明けましておめでとう！ Akemashite Omedetou! Translation: Happy New Year! A few years ago, I vowed to learn how to make osechi ryori, or traditional Japanese New Year’s food. For as long as I can remember, every year, my Mom would make several different types of osechi ryori for our family to eat on New Year’s Day. Today, this is still true, to a certain extent, but recently I’ve been trying to help her by making...

Read More

  Happy New Year! Thank you all for your friendship, love, kind words, encouragement, delicious food and good company! May you all enjoy a healthy, prosperous and happy 2012! * * * * * * * * Soooooo….. Despite my comments regarding beef in my last post for 2011, I ended up cooking a rather LARGE piece of red meat for my family’s Christmas lunch…. ….And then, Christmas came and went in a flash. The days that immediately...

Read More

The holiday season is in full swing! Earlier last week I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all that I needed to do, yet all-in-all it’s been great. Most all of our Christmas shopping is now done, presents are wrapped and under our decorated tree. Christmas cards have been sent. Bebe E “wrote” her letter to Santa and even visited him and his elves (twice) at South Coast Plaza. She told Santa she wants a bicycle (a.k.a....

Read More

Until our visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the farthest road trip we had ever taken with Bebe E was to San Diego for a visit to Sea World or the San Diego Zoo, which is a mere 1 1/2-hour drive. However, since our 17 hour flight to Beijing, we’ve gotten bold as parents. Just prior to the Thanksgiving Holiday, Bebe Dada invited us to accompany him on a business trip to Northern California. He suggested we take a road trip and that we...

Read More

The other day, Bebe E and I took a walk with a good friend of ours and the leaves on the maple trees were gorgeous shades of red, gold, orange and yellow. It was beautiful, and in my friend’s words, peaceful. Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. Bebe E and I have been picking leaves whenever we have the chance. I’ve found recently picked leaves in the house, on the floor of our car, and the other day I found a little...

Read More

  Cream corn is a family favorite that I only make for Thanksgiving and again for Christmas. Occasionally, it may also make a surprise appearance at Easter. This home made cream corn is simple to make and not as time-consuming as some of our other holiday favorites. It’s a great side dish when you’re also responsible for cooking six or more dishes. It’s one of those side dishes that you can make ahead of time, reheat, and...

Read More

  This year, our Halloween celebration was a bit impromptu, resulting in a quick lunch at Wahoo’s for Aya-chan, Bebe E and I and trick-or-treating on-the-fly at a few retailers at the mall before nap-time. It wasn’t the typical Halloween celebration I enjoyed as a child, but Bebe E had a blast and it was fun to watch her enjoy herself so much. Our plans to trick-or-treat in the neighborhood at dusk were foiled by an exhausted and...

Read More

M.I.A. Alright, this is the last post of my “China Adventures” series and I’ve been meaning to draft this post for over a month, but I honestly haven’t had the time or the motivation to sit down and write.  It was perhaps two weekends ago when I had brunch with a few of my best girlfriends and one of them told me that she wasn’t receiving my posts via email anymore. Uh… I told her that was because I...

Read More