From the South

Nothing about me is from "The South". Parts of my family have been in North America since the beginning of what we now call the United States, except I'm a Yankee, from the North. If I ever get the paperwork in order, I could belong to the DAR association, better known as Daughters of the American Revolution. A distant ancestor of mine fought in the Revolutionary War but was from Massachusetts. I have a couple Oakies (Oklahoma natives) in the family but that's as close as I get to being Southern on my side. There are many similarities. My Great-grandfather owned a diner in Oklahoma and when I was young, made some of his great recipes (without looking at any cookbook of course) like, Pineapple Upside-down Cake,
Sweet Potato Pie, and biscuits and gravy.

When I met Michael, his Southern charm ultimately won me over. Once Mike and I "got serious", we took a trip to Virginia to meet his family and then to North Carolina where I met all of his close friends from college. After meeting Mike's friends and experiencing "The South", it was another thing that I just fell in love with. So much so that just about everyday I listen to James Taylor's Carolina in my Mind. Yes, Mike has me thoroughly brainwashed and, by the way............ GO WOLFPACK!!

I'm reminded of my fondness for the south because my Aunt sent me this great cookbook by Paula H. Deen. Food Network fans may know her show. This book is filled with down-home Southern cooking. I've really enjoyed some of her comments in the beginning. Here's a small exerpt:

"Authentic Southern food is not about pretension. It does not require a sophisticated palate. It's a poor-man's food. Kids don't have to acquire a taste for it. They love it from the start. And Southern food is distinctly Southern. Nothing is flown in. It's all home-grown. There's no quail, no pheasant, no filet mignon, no foie gras, no truffles, no snails, no caviar, and no crepes. Southern dishes do not require split-second timing. They do not fall in the oven. We don't go in for ornate presentation, either, or sculpted desserts. We just heap food on the plate. There are some things we do that would made a French chef sick. Like, for instance the we we make red eye gravy--country ham cooked in a skillet with water and strong coffee. But let the French chef taste it, and he'll get over being sick real quick! Southern cooks are proud of their cuisine, and they are not hesitant to tell you that, stacked up against any other cookery, it comes out on top. I've never heard anybody say, 'Gee, golly, I can't wait to get up to New York so I can have some of that good Yankee food.' "

I do enjoy all types of cuisine (The top of my list will always be California Cuisine) but there is something about the wintertime that makes me want to just make some good down-home cooking.

There are recipes in this book that go by the name of 'Piggy Pudding', 'Bubba's Beer Biscuits', 'Chocolate Damnation', and 'Low Country Cookies'. Wish me luck. I'm going on a culinary adventure. Stay tuned to my cooking site the next couple of months. Thanks Auntie, this book will come in handy!

Japanese Service, Example #18475

Everyone who has spend more than a few days in Japan can usually recite a tale of wonderful customer service they received here, from the chorus of "Irrashimase!!!" (or Welcome!) that you hear upon entering a Japanese store, or the extraordinary number of bows and "Arigatou gozaimasu" you receive at the end of your visit, regardless of whether or not you even purchased anything.

Last night, I was reminded again that the Customer is King. On Friday (2 days ago), I ordered a concert ticket online with the help of a kind Japanese coworker, Miyako-san. The website was completely in Japanese and I couldn't have navigated it without her help. At the end of the process, she told me that the ticket would be delivered to my house and that the delivery charge was 499 Yen (about $4.50). Not too bad, I though, especially for home delivery service. Concerts in Japan are notoriously more expensive than those in the US, so I was already paying about twice what I would have paid to see the show back home. But the band is Strike Anywhere from Richmond, VA, my hometown. In fact, the lead singer was in a previous band, Inquisition, that my high school garage band opened for about 13 years ago at a free show at VCU.

Anyway, back to the story. As I mentioned, I ordered the ticket on Friday. On Saturday, Nicki, Josh and I went to Enoshima Aquarium for a visit. When we returned home later that evening, I noticed a "we missed you" note from a local delivery company in our mailbox. Then, as we were putting Josh down for bed around 8:00pm, our doorbell rang. Sure enough, it was the same delivery company, delivering my ticket the day after I ordered it online. In the States, it probably would have taken at least 3-4 days to get to me, without a doubt. Also, do you think FedEx or UPS would try twice in the same day to deliver a package if the customer wasn't home the first time? No way.

The amusing thing is that when I opened the package, I found that there was bubble wrap surrounding my ticket. Why on earth does a concert ticket need to be bubble wrapped?

Our Nation's Capital... no, not Tokyo

As you've probably read from some of our recent posts, I had a business trip in Washington DC for a few days at the end of November. Instead of writing about it, I'll just show some of the pics and maybe I'll write about it some other time. The rest of the pics are in our Gallery, dated 12/13/2006.

Bird's Eye View of the Lincoln Memorial

Honest Abe

Korean War Memorial

Sunset near Jefferson Memorial

Washington Monument

Roosevelt Memorial quote

Roosevelt Memorial "War Waterfall"

Band of Brothers

Vietnam Wall Guardians

Finding a Fallen Friend

Lone Figure at the Washington Monument

Jefferson Memorial

United States Capitol Building

Capitol Dome and Flag

Seething With Jealousy

So yes, the reason why our readers had to suffer through my grammatical and spelling errors was because my proof reader....AKA my husband, Mike, was gone on business to Washington DC. He found out about this trip last minute and, because of this, 2 more plane tickets just would have been too much money.

Needless to say because he was able to go back "Home" before me, I was seething with jealousy. 'I mean, he was going to leave me here in Japan alone?!' Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying Japan but I miss the USA. I miss that feeling of being home. To know where I'm going and to be able to look for a paper clip without spending an hour in a department store before I find it. OK, that's exaggerating but I'm sure you catch my drift. I have a big long list of things that I'm going to do when I get back home. Number one is to go to a good hair stylist. I won't trust my hair to someone who can't understand half of what I am saying or to the folks on base. I just can't do it. I did it before and won't ever again. I am probably going to go home and spend a small fortune on a good haircut. Also going to spend some cash at the outlet stores when I'm home. Oh yes, and my dream... walking into a Target (Insert angels singing here). I can't tell you how tired I am of shopping online. I miss instant gratification! Oh yes and getting some good Mexican food. I do have much much more on this list. Including being able to just say "hello" to someone on the street.

While I was winging it on my own with the little one, my doctor served me with the bad news that I had bronchitis. So, not only was I here all alone but I was housebound and on some pretty strong meds. Holding Josh prisoner and making him bounce off the walls when I all wanted was to take a nap.

It wasn't all bad though. Mike returned with a highly anticipated Ebay purchase. My Maclaren stroller. WOOHOO. Now, as all you men roll your eyes, I will proceed to tell all of the soon-to-be-mothers out there that if there is one thing to splurge on for your child it is the stroller! Unfortunately, I have gone through 4 strollers. All because I just couldn't bring myself to spend the money on the one that I REALLY wanted. Believe me girls, that one that you REALLY want and costs maybe $150+ is worth every penny! Or, better yet maybe it's the one that you stare at thinking to yourself, 'how could anyone spend that much on a stroller. That's insane!' Here's my argument. It's quite possibly the one thing that your baby and you will use for the longest and most frequently so splurge. I've bought 2 Gracos and they did not withstand the test of time. Then I bought a Chicco which was a total waste....then I bought a Kidco which lasted a while and was the best out of all the crap I bought over the years. If I just would have bought that expensive one to begin with, it actually would have saved me money over the long run. I think that I'm in agreement with most mothers out there as well.

OK, enough of my rants. Yes, Mike got to go "home" before I did but really because it was for work, he really didn't get to experience much and because he wasn't on his "stomping grounds" he wasn't too familiar with the terrain. Leaving him to walk around and take pictures which, left to his own devices, would be his preference anyhow. He did get some great ones. However, blame it on me and his son that he hasn't posted them yet. Because he was gone for 10 whole days, he is busy making up for that time with us and is slow to get the pictures all processed. I thought it maybe appropriate that I be held responsible therefore I should type out another blog to keep everyone reading. We do enjoy the comments and have labeled ourselves comment whores of sorts.

Xerox... Let's Say Thanks

Just received an email from one of our North Carolina friends, Yvonne. Xerox is sponsoring a promotion to send a free printed postcard to U.S. military personnel stationed overseas. I know that our men and women serving in harm's way would love to receive one of these over the holidays. Please take the time (2 minutes or less), click on the link below, and get a message out to them:

http://www.letssaythanks.com/

It's been a while since we've posted and I have a lot to share. I spent about a week back in the Washington DC area shortly after Thanksgiving for business, but managed to get some time to shoot some photos... pictures will be up some day soon.