Ode to Sawa

Surgeon general's warning: This post is full of cheesiness. Cheese has recently been shown to contain calories, which have in turn been linked to death. And yet the US government encourage Domino's pizza to use cheese? What the hell kind of conspiracy is this?

Sorry. As you may be able to tell: 1) I think that the food culture in America is crazy, and 2) I am recovering from the flu and may not be in a completely rational state of mind.

Anyway, today's post is not really about cheese, it's about what an amazing and awesome wife Sawa is. Particularly when it comes to making pie. Perhaps you think that your wife is better? Perhaps you are a fool. While I've been lying around sleeping and coughing and complaining, Sawa's been making me delicious meals and snuggling with me and doing all the chores and travel preparations and figuring out and making all the Christmas presents that are ostensibly supposed to be from me.

Thanksgiving with a dash of Japanese New Year flavour

chikuzenni (vegetables boiled in a soy-based sauce)

Last week we drove out to the East coast for the second time in as many weeks for Thanksgiving with my relatives. Last year, Sawa made some delicious ratatouille, and she was thinking about doing something like that again this year until her mum suggested she try a Japanese dish to add something a little different to the mix.

We've always thought that the closest thing in Japan to Thanksgiving is New Year's. They're both arguably the best holiday of the year because they both involve:
1) All the family getting together
2) Eating till you can't stand up
3) Falling asleep watching TV
4) Waking up and repeating for a couple days