餅つき，敲年糕，Rice-Cake Pounding

我们家后面的的士停车场传来了一阵的欢呼声，开了音乐，广播着一些我们听不太懂的日语。随后，放了个大木锅，欢迎参加者一起敲打里面放着的大mochi. 曾经在图书馆的书上看过，日本人在年尾都会庆祝“餅つき”，“mochi-tsuki” （Rice cake pounding）。好像是他们的收工仪式，大家聚集在一起慰劳过去一年的幸劳。在家里，家人团聚一起弄mochi吃。感觉上有点像中国人的吃汤圆。汤圆也是用糯米粉弄的，mochi也一样。

托孩子的福，我们换上衣服，也去一同观看。敲mochi，趁趁热闹！听不懂日语有点不好意思，但他们也挺热情招待。之后问了些日本朋友，只要是在公众地方庆祝的mochi-tsuki，一般都欢迎客人一同参加。一下一下的敲打，旁人一同欢呼，挺有趣满开心的。然后把大mochi弄成一粒一粒圆圆的，放上红豆或黑糖酱油分给客人。一般的日本人都很欢迎小孩们一同参加活动。还特别安排节目让小孩玩个不亦乐乎。有时让我感觉日本人所庆祝的节日有点相中国习俗，然后加于美化。。。

数算2012的恩典，仰望2013的赐福。依靠上帝一步一脚印的带领走过人生的点点滴滴。

Happy New Year!!!

明けましておめでとうございます

(Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu)!!!

Little Manger in 2012 Christmas

Christmas time! Christmas is a time for love and joy, Christmas time is for gifts, Christmas time is to remembered the Hope is here with us. Christmas time is to feel God is presence and the true love surrounding us all the time. Yes, to feel the Lord is watching over you and me. Yes, to have a merry little Christmas love and feel His great love abound in ours heart, joy will ring a happy tune!

Ethan : "I am going to make the manger for little baby Jesus!" .... "I want to make him a blanket too!"

Ethan : "Mummy, if we have do bad thing, will Jesus still love us?"

Mummy : "Yes, He loves us all the time."

Ethan : "What about if he still loving us and we still do bad thing again?", 

Mummy : "He desperately wants us to try again. In bible clearing staged down thing that God wants us to do and what is prohibited. Those will definitely lead us to meet God in our life or in the opposite way...."

Ethan : "Why Jesus wanted to be born in December?", "When Jesus was born, will him cry out loud?", "What Jesus did when he was a small boy?"

Ethan started to raise those questions.

I love to hear his questions. It's stimulating me to think about it too. Who is God? Why we want to follow Him in our life? Emmanuel is observing and listening to our conversation. Sometime out of sudden he will repeat the question that Ethan was asked. Why Jesus born in December... Checking on the bible, it didn't stated down Jesus was on December neither said it was winter. If Jesus was born in December, it was unlikely for shepherd to have been out in the fields or searching for meadow. It was so cold, it shouldn't have much green land around. Whether Jesus was born in December 25... Christ's birth was a remarkable historical event, the date isn't as important as the implications of the event and also for the commemorate his death, then to the resurrection of Jesus. The hope is born and the love is with us to bear a fruitful and contented life.

As the Christmas time approaches, especially to Ethan the 5 years old boy wanted to have gifts on this day. To him he feel that beside it is Jesus's birthday, it is the day to receive gifts too.

My dear little one at home, I wish and I hope and I pray that, for the years of Christmas you have, you feel the joy and know that Jesus is what you have, even if their aren't many gifts under your Christmas tree. Have happy thoughts of all the times you have, with friends and family. Above all this, feel Jesus true love. Remember all He has done for us, and put your faith and trust in Him, you all can't go wrong. Smile at others as you go on your way, as you know Jesus loves you and me.

Merry Christmas 2012, Tokyo.

冬至 Toji，Winter Solstice

日本是一个四季分明的地方。随着秋天黑夜的时间比白昼来的较长。我总是感觉还没感受到完全的阳光，大概四点出一点，天空就开始暗起来。心情也有点莫名其妙的暗淡。去年的这段时间，在家带着三个小小的小朋友，在地球转移太阳的视线的时间里，心中会感到特别忧郁，不太好受。冷冷冰冰，凄凄凉凉。阳光带来希望，是很确实的。

虽然是站在一片不属于我长大的土地上，却看见许多熟悉风俗文化，“冬至- （日语-‘toji’”。在图书馆，借了这本书。书上写着,

"Toji, is one of the Twenty-four Divisions of the Lunar Calendar. It falls on about December 22 or 23 and is teh longest night of the year."

"As the days grow shorter and shorter with the appraoch of the Winter Solstice, people traditionally feel weak in spirit. They have always known that after Toji the sun will be restored and the daus will gradually get longer. Even today Japanese people customarily eat produce from the seasonal harvest such as pumpkins and adzuki beans to help them get through the coldest and darkest time of the year."

一阳来福, Ichiyo-raifuku

This phrase means that the sun has regained its strength, winter is over and spring is on the way.

Citron Bath, Yuzu-yu

During veru cold weather, Japanese peope have always believe that if they put slices of citron into a hot bath they can warm their bodies and avoid catching cold. On the day of Toji, they customarily take ca ctron bath.

Adzuki Porridge

The red color of adzuki beans is believed to ward off evil spirits. All over Japan people eat adzuki porridge on Toji.

Eating food with sound of "n", examble like Daikon, pumpkin (nankin), carrots (Ninjin), seaweed (Konbu), Gingko nuts (Ginnan), Konnyaku will have a good luck.

吃汤圆，好像不是日本冬至的习俗。但mochi好像是他们的日常甜品。还来个酱油加黑糖mochi。徐信和徐恒都很爱吃。这几天爸爸放工回家的晚上都为这两个小朋友打包一盒酱油黑糖mochi, 98yen一盒.

徐信要弄青汤圆，他说要safe the world，no pollution, grow forest.

徐恒要弄红汤圆，他说他要happy的，所以是red的。

徐悦，妈妈给了她黄汤圆，“阳光带来的希望”。

在我的记忆里，冬至要吃汤圆，是团圆的日子。在马来西亚的天气过冬天的习俗也有着另一番的天气热热的家庭和谐气氛。开始了自己的家庭之后，由其有了自己的孩子，冬至这日子忽然对我变得有点重量。

团圆，团聚，为寒冬加一把温情。建立一个以爱为本，以基督为首的家庭。

2012, 冬至快乐!

Will it run away?

For the coming Christmas, we are trying out the some Christmas recipe at home. Ethan and Emmanuel requested to make the Cookies House again this year. Instead of cookies house, I proposed them the Gingerbread man. They like the idea. Indeed, they had read the story of the "The Run away Gingerbread man", I think it will be fun for them to hands on for the little tiny gingerbread man. Selected the simple Gingerbread man recipe for kids at home. First time doing it, not sure what to expect, just hope they enjoy with it, and bring us more laughter together. 

Early in the morning, after Daddy go to work and we started our work too. Today our homeschooling activities will be "Gingerbread man hand craft"! They boys shouted hooray and we start. 

Gingerbread Ingredients

125g butter, softened

½ cup brown sugar, packed

½ cup molasses

1 egg yolk

2 ½ cups plain flour

1 tbsp fresh grated ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Cream room temperature butter and brown sugar together. Then add egg yolk and molasses, mix until combined. Add flour, ginger, cinnamon and bicarbonate soda. Done for the dough crumb. 

Place onto a piece of baking paper and then cover with another piece of baking paper – using a rolling pin, roll out the dough. This is the important step to avoid the dough stick on the table or on the hands. Which will mess up the place! Then chill it in the freezer till it turn little harder, ~around 30 minutes.  Then the dough will be easily cut out gingerbread man shape. We fine that it is hard to remove the gingerbread man to another baking paper. It will change the shape of the gingerbread man, it break easily. So instead of remove to another baking paper, we just remove the outer part of it. Let the tiny man stay on the baking paper.

Preheat oven, 180c. Then bake for 8-10 minutes. Once baked, let cool for 10 minutes on the tray and then transfer to cooling rack. Done. It is now ready for decoration.

Along the years, I collected some Gingerbread man cutter. So nice, now we have 5 different cutters and it simply represent "Daddy, Mummy, Gogo, Didi, Meimei". Love it!

Ethan : "Mummy, we supposedly to make the gingerbread man right?! This is gingercookies not bread mah!"

I stunned for a while... yeah hoh, I didn't realize it till Ethan highlighted it. 

Once the "Gingercookies man" is done, we started to decorate it. I am so impressed that Emmanuel know what to do with it. He trying to draw its eyes, mouth and then the buttons to the "Gingercookies man". Indeed, he loves the story of the Gingerbread man. 

Emmanuel : "Mummy, will the gingerbread man run away?"

Mummy : "Yeah, the Gingerbread man will open the door and run away!"

Emmanuel : "Over here don't have forest ah!"

Mummy : "But the wolf is waiting out there there..." howling to scare him.... 

Emmanuel : "Where? Where the wolf?!"......"Then we go to rescue him!"

Mummy : "You made the gingerbread man, so you have to go alone!"

Emmanuel : "eeeeerrrrr......I scared woh....." He looked so nervous!!! Oh my dear Didi....

After the first and only Gingercookies they drawn, they got distracted and never get back to their work. 

Ethan : "The ginger will warm my stomach!", "Mummy, Gingerbread man is not junk food!"

Egracia : "Pooo...." Peekabooo"

Our production line stopped at the only 3 little Gingercookies man. Then we called off the day. 

Will these 3 little men run away?

Merry Christmas & looking forward for the 2013++ Christmases with my loved one.

For the years we celebrate the Christmas, I hope we will still remembering the taste of the "Gingercookies man", its fragrant the house. It just like to remember the season of love and peace. The hope is already born for us.

Orange Chiffon Cake

Kids fall in love with the spongy chiffon cake texture and I like the easy way of making chiffon cake, which doesn't needs to melt the butter or get the butter ready in the room temperature. It just needs the cooking oil, for instance olive oil, corn oil, the light weight of ingredient to make the cake be soft and spongy. This morning, our Daddy made us orange french toast, with the left-over orange, we made this Orange chiffon cake. 

Mummy : "Ethan, you like Banana Chiffon cake or Orange Chiffon cake?"

Ethan : "I like Orange chiffon cake!"

Mummy : "hmmm.... what about we make the Banana Chiffon cake next time?"

Ethan : "Good idea, I like Banana Chiffon cake!"

Mummy : "So, do you like Banana Chiffon cake or you like Orange Chiffon cake!"

Ethan : "I like both!"

And Ethan scream and ran away! What a silly boy!

Emmanuel offered himself to bring out the chiffon cake. I was so worry that he will drop the cake on the floor. 

Mummy : "no no no... Didi... wait!!! Let me take the picture first!" Phew... luckily I still got the cake in a good shape. Thanks Emmanuel! Thank you! Thank you!

We are thinking to try out blueberry chiffon cake and the kids selected the chocolate chiffon for next! Daddy said he like orange chiffon cake than banana flavor. Somewhat, we are drifting far away from the Daddy wish list... 

Ingredients

Egg yolk batter

6 eggs yolks

40g brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp grated orange rind

50ml orange juice

90g low protein flour

Egg white foam

6 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

60g brown sugar

The True Kingdom of Fungi

Daddy brought a box of mushroom as a year end project for the kids at home. Plant mushroom at home? We all like the idea! What a mushroom flavor at home!

 

We always read in the science book, it said "Mushrooms are unique. They are neither animal or plant." Interesting!

 

Some people still consider mushroom as plants for various reasons, but what the differ from plants are, mushrooms are lack of green chlorophyll that plants use to manufacture their own food and energy. For this reason they are placed in a Kingdom of their own," The Kingdom of Fungi". The fruit of the fungal organism that produces the "MUSHROOM".

 

Unfortunately, mushrooms are very delicate things, they do not last, some have a life span of less than a day others may survive one week, and a group of tougher mushrooms may last months but they have a tough woody texture. What about the fungi we plant at home? How long will it last? According to the instruction in Japanese. It kind of we can harvest for 3 times and it must be done before March! Before the weather turn warmer. I hope we understand the Japanese instruction correctly. Should it be eaten? We are thinking of how to settle it.

 

Read in somewhere, mushroom grow rapidly in Autumn and Winter. These day, the nights are getting longer. Sunset at 4.15pm and the weather is so cold in the late autumn. The deep layer of autumn leaves, make the grond be yellowish, be red and be brown. Hence, its go with the purpuse of fungi grow rapid during Autumn and Winter. Cold weather and lot of food to feed the little fungi. What a "magical way of recyclers in the nature" happened for the 4 season. Those little fungi break down wood and humus back into their original componets.

 

 

 

 

 

According to the earlier date, we expect to have the mushroom harvest one day before the christmas is here.

 

Ethan : "Mummy! see, they mushroom grow up already!"

Mummy : "Where? Let me see!"

Ethan : "See... See.. it grow up already!".... and Ethan laugh!

 

 

10 days later!

***********

 

 

Ethan : "Ha! I hear the mushroom said they are growing up!"

 

 A mushroom flavor is a mushroom flavor. What a happy mushroom grow at home. May the love and joy of the mushroom grow in the little heart of EEE. Be it the magical recyclers of Faith, Hope and Love from God, brighten your life.

 

~12-12-2012~