Cooking Chronicles: Part 4

Some of these food photos are very old and some are more recent:

Oatmeal Cookies, I never made oatmeal cookies in the states because when I did they turned out awful. But I thought I should try again. 

They actually came out perfect, David loved them!!!

However, this summer I have not been able to make them correctly, we think it has something to do with the humidity. 

I never knew that the Japanese loved curry so much. Our Japanese language teacher brought us some homemade curry. It was very good. 

Curry and Rice

We cook chicken here a lot. A friend gave me this quick and easy sauce to add to chicken when cooking it in the skillet. It was very good. 

I'm not a big soda drinker, but this melon soda is amazing!!

When the students came over from Baiko University, they brought us a cake. It's similar to a round pound cake. They also sell mini ones that you can take with you. 

When David's parents came to visit, one thing I asked his mom to show me was how to make her biscuits from scratch. David raves about them and I knew I needed to learn how to make them for him. This is my first batch by myself after she left and they turned out great!!!

Biscuits cooking

David wanted to try homemade pizza. We usually bought the crust in the states where you just add water and oil, but we tried from scratch here and it was OK.

Making Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie

David's mom's famous sugar cookies, which she actually told me this summer was her dad's recipe.

 You may wonder why we eat so much chicken. The staple foods here are fish, rice, and various soups. The whole pieces, boneless chicken breasts are actually the cheapest meat here. We usually buy those. I told a neighbor in our building that I wanted to learn how to cook Japanese food and she said that she would love to teach me. 

Baking here is something that I've been told isn't done much. So for gifts or get togethers I have been bringing cookies or cakes. 

We went for Korean food with a friend!!

Carrot Cheese Cake

A huge nashi (Japanese pear).

Who knew a Kit Kat could be so small.

Stay tuned for a post on how the Japanese make lunches!!

Samuel: 10 months

It's December and we can't believe it's almost time for Christmas. We are looking forward to celebrating Samuel's first Christmas in NC with our families. We will leave for the USA on Saturday, December 21st and return to Japan on January 1st. We are thankful for the opportunity to go home for the holiday. 

Samuel has been growing and doing so many fun and exciting things. He is over 31 inches long and weighs almost 24 pounds. He has 2 bottom front teeth and his hair grows so fast. He is climbing onto and up everything he can, free standing, and took his first steps the first week of December and we are excited to see him walk more and more. We hope you enjoy the following photos:

He enjoys his Anpanman book, especially because it has pop up's.

He loves to pull out the pots, pans, towels, and Tupperware's. 

Playing in the kid's area at the mall.

We are excited to take him to a free community center close to our house. It gives him more space and interaction with other kids.

Samuel pushed this little walker around the community center so many times we lost count.

Resting together after a fun day of playing and errands!!

We are extremely thankful and Praise the Lord everyday for a healthy and happy baby boy!!

English Ministries Update

We are now finished with our third month of the new semester of our English teaching ministries. 

David began with a little bit of a different schedule and some new opportunities to teach English. He will be teaching a business English class through the company of one of the church members. He will also be teaching a Juku class on a class by class need. Juku is a   'cram' school where students choose the subject they want to study. David is helping 2 students currently prepare to take an English language entrance test for college. 

The Pre-School began twice a week in September and has kept us busy. The students have taken a bit of time to adjust to our new schedule but now they are doing well. We still have openings for the April 2014 school year, so please pray with us as potential new families are viewing our school and consider enrolling their child. In Japan, most families decide by the end of November where they will enroll their child for the next school year. 

The Pre-School has a Facebook page that is updated weekly with pictures and videos of our activities. Please click on the link below to view the page. (you don't have to have Facebook to view)

New Beginning Pre-School

Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and words of encouragement as we work in these various English teaching ministries in Japan.