on hoodies
"It's always hot in my kitchen," is what I usually say most of the year, but not today. It's the first day of Hannukah, and Christmas is three days away. We have pretty mellow day and not enough cooking being done to keep this place warm. A little space heater is being moved around the dining area to keep the customers warm. I have a sweater on all day, which is unusual. Serious arctic burr is upon us. It's definitely a hoody weather- I've discovered the proper use of a hoody only last year: wearing hoody as a inner layer, and use the hood instead of a hat. Since I have a big head plus prefer a looser knit hat to minimize getting a hat hair, my hats get a bit too loose as they are overused during the season. It's also another piece of article that needs to be tended, placed, looked for. Perhaps I never used a hoody's hood because it isn't the most attractive presentation of a self, but I found that was the most practical and comfortable winter gear, especially for riding a bike. At my age, practicality totally weighs over presentability. I don't lose it. I don't misplace it. It doesn't slide over my eyes or get blown away by gusting wind. It doesn't give me a hat hair. With a proper use of hoody, I don't usually need a scarf, either, another piece of winter accessory that is always in danger of getting lost. But today was a hoody and a scarf weather. This is as bad as it gets. Streets are still covered with ice, especially on Suffolk. With less traffic and less sunlight, we always seem to have a long lasting snow accumulation over here.
on december 22, 2008 @ 07:09 pm [link]
| December 2008 | ||||||
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |||
soy diary
Chrismasy
Snowy roads and icy air didn't discourage me. I went out on a run, thinking, "It's a great condition for a long run. I can't go too fast." Snow covered trees in the East River Park were pretty. Accumulation from last night was crunchy under my feet. I made careful strides to the West Side, and near my usual turnaround at the World Trade Center, I fell hard. Twice. I skinned my knees a little, and got my hands bruised. But this is so far the worst running injury this year. It was a pretty good year.
In the afternoon, I went to see my favorite boy Namazzi sing Christmas songs in a youth choir at a church in Chinatown. It was easy to spot him since he was the only one who didn't have dark hair! His mom whispered to me, "He listens to Christmas music every night, since he started to sing with the choir. He's so into it." I felt like a proud aunt, although he kept yawning towards the end. He was so suprised and thrilled to see me after the concert. I've been making him his favorite food for seven years- ginger lemonade, croquettes and nameshi. His mom brings him if he's in a rotten mood or if they had a fight, then he will be all happy and everything will be fine. All the kids in the choir were so adorable, but my boy Namazzi was the cutest!
on december 20, 2008 @ 10:35 pm [link]
Snowy roads and icy air didn't discourage me. I went out on a run, thinking, "It's a great condition for a long run. I can't go too fast." Snow covered trees in the East River Park were pretty. Accumulation from last night was crunchy under my feet. I made careful strides to the West Side, and near my usual turnaround at the World Trade Center, I fell hard. Twice. I skinned my knees a little, and got my hands bruised. But this is so far the worst running injury this year. It was a pretty good year.
In the afternoon, I went to see my favorite boy Namazzi sing Christmas songs in a youth choir at a church in Chinatown. It was easy to spot him since he was the only one who didn't have dark hair! His mom whispered to me, "He listens to Christmas music every night, since he started to sing with the choir. He's so into it." I felt like a proud aunt, although he kept yawning towards the end. He was so suprised and thrilled to see me after the concert. I've been making him his favorite food for seven years- ginger lemonade, croquettes and nameshi. His mom brings him if he's in a rotten mood or if they had a fight, then he will be all happy and everything will be fine. All the kids in the choir were so adorable, but my boy Namazzi was the cutest!
on december 20, 2008 @ 10:35 pm [link]
first snow
By 10 o'clock in the morning, it began to snow. By noon, large clusters of snow were falling steadily. It was all white by 2 o'clock. It turned to slush for a few hours and now it finally stopped. Some kids were throwing snowballs from across the street while supers of buildings cleared the sidewalk. During the business hours I am spared with shoveling duty since my employees can take care of it. If it's weekend I do my share of shoveling. New York is pretty in snow only when it's new snow. It's pretty if it's snowing in the middle of the night then stop. Ice covered trees and quiet streets covered with new snow makes me want to take a walk around the neighborhood. It's gray and dirty out there already; no snow walk for me tonight.
Yesterday, our Mexican boy Saul made us a big bowl of Nachos for our lunch. He fried a package of tortillas, dotted with refried beans and guacamole, cheese and fresh salsa. It was delicious, but the chips were super crunchy- after the meal, I realized that my tooth in the back was chipped! Saul finished his share of bowl of nachos much quicker than the rest of us- he must have a very strong teeth.
Christmas is approaching and streets around here are getting more quiet by day. I'm leaving to Japan in a week.
on december 19, 2008 @ 06:50 pm [link]
By 10 o'clock in the morning, it began to snow. By noon, large clusters of snow were falling steadily. It was all white by 2 o'clock. It turned to slush for a few hours and now it finally stopped. Some kids were throwing snowballs from across the street while supers of buildings cleared the sidewalk. During the business hours I am spared with shoveling duty since my employees can take care of it. If it's weekend I do my share of shoveling. New York is pretty in snow only when it's new snow. It's pretty if it's snowing in the middle of the night then stop. Ice covered trees and quiet streets covered with new snow makes me want to take a walk around the neighborhood. It's gray and dirty out there already; no snow walk for me tonight.
Yesterday, our Mexican boy Saul made us a big bowl of Nachos for our lunch. He fried a package of tortillas, dotted with refried beans and guacamole, cheese and fresh salsa. It was delicious, but the chips were super crunchy- after the meal, I realized that my tooth in the back was chipped! Saul finished his share of bowl of nachos much quicker than the rest of us- he must have a very strong teeth.
Christmas is approaching and streets around here are getting more quiet by day. I'm leaving to Japan in a week.
on december 19, 2008 @ 06:50 pm [link]
About Time
I just sent out new cooking class schedule- since I'm getting many inquiries for gift. Cooking classes at SOY 2009 --yes, it's that time of the year again. I thought I was just getting used to writing "2008." With ever-so-handy online banking, I don't write many checks anymore, therefore, it took really long time to get used to writing "2008." Only 20 more days left in the year, we exchange "Happy New Year" already. Where did the year 2008 go? A year gets shorter every year. I think this is a fact. It's a conspiracy. It's like the fact that work week goes slower than the weekend. Not only that the work week is actually longer, but the time goes slower. Days on weekend go way too quickly I hardly get nothing other than laundry done. Life is not fair. Yes, that's life. And time goes on, at various speeds. But overall, time goes way fast.
on december 10, 2008 @ 11:17 pm [link]
I just sent out new cooking class schedule- since I'm getting many inquiries for gift. Cooking classes at SOY 2009 --yes, it's that time of the year again. I thought I was just getting used to writing "2008." With ever-so-handy online banking, I don't write many checks anymore, therefore, it took really long time to get used to writing "2008." Only 20 more days left in the year, we exchange "Happy New Year" already. Where did the year 2008 go? A year gets shorter every year. I think this is a fact. It's a conspiracy. It's like the fact that work week goes slower than the weekend. Not only that the work week is actually longer, but the time goes slower. Days on weekend go way too quickly I hardly get nothing other than laundry done. Life is not fair. Yes, that's life. And time goes on, at various speeds. But overall, time goes way fast.
on december 10, 2008 @ 11:17 pm [link]
Feast!
A week has gone by since the big feast. My turkey this year was the best ever, dressed with bacon strips which gave the bird tan lines across the breast. Aroma of fresh herbs filled the place for the entire evening. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday; it reminds me of Japanese New Year when we eat special food and drink sake all day. Seven adults and four teenagers tackled the counter full of dishes- my offerings were: yuzu flavored raw tuna wrapped in rice paper, sweet potato tempura, pumpkin and tuna salad, brussel sprouts with quail eggs, roasted beets with ginger, roasted black potatoes and cute little kabu radish, my famous stuffing with sausage, cashew nuts and apples, mashed potato, fresh cranberry sauce and perfectly roasted turkey in the center, then green tea cheese cake and pecan apple pie for dessert. With more food my friends brought, it was truly decadant feast. And of course we had our Thanksgiving ritual of burning of amaretto cookie wrappers, which made the young girls exclaim, "Coolest ever!" Linda and I danced away the rest of the evening, and we couldn't understand why others weren't. Thanks to expert help of my staff, Kaoru, cleaning up was rather painless. Linda mopped the floor full of ashes. Mark was too drunk to help. And of course this week's special includes Turkey Rice Soup, which is my end ritual. Overall, I must say it was the best ever Thanksgiving feast.
on december 3, 2008 @ 09:56 pm [link]
A week has gone by since the big feast. My turkey this year was the best ever, dressed with bacon strips which gave the bird tan lines across the breast. Aroma of fresh herbs filled the place for the entire evening. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday; it reminds me of Japanese New Year when we eat special food and drink sake all day. Seven adults and four teenagers tackled the counter full of dishes- my offerings were: yuzu flavored raw tuna wrapped in rice paper, sweet potato tempura, pumpkin and tuna salad, brussel sprouts with quail eggs, roasted beets with ginger, roasted black potatoes and cute little kabu radish, my famous stuffing with sausage, cashew nuts and apples, mashed potato, fresh cranberry sauce and perfectly roasted turkey in the center, then green tea cheese cake and pecan apple pie for dessert. With more food my friends brought, it was truly decadant feast. And of course we had our Thanksgiving ritual of burning of amaretto cookie wrappers, which made the young girls exclaim, "Coolest ever!" Linda and I danced away the rest of the evening, and we couldn't understand why others weren't. Thanks to expert help of my staff, Kaoru, cleaning up was rather painless. Linda mopped the floor full of ashes. Mark was too drunk to help. And of course this week's special includes Turkey Rice Soup, which is my end ritual. Overall, I must say it was the best ever Thanksgiving feast.
on december 3, 2008 @ 09:56 pm [link]