Hope those of you in the States didn't get frozen and those of you in the UK didn't get flooded! Crazy weather all over last week it seems! Personally, I'm just happy to have a little sunshine after a couple days of cloudy and rainy weather here! I always appreciate the sunshine and can tell it's arrived by the sound of people beating their futons and bedding outside. Humidity is a big thing here so whenever it's sunny everything is hung over balconies to air out .. such a contrast between the traditional bedding and modern living Japan! Some folks buy western style beds now... but I bet just as many people still use futons if what I see hanging on the balconies are any indication! Here's a view to the balcony above my apartment today.
In other news, we're still jumping through hoops trying to get into a church building, we still haven't been told "No" yet on the latest in Mitaka so that's good! Despite not having a building, God is bringing people our way to minister to, so we are building relationships and keeping busy. Everything here is about introductions. In business, you can't get a lawyer without an introduction and socially, you can't make new friends without an introduction. People are friendly etc. but to hang out you really need to have that introduction first. Fortunately, in our Fellowship we're all about introducing people and we've had people from our churches world wide providing introductions via email or personally, with people here in Japan! People in our churches all over the world have been praying for a church in Japan for years! I imagine once we have a building, we can build out from there with folks from church providing the introductions but for now we are making progress with a little help from our brethren! We have people who are writing to us, asking us to tell them about Jesus! Japan is so full of hurting people and they are looking for an answer. When we first arrived, we were told by many long term missionaries not to expect a single convert for at least 5 years! We definitely didn't accept that word but it encourages me to know, that even without a building, God is bringing people to us to work with!
The other day I was moving some things in Gary's office and discovered we had created a Robot without even meaning too! Isn't he cute?!
On to Food!
I've been experimenting some with a few new recipes lately. I started out with Shiso Beef Soboro on tomato. it doesn't look like much but I found it to be very refreshing, tasty and surprisingly filling! The wasabi dressing really made it good!
It's from this you tube video.
Then I thought I should try something German for a change... outside of Bratwurst and potato salad I don't have a whole lot of German recipes in my repertoire so I thought I should work on that. I decided on rouladen which is thinly sliced beef with mustard,onion,bacon,and pickles or sauerkrat which is rolled up and cooked into a gravy type broth. I made both of us one of each so we could compare. Both were tasty, but we preferred the sauerkrat one. I'd like to try the sauerkrat one with a horseradish base instead of the mustard sometime too. I don't have a recipe handy for this one because I just googled several and put this together.
Finally, last night I decided to try slowcooking some steel cut oats with apples and cinnamon. I used this recipe, which made WAY to much for just Gary and I but was quite tasty! I'll line muffin tins with plastic wrap and freeze the left overs for individual microwavable servings later.
This link includes the recipe and a video.
http://crockingirls.com/recipes/apple-cinnamon-steel-cut-oatmeal/
Well that's it for here! Leave a comment, let me know you're out there! Try something new and have a great day!
wow, that tomato & meat dish looks scrumptious! And the only "german" thing I know how to make is kraut bread, a recipe of my late grandmother. Basically just boil 1 lb. hamburger with 1/2 head of cabbage, with a little salt & pepper, until both are fully cooked. Drain mixture, then stuff inside little pockets of bread dough, then bake. Oh, and yes, the robot is quite cute! :)
ReplyDeleteI think you gave me some kraut bread you had made when we were in Denver! It was good!
DeleteYummm! I miss your cooking so much you always make something delicious!
ReplyDeleteAwww! Though you're always making delicious stuff too that I want to eat! Hugs!
DeleteHahaha whats your robots name?
ReplyDeleteDaddy says his name is Conky!
Delete