More Halloween suppers

The kids have really enjoyed the anticipation of their daily Halloween dinners.

I made these milkshakes for the kids' snack when they got home from school on Wednesday.  I used Orange Sherbet and milk for the shakes and "painted" the faces on the inside using melted chocolate.  It wasn't as orange as I hoped, but they enjoyed them anyway.

 This was Wednesday night's meal:

This was the dip made out of Ranch dressing and Catalina Dressing.

I also found this Kabocha squash from the Farmer's Market.  (I first tried it on Monday during the cooking class.)  

I love the orange color!  I made it the same way I was shown before, except I cooked mine a tad bit too long.  It was tasty anyway.  

...and the roasted seeds were tasty.  I knew when they were done because they popped like popcorn in the oven.  The kids loved watching the seeds "jump around." 

We had this "mummy" last night.  The recipe was really tasty, too - garlic and herb cream cheese, chicken breast and ham slices, provolone and American cheese slices, and a red pepper at the top.  

And, my first attempt at making bunnies out of apple slices.  The boys called them bats in keeping with the Halloween theme.  

After they saw the mummy, they were excited and I was able to witness a breakdancing routine.  

Halloween Fun

The kiddos are super excited about Halloween on Sunday.  As I was going through some of my cookbooks (the A&E show "Hoarders" comes to mind) I found some little Halloween cookbooks.  I have about 8 of them and obviously bought them at the checkout stand for the past several years. 

So, I decided to surprise the boys and make Halloween-themed suppers this whole week. 

Yesterday, I made monster cheeseburgers.  Chris just asked for a regular one.

Tuesdays are busy with swimming lessons, and Taiko, so I made an easy pumpkin-shaped pizza.  The kids got a big kick out of it but refused to have anything to do with the green peppers. 

Oyako-don

Yesterday, I went to my monthly cooking class to learn how to make Oyako-don.  Basically, it's a chicken & egg dish served over rice.

These are the ingredients...chicken thighs, onion, seasoned soy sauce, mirin, watercress  & eggs.  Also, Tomo-san showed us how she wanted us to cut the thin pea pods.  

We all get a chance to cut the veggies.  

To make the chicken stock, she put all the fat and skin from the chicken into a pan of boiling water.  She said we could also use dashi stock (fish stock.)  

Mayu-san is starting to cut a fresh "kabocha squash."  It's a Japanese pumpkin-looking squash.  She put it in the microwave to soften it before she begins cutting it.  

Tomo-san is mixing the chicken with salt, mirin, and a little seasoned soy sauce.    She let it marinate it for about 20 minutes.  

Time to cook.  Put the vegetables in individual pans and sprinkle with a teaspoon of sugar.  

Then pour the stock over it 

When the liquid begins to boil, put in the chicken.  When it's half way cooked, it needs to be turned over.  

Then add a little more soy sauce. 

It's time to scramble the egg - only a little bit......

....and slowly pour it around the pan.  

Tomo-san shows us how to carefully slide everything onto the bowl of rice.  

Ta-Da!

This is the kabocha squash simmering in a little bit of water & sugar.  Once the water boiled down, we added sake and butter. 

This is my finished product with a bowl of miso soup and kabocha.  The squash was so tender that even the skin was delicious! Itadakimasu!

3-Taiko

More Taiko!

Saturday was "International Scouting Day" on Misawa Air Base.  They brought in 2 busloads of Japanese boy and girl scouts to interact with the American scouts.  Our Taiko group was asked to preform.  It was my first time and instead of being nervous like I thought I might be, it felt like a huge rush!
This song is "Ayumi" (not sure of the spelling, though) which is one of the three I was able to play. If you look at the man wearing the "hapi" in the middle, Ryan is to the left of him (in the front) and I'm just behind him to the right.

Getting ready for winter!

As the temperatures here have been dropping, we have been getting everything ready for the winter.  We're all set with gloves, hats, and snow gear.  Chris tested out the snow blower, and it's all good.  This weekend, he is going to mow the yard (probably for the last time this season) and clean out the summer plants. 

The base has been getting prepared as well.  Yesterday, they turned on the heat to all the housing and today they put up these poles everywhere.  I learned last winter that they are VERY helpful in showing you where the curbs are during snow storms.

Taiko

This was Ryan's first Taiko performance a couple months ago.

I may be preforming with the group next Saturday if I can get my speed to match this one!

Shimoda Swan Park

After visiting the Komaki with the boys, Chris came home and we headed out to Shimoda mall for lunch.  He LOVED the Pepper Lunch!

On the way home, we decided to check out the Swan Park.  The last time we went there was back in February.

"Look, Mom!  There's poop!"

Komaki with the Kiddos

Chris had to work yesterday, so I took the boys out to the Komaki resort to feed the fish and walk around.  They thought Kappa Pond was really cool!

We brought some old hamburger buns to feed the fish.  They were going crazy for it!

I think the kids found it hard to believe how aggressive the koi were.  

The kids loved the Kappa story and wanted their picture in front of the goblin.  

Ryan ringing the bell after making a wish.  

Brandon making his wish. 

Ryan found this wooden 'wish bell' too.  

I guess you can't have too many wishes!

Here are the kids in front of Shibusawa's house (see previous Komaki post.)  We determined this house must be haunted, and Ryan swore he saw a 'man' looking out of the window.