もっと食べ物 - More Food

Managing hunger in Japan has been an acquired skill. It has taken years to figure out what ingredients are available, where to get them, and how to cook them. There are still a great many American favorites that are difficult to reproduce, but we've managed to make quite a few, as well as fill in the gaps very creatively/deliciously.

And of course Alexis enjoys making birthday foods. But only cause she gets to eat them. Somehow, at some point, we ended up one less can of frosting from cakes our mothers sent us. So I made my own using powdered sugar, lard, and vanilla. The only thing missing was chemicals, preservatives, and trans fat. It tasted almost exactly the same. Here is an oreo cheesecake Alexis made. Despite its appearance, it was delicious.

Our new favorites:
>indian chicken curry
>pumpkin curry
>potato soup (just like Outback's)
>tempura everything
>avocado pasta
>pumpkin pasta
>and throwing leftover ingredients into a quiche-like object

Reference A: a quiche-like object.

Our biggest new addition on the food front was a proper oven. Japanese ovens (pictured above) are typically stand-alone units that are relatively small and have microwave capability. They resemble an industrial microwave.

As far as nutrition, our two awesome neighbors are helping to make sure we get our vegetables! They love to grow too much food, so we get a nice big helping of fresh vegetables maybe once a month from each of them. Sometimes even fresh fruit! The funny thing about it: while most things are bigger in America, vegetables are bigger in Japan. Fitting.

This type of potato is extremely filling or possibly just extremely giant. One is enough to account for half of our meal.

After being given a huge bag of thirty-some-odd homegrown kiwis, we decided to make some of the most delicious jelly I think I've ever had.

And then we supplement our diet with some import food. It's always an exciting delivery day.