Southeast Botanical Gardens

On Sunday we took the kids to the Botanical Gardens right near Kadena. We have driven by this place so many times. I did a little checking and found out they offered a lunch buffet with admission, so we decided to go.

Since it is December, there weren't as many plants and flowers blooming as there will be in a few months, but it was still nice to walk around outside, in December, with no jackets! And we still got a few fun pictures

The buffet was mostly Japanese style food, which we sampled and enjoyed. We have learned that almost every restraunt offers Curry and Rice so we will never go hungry! For dessert we sampled a little of everything, including the Coffee Jello. It was REALLY good, imagine iced coffee with milk.




After we ate we went down to check out the Pound of Carp. Originally I thought they meant Pond of Carp, but after seeing them I don't think the spelling was a mistake.
Chris noticed a vending machine full of fish food, so we invested a couple hundred Yen and started to feed the fish. At first it was cute seeing the fish come up to the pier with their mouths open like little birds. But it quickly turned into a feeding frenzy.



It was a nice afternoon out.

BTW Happy Birthday to my dad, I missed the date completely (vacation and all) until I asked the kids what the date was when we were in the bank. I love you dad and your package will be on its way as soon as our post office opens back up (hopefully on Saturday)

Tomorrow's post: Love mail from Germany - YUM

My best Christmas Gift

My husband is not a gift giver. Now having said that I have to clarify. He would love to buy me jewelry, but I don't wear it. I always ask for the things I really want...New cookware, recipe books, and more recently Yarn (and lots of it!) These are things I know I can go buy for myself, but it feels better having someone get it for me.

This year Lyle got me a patio umbrella so I can sit out in front of our house and watch the sun set, without getting a sunburn. But even better, he took me out shopping, without the kids. Since the Japanese aren't Christian (for the most part) all of the stores are open. We went to MaxValu (think Japanese Target Home Decor) and I got a storage rack for in my kitchen. Then we went to Yellow Box, which is a furniture store I have heard about from many, but never visited.

We were only in there for 10 minutes before I found the perfect table for my home here in Okinawa. My table is one of two things I wish I had decided to bring along rather than put into storage. My queen mattress is the other, but we already bought one of those :) I saw this table from across the store, made a bee line for it and sat down. It was a bar height square table with a self storing drop down leaf. It also came with 6 chairs.... Our price less than $600! I caught Lyle's eye and said "We'll take it!"

It was delivered on Saturday. Unfortunately the Government Furniture Warehouse is closed until next week, so for now I have 2 dining room tables (with 12 chairs) in my dining room. I love my new table :)

Christmas dinner

My family has never been one to be "traditional" on any holiday. But since I had a turkey breast in the freezer we decided to go with a Thanksgiving themed Christmas.

We enjoyed Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, corn and fresh baked rolls. For dessert we tried Pumpkin Dump Cake.

I love Dump Cakes for a few reasons, they are super easy, usually only require a couple ingredients and they are ALWAYS served with ice cream. This dump cake has a few more ingredients and a couple extra steps, but the flavor was well worth it. It was even better the next day warmed up in the microwave!

Pumpkin Dump Cake

21 oz can 100% Pumpkin
13 oz Evaporated Milk
3 Eggs
1 1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cloves
1/2 teaspoon Ginger
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Box Yellow Cake Mix
1 Cup Butter, melted

Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan and preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients, except cake mix and butter, in a large bowl. Mix until well blended. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle the dry cake mix over pumpkin layer and smooth out any lumps. Evenly pour melted butter over cake mix. Place in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until the middle is set. Cool for 10-15 minutes before scooping out over Vanilla Ice Cream.

Christmas Morning

Just a quick explanation about the Ranch Dressing. Over the last month the price of Ranch went from $1.50 per bottle to almost $3. I joked with Chris that I was going to have to limit his Ranch usage to 1 bottle a month (the boy puts Ranch on EVERYTHING). So as a gag gift we gave him two Large bottles of Ranch. He thought it was funny, especially after he found the gift card tucked between the bottles!

I love to cook

Of course you all know that and most of you have tasted the benefits of being my friend! I love trying out new recipes and since I have been in the mood to cook, I have been trying out quite a few. I made home wrapped Pizza Rolls for our lunch yesterday. The original recipe came from Taste of Home, a recipe source second only to The Zaar. But I had to make a couple of small changes. I took out the onion and peppers, only because I am the only one that would have enjoyed that here. I also couldn't find Egg Roll Wrappers (I know!!!) so I decided to make them in Gyoza skins instead. I used my deep fryer outside to cook them up. In the smaller wrappers they only took a minute to cook.

Pizza Rolls

4 cups (16 ounces) shredded pizza cheese blend or part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 pound bulk Italian sausage, cooked and drained
2 packages (3 ounces each) sliced pepperoni, chopped
1 medium green pepper, finely chopped
1 medium sweet red pepper, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 jars (14 ounces each) pizza sauce
32 egg roll wrappers
Vegetable oil for frying
Additional pizza sauce for dipping, warmed, optional

In a large bowl, combine the cheese, sausage, pepperoni, peppers and onion. Stir in pizza sauce until combined. Place about 1/4 cup filling in the center of each egg roll wrapper. Fold bottom corner over filling; fold sides toward center over filling. Moisten remaining corner with water and roll up tightly to seal.

In an electric skillet, heat 1 in. of oil to 375°. Fry pizza rolls for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve with additional pizza sauce if desired. Yield: 32 rolls.


Because I used Gyoza wrappers I had about 6 cups of filling left over. So for dinner we put scoops of the filling onto sub rolls and broiled them in the oven until the filling was bubbly. They were very good. I think the filling mixture would be good inside the bread dough from the Cheeseburger roll recipe I posted a couple days ago!

For Christmas morning Chris said he wanted cinnamon rolls instead of a big breakfast. I used that request as an opportunity to try another Recipezaar find that I had bookmarked months ago. This is why I needed Cook and Serve Butterscotch pudding mix!

Too Easy Gooey Caramel Rolls




This is an AWESOME recipe. It took 5 minutes last night to assemble. Then I just turned on the oven this morning and 30 minutes later we had breakfast warm and sugary on the table. The extra caramel sauce is what put these over the top for us.

no pictures, no post

I just wanted to check in :)

I cooked something new again today, and those pictures (and recipe) will be up tomorrow. I will need something to do since the kids will be WII-ng all day long!

Happy Christmas Eve to you all

Cooking Mama

The weather on Okinawa has turned cold...okay lows in the 50's, but for us that is COLD! And cold weather always brings out the cook in me. I don't know if it is the need to warm up our house by using the oven, or if this weather calls for home baked goodies. Either way I have been baking and the family has been eating well.

On Saturday I baked two batches of cookies for a cookie swap I was going to on Sunday. My Neopolitan Cookies are a tried and true recipe, but I also tried a new cookie called Eggnog Snickerdoodles

And as if 2 batches of cookies weren't enough, I also signed up to bring a dessert to church on Sunday. I made an Apricot Cheese Danish that was TOO DIE FOR! If (I mean when) I make this again I am going to try it with Strawberry Preserves instead of Apricot.

Today was spent baking as well. I had already planned pasta with Italian Sausage for dinner, and my Rosemary Garlic Bread sounded like it would be perfect to go with it. And the leftover loaves will make excellent grilled cheese sandwiches to go with tomorrow's soup dinner!

What's for Dinner

I always have more recipes than I could ever make. I love to look at cook books and magazines and imagine the food. Over the years I have gotten pretty good at judging a recipe without even making it.

I saw this one in an old Taste of Home magazine and knew it would be good. Turns out they were better than good, especially after I took my son's suggestion halfway through assembly. When he heard the ingredients he said "No pickles?" so I chopped up some hamburger dills and stirred them in. This little addition made them incredible. We spent the entire dinner talking about what else we could put in this dough. Chris suggested hashbrowns, sausage and scrambled eggs....Sounds like Christmas breakfast to me :)


Bacon Cheeseburger Buns
Taste of Home
24 buns (12 servings)

Dough:
2 packages (1/4 oz each) active dry yeast
2/3 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
2/3 cup warm milk (110-115 degrees)
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup shortening (I used butter flavor)
2 eggs (I used ½ cup egg beaters)
2 teaspoons salt
4 ½ - 5 Cups Flour

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk, sugar, shortening, eggs, salt and 3-½ cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Filling:
1 pound sliced bacon, diced
2 pounds ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 ½ teaspoons salt (I used 1 teaspoon sea salt)
½ teaspoon pepper
1 pound Velveeta, cubed
Optional, ½ cup chopped hamburger dill pickles

In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Drain off fat and set bacon aside. Cook the beef, onion, salt and pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain off fat. Stir in bacon and cheese; cook and stir until cheese is melted. Remove from heat and stir in pickles if desired.

Assembly:
Punch down dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and divide into fourths. Roll each portion into a 12 x 8 inch rectangle; cut each into 6 squares. Place ¼ cup meat (I used my middle size Pampered Chef Scoop) in the center of each square. Bring corners together and pinch to seal. Place 2 inches apart, seam side down, on greased baking sheets. Brush with melted butter if desired. Bake at 400 for 9-11 minutes or until lightly browned.

Serve warm with ketchup or Barbecue sauce.

My care package

The variety of foods here in Japan is staggering. For example their cold drinks don't fit in a small Pepsi or Coke fridge in front of the check stand. They put them in 2 aisle long fridge cases. I could drink a different beverage every day we are here and never repeat. And the bakeries, Bento meals and snacks could keep me from having to cook for months.

But there is something to be said for basic American fare. Some of which I can get at the commissary, but even they don't stock some Spring family necessities. So when my brother said he wanted to put together a Christmas care package, food is what we asked for! Specifically, cook and serve butterscotch pudding, malt powder and popcorn salt. Rick... THANK YOU!!!!!!

He went above and beyond by including three different flavors of popcorn salt, my favorite, black pepper Triscuits, Hersheys chocolates and Minnesota Wild Rice. I have already hidden the popcorn salt so the kids don't use it up without me :)

He even snuck in a gift just for me, a Christmas scrapbook/card kit! Does he know me or what? Love ya, bro!

One down, Three to go

Years, that is!

Today is the day we celebrate our first year on Okinawa. We kept it low key, since we had been busy all weekend with various activities. Dinner was Romano's Macaroni Grill on the Marine Base.

While waiting for a table Lyle raced the kids to the top of this hill. He said the view was amazing, but I was content down at the bottom :)

While eating dinner we talked about our favorites here, what we missed from the states (and what we didn't!) The general consensus was Family Mart, the Aquarium and Okuma were our favorites. We miss the ease of Walmart, the variety of inexpensive produce, and being close to family. We don't miss the blizzards(sorry GF) and the general rudeness of people.

We know that the next year is going to be just as busy as the last: Chris is taking driver's education (be glad we are an ocean away!), Grandpa Dave is coming for a visit, we are planning on visiting Tokyo in addition to the multitude of sights we have yet to experience here and there are more fun foods and drinks to test!

See you all tomorrow!

****There were supposed to be a couple of pictures here, but Blogger isn't cooperating. I will try adding the pics again tomorrow.

Globetrotters in Japan

The Harlem Globetrotters stopped by Kadena AB for a show tonight. Lyle picked up four tickets and took Stephanie, Diana and I to go see the show. The boys had other plans.

It was a great time. I had never been to see them before, but Lyle had. He said the show has updated a little but the basic gags are the same. After the game was over Stephanie and Diana went around to collect autographs


Stephanie's pink hat is now covered in signatures. One of the Globetrotters was nice enough to pose with Steph and I, so I could share with you.

Personal shopper

Yesterday I got an email from my BFF in Germany saying that her BX ran out of a certain "gag" gift. Turns out after giving away the white elephant, she wanted one :)

So I ran to my BX to see what I could do to help. And Voila:


It will be in the mail this afternoon!

Other than a quick shopping trip yesterday, I have been doing nothing but knitting. This is my new obsession. I have made 3 towel toppers, 2 washcloths and a headband this week! Don't worry though. I am putting away the needles after my class tonight. I have 6 months worth of pictures sitting in a box, calling my name. I am having a crop buddy come over on Saturday to ensure I get them done.

I am off to my Bible Study potluck. Hopefully I can come back with a recipe (or two)!

no pictures... not much of a post

I had my weekly knitting night out tonight, so I want to post pictures of my finished project for the day. But my camera broke, yes, it was the new one. It had a fancy touch screen that didn't want to respond to touch. So I took it back to the BX today and got my money back. I have to dig out my old camera to fill in until I buy a new one. Until then, no pictures from me :(

Drama

Chris and Stephanie took part in the final drama performance of 2008. This will be the final one for a while, since the Drama Coordinator, Aly, is having her baby soon.

Chris didn't have to be Jesus this time, that part was given to a newborn baby boy in the church, Colton. Chris was Joseph for this one, Stephanie was a bell ringer. Joseph and Mary had makeshift costumes due to the ordered costumes not making it in time (gotta love APO Shipping). We forgot to bring the video camera so you will have to make do with a couple of pictures:


Lyle tested for Senior today. He hasn't come home from work yet so I don't know how it went. We won't get the results until March....I hate waiting. Good luck to those that still need to test this week (Kevin especially!)

A little business plug: if you have items on your Creative Memories wishlist, now is the time to get them, and more! You can earn extra free gifts for every $50 you spend! Check out my website for more info.

Final March

Chris marched in his final parade for 2008. He marched in Tinsel Town parade on Saturday. It was chilly enough to feel like Christmas could be coming, but it still isn't cold enough here to qualify for December.

I put in an arrow so you could find Chris in the line up. You can't really see him, but beneath the tuba you can see his Santa hat and his trombone :)

Hen night

A long time ago, at an Air Force Base far far away I used to entertain. I had 10 to 15 women in my house once a week, for almost 4 years. My husband used to joke that we sounded like a flock of chickens "clucking" all night long. I miss those nights, but until last night I hadn't realized how much.

Last night I went to the Ladies Progressive Dinner through my church. Twenty (or so) women started out with appetizers at church, then got into 5 cars and drove to another house for dinner. We got back into our cars and headed back to the church for desserts and an ornament exchange. It was during dinner that I heard the chickens talking again :) I stopped and just listened for a minute. If I had closed my eyes I could have been in my North Dakota basement again. Different women, someone else cooking the food, a whole different country even, but completely the same.

And to those that wonder....Yes I can still follow 5 different conversations from across the room, while giving the person I am talking to my (almost) complete attention :)

Knitting class

I signed up for a knitting class at the Craft center on Kadena. I had taught myself the basics from a book and learned a little from the ladies at the Starbucks Knit Along, but I wanted to learn more. Then I heard about the intermediate knitting class. The class was going to teach people how to cable knit. I decided that was the class for me.

Yesterday was our first lesson. I am one of two ladies in the class so we get some one on one attention :) I made a bookmark in the first hour of class and started on a hairband before our time was up. I have printed off instructions and bought yarn for a scarf pattern with 3 cables. We will see how that goes!

Tonight Lyle has the kids and their various activities. I am off to a progressive dinner and ornament exchange.

Day out

Lyle took a short break from his studying yesterday and took me out for lunch and shopping.

I tried (again) to go to a yarn shop I have heard about just off base. The first few times I have gone, I found where I believed the shop to be, but the security doors were pulled down so I couldn't tell for sure. Yesterday the security screen was up, but the shop door was locked and I couldn't see anyone inside. I will have to try again another day :(

After that we went to a couple local home stores to try to finish off the kids Christmas. Originally I wanted lunch at a little shop I had seen called "Soup Soup" but it was a beautiful sunny day and the soups on the window menu weren't calling out to me. Instead we went next door to a place that had noodles.

As we walked in the place hushed (just for a second). It was crowded, but not a single american was there. The waitress went to the back and brought out someone from the kitchen to take our order. The great thing about a Japanese menu is that it ALWAYS has pictures, of course unless they have a translation under the picture, you will be guessing as to what type of meat you are eating. We ordered Taco Rice (an Okinawan specialty) and a Soba Soup Set. I would have taken pictures of the food, but we were already the center of attention and I hate attention.

The Taco Rice is a bed of rice, topped with taco seasoned beef, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. It was very, very good! The Soba Soup Set was a bowl of Soba noodle soup, with two pieces of pork (similar to uncrisped bacon) in it, bowl of rice, a breaded and fried pork cutlet, a hunk of tofu in sauce, and some pickled shredded veggie (we assume cabbage). It too was good, but not as good as the Taco Rice. It was nice to try a new place we hadn't even heard about before.

After lunch we hit the 100 Yen plaza, UniQlo and a Japanese shoe store. Lyle actually bought shoes as the shoe store! He is a size LL :) At the yen store we discovered another flavor of Kit Kat, Banana, YUMMMMM!

Best Band Concert EVER!

Last year we missed Stephanie's Band Recital. We were supposed to go, but a snow storm delayed it until the week after we left North Dakota. Needless to say, she has been very excited about this upcoming band concert, so she can show what she knows!

The band director definitely had her hands full with the beginning band group. There were 110 students in the first year band. Because there are so many, she scheduled this concert to be at 5PM for only the beginning band students and parents.

After 20 minutes of warm up, we were treated to 4 well rehearsed Christmas tunes, then it was over.... it was 5:09. Short, sweet, and I didn't have to watch 2 other bands and a couple of orchestras play!

O Christmas Tree

As I stated in my previous post, I don't decorate the Christmas tree. In previous years I would go out shopping on Black Friday and by the time I got home Lyle and the kids would have most of the decorating done. Then we moved to Okinawa.

Last year since we were in Temporary Lodging we didn't even think about putting anything up. But the kids suprised us with a tiny potted pine tree to use as a Christmas tree. We decided on keeping that tiny tree as our Okinawa Christmas Tree for the next few years. The tree has grown a little, but not enough for any elaborate decorations. I crocheted a small tree skirt and bought a sting of teeny light garland.

It took Chris and Stephanie all of 2 minutes to "decorate" our tree:

I'm it?

Cyndy named me and 5 others in her evil scheme to get us to spill our guts and tell 6 secrets. Some of these "facts" may already be known (and there may even be pictures!)

#1. I (with the help of friends) planted wooden spoons in the yard of a departing friend. This was done in the stealth of night, being watched by the base police, while wearing a reflective belt.

#2. It is 3:30 in the afternoon and I am in my pajamas. Not last nights PJ's, tonight's PJ's :)

#3. I have 7 or 8 projects currently in the works, someday I hope to finish one of them.

#4. I am addicted to true murder mystery shows on A&E. Don't worry dear, I won't do anything rash, I would get caught!

#5. I love games, especially word games, but hate to lose.

#6. I hate decorating for Christmas. I love the look of the tree after it is all done, but I want no part of the process.

I don't want to put pressure on anyone (Rebecca, Rick, Jessica, Heidi, Terri and Jen) so I won't forward this challenge on to anyone(Rebecca, Rick, Jessica, Heidi, Terri and Jen). But if you (Rebecca, Rick, Jessica, Heidi, Terri and Jen) feel like sharing please do :)