32 eve

guess what i got?

stuff!


mom dropped by work to bring my mail, and mixed in was a packing slip...i was like, "hey! did i get a box from japan?" she said, "you got thirteen boxes."
exactly two months by surface mail, and japan delivered. even more awesome was that all 22 of my boxes cleared customs with no fees and not a thing was damaged. i was most excited to open my dishes, probably because they are things i delight in using every day, and they remind me of my special peeps.


my bed sheet was too small for the bed i'm borrowing, so i used it to laurenate...laurenize? the living room.


then i invited mom over for some rilakkuma pancakes.


my tea shelf is out of control.


i finally got to use my new bento box! it's my new favorite sack lunch: poached egg on rice with kimchi.



speaking of stuff, last weekend i finally had a chance (and help) to clean out my storage unit. that stuff has been in there for four and a half years. as an added thrill, there was plenty of mouse poop, two dead mice, and some stuffing they had pulled out of the box spring. ordinarily mice wouldn't be that big of a deal to me, but a lovely little thing called hanta virus is carried by mice and can kill you quick. i went in armed with a mask and lots of bleach, but it kinda made me wonder if all that stuff was worth it. i haven't had a chance to open up all the boxes yet, but after unpacking some of my special (you guessed it) dishes, i think it was. however, this brings me to this year's two-part birthday theme:
1. No More Stuff!
i have quite an accumulation of japan and pre-japan stuff, so this year i'd like to focus on just using what i have. of course there will be things i need (non-disintegrating turtlenecks) and things i desperately want (cough*iPhone*cough), but i'm going to try to finish the two hundred projects i have started, enjoy good food, and not add anything to my pack-rattery.
2. Eyes Outward
i'd also really like to focus on not me, though i know it will be hard as a single, introspective only child. i want to stop seeing my problems and needs first all the time and pay more attention to others. i could absolutely stand to be more flexible, so here it goes!

since u been gone

well, i left off with a pathetic missive and then avoided you for a month, but i'm getting back on track--forging a new way to live my life with parts of the old and the now welded together into something new. i've been mostly happy every day--not moping about nearly as much as you might have believed. it's actually kinda hard to be depressed when you're finally home for christmas.
my first notable thought about the US:

the potatoes are massive!


i got busy investigating the available japanese food options. this package of umeboshi cost seventeen dollars--500% more than they would cost in japan!! and the package is neither heavy, nor fragile, nor requiring of refrigeration. why so bloody expensive!? i'll tell you the answer: suckers like me.


i also bought some sesame oil and seaweed.


i made zucchini...just because i could.


i marveled at the beer selection...and this is only one part of it.


mom and i drove into the mountains to slay some christmas trees.


we put her tree in the car and mine on top...with tape. that's how we roll.


we put up our trees. my housesitting house.


mom's house.


it snowed.


and snowed and snowed and snowed.



so i shoveled and shoveled and shoveled. it took me three hours to move this heavy wall of snow that the plows had left.


i used a rice spatula to sculpt a big korilakkuma.


she didn't last long.


since my belongings are still in limbo somewhere, one of the only ways for me to connect with the familiar has been to cook japanese food--lots of it. that's been much easier since one of my christmas presents was a gift certificate to an online japanese grocery. i went crazy!!


veggie miso soup.


thank goodness there's a korean lady in town who makes dynamite kimchi!


in preparation for eventually making oden, i practiced cabbage rolls.


i fried tofu for abura age. i swore i would never deep-fry anything, but i was desperate. it was a scary process! i think my pan was too small, and let me tell you, deep-frying is an unpredictable and energetic process. i'm happy to have escaped with the skin of my face in tact.




the biggest problem in making japanese dishes has been that the typical cuts of meat in america are slabs, not thinly-sliced, so finding the right kind of meat for any hot-pot meal has been a challenge. finally i talked to a butcher who offered to freeze some meat and slice it up for me...i don't think pork has ever made me happier. i added it to my nabe two nights ago, and it was delicious! for those who need to know: beef top sirloin and ribeye, and pork "country ribs" (they're boneless) are the perfect meats for sukiyaki and nabe...tender with a little marbling. my pre-nabe ingredients.


though i didn't use "authentic" mushrooms or white, long onions, i was surprised how amazing it tasted anyway.


finished!


lastly, i borrowed a little molasses from mom because it's similar to japan's "black honey"...kuromitsu. mom warned me the blackstrap molasses is strong, and she wasn't kidding. it was so strappy you could make tar-colored high heels out of it. i watered it down with white sugar and water, and over ice cream with kinako, it was perfect.