High(and low)lights of Late

I am way behind on blogging, and there are way too many things that I want to immortalize in writing, so I'm going to make it quick and hit a few highlights.

Sometimes, I cook. 
Just sometimes.

Recently, I've been trying to cook more Japanese recipes. Like this Omusoba:

I wanted to cook yakisoba after watching Ochi's video on youtube (She has a great Japanese cooking channel. Check it out HERE). Then I saw this other video and decided to put said yakisoba into an omelette. It was delicious. I was so proud.

I've also been looking for light, summer recipes, and this Apple Vinaigrette Salad is my current favorite:

I got the recipe from a simple google search and have made it once a week ever since. Tasty.

Often, I party. 
Maybe a little too often.


I love having people over. Sometimes I just have a friend over for dinner (which was the case with the above two dishes) and sometimes I invite 25 high school students over. 

Squish!

Um... what?!

A few weeks ago some students from international club here at school asked if they could host a party at my apartment. Since the international club usually consists of about 10 sweet mannered girls, I said "no problem!" I found out the day before the party that the regulars wouldn't be the only ones attending. Oops.

Not to be intimidated by such a number. I  rearranged some furniture, removed two of the sliding doors between the tatami room and the bedroom, and hoped for the best.

Lucky for me, these students were not just considerate guests, they were also very tidy.

Shoes all lined up so carefully.

They were comfortable sitting on the floor,  brought their own food...

... and they left my apartment in better shape than they found it in. Amazing!

Sparkly clean. 

So, if 25 Japanese high schoolers ask to come to your 2LDK apartment, just say yes!

The next day was my buddy/ coworkers birthday, and so some of us put together a little surprise party for him (also at my apartment).

Can you say yakiniku?!?

Yakiniku just means grilled meat but the special part is that you grill all of the meat on a burner at the table. Usually I eat yakiniku at a restaurant but some students taught me how to do it at home. It's great! You save money and can still eat until you are stuffed.

So, in honor of Max, a good-sized group of ALTs, Kazuno, and one of Koyo's teachers got together to devour mountains of meat and celebrate.

Sarra brought a beautiful chocolate mouse cake which I so gracefully placed my arm in. Sorry about that Sarra. And Max.

It was still, edible, though, and with cups full of cake everyone was happy to say "Cheers" to Max's 26th.

"Kanpai!!" 

Recently, I say 'goodbye.'
Way too many times.
This time of year is full of sunshine and fun and, unfortunately, way too many "sayonaras." Tis the season for the great JET exodus in which dozens of the friendly faces around the island vanish. This year, I've not been handling it well. It feels like this vast hole has opened up in my life, but at the same time I refuse to accept that it's happening. So many friends are leaving. For good.

Kate and Osborne (front and center)

I haven't really shown much emotion, but inside I am cracking more and more with each goodbye. Like saying so long to sweet Kate last night. Or to Osborne today. These friends have become such an important part of my daily life here.

Alana is soon to follow and then Laura... there are too many to count.  I just can't imagine Okinawa without them.

Every time I prepare myself to say goodbye to one of these lovely people, all I can think is "Please, Don't Go. "

Dear, dear friends, please know that you are missed, that you will be missed, that you've changed Okinawa in your time here, and that that change will live on in each of us who were lucky enough to know you while you were here. Please stay in touch. I mean it.


Once in a great while, I travel.
But not this time.

That stinker is coming straight for me. Boo. 

This weekend, I'd planned to take my one and only summer vacation, but a nasty looking typhoon is moving in. It kind of looks like it will be out of the way by Friday night/Saturday, but I'd planned to camp on the beach and the weather still might not be ideal for that.  So, I decided not to risk the weather ruining my plans and just cancelled them instead. Hopefully I can find another weekend to get away, but in the meantime, I have more house parties and recipe experiments to look forward to.

Does anyone have a recipe that makes typhoons pass more quickly?

Exploring Risotto

I've been stuck in my apartment all day because of this impending storm (and because my car is stranded in Naha... long story), and the boredom is starting to crush me. I've watched at least 13 episodes of "Bones" today, have cleaned about 75% of my house, and have cooked two big meals. 

Right now, the storm is raging strongly. The wind and rain and slamming against all the windows and doors. The power flickered a few times and is now out completely. That leaves me, 1 hour of laptop battery, some candles, and nothing to do. So... I will tell you about risotto! 

Creamy chicken tomato risotto with cheddar cheese (and a yummy pickle garnish). 

I like cooking dishes that are easily variable to fit the random contents of my fridge (like fried rice! you can just throw anything in there!), and risotto fits the bill! So far I have made it with cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, and, today, chicken broth and canned tomatoes: 

Tomato Risotto cooked chicken broth and a yellow pepper garnish. 

Sometimes vegetables can be pretty expensive in the grocery store, so I like to buy whatever I can find at the local veggie stand. Campbell's soup is also pricey, so I just pick up whatever I can find at a good price. 

It's a lot of fun to totally improvise a meal. It makes me feel like I can actually get by in this world and make my own meals. Pretty novel, right? 

Well, that's the end of my typhoon-boredom-power-outage ramblings. The wind sounds either like a demon train of destruction or like the world's largest chair scraping loudly and painfully across the world's largest wooden floor. Kinda creepy. Now I'm going to take my candles, flashlight, and a book to bed and hope the wind quiets down enough for me to sleep at some point tonight. 

Goodnight, Super Typhoon Songda. You were fun for like a minute, now go away. 

Sesame Seed Fried Rice

We interrupt this Subtropical Christmas series to bring you the latest breaking news: ReBekha can cook!

Now before you get too excited, you should know that I am starting slow. So far, it has only been simple recipes except where heavily assisted by others (such as the surprising turkey success), but I am doing pretty well.

Now, if you haven't known me for longer than a few months, you might not know that I have never considered myself capable of really cooking--aside from top ramon, that is. It isn't that I horribly mutilate everything I touch, I simply don't attempt it that often. Recipes tend to terrify me.

The exception is pancakes. I love to make strange pancakes. I even submitted my baked

apple & cinnamon recipe to the JET newsletter. :P Simple, but yummy.

Well, since I moved to Japan, and have this nice apartment to myself, and a huge assortment of strange foods to choose from, I decided to give the whole cooking thing another shot. My fantastic coworkers, Max and An Yang, come over to my place semi-regularly for a little cooking party, and that has definitely helped. An Yang is a walking cookbook of Japanese and Chinese recipes and makes it all seem so easy. One of the first things we cooked was cha han, or fried rice.

What I love about cha han is that it is so simple, so versatile, and so delicious. All the time.

Well, today, I made my own variation of cha han that I want to share with my other cooking-challenged friends. :)

Sesame Seed Fried Rice

It's easy.

1. Prepare the rice ahead of time. I use white rice in a basic rice cooker. Wheat rice would probably work just as well.

2. Combine diced chives, green peppers, yellow peppers, and tomatoes in a frying pan with seasame seed oil, sesame seeds, salt and pepper (to taste) in frying pan.

(I would also usually add fried egg, but I didn't have the energy today.)

3. Fry until veggies are crispy and oil is hot.

3. Add the rice to the frying pan, mix it with the other ingredients, and cook until fried.

I think the most important thing about this is to fry the veggies in sesame seed oil before adding the rice. It makes a major taste difference.

I've learned that I am not very good at measuring when I am cooking for myself, but I don't think exact measurements are necessary in this case. The beauty of cha han, for me, is being able to just toss ingredients together. So far, this is the best combination I have come up with. :)

Preparation Part 2: Cooking & Seaweed Bathing

I've explored Uwajimaya a few times now, trying to become vaguely familiar with what may be available to me in Japan.
Last time, my friend Thatcher bought me these Yamaimo Soba noodles, and I cooked about a third of them for a late lunch today. They were delicious! My sister added butter to hers, and I added cilantro which ended up tasting pretty delicious. :) I took a ton of photos (of course) and look forward to taking more as my cooking adventures continue!


Thatcher also bought me seaweed and instructed me to boil it and bathe in the broth... so I am off to try that one out! Apparently it is a Japanese beauty secret, or he just made it up, but either way I am excited to test it out. ;)