Wednesday, January 21, 2009

New Years Eve

For New Years Eve we took a quick (even though the drive is never ever quick enough for me) trip up to Logan for a basketball game.
Samuel, just like his mom, was only there for the food:
hot dog, popcorn, chocolate covered pretzels, and, of course, Aggie Ice cream.
As soon as the game was over we rushed to the car and drove (Karl drove, I slept like I always do during that drive) to try and make it to my parent's house before midnight. I woke up to, "Wake up! We are three minutes away!" Cutting it too close like we always do, we pulled up to their neighborhood as the clock turned 12 and we could hear fireworks.
Ever since I could remember, we have banged pots and pans to welcome in the new year. The kids didn't care what the occasion was or that our timing was a little off, they liked making the noise.
New Years is a huge deal in Japan. The biggest holiday of the year. I am grateful that my parents have kept up some of the traditions with us. One of them is to eat "Toshikoshi-soba" at midnight. Soba is buckwheat noodles and there are a ton of ways to prepare them. There are many stories that tell why we eat them. One of them says that the long noodles symbolize longevity. I like the one that says that the soba maker guy started the tradition to boost business. Whatever the reason, I am glad for the tradition because I love the hot noodles at midnight. My mom topped them with shrimp tempura this year. Yum. Eva loved them. She is getting pretty good with chopsticks.
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9 comments:

jeppsenfam said...

Christina, I'm coming to your mom's house next year for the holidays. That food looks AMAZING! If it's a problem with the whole family, I'll ditch and come alone!!!

Malea said...

That shrimp tempura looks divine.

Kathryn said...

That tradition is way cool. I didn't know you did that on New Year's Eve. Now I see why you stopped by our house and made a delivery after the game, but did not stay to visit!

Lindsay said...

Those noodles look so yummy! What a fun tradition.

Angela said...

I love your posts about food. You always make me want to be there eating it with you. The noodles on new years look delicious. Looks like you had a lot of fun.

Adri said...

Yum... that soup looks so good. You guys are always doing fun stuff.

Courtney said...

YUM- I need to read your blog on a full stomach. It makes me want to eat.

Liz O. said...

You guys sure know how to have fun! It's Liz Olsen commenting. Christina, I LOVE to read your blog & catch up on the Israelsen happenings! Tell your cute mom "hello" from me! And I want an invite to a party at the Urabe house someday! Holy smokes, your mom pulls out all the stops! Amazing. I have to agree with Courtney, I need to read your blog after a good meal. It's like going to the grocery store on an empty stomach . . . dangerous!

Abbigail said...

I love Sam's hat and those noodles... yummy. Can you do that braid on Kitty's hair?

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