Ramen!

I took this picture on the sly, but I thought I'd share how to doctor up ramen so that it isn't just junky. Albeit there is still a ton salt in it, adding veggies, etc. helps.

This is for you Margo! Especially since it is winter where you are, this will keep you warm any time of day. It will work with any kind of ramen, but I prefer the pork bone flavored. Since Edamame is an Easter fanatic we usually have a good supply of hardboiled eggs around. Cut that in half, and throw it in. I added some spinach near the end of boiling, Ed likes corn in his as well. I also put kimchee in mine.

Other potential condiments I've seen
cooked bamboo shoots
some kind of pork(special made)
sautéed bean sprouts, cabbage, carrots, and green peppers(007 like these with it)
wakame seaweed
shrimp
fish sausage/naruto(also a Ed favorite because it is pink)
leek
gyoza/Japanese pot stickers...smaller than the Chinese kind.


So ramen fans, what do you like on your ramen?

Recipes, festivals, and kung fu

First off, recipes. Margo has asked for a noodle recipe, and I was wondering what kind of recipes would everyone like to see? Cold weather, warm weather? no noodles at all? Something else entirely that is Japanese. Please don't ask for sushi though.

Second, I LOVE festivals. It makes the hot summer bearable. Usually there are some shrines carried through the street, dancing, drumming, fun games for the kids, and good food. Edamame and 007 went to the best festival of all tonight. Down the street a bit there is an ice cream factory that hosts a festival every year. They also give out free ice cream. If it weren't for a headache and a very tired BK I would have gone too. Fortunately they brought back ice cream. One of my favorites! Choco monaka. Deliciousness


Yum! Chocolate in the middle.

In case you are ever here, this is what the package looks like.



And last but not least, kung fu! Oh how we love you. Edamame has invented dinosaur style kung fu, and we've come up with the brilliant plan of learning kung fu as a family. Yes I know I am 22 weeks pregnant, but I'm ready to learn real kung fu! Ed was way excited about this idea too. I'm going to keep pestering 007 to look up places to train for kung fu.

That's all for now. I'll try to do a post all about Ed and his interests soon.

Nagashi Sōmen

One of the nice things about summer is festival season. It usually is a lot of good food, and a few games for kids(but not many). We really nagashi somen(food category), but it is usually only offered at the Church festivals. What is it you ask? Someone sets up a half pipe of bamboo that starts six or more feet in the air and goes down until about a foot above the ground. Then you put a hose at the top and start sending noodles down. Everyone gathers around with a bowl of noodle sauce and chop sticks, and then we go to town trying to grab noodles. It's a lot of fun, and I was surprised how well Edamame did catching noodles this year.

I was thinking of doing a list of all the different kinds of noodles there are to choose from. It deserves it's own post, but I'm afraid of forgetting.

Ramen = Chinese origin, but with a very Japanese flare. You won't find shrimp and lime here. The flavors are soy sauce, salt, miso, and pork bone. They typically add a lot of different stuff into it like hard boiled eggs, stir fried veggies, pork cuttlets, bamboo shoots, and any variety of things. Edamame likes fish paste rolls called naruto. If it's served cold you add julienned veggies and eggs or ham.

Somen = skinny, capellini like noodles. You eat hot or cold. Add a bunch of different stuff to the dipping soup like ginger, or wasabi, green onions. When it's warm you make a soup with onions, pork, and I add mushrooms

Udon = thick noodles, and usually served warm in soup. You add anything from tempura, fried eggs, pumpkin and veggies to left over curry(my favorite). The wikipedia article gives a bunch of regional variations

Soba = made from buckwheat, served warm or cold. My favorite is mountain veggies on top, Ed likes fish eggs, daddy likes tempura, and BK just likes food. There are way too many ways to eat it to try to list.

Shirataki or Tokoroten = clear noodles made from konjaku plant. It's trumped for having 0 calories. I've only had it in sukiyaki(which is pure deliciousness).

Champon = It's big in Nagasaki where 007 served his mission. I'm not too clear on it, but that's because the few times I've had it, I haven't liked it.

There are some variations, like yakisoba, which is ramen noodles with fried veggies, not served in soup, but with a yummy sauce. Hotto is udon like but specific to Yamanashi prefecture, and it is delicious. One of the schools I worked at went on a field trip to Yamanashi and we HAND MADE it. I've seen and eaten hand made soba.

All I can say is noodles are awesome, and it's how we are surviving this summer. Thank goodness for noodles.

Words and more words

Sorry, it's hard to get motivated to post when it's 34 C in the house. Add to that gestating a female and the ensuing hormonal turmoil. Don't worry too much, we do have AC in all the rooms but the kitchen. Though I'm missing the point of this post. BK's vocabulary has taken off recently, and I thought I'd share for the enjoyment of the masses(i.e. grandparents, and great grandparents).

Airplane = peh
Helicopter = golgo
boat = boh
apple = aah ple
asleep = pi
big brother = ba ba(which is typically kiddie talk for grandma in Japanese)
wanchan(dog)/any animal = wan wan
sakana(fish) = ka ka
dako(pick me up) = gakko
ice = aii
egg = ehh
popcorn = pohpo
popsicle= popo(yeah they are the same, somewhat contextual)
peepee = pee pee
out(like outside) = au
Let's go = go!
mommy = mama
daddy = DA!!(with large volume increase...always)
Tenna = nehna
Lee = eee
Andi = nini
night night = nih nih

He was also repeating sausage, grandma and grandpa...but I'm not sure if they are in his repertoire yet.

I should make a list of things he's broken so far too
2 necklaces
1 pair of glasses
1 pair of prescription sunglasses
1 popped fuse
1 broken computer mouse
1 Daddy white dress shirt
2 dishes

but fortunately not daddy's mac mini despite the 3! CD's he put in the DVD slot.

He is a very rambunctious kid, but I'm glad he's starting to let me know what he's thinking when he's not beating up his brother. We're glad to have him around to play with.

Edamame's favorites

Since it was summer when we were in Utah, there was a lot of talk of the water.
Whether he was playing with grandma's flippers and talking about scuba diving(one day) or...

...taking swimming lessons that he had a love/hate/sick relationship with.


Here is the sick part, he got sick twice in one week...joy! Thank you urgent care.


He definitely enjoyed playing with his cousins.

He'd hang with them on the back of the golf cart at the Thanksgiving point gardens

He made cookies with Miss T.

They took turns giving speeches at the airplane museum

...and of course lots of bouncy time, but that is kind of hard to catch on camera. Though if I find some of the campfire stories they were telling I will post those.


We also had some new things. Like a new book from GGma and GGpa O.


new PJ's for this winter(or grandma's nicely AC'ed house in the summer)


..and the new chance to light his own fireworks.


He had a blast and still talks about his favorite part...roasting marshmellows. The Dinosaurs at home are always 'burning leaf marshmellows'.




He did have a birthday here with good food and good cake(thank you grandma!).





We felt a lot of love there, and are excited to go back next year(though it won't be soon enough for any of us!)

BK's favorites of the trip to Utah

Everyone loved going on vacation, but each person had their own highlights. Lets start with BK's favorite.

First, there was a lot to discover at grandma's house

Grandma has a great piano for playing


...and grandma taught BK how to work the ice maker. He then taught himself how to drag the stool over to the fridge.


There was also a lot to discover at Aunt Pam's house like...

the trampoline,




the dog,



the swing set,


and how to be a pirate.



He also showed a great love for museums. I was especially impressed with his enthusiasm for the airplane museum. It was non-stop 'peh, peh PEH!!!' the whole time we were there...both times.




He also really liked the train museum...and would probably love to go back there too.






Of course, while we were there we introduced him to some very American things like...

The 4th of July,

Just so no one freaks out, we'd have him put the poppers on the ground and step on them. He had a blast.




and Icees.

We were supposed to share, but he ate most of it and I got the rest at the end.



I think he had a lot of fun. He loved riding the plane, we great flying out, but a little too excited flying back. He got used to the massive amounts of driving very quickly, and learned that kid cliff bars are awesome. He loved his cousins and will point them out in pictures calling the the girls 'ni-ni', and even named one of our stuffed dogs 'buck'. He of course enjoyed the fruit, the attention, and Shaun the Sheep. He didn't seem very keen on the swimming pool, or the slip and slide, but you can't win them all. I think he'll be glad to go back next year.

Happy in Hakone

Life keeps going on, and I have vacation photos to catch up on. Plus we've been super blessed with some fun times with friends from the base. I will skip all of that great stuff and post about our quick day trip to Hakone. I LOVE Hakone, but I haven't been back in 9 years. 007 had never been there, but was very pleasantly with how nice it was. He's a big fan of the mountains, and while it wasn't as dry as his beloved UT mountains, it was still a nice reprieve from the flatness of where we live. I liked it because it reminds me of the CA coastal rain forests. We only got a few pictures...but I'll post them anyway. There were fireworks that day, but by 5 pm it was so foggy and the boys so tired, we weren't going to try. We hope to go back with 007's family later in the year.




We had ice cream and went to the aquarium there. They have fresh water seals there!
Here is BK enjoying the free sucker the boys got for being cute. They liked those better than the ice cream!