Turkey (free) Day

Well our first married Thanksgiving was a rousing success, if I do say so myself.  We were lucky enough to have TWO friends join us, Leigh and Dave, who were great sports about the “challenges” we face with our kitchen, cookware, and access to ingredients.

We started with the soup course: Carrot Ginger Soup, lovingly prepared by Jeff – yum! With grit and ingenuity, he converted a tiny smoothie blender into a full-fledged food processor.





Then we moved to the main course: chicken breast (our turkey man didn’t come through), sauteed spinach, and stuffing.

We finished up with my traditional Pecan Pie – this year with a few alterations.

While nothing compares to my Bubbe’s amazing pie crust recipe, I am not a pro at it yet and my mom wasn’t nearby to assist.  So I consulted Martha and we decided on a shortbread crust instead.  Turns out it was awesome (Martha has yet to disappoint)!  Not a great fit for an apple pie, but with the pecan it really worked!  Also, I normally make a Joy of Cooking traditional pecan pie which is anything but traditional.  Karo syrup is not natural and not necessary in any dish.  Instead I found a Karo-free recipe which was just as easy and delicious!  And I was able to pronounce every single ingredient I used which just makes me feel better.   As long as I don’t think about the fact that those ingredients are primarily butter and egg.

Leigh stayed over the night on our comfy couch (currently vacant and looking for another occupant) 



and in the morning I made Danish bread french toast.  It was so good last week we couldn’t resist.

We're super excited to do it again next year.  In America.  With Turkey.

Mata ne,
Melissa

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have a lot to be thankful for this year!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  It is a chance for families to get together without ulterior motives (presents) and just enjoy spending time together.  Thanksgiving won't be the same this year, being the first time I've spent it away from family (mine or Jeff's).  But Jeff and I are a family now, and this is our first holiday as newlyweds so we plan to make the most of it!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.  What will you be doing this year?  For what are you thankful?

The blog title picture and this one to the left were taken the last week we were home.  We had to get our fall fun in a bit early this year, but I didn't want to miss out!

Mata ne,
Melissa

Onsen Adventure

We got home late yesterday from our first venture outside the city of Tokyo.  We went to the Kinugawa onsen area, which is known for it's hot springs baths.  On our way we stopped in this little town for lunch and were amazed to find a vegan organic lunch place. 

On the left is the set meal: miso soup, a rice and beans thing, a squash and zucchini thing, and a root vegetable thing (purple looking stuff in the dish). Oishii!

On the right is Jeff demonstrating his expert chopstick skills.



Of course when saw they had oatmeal cookies we had to grab one to enjoy on the train!





When we got to Kinugawa, we went to our hotel/spa to check in and begin the relaxation.  I'm pretty sure there was only one other room in the hotel booked because all the staff was VERY hospitable and attentive.  One of the desk people led us to our room.  A little bit different than a western-style hotel room, huh?  

First we went to the "public bath" which isn't exactly public since you have to be a guest at the hotel to use it.  It's really like an open room with a hot tub and little stations where you sit and shower.  For those to whom a communal shower doesn't sound appealing, I was pleased to discover that the bath was empty.  Since there was no one else there, I was able to snap a few pictures:

It's a bit steamy in there! The left is the really really hot hot tub and the right is the little station with stool and bucket where one washes ones.  There is a hose with showerhead attached for those of us more accustomed to such things.

After washing up it was time for dinner.  In ryokan hotels you often find dinner and breakfast included in the price and served right in your room.  Not wanting to miss out on the local customs, Jeff and I were excited to see what this would include.  First we got dressed up in the kimono supplied in our room

 and poured ourselves a glass of wine/beer.

Then two very nice ladies that were very impressed with Jeff's Japanese skills came in and started filling our table with plate after plate of traditional Japanese foods.  It was quite the spread!

When dinner was all finished, the ladies came in and cleaned up after us (quite a chore as I had struggled a bit with the crab and sent pieces flying about the room!) and then two men came and got out the futons and made our beds while we ate dessert.  A girl could get used to this kind of treatment!
 My germaphobic friends will be pleased to hear that the cover the duvet with what looks like a fitted sheet so that no part of the duvet actually touches your skin - very important.  I watched those 20/20 exposés!

After dinner it was time for the ultimate relazation in our own private hot tub with a view overlooking the city. mmmmm I'm warm and cozy just thinking about it.

The next morning we were woken up bright and early by the same men who came to take away the futon beds.  After that we were treated to a traditional Japanese breakfast, complete with rice, soup and grilled fish! 

Not exactly the way I'm used to starting my day, but it sure did fill me up - for the next part of our adventure (coming soon).  Until then...

Mata ne,
Melissa

Dave Acker!

Yesterday we had our first semi-official visitor!  I say semi-official because his purpose for coming to Tokyo wasn't specifically to see us (I am still a little unclear about the official purpose of his visit - something about buisness school and being on Japanese TV and Tokyo Disney....) but he was welcome nonetheless! 

We picked up Dave at the hostel where he's staying.  Jeff had gotten it in his head that he wanted to go to a restaurant called Cocoon and Dave was in so we set off on our adventure. 

We took the train in the direction we were going, got off early to walk around a bit, went to Harajuku even though it was Tuesday night and the usual teenaged-girls-dressed-as-anime-characters crowd wasn't around, took Dave to take pictures at Takeshita street, started to get hungry, got back on the train to destination, walked around for another half an hour looking for the place (why can't the streets have labels!?), started to get really hungry, finally located Cocoon only to discover it was closed, and settled on the next closest thing.

Fortunately for us, the next closest thing wasn't half bad.  After some Italian food and a glass of wine, Dave was tired from a long day of cotton candy and Disneyland and we we were tired from our long trip home from our getaway, so we put him in a cab and headed home ourselves.

Dave's here for another few days, so if his schedule permits (there is an appearance on TV as well as travel all over Japan to contend with) we hope to see him again before he heads home!

It was wonderful seeing you, Dave!  Now who's next?

Mata ne,
Melissa

eating on the go

Last night we were out and about, running around Tokyo getting things done and we needed to grab a quick bite to eat.

In America we were never the fast food types (I don't think I've eaten anything from McDonald's in a decade) but around here there are a plethora of choices for a quick bite.  McDonalds is an option, much to my chagrin, but there are amazing little ramen shops and hole-in-the-wall restaurants that are actually really good. 

I was craving yaki soba so we stopped in at a little place in Shinjuku that had a plastic food mold that looked good. (Almost everywhere you go has plastic or wax molds of the plates that they feature.)  Jeff ordered okonomiaki, a mixture of cabbage, egg, and other stuff (in this case, seafood) grilled right there on the table...



and I got yaki soba, yaki meaning grilled and soba, a type of noodle.  There I am, grilling away next to Jeff's pancake.

Tonight we're taking it easy.  We've gotten a few small bottles of sake, that we've gone through already, so tonight, we're getting serious.

With a four liter bottle of sake.  We expect it to last us quite a while. We're planning on having guests over a few times in the next week or two, so we won't be consuming all of it ourselves!

We're going on a little get-away tomorrow and will fill everyone in when we return.  Until then...

Mata ne,
Melissa

lost in translation

I'm watching Lost in Translation right now.  We went to Tsutaya (about 10 million times better than Blockbuster) to get it today which took forever since I'm sure there is an organizational system but no one knows what it is (about a thousand times worse than Blockbuster in that respect).

This movie is my life.  You know, except for the whole befriending a movie star thing.  And the absentee husband. But all the Japan stuff.  ALL TRUE. 

Come see for yourself.

mata ne,
melissa

editor's note: jeff hates this movie because scarlett johansen is "a spoiled brat" and bill murray is condesending.  i tried to tell him that was bill murray's shtick but he wasn't hearing it.