WTI

Yup, this is one long entry. Talks about a bunch of stuff from last week, some of it interesting, some of it about food, some of it ‘A Day in the Life of’. There are photos, thanks to BRKVW for my new digital camera! Yahoo!

Firstly, I would like to say Thank You to Serratia for the handmade necklace and bracelet. You rock! How did you know that my wrists were tiny? I have to have most bracelets taken in. Yours was perfect!

Excellent Handwork Serratia

A few months ago, she mentioned her beading and I knew I could sucker her into taking my collection of beads, as I came to a point in my life, where beading was not my passion. I can do it, but I don’t love it. So it was my joy to hand over this stuff, most of which was handed down to me by my jewler friend, to someone who had a love-hate relationship with beadingJ She graciously accepted this grab bag-box. I really did not expect anything in return, so to receive this is a real treat. Thank you I bow deeply to you

We participated in giftmas this season, complete with my mother flying in for a few days. She is mainly vegatarian, but will eat fish. I had my heart set on rack of lamb or elk for giftmas dinner, so I was not very excited about changing the menu around. But I did, and it cost me 7 grocery stores, in 3 days.


DJ, always helpful


Swank student?

I think my mind was elsewhere. There were a number of dishes that I made during the last few days that for one reason or another, just did not come out right.

For instance, the quiche, had too much liquid in it, from the spinach, so while it wasn’t a complete mess, did not set up right. The cinnamon rolls that I made did not rise as high as they should have. The broiled Red Snapper with lemon juice, tamari and butter was a little burnt. The cheese puffs [gougeres] came out bland and the wrong texture. I had to toss half of the sweet potato flan away as it mixed with the water bath, so the half that did get cooked, made for a very thin flan. The Scallop Chawan Mushi, which is a japanese steamed egg custard, came out oddly curdled instead of smooth. While it was all edible and tasty, this sort of thing usually does not happen.

One thing that came out is my new favorite cookie! Oh Happy Happy Joy Joy

When I saw these cookies on the cover of the King Arthur’s Catalog, I thought they were just sooo cute, I had to have the molds and had to make them. Imagine a walnut cookie mold that you then fill with a marzipan-chocolate spread and cover with the other half to make what looks like a walnut.

Have to be tasted to be believed

They were unique and kids would get a kick out of them. Plus, I like to think that some day I will have a tea salon, serving scrumptious treats and so of course I had to audition these molds…:) Little did I know that they would turn out to be the best cookies in the world!

My mother told us some stories from her childhood.

Tell us more…

She was born in 1944, in Japan and thus lived in Tokyo during the war. She recalls others telling her this story as she was too little to remember. She remembers it vividly as if were her own.
She says that a bomb, from a B29 bomber fell through the roof of their house and into the closet that had their bedding, [futons] in it. It did not go off. Her father, my grandfather, wrapped up the bomb in the futons and carried it to the backyard where he disengaged it. Thus saving their lives. She seems to think that her father knew about these things, as during the war he was a local superintendent overseeing the women that made bullets.
She says her mother was one of those women, and that she carried her to work, but at work, had to leave her in a ‘day care’ with other babies, while she made bullets. There was no real ‘care’ as there were too many babies, and not enough time for the mothers to take breaks to breast-feed their babies. Even if they did, the stress and lack of food would not have resulted in an abundant milk supply. My mother was malnourished as a result and her mother felt guilty about it and apologized to her every now and then, until her death.
My grandparents were considered tall. My uncle is over 6 feet tall, which was very rare and unusual for back then. In my mind, I remember my grandmother being very tall. I just found out that she was 5’4”. That’s a child’s memory for you. She died before I left childhood, about 20 years ago. She taught kimono making, by hand. I wonder if that is where I get my love of cloth, fabrics, handwork and sewing from. I wonder what it would have been like to know her as a woman. I wonder if my mother would have been taller, she is 5’1” had she not been undernourished. I wonder, I wonder.

Me and Mom

My mother told another story of how as a young girl of about age 8, it was her job to get the ice block for the ICE BOX. She recalls a quarter of it melting by the time she got home. A real icebox. I recall as a little girl calling refrigerators iceboxes. They were interchangeable. No one says icebox now.

To have the childhood my mother had, watching bombs fall like pretty fireworks, hustling to a bomb shelter dug in the ground, her parents helping the war effort, the war, the war… to marrying an American must have at first seemed like a betrayal to her parents. I’ll have to ask her what they thought.

One of my stepbrothers called to say hello. We exchanged pleasantries—you know, how are you, great, how about you? Congrats on the upcoming wedding, thanks…
He said: Well, there’s not much else to say.
I said: Yup, that’s what happens when people don’t stay in touch in each others lives. It just happens, but I appreciate your intentions and for calling.
It was a short phone call. I have 2 stepbrothers, 2 blood brothers, 1 stepsister, one father, and one stepmother. Out of a possible 7 people, I spoke to 1. Needless to say, we are not a close family and there is crappy history there.

The next day, I got a letter from one of my blood brothers. In it he says that he and his wife are having a baby in May. This is the brother I am closest to, we are one year apart, and up until recently, have been in email contact. This is the first he has told me. I did hear from my mother a few months ago, that they were expecting. I guess his life just got a whole lot busier, I have learned not to take it personally.

After I dropped my mom off at the airport and DJ’s dad picked him for the weekend, BRKVW and I spent the afternoon together. And the evening, and the night. It has been a long time since we spent that much time focused on each other. It was great. Better than great… awesome.

You’re the one