President's Day walk

President's Day holiday. Of course there were projects that needed to be done around the house, but we decided to put them off and take advantage of having PapaQ home for an extra day this weekend. Taking a walk through the woods together as a family seemed perfect on this sunny, easy-going day.. Finding such wilderness required driving a few minutes away to the National Arboretum where you'd never know you were in the middle of a major city. Despite seeing signs of spring in our neighborhood, here it seemed as though nature was still slumbering through winter. Surrounded by lovely shades of brown, amber and gold we leapt over muddy patches (as best and one can leap while carrying a baby strapped to you) and poked at thinly iced ponds with sticks. Such a brisk, refreshing outing; I hope that our children's memories of growing up include these lovely little patches of free play in the brilliant outdoors.
And yes, Mayumi chose to wear a bonnet from her dress-up basket. I'm sure the few people we ran across thought we were some kind of Amish or something... charming but a little strange.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual (inspired by Soulemama). 

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. 

A simple, special, extraordinary moment. 

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

lover-ly

All my sweet valentines got a little bit of mama love today. Nothing over the top, just those simple gestures that remind every one that it is a special day.
::the red polyester tablecloth that on any other day would be tacky
::pink embroidered napkins
::jammy hearts on hot oatmeal
::pink strawberry peach smoothie (with just a spoonful on Nutella!)
::oohhhing and ahhhing all the handmade love notes (such creative friends!)
::lots of paper hearts, cuddles, and "I love yous"
::making heart-shaped toaster pastries and eating way more than I should have
::roses for everyone!
::staying up for a while after the littles are in bed (wink, wink)

Oh St. Valentine, could you have ever imagined what you have wrought?

with love...

My friend, Christine shared this. I teared up a bit. You can think what you want about Valentine's Day, but Love is good!

giving thanks

Hope your home is full of loved ones, good food and the happy recognition of abundance and blessings. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

if I had the energy...

and if there weren't a hurricane going on outside our windows, I would've made a bigger deal out of Halloween this year. Wouldn't it have been charming to have made the entire family homemade thematic costumes? Or even store-bought costumes? And to have had a party? Or a homeschool activity day? Or something? For how long do I get to use "I just gave birth to twins" as my excuse for being utterly unproductive?

But thanks to Pinterest, next year I am ready with a stockpile of ideas:

Eyes in the Bushes ~ Add glow sticks & tuck in shrubs for Halloween.

Source: thriftycraftygirl.com via MamaQ on Pinterest

A bunch of easy ideas for a Halloween party... veggies, desserts and dips all with a mummy theme!

Source: blog.hwtm.com via MamaQ on Pinterest

Freeze water in a surgical hand glove to make a creepy ice cube for the punch at Halloween party. Whoa, spooky. 

Source: simplystated.realsimple.com via MamaQ on Pinterest

Source: uncommondesignsonline.com via MamaQ on Pinterest

Source: thehometeacher.blogspot.com via MamaQ on Pinterest

Oh my, this is clever, isn't it?

Source: holidaysnobs.blogspot.com via MamaQ on Pinterest

Mummy dogs!

Source: bhg.com via MamaQ on Pinterest

ghostly footprints!

Source: bigpapaskitchen.net via MamaQ on Pinterest

cute thumb-print spiders

Source: sweetandlovelycrafts.blogspot.com via MamaQ on Pinterest

not sure what I'd use these for - but I like them!

Source: ravelry.com via MamaQ on Pinterest

Costume ideas:

Von Trapps (though to be accurate I'd need to have four more children?)

Source: Uploaded by user via Moriah on Pinterest

Classic Star Wars (Wouldn't PapaQ make a great Chewie?)

Source: pinterestwomen.org via Lindsy on Pinterest

Little House on the Prairie

Source: deborahvogts.blogspot.com via Cindy on Pinterest

Hope your Halloween is fun and safe this year!

Noodles and Tanabata

Few "holidays" are more evocative of summer for me than Tanabata, the Japanese star festival. When we're in Japan we enjoy the festive bamboo decorations with colorful tanzaku (small pieces of paper with wishes written on them) fluttering from the branches. Every town seems to have their own matsuri festival with carnival games, treats and performances... I'm filled with nostalgia just thinking about it and longing to find one in our area.

via

Though we'll miss out on attending a matsuri this year, at least we can indulge in some summery Japanese treats. One of our favorite summertime dishes is hiyashi somen, a delightful cold noodle dish. There is a great recipe on La Fuji Mama that I am excited to try, mostly because I like the idea of making my own dipping sauce as opposed to purchasing a ready-made sauce (full of MSG).

via which also has a recipe for dipping sauce sans MSG.

In the midst of this excruciating heat wave (am I allowed to be that dramatic? I am 5 months pregnant with twins after all...) this seems like the perfect food to prepare and eat. Minimal time over a hot stove and maximum cooling power. A must for tonight's dinner.

happy birthday America!

Hope your 4th of July celebrations were wonderful and festive!

Out Demons, Out!

Onimanju (devil's cake) is a Japanese pastry made with sweet potato, which creates a bumpy texture that makes the cakes resemble devil's horns (at least according to the Japanese)! I've never had it before, so it was a leap of faith to make them myself to celebrate Setsubun today.

The recipe I used (sorry, I don't know the source - it was sent to me ages ago and I'm only now trying it!):

Onimanju (Devil's Cake)
Ingredients
3/4 lb satsumaimo (sweet potato, preferably the Japanese variety), cut into about 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup flour (I used half whole wheat and half all-purpose)
1 Tbsp shiratamako flour (I used sweet or glutinous rice flour [mochiko])
2 Tbsp milk

Preparation
Soak satsumaimo cubes in water for about 15 minutes and drain (to draw out the starchiness, perhaps?).

Place satsumaimo cubes in a large bowl and sprinkle sugar over them. Set aside for about 30 minutes so that some liquid gather at the bottom of the bowl. Drain the satsumaimo cubes and keep the liquid in another bowl. Add mixture of flour and shiratamako in the liquid and mix. Add milk to the dough. If the dough is too thick to stir, add a little bit of water. Mix in satsumaimo cubes.

Scoop a spoonful of the dough on parchment paper (I used cheese cloth) and place them in a preheated steamer. Steam for about 10 minutes.

*makes 8-10 cakes

The consensus? We all loved them! They weren't especially pretty to look at (but they're supposed to be devilish, right?) but they were mildly sweet and chewy and yummy. And so easy to make. A keeper all around.

Afterwards we went out onto the back deck and threw our beans over the rails yelling, "Demons out, good fortune in!"

I Can't imagine what the neighbors must think...

Tanabata

Tanabata is the star festival that is celebrated in Japan every July 7th. It is the night when the two stars, Veda and Altair meet in the night sky. I wrote about the Japanese version of the mythical story behind this celestial event in this post last year. During our childhood vacations in Japan, Tanabata defined summer: the delicate bamboo branches decked out with hand-written wishes, the street festivals, paper lanterns, people walking around leisurely in their yukata, firecrackers and sparklers, and kusudama decorations. The past couple of years I wish that I could recreate that atmosphere for Mayumi, but it is just different on a small scale. And I just haven't been very resourceful about finding bamboo branches to decorate...

All the same, today we went to the Japan Information and Cultural Center for a kamishibai story time. Maya wore her yukata and loved hearing the story of Orihime. They had crafts and snacks and it was like enjoying a piece of Japan for a few hours.

Hope your summer is turning out to be magical and that on this night, when lover stars meet across the night sky, your wishes come true!