Happy New Year!

I wanted to write this posting on New Year's Day and it is already January 6th... As always, there are so many things I need to do around the house - my errands never end! Anyway, I wanted to have a little bit of traditional Japanese food for the first day of the year, and I managed to make some simple dishes to celebrate.

I always make ozoni (rice cake soup) and chikuzennni (kimono - chicken stew with taro, carrots, burdock, etc..). These are typical New Year dish in Japan, but unfortunately, non of my children like them.

I also picked up some osechi, a collection of New Year food that was ready made from a Japanaese supermarket. Each food has its own meaning and it is important to eat them all.

My husband's favorite was sashimi salad - I used to make this all the time when I was in Japan, and I somehow forgot to make this here in US. I enjoyed this very much as well! I would make this again and again from now on.

It's so easy - you just have to add some sashimi piece, some nuts (I added crushed cashews), and fried dumpling skins on top of greens. Somehow, these combination make everything so tasty!

I always feel a little bid sad to have a New Year's day in US, because it is only one day and it is not a big celebration like the one in Japan, where most people stay home for the first three days (Jan. 1-3) and just eat, talk, watch TV, relax, and sleep! I miss those days so much!