年越しそば Toshi Koshi Soba

As the end of the year approaches, it's traditional to eat Toshi Koshi Soba. The long noodles symbolize a hope for long life.  They are frequently served with ebi tempura (shrimp) and a very nice dish...even eaten so late!

My noodle-loving son started asking "When are we going to eat soba?" around 10...but had to wait until almost midnight. Poor boy!

Our mix of traditions also includes popping open a bottle of champagne to toast the arrival of the new year. In this digital age, greeting cards also started to arrive on cellphones as well!

Happy 2011 to all! Hope you have a very happy, prosperous year!

New year

Well, after a long absence, I'm back and posting!  It has been an extremely busy fall, but now that the holidays are here, there is time to relax!  (More about other fall events, LATER!)

The B-I-G holiday is...New Year's!  Preparations start far in advance...or should!  Winter cleaning (O-soji), preparing special dishes including rice cakes (o-mochi), o-sechi and more, writing New Year Greeting cards, house decorations, etc.  Then...the holiday finally starts!

It snowed overnight and the 31st was just a freezing day!  I didn't want to leave the house, but had to pick up food to feed the hungry horde!  This year, I ordered o-sechi rather than making it, so food preparation was quite easy this year!  The in-laws made o-mochi, and father-in-law also picked up some seki-han (rice cooked with azuki beans that is eaten on celebratory occasions).  With that at hand, and the fridge stocked, I'm basically free of cooking duties for the next couple of days!

The house is also prepared....could (should!) do more cleaning, but that is a never-ending job. To prepare for the New Year, some decorations are put up. Outside the front door, we hung a special decoration, and in the genkan (entryway), there is a holiday flower arrangement.

Shimenawa above the front door....

New Year's Ikebana arrangement...

This year's arrangement includes matsu (pine), ume (Japanese plum), habotan (ornamental cabbage), kiku (chrysanthemum) and senryo (Sarcandra glabra-don't know the common English name!)

New Year's Eve dinner....The perfect dish to keep one warm on chilly winter nights is...Yose nabe (a combination of ingredients cooked in a large pot of broth) with pork, oysters, squid and tons of vegies + sashimi　=　maguro (tuna-red at top) and hamachi. (young yellowtail)..YUM!  Silver "cup" at the top is what we use to heat o-sake.  Fill it up, then put in a pot of almost boiling water to heat.  Of course, one glass of sake could be easily heated in the finally-replaced-microwave... There were no leftovers!

After dinner, everyone relaxed, watching New Year's Eve specials on TV and texting friends. Even with the heater, it was just so very cold today....

Family crashed out watching ghost stories on TV....

Now, just waiting for the countdown to 2011!