I just had the best Thanksgiving dinner possible without being with my own family. I made most of the things at home and Naoko picked me up and we put everything together at her house. Turns out their table is the same size as mine but I don't have enough dishes. Their kitchen is also much easier to work in - a great kitchen in fact - and of course all of Haruto's toys are there. I put together a pretty close to 'real' Thanksgiving dinner. I made stuffing which was really good, and laid boneless (that's all they have here) chicken on top. The chicken was coated with sage, thyme, paprika, salt and oil. After a bit of fumbling we figured out how to use the oven function in their microwave. I had mashed up some kabocha squash (Japanese pumpkin - like acorn squash), that was actually from their garden, with some brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. It was delicious! I sauted some brocolli with garlic and sprinkled it with a little parmesan (not exactly traditional but good). And most importantly, I opened my can of precious cranberry sauce. Not nearly as good as freshly made but still, cranberry sauce in Japan. They had never tasted cranberries and for me there is no Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce, even more important than turkey....(and there's no turkey in Japan either). For dessert I made a chunky apple sauce in a pot and then I put an oatmeal crumble on top and baked it. Topped with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. And Toshiyuki made a sort of cheese cake pudding. Both were delicious. I also heated up some apple juice with cinnammon, I think that was Haruto's favorite, although surprisingly he ate everything!
Everyone enjoyed themselves and the food and it was a fun, relaxing day with the people I consider my closest 'Japanese family'.
And of course I went home with bags of vegetables - mizuna, a green you can eat in salad or soup or saute..., bok choi and green peppers. Hmmm, what will I do with all of that???
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