What's for lunch?

Many days, it's just easier to pick something up for lunch, or enjoy a lunch out with friends or family.  What is a typical lunch in Japan?  Well, bentos (boxed lunches) or noodles are definitely in the top five spots.

This is a "karaage-hamburg bento" (fried chicken & hamburger) from a little shop near my father-in-law's house.  It's called "Utchan Lunch" and the kids and I like it quite a lot.  Along with the rice, chicken and hamburger, there's cabbage and spaghetti (under the chicken and hamburger, respectively), pickled cucumbers, and simmered burdock root.

This is the type of bento that is delivered for special meetings and ceremonies. It's a little bit more gorgeous, and includes things like sashimi and tempura, with a dish of seasonal fruit and miso soup.

This bento is made by Fukunaga Bento, and features local products.

Self-service udon shops are very popular, and this is one my family frequents for Sunday lunch, after a trip to the batting center! Order the type of udon noodles you want, grab some side dishes or tempura or onigiri rice balls, and you have a quick meal.

Funamoto is another favorite noodle shop. They are a very small, local shop that serves udon or soba noodles. Their udon is served in a very light broth. In the winter months, oden (simmered vegetables, meat, etc in a seasoned broth) is also served. Croquettes and other dishes are available in the summer months.

Of course, ramen noodles are another very popular lunch item. In this area, it's common to order a bowl or rice with them as well (I don't, but the guys in my family ALWAYS do!)

I enjoy "gyoza," or potstickers, with when we have ramen.

After Christmas: Gear up for New Year's!

Once Christmas has passed, It's time to prepare for THE big holiday of the year,  New Year's! No after Christmas sales; everything is quickly shuffled off the shelves to make way for ingredients for cooking O-sechi and other New Year's food, as well as loads of cleaning supplies! I stopped at the grocery store on Christmas morning to pick up some last minute items for Christmas dinner. Decorations were already down. One little boy asked his mother why the Santa lights were in a basket by the cash register. "Oh, well, Christmas if over. Now leave those alone!" she replied. Not every place is so quick, but our "Christmas" is also all packed away within a few days. It was especially hard to be motivated to clean at the end of the year due to the COLD! As you can see, we even got some snow at the very end of the year (and a few times after that as well!). New Year's Eve was snowy and freezing...the cold chill kept more people home than usual on New Year's Day as well. More on that next time!

Christmas!

Christmas is not a national holiday here, and is more often celebrated on Christmas Eve. Celebrations include chicken and Christmas cake. Santa leaves one present for children on their pillow (though there are some variations on that). We do a mix of holiday traditions from the US, Japan, and our own.

Our presents are always under the tree, and Santa fills stockings with lots of goodies.

We usually enjoy sushi on Christmas Eve, and a roast chicken dinner on Christmas Day.

We also enjoy a Christmas cake, though it's hard to choose because everyone wants a different one!

Memo

It seems I rarely get caught up, or even close to caught up, on the list of "have-to, want-to, ought-to" things. My blog is one of those! So, I'm going to start randomly posting all the pics I've been collecting, even though they'll be rather out of order, and fairly late. Late is better than absent, isn't it!