FOOD!!!

Year 2013 is coming to an end and things are finishing up.  Today is the last day of school, end of the year cleaning has started, I've said good-bye to my English students until January, End-of-the-Year-Parties are in full force.

Companies and groups are getting together for major drinking parties during this season.  Bounen-kai,  "Year Forgetting Party".  There will be more drinking parties in the New Year too.  Anything for a party!

My friends and I are having year-end parties too... but not the drinking type.

On Tuesday Mrs. Ide brought a two layer obento box.

And inside...

Yum!  On the first layer were Nama-harumaki (Vietnamese summer rolls), shirae (tofu and vegetables), raw apples and yuzu (a citrus) and fried tofu vegetable pouches with egg.

On the bottom layer were Oinari-san (vinegared rice in deep fried tofu pouches) and sushi rolled in seaweed (cucumber and reconstituted gourd shavings).  There's also a bit of pickled Asian ginger.  In one of those pictures was a small container of something purple.  That was pickled icicle radish with purple chrysanthemum petals!

For this fantastic lunch I supplied pork and vegetable miso soup and another friend bought sweet beans.  We sure didn't need dinner that night!  (Tetsu got leftovers from the obento lunch.)

And then Wednesday, the ladies in my English class took me OUT to lunch at a fancy Japanese restaurant.  Ooh.. That was delicious too!

 Lunch started with hot tea and cauliflower potage with rice cracker powder.  (Forgot to take a picture of that.)  And then came the black and gold obento box, one for each person.  This one was THREE layers!

 The layers were filled with exquisite dishes with morsels of delicacies.


Sweet sesame seed tofu, a bit of crab and chinese cabbage, creamed pumpkin and a bite of fried chicken, two types of sashimi.

 In the center layer was white rice with salty burdock leaf powder.

On the top layer (under the decorative leaf) was a slice of sweet egg, grilled fish and ginko tree seeds, simmered beef and two types of tempura. 

For dessert we had sweet beans and seaweed gelatin with slices of fruit and a dollop of ice cream.  (I was in seventh heaven and finished that off  before I remember I was doing a photo shoot.  Rats.)

I sure have been eating well this week!  And the weather is cold so I'm not getting much exercise!  Guess who's afraid of of stepping on the scale!