riser.  But, early start for the baseball tournament.  We all got on the bus in the dark, but within minutes, the blush of sunrise touched the horizon.  As we crossed the Yoshino-gawa Bridge, the horizon slowly turned to rose. Beautiful even through the windows (and nicer than facing it fresh in today's wind!)  We reached Okayama's Muscat stadium after one full tumbler plus one paper-cup of coffee (about two hours for those who use watches), close to one hour before the opening ceremony started.  It was nice to chat with some other mom's on the bus...filled out some of the comments son would come home from practice with!

Very brisk wind as we arrived at the stadium; unfortunately, it remained all day!  Lovely ceremony (well, too many speeches to be honest, but all FIVE fairly short), and then off to play baseball.  The kids had equipment inspection and warm-up, then settled down to watch the first game, until their actual pre-game warm-up.  The first game was a "cold win"...called at the bottom of the 4th due to point spread, in our favor.  Still, good practice for both teams.  Our next game was the fourth and final of the day.  Much closer in terms of team level, and a very exciting game.  Our kids took the lead, then the other team rallied.  It ended with a loss for our Hawks, but was overall an exciting game with lots of genuine effort. (So, I'm not "not" into all the technical de-briefing of games, but it is now Tuesday night, the games were on Saturday, and I've been over them a million times, orally, and via photos and video cam...lucky or not, you're call!)

It was a very long day, the field was in the middle of nowhere, but it was good.  Enjoyed seeing son play b-ball, and interact with teammates, enjoyed chatting with other parents and "nature-walking."  After arriving back home, enjoyed dinner with teammates family at a "new-to-me" izakaya(restaurant/pub), then dropped off supper for ill spouse and went to close the restaurant.  Was very happy NOT to have b-ball practice on Sunday!

What'll it be?

After thinking about it off and on for quite some time, I finally started a blog.  Now, I still have to decide what to "go for" in the blog-world.  There are many sites as diaries for families, cooking, travel, hobbies, music and everything in between!  What a mind-boggling array!!

I'm starting with a journal approach...random things on different days...which is helpful for maintaining my sanity in this soap opera that my life seems to be (considering taking up a new career in writing soap operas...seriously!), and I want to slowly introduce some of the fun, beautiful, exotic and weird things I encounter on a frequent basis in my "new" country.  Having lived here for close to half my life, I'm not sure I can call it that anymore, but as I'll always be a foreigner here in Japan, I'll just call it that anyway!

This next bit is on the  "save my sanity journal theme." This is actually entry #2 for today...while typing entry #1, unbeknownst to me, my spouse was having a CT test and MRI at the hospital.  He's been feeling bad, and decided to stop at the hospital on the way to work.  I got a call from the hospital about 4 hours later (one hour before his restaurant opens) saying, "Can you come pick up your husband?  He's in no condition to drive, and needs to be taken to see another doctor at another location."  Huh???  No phone call from him?  Well, his cell was out-of-order  (got that taken care of), got the restaurant sorted out, took him to the other doctor (apparently an inner ear problem, still sorting out what exactly, and he still can't walk straight!), but wow, another event to chalk up on the "OMG...I can't believe this" list that is getting quite full this year.

My students were very understanding about me suddenly canceling their lessons, the restaurant staff handled everything well (went to close it instead of going to bed early like I needed to...and now I'm writing here!! Oh dear!), and I got everything organized to leave for son's baseball tourney in the wee hours of the morning. (Yes, I bought the onigiri, and yes, there were comments...but instead of the "homemade" issue, it was why didn't I buy them on the way home from the restaurant so they'd be fresher....lol...it's always something!). What, still going to the tourney when spouse is ill (and though he hasn't even a drop of alcohol in him, is weaving around like he's plastered?!)?  Yes, still going, and at his insistence (with video & camera, and orders to catch every moment possible).  Fingers are crossed that I won't come home to find something MORE has happened (it truly has been an incredible year for slightly to extremely unpleasant happenings!).  And hopefully some pictures to share as well!

BTW...onigiri are rice balls (OK, they're most often triangular in my neck of the woods, but still called rice balls)!

Rainbows only come after the rain....

Today is finally a sunny day! I didn't see a rainbow today, but certainly am feeling lighter. So many things are pulling me down lately, that I decided to remember the good things this morning!
1. E is registered for school, and she's doing the steps to make it happen.
2. K has a tournament tomorrow outside of the prefecture and I'm going with him. So, I can cheer him on instead of wondering how he's doing while I work. Love having a rare Saturday holiday!!!
3. Decided to buy onigiri for the above tournament rather than get up before 4:00a.m. to hurriedly make a bento before leaving @5:00 a.m. for the tourney. And, I refuse to feel guilty about not being a better mother. (Someone often says to me that "good mothers" don't buy boxed lunches/convenience store onigiri for their kids, but rather make them by hand! Sleep deprivation and stress don't make a good mother at all either!)
4. Signed up for a reading challenge for April. I'd read anyway, but it will be fun to see what everyone else is reading and how they're progressing as well.
5. One of my charming uni students has now graduated and will start her new job/life soon, and we shared a happy chat about that a couple of days ago. I'm glad we'll be able to keep in contact easily by internet!
6. It's sunny.
7. I have a lunch date with K.

Well, it's not an even number, but that's OK too. I'm off to enjoy sunshine, and lunch!

Drip, drop, Splash!

Today is another rainy day. The sound of rain drops is interspersed with the swooshing sound of cars driving through the film of water covering the streets. Temperature is cool enough to need the heater, perfect for curling up under the kotatsu with a novel, or playing around on the computer from the same location!

A kotatsu is one of the things I love here. It is a low table with an electric heater attached to the frame under the table top. A thin quilt is placed over the frame and under the table top, making a toasty space to slide your legs into. The drawback is kids, pets and other people hanging about are very reluctant to move. Bribery abounds as everyone tries to get someone else to bring another mikan, drink, or change the DVD. The kotatsu quilts have been put away as spring is almost here...but today, I'm tempted to bring them out again, at least for another couple of weeks!

Onions

Layers and layers, some sweet, some quite pungent, large ones, small ones, new crisp ones and ones that have started to go bad....

The onion for today is rather large, and rot has set into the outer layers. Upon examination, my first thought is to throw it out...why bother with this when I can get a new onion that's sweet and crisp and won't make my eyes water? Yet, this is an onion I raised in my garden. I didn't expect it to go bad this early. If I peel away the outer layers, it will surely still be usable; cut it up for curry rather than use it in a salad... As I turn it around in my hands and really give it a look, I realize it is starting to sprout (then wonder if that's the correct word for the green shoots that are close to emerging from the top). Well, I set it back in the basket and decide to deal with it another day. Spring is coming, and it might do better going back into the ground rather than in the curry pot.