Osechi-ryori....

We did it--we made it through shogatsu with full bellies, even though our grocery store was closed for 4 and 1/2 days and our refrigerator is the size of a box of Cheerios.

It helped that I had installed this handy fridge-annex in the backyard:

How do Japanese families do it? For one thing, most refrigerators are larger than ours. And another way is that some people make or purchase "osechi ryori"--beautifully arranged, specially prepared new year's foods that are designed to stay fresh (or at least be edible) for up to three days.

In early December, I stopped into the basement of Takashimaya department store, thinking I would order us a box of osechi, too. I asked directions, found the display, admired the beautiful boxes. But I didn't order a thing-- the cheapest box they had was 30,000 yen (about $340!). Many prices went as high as 120,000 yen! Even with "free" delivery, that's a bit much, dontcha think?

So luckily, the day before Fresco (the supermarket) closed, we decided to buy a box of Fresco-made osechi-ryori. This little box cost a mere 1500 yen. Isn't it beautiful?

We broke this out for lunch on January 2. What's in the box? From the upper left corner, you can see some kind of preserved tiny fish, three green soybeans on a stick, a bladder of fish eggs, some pickled renkon, sweet squishy tofu with "auspicious" stamped on it, pickled celery, pickled carrot, pickled bamboo shoot, some sweet black beans, some sweet potato "salad," and some daikon pickle shreds. In the middle were a couple slices of omelet roll, two prawns, and the lovely pickled kombu shown below.

(Cathy K., do I hear you drooling?)

We all tried bits and pieces.

We liked the soybeans, black beans, and sweet potatoes.

But.... some of the pickles were a bit much, even for my brave boys:

The pickled kombu was the anti-favorite.

Darrin convinced me that this was "actually really tasty! Like licorice!" he promised.

So now I know where you can get some long-lasting, fish-flavored licorice if you're interested....

The fish egg bladder didn't go down too well either. But it does make a lovely crunch when you chew it.

The good part of this experience is that I have finally figured out how to lose weight in Japan! Send me $1500 and I'll set you up with a lovely diet program next winter.

Happy New Year 2011! Joya no Kane and other things...

Last night we celebrated New Years Eve by staying up late (yes, even Alek!) to walk to a temple called Shokokuji, about 25 minutes (north of Doshisha University).

On NYE in Japan, the Buddhist temples ring their bell (if they have one) at least 108 times (for 108 sins) right before midnight..it's called joya no kane. Some temples let the public take turns ringing it; others (like Chionin) have the monks do the ringing.

Anyway, I could tell from the Shokokuji website that they had a bell, and we took a chance that they would ring it. We got there at 11:15pm, but it was veerrrry quiet. We were about to leave, thinking we were wrong. But then I decided to ask a small group of people standing around if there would be joya no kane. Yes, it was right here! It would start at 11:45. We were only about 15th in line. We are so lucky...

The bell was up in a tower, at the top of these stairs. The five of us took off our shoes, climbed up, and rang the bell together as a "family ring."

Then we walked out, and took a taxi home. It was the perfect, quiet new years eve temple scene. This was the latest that Alek had ever been awake without a meltdown. (I guess he will be ready for college someday.)

Here is the tower with the bell, and the boys. Photos in the dark are rather difficult--sorry....

This morning was New Year's day, of course. We slept in until 10am (another first!) and had Ozoni Soup for breakfast. This is a simple miso/chicken based soup with mizuna greens in it, that is poured over a broiled mochi cake (a kind of squishy rice ball).

Here's the soup:

And here's the komochi before you cook it.

Here's what happened when I broiled it...one big mochi mass!

Max and I loved the grilled mochi, just plain, or maybe with a little butter and cinnamon....

So we ate that, and then played around at home, relaxing.

Later we took a walk. We visited our snowmen...one of them had keeled over.

and we admired the new year decorations on people's homes.

and on the Pachinko Parlors:

Eventually, we got to Shimogamo Jinja, one of the more popular shrines to visit on New Years' Day. This is a World Heritage Site (one of 17 in Kyoto), with artifacts dating from 10.000 b.c.!

It was a surprisingly festive scene....lots of street food for sale!

Here is a main gate.

It is the year of the rabbit!
We warmed up by this fire...

Here is a traditional mochi arrangement.

And some snow bunnies!
New years' donations to the jinja, of giant mochi, beer, sake:

The boys rang the bell, and we bought a lucky charm, and on the way out, we purchased the best street food ever--fried sweet potatoes with sugar sprinkled on. So healthy and delicious.....

Everybody, Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!

New Year Snow!

We are getting ready for the New Year in Japan. It is an important holiday, when people return home for about 3 to 4 days, visit the shrines, get cozy, eat special foods. Almost everybody celebrates, because almost all stores, restaurants, and businesses close down--for about three or four days. Including our grocery store.

In fact, most places were even shut today (new years' eve). See?

Some places were shut starting the 27th, so that people could stay home and get their major end-of-year cleaning done. As we walked around the neighborhood this past three days, we heard LOTs of vacuum cleaners!

You've seen our refrigerator, right? So here's a math problem: Five people. Four days. Three meals a day. Plus 1.5 cubic feet of refrigerator space equals....hmmmmm....

Anyway, we don't care anymore because there's always 7-11, and also, it snowed today!!!

We visited the Imperial Palace (our unofficial backyard) to play:

Somebody stopped to ask about our snowmen. "Do American snowmen usually have legs?" she asked.

It's a little surreal to think that a few short days ago we were here:

Yoi otoshi o....