Merry Christmas from the Cooks!

Zac's battalion Christmas party at The Palms

We hope everyone had a blessed and joyful Christmas! We have a lot to catch up on, but we're off to Hong Kong for the week! We can't wait to explore yet another country! And we're excited to tell you all about it. But for now, a short sayonara...Enjoy your Christmas tree for its last few days and have a very Happy New Year!

The beach where Zac works, Christmas Eve after mass

Baking, etc.

Just call me Martha. I finished a DAY of baking...2 batches of Granny's icebox cookies, a batch of ginger snaps (= over a hundred cookies), pizza dough, and pesto all from scratch. Whew. I don't think my Kitchenaid has ever worked that hard. It was a pretty good day, baking in my Anthropologie apron, listening to Christmas music.

P.S. Just was listening to the Josh Groban "I'll Be Home for Christmas"...the one with the servicemen saying their Merry Christmases from Iraq...I cry everytime I hear that one.

Speaking of baking...a few weeks ago I picked up some sweet potatoes from the commissary. Mind you, the commissary usually carries produce flown in from the US (which usually means it is overripe/bad, but that's another story). These were apparently Japanese. I baked 'em up and came up with this:

I don't know about you, but every sweet potato I've ever had was orange. These were for sure sweet potatoes, tasted sweet and everything, they just were white! (And a little dry.) You never know when you're going to run into something new over here. They were pretty good, but I guess we miss out on some beta carotene.

And Happy Birthday Mom!

Holiday Open House

Since I can't have any of you over for a little hot cocoa or to watch It's a Wonderful Life this Christmas season (although you're welcome anytime!) I thought I'd give you a peak at our halls a'decked. There's not much, I mean, we've only been married 6 months, and there's no Hobby Lobby here to strengthen my holiday decor stock. Most of it I bought after Christmas last year, packed away, and haven't seen it since. It was like a pre-Christmas surprise to open up all the boxes and see what I had! So grab you're cup of eggnog and a Christmas cookie or two, turn on Nat King Cole, and enjoy our (sparse) holiday tour.

Come on in!

Let's see, we'll start here, though probably pretty mundane. Except that all of these decorations have interesting and different backgrounds. The clear ornaments in the pitcher are all of the ornaments that Zac has made me each year we've been together (this year will be our EIGHTH Christmas!). If you're good at counting, there's only 5...I think my mom is holding a couple of them ransom in her plethora of holiday decor. The small red block is from a craft show that I went to here...gotta support the arts in Okinawa too. And the little jingle bell tree is from the Japanese version of Bed Bath and Beyond, Nitori. So you've got a little Asian flair in there too.

Mantle #1. We don't have a fireplace to roast our chestnuts over here, so we have to improvise by using our lovely air conditioners to catch our holiday gear. I guess we could call this "mantle" this silver mantle. Our stocking holders hold  ornaments from Thailand (or the Philippines, or something...and I don't just mean it just says "Made in Thailand" on the sticker. There are several gift shops on base that sell arts and decor from neighboring countries, and these are some of the "one of a kind (?)" imports. So these are real Thai (or whatever) crafted ornaments! Annnnd back to the main event.)

Our makeshift Advent wreath. I didn't have another wreath, nor were there purple and pink candles at the PX, so we've got a cake stand (circular like a wreath, right?), some burgundy and white candles (almost the right color, just off a couple of tones), and some gold balls. We have enjoyed doing some Advent devotionals each night at dinner, so it serves its purpose!

 

Mantle # 2. I guess the big one. (Excuse my reflection) It houses our brand new, beautiful new nativity, garland, lights, candles, and pears. Pears are Christmas-y...think partridge in a PEAR tree. Actually, I have all of these fake pears and they seem to find their way in all of our seasonal decor. Whatev.

And a close up.

And now, what you've been waiting for...dun duh DUNNNN. Our very own Charlie Brown Christmas Tree! (Presents courtesy of Zac's mom)

And now in all of its ethereal glory...

It's quite small. Hence it's Charlie Brown title. I picked the small one to save some money, and it ended up quite small. This is the first year in my living memory that I haven't had a real Christmas tree, but short of cutting down a bonsai down the road, fake was the only way to go. It houses our collection of ornaments (mainly my lifetime collection of hobby horses and Madame Alexander dolls) just great and just the right size for our little Japanese apartment. P.S. Did you know that it take 20 years for a consumer to reuse their artificial Christmas tree before it has a lower carbon footprint than a real tree. Interesting...

We also have our own neighborhood (Japanese) Clark Griswald. I have a pic, maybe I'll share it later.

Well, that's about it. But please continue to enjoy your hot chocolate and Bing Crosby!

And a big shout out to my Dad on his big Birthday!! Wish we could be there to celebrate with you!

Love you Daddy!

Botanical Gardens

On a random Thursday afternoon, my friend and I decided to do an "activity." We started out with the goal of checking out the "nature park" down the road from the base. That ended up being a dirt road along a bayou (could you even call it a river?). So not really much nature to enjoy. We then set out to find some nearby castle ruins. We weren't really sure where they were....and therefore we never found them. But we did find the Southeast Botanical Gardens, not too far from our base, and something we drive past every time we go to the BX. It was a blustery day (we would have been better off with a light jacket), and ended with some ominous clouds, but I'm so glad we got to experience it. I can't wait to go back in the spring, where we can enjoy the sun and some new blooms.

I took a TON of pictures (you just can't stop once you start snapping with the SLR) So I'll try to pare it down and show you some good pictures/interesting things.

Shisha dogs. This is a very traditional Okinawan "symbol." You find them outside almost any building or house on the island, including our apartment building on base! They always come in two lion/dog- looking animals. One has it's mouth open to share the goodness of what's inside (the building) and one has it's mouth closed to ward off evil/keep bad stuff out. 

It was a huge place with acres and acres of plants, trees, flowers, and ponds. There was probably even more that we didn't even get to see. This is one of the larger lakes/ponds of the park.

Not so much an interesting picture, but we couldn't decide if this was a baby pineapple or just another spiny object. What do you think? Do pineapples start out as smaller versions of themselves and grow, or do they start out as a bulb like this and mature into what we buy at the store?

One of the more unusual flowers. I took a lot of flower pictures. I mean, it WAS a botanical garden. I might just have to do a whole post of all the flowers. 

This is where we will return in spring. Nothing better than a hammock with beautiful surroundings. Ahhhhh.

Totem pole. Not sure what this is doing in Japan. I thought it was an Indian (excuse me, Native American) thing. You know, I'm starting to think that these Okinawans just take little parts of lots of cultures and made a new one. I swear half of the culture is Mexican. I'll save that for another post. 

Japanese fall foliage

Our Rockefeller Plaza-esque tree - except in Japan and most likely artificial. Complete with hibiscus and butterflies. I think at night this place may turn into a watered down Santa's Wonderland. Unfortunately, the previously mentioned ominous clouds prevented us from witnessing the lights (in the dark). Plus we had husbands to feed. (Well, my friend fed us all. I made cupcakes. )

Overall a good way to pass the afternoon (and 1000 yen). As green and beautiful as it was in December, I can't imagine what it will look like in the spring/summer!