Sukiyaki Anyone?

What had been anticipated with apprehension turned out to be a charming, lovely, and altogether enjoyable evening. A while ago the Young Men's and Young Women's groups at our church held an auction fundraiser. Brian and I were going to be out of town, so we made arrangements with a friend to bid on a few things for us to show our support to the program.  One of our purchases made by proxy was a Sukiyaki Dinner for Four at a Japanese couple's home who live in our ward.

I don't think I would have bid on this; I'm absolutely certain Brian would never have bid on this.  As much as we like to see and do new things, we are admittedly a little skeptical of overly authentic foreign foods, particularly Asian cuisine. You just never know what you are going to get...  Americanized versions are usually safe enough, but real, genuine, authentic?  Kind of leaves us both quivering in our boots.

We had a wonderful time.  This lovely Japanese couple, Mitch and Reiko Taguchi, were perfect hosts.  We entered their home to find a low table all set for us with cushions to sit upon and chopsticks ready.  We learned that Sukiyaki is traditionally always cooked by the man tableside, with the wife assisting him with the preparation of the ingredients.  It was fascinating to watch as they worked together.  Everything was very methodical.

It was interesting learning about the new and unusual ingredients, imagining what the end result would taste like.

To our delight and relief, it was all very delicious and we were able to be as gracious as we had hoped to be.  We even were able to impress them in return with our chopstick skills.

The highlight of the evening was the conversation.  This is a very intimate setting and the whole process of cooking at the table invites lots of time for visiting and becoming better acquainted.  As the dinner progressed, in between the continuous filling of our plates, we came to know and love these good people in a whole new way.  I had known something of their history but this personal setting allowed us to hear more of the remarkable details of their conversion to Christianity from Buddhism many years ago in Japan and their subsequent sacrifices to raise their children in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  They shared with us their treasured first Book of Mormon which bore the sacred signatures of two prophets of the Lord, Joseph Fielding Smith and Harold B. Lee. 

I will never forget my authentic Japanese dinner.  It will stay in my memory as the unique and special occasion that it was.  Will I always be so ready to try new things?  I suppose it is all a process, isn't it?  As we open our minds and hearts to new ideas, we are blessed with new experiences; experiences that hopefully make us more well-rounded, interesting, interested, accepting and full of love for a continuously enlarging circle of friends.

Choice and Accountability

It was my choice and now I am being held accountable.

We pretty much ate our way through Walt Disney World.  In fact, the dining experience is one of my favorite things about that magical place.  But few do Key Lime Pie better than Wolfgang Puck.  What's a girl to do?

In fact, with so many temptations it was very difficult to walk away from any of the fine meals and desserts that found their way to our dining tables.

This is called The Grand Floridian Burger.  This was my Christmas Day Feast.  It is a burger topped with lobster, asparagus, and hollandaise.  Are you getting the picture?

See?  this one was KIND of healthy.  Look at all that fresh fruit...

And look how small these portions are...

And Erica and Derek shared this one...

On our last evening we dined at Les Chefs de France in the World Showcase at EPCOT.  Leave it to Disney to even have the "little chef" Remy from the movie, Ratatouille to welcome us to our french dining experience.

He was VERY realistic, but seemed content to remain on his silver platter with the grapes and cheese.

I can't see ordering Mac and Cheese when in a legit French Restaurant, but some of my brood did.  And it looks pretty good, huh?

Creme Brulee' Cheesecake, anyone?

Well, now we are back to reality.  We are paying the price for all those amazing meals, and I'm not talking about a credit card bill.  I'm talking about the extra pounds that have crept on during the last little while.  I remember hearing a great saying once that "if you give a dance you gotta pay the band". 

I am paying the band now.  It will be a slow process, wrought with sweat and tears.  But I am hopeful.  And NOBODY twisted my arm to put ANY of those delightful bites into my mouth...

Oh, here is one more.  Would you believe these are MAGNETS?  I am so glad that even though I thought these were adorable, I did not bring them home to put on my fridge.  Can you imagine dieting with a big, beautiful donut staring you in the face everyday? I don't think so!

In the gritty city...

Well, kind of!  At least as gritty as downtown Salem gets.  Tonight, sensing that I needed a reprieve from all of my trip preparations, my sweet husband took me out.  Without any real plan, we just drove hoping that some invisible divining rod would lead us to something magical.

We drove down Court Street, looking for something new and exciting.  Brian had heard there was a great new place to find Greek food.  After circling the block, we spotted it, found a parking spot and went out to explore.

Hmmmmm....maybe some other time.  It didn't look like quite what I was expecting and we both kind of vetoed it simultaneously.  But the weather wasn't bad and the "city" was calling.  So arm in arm, we set off to find something else.  I was struck by how our own little Salem actually seemed a little like New York City in some ways.  There were interesting people gathered in random little groups; we saw compelling little boutiques; glimpsing in to "Straight from New York Pizza" was just like seeing the pizza joints in the Big Apple.

Rather than adventurously trying some place new, we migrated to our comfort zone, McGrath's Fish House.  Delightfully surprised however, we found an updated menu with some new offerings.

Can I tell you about the most delicious  dinner that I had?  It was fabulous, actually.  It was a small sirloin steak (I get a little nervous ordering steak in a seafood restaurant) that was topped with crabmeat and a lobster cream sauce.  Oh my stars.  Heaven on a plate.  I stopped short of licking the plate, but I was tempted.

Thank you, my dear.  It was an unexpected, lovely evening filled with wonderful food, wonderful company, and the best part, the wonderful conversation.