Starting the Year Off With a Bang!

2013 started off with a huge bang.  Some idiot (sorry for my language) was setting off what I call concussion bombs.  They are so loud, powerful and illegal that they set off car alarms and make the entire house rattle.

We have very loud new years fireworks because of the Chinese tradition of scaring away evil spirits and bringing in good luck for the new year.  Everybody becomes Chinese on New Year's Eve in Hawaii.

Frankly I would prefer the quieter Japanese Buddhist tradition of ringing the temple bells only 108 times on New Years Eve, but that's just me, I guess.  Apparently there are 108 earthly sins and ringing the bells is supposed to free us from them so we can reach nirvana.

Art got up before the sun was up and went for an early morning run. He likes to jog on New Years morning because he figures everybody is sleeping off the night's revelries.  I got up late and had three mochi paddies with Art in some kinako (soy powder). 

Mom laughed and reminded us that we just ate the equivalent of three bowls of rice.

I know, I know.

I was stuffed.


Then the phone rang.  It was my childhood friend, Diane.  She said her family was having a little luncheon party to celebrate the New Year and wanted us to come.

"You don't have to bring anything," she said.  "This is just a last minute thing."

There's no way I was going to come empty handed.  I offered to bake a bundt cake but Diane said she already had too many desserts.

With only three hours to think of something to bring, mom suggested I bring some renkon (lotus root) which I'd just bought the day before.

I told her I would cut and slice the renkon for her to cook.

Art laughed as she hovered over me.  This is one of her signature dishes and I finally asked, "Did you want to do this yourself, mom?"

"Yes," she said right away as she nudged me out of the way and took out her own knife.

Once she cleaned all the roots, I told her I would slice them with my food processor.

Although dubious that it could do as good a job as her own hands, she let me use the new fangled modern kitchen gadget.

The speed at which it got the job done stunned her.

Art and I were amazed at all the food that Diane and her brother's family had prepared.  It was a huge feast!

We also brought some boiled peanuts I'd made the day before.  Diane always invites mom to come to the parties, but Mom is too shy since she doesn't really know everybody in Diane and Dave's family.

For dessert, Diane had made her special tapioca and fruit dessert, jello with strawberries, a cream and fruit parfait type treat along with Big Island cookies that are specially made for the Aulani Disney resort.  The cookies are in the shape of Mickey Mouse.

I didn't think I could fit dessert into my already straining waistline, but I managed.

Diane and her husband, Dave then sent us home with a huge package of left-overs to share with mom!  Mom was surprised and delighted!

Auntie Grace called then and said she had a platter of sushi that she'd made for us so we had to make a trip into Honolulu to pick it up.  On the way, we stopped at my brother's place to drop off some renkon, boiled peanuts and special kazunoko (fish eggs) that mom knew he loves.

We saw rainbows all the way into the city as a light drizzle veiled the island.

The rainbow followed us home with our treasure of Auntie's very special sushi. She makes the BEST sushi on the island.

It's been an excellent start to 2013!  I hope your first day was perfect as well.