sukiyaki for christmas

We made sukiyaki for Christmas!

I love sukiyaki. Every time we go to Japan I'll try to have sukiyaki for a meal during the trip. This Christmas we thought we'd have sukiyaki, because sukiyaki is indeed a festive dish, and we already had ham for Thanksgiving.

And who knows, I actually own a cast iron sukiyaki pot!

It even has the cool wood lid on it!

First we melted some butter (traditionally you'd use beef fat, but either will do) and started caramelizing some onions first. Umm. I think I put in a bit much!? But they were tasty!

Then in with the sukiyaki stock.

John got some prime beef. Yummy. I wish we could slice it as thin as the kind we had in Osaka.

Yummers!

We also put a couple different mushrooms in the sukiyaki. The skinny tall kind with little heads, and big kind called "King Trumpet Mushrooms." There were also tofu, tofu skin (age), vegetables, and udon noodles.




And how cute is the packaging for the King Trumpet mushrooms?!

I was also going to make some mochi, but didn't have enough time, so I bought some Korean rice sticks instead... they were delicious in the sukiyaki as well!

Oh my. I love sukiyaki! I think I'm going to make it again soon.

christmas

We had a calm and happy Christmas! Didn't do much... just took a day and a half off, and enjoyed spending time with each other at home.

And what did we cook up for Christmas? Sukiyaki! I found a brand new cast iron sukiyaki pot (with a wood lid) for a really good price a few months ago, and was glad to finally start using it. I shall post some pictures of the pot and the dinner later.

John got me a net book. My laptop had been acting up lately, so I was quite happy about the new computer. I am, however, still trying to get used to it.

My friend Daena drew a picture of Ginger for me. It was amazing.

My parents were generous and gave me a generous gift. They are so nice to me. Did I mention they were generous?

And apparently *someone* will give me a late Christmas gift some time soon. :D

I love how people around me are happy and content this time of the year. Yay for holidays!

christmas dinner

We had a quiet and happy Christmas dinner (on Christmas Eve actually.)



John baked a 7 lbs. ham with maple glaze. Yummer. I made mashed sweet potatoes and corn with Japanese spices, and we also had roasted garlic cloves and tomatoes, as well as buttery rolls with the dinner. Delish.

We also had some tiramisu for dessert, but it was not as good as I expected...

Most of the gifts John and I "requested" this year were for our dogs. We didn't have to get too many things for our friends and families, but we did manage to get our loved ones something they love!

EC showed us how happy she was when she opened one of her gifts:


I can't tell you what we got her for Christmas, but it made her really happy!

And of course we spend a lot of time with the dogs this weekend. I love it. Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday!

christmas eve dinner

We haven't spent Christmas at home for a few years because we had always been out of the country at this time. I'm glad we're home this year, and we're going to have some "Christmas-y" food (rather than ramen, sushi, or yakiniku!)

This is what we're having this year:

Half a maple-glazed ham
Candied yam
Green beans with garlic
Rolls
Homemade bread
'Traditional' cheesecake
'Oh there's some chcocolate' cheesecake
Spring Alishan mountain tea

I think (and am hoping) it'll be a really yummy dinner!

Merry Christmas everyone!

making little ornaments

I've been busy making Christmas tree ornaments out of the photos and profile information of adoptable dogs and cats at No More Homeless Pets in Utah, to hang on our angel tree for homeless pets at the caffe this year.

My friend Joyce is going to help out with the project this year! Yeah! She loves animals dearly, too, so the two of us are going to make the project great!

I hope people will be generous and bring lots of love to the homeless pets this year, and if they are capable, give some of them a permanent home.


This is the tree and presents for the pets from last year!