Thanksgiving 2018...

I snapped this picture quickly on my phone November 1st. The sign said, "If it's not Stove Top, it's not Thanksgiving." The day I took this pic, I ran to the grocery store near Noah's school. Right before I went to pick him up, before school let out. I zipped in for another pack of taco shells, I was making tacos that night. And worried about not having enough taco shells. So picked up another pack of those and some coconut yogurts for breakfasts for me. And I was pleasantly surprised to see this sign. And tower of Thanksgiving helpers in a grocery store. It was a surprise. So much so, it took me off guard enough... to snap this picture and also it was deeply comforting seeing this at the same time. Again, I haven't been in my home country...for a full year yet. It'll be a year from April 2019. But, I think those of us... who have lived a great number of years in Japan. Over the years, we get used to *not* see Thanksgiving everywhere and anywhere. Do you know what I mean? Like in my tiny town of less than 5000 people in the town I lived in...in Japan. I was used to being the only American family in my town. And I pretty much... didn't alter or change myself because I lived in Japan. I still went to Costco and bought our Butterball turkey. And I still made Thanksgiving for my family. Because I was the only American person near our kids... and I wanted them to grow up learning both cultures. Japan and America. Was it sad... being the only person roasting a turkey on turkey day in my town in Japan? Honestly not at all. I knew I lived super far away from all my friends in Japan. And so, I kept it family. And made a Thanksgiving meal... every year for our family. After 16 years in Japan, I was so used to being the only family in our town celebrating Thanksgiving. I never saw my stores in the Japan inaka sell turkey stuff. And duh...it was Japan. A totally different culture. I accepted that. And was cool with it. Now that we're living here. And most everyone is American. I no longer need to be sole ambassador of American culture to my kids. Does that make sense? And there was turkey talk... all November. There was Thanksgiving mentions at Target...at every grocery store. It was a little surprising yes, but in a good way. All November, as I'd make grocery runs. It felt so cool, to see families with great big turkeys in their shopping carts. After a while...it just brought a smile to my face. That wow...I am living among like minded people. It's deeply comforting. It's amazing. I love it! My kids were with me at the store many of the times too. And my kids were like...look they're buying a turkey. Of course we were quiet and stuff about it. Or we'd nod our heads like...look! look! LOL. So yeah...the feeling of Thanksgiving living in the United States? Omg, it feels amazing. My kids school, the day before Thanksgiving. That Wednesday, all grades and schools in our school district... let out at 10:50am. Wednesday. Why? Because of Thanksgiving of course! Teachers need to prepare and bake pies and prepare too for their homes. : ) And spend time with family. And of course no school on Thanksgiving and of course no school on Black Friday. So the kids had no school from 10:50am Wednesday and did not return until this Monday. LOL. It made me laugh... because yes...that's how important a holiday it is to Americans. And that is how I grew up too. And while in Japan, my kids had to go to school on Thanksgiving. Because rightfully so...it's not a holiday there. This year...first time in their lives...they were on a "real" American school schedule for Thanksgiving week. And they were surprised. And enjoyed their time off. 

We bought our turkey on Sunday, and defrosted it in the fridge from Sunday. It was 18.30 pounds. 

A Butterball of course. 

Thursday morning, I rinsed the turkey early. And made a herb butter seasoning rub and I rubbed the turkey under the skin and on top of the skin. And wrapped him up, in tin foil. 

Cool Whip was 89 cents a tub. We used 2 for the pies and 1 for hot cocoa. The other is in the freezer.

I made fruit salad. With being in Japan and having no access to Cool Whip, I didn't make this in 16 years. This year, I made it. 

It was delicious.

Such a nicely seasoned, juicy and crispy skinned turkey. 

Mashed potatoes. Crescent rolls for days. 

I wanted to buy Thanksgiving plates. Because cute and easier on the cleanup. However...I apparently waited too long to buy them. They were sold out everywhere. @_@ So...lesson learned. However the food was delicious. And we finished the turkey on Saturday. By that time we were dead sick of the turkey. 

They always run American classics on Thanksgiving. From the morning. The kids and I watched The Godfather 1, 2 and 3. LOL. Yes, we did, just keeping it real. The kids loved it. Those movies are long! And in the evening, They had another American classic. The Wizard of Oz. We enjoyed some pumpkin pie while watching this. 

I bought the pie crust from Marie calendar's at the grocery store this year. Only because they were just $2 bucks. For 2 crusts. And since I have no pie pans here and rolling pin. I thought...ehhh. For this year...why not. Target had zero pie pans. Near me. My Safeway store had them, but for $6 bucks each? No way. Outrageous. I did however make the pie filling myself as always. 

Every grocery store around here was closed for Thanksgiving. Because workers need to spend time with their family on this important holiday. So, I made sure I had sandwich stuff for leftover turkey sandwiches, beforehand.

Another weird fact. When I was growing up in America, I loved any loaf of bread. I loved Wonder Bread. Safeway brand. Any brand, was fine. And then I move to Japan. And was really used to the delicious Japanese bakery bread. And then I move back here and am shocked that most breads here taste strongly of chemicals. Was it always like this and I just never realized or did the recipes change? @_@ I have tried like 12 different brands. My old favorites growing up, I tried them all again. They all taste like chemicals. I finally found this brand and it says no chemicals or anything. Anyways...I like this bread. Is it as good as my favorite Japanese baker bread? No. But it's pretty good. So this is what we'll use for now. Anyway, I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving, if you celebrate it. : ) 

Thanksgiving 2017...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. As for us, it was extremely nice. I was thankful that it happened to be a day off in Japan this year, for the kids. So that means I didn't have to send the boys to school in the morning and swing around and do after school pick ups during Thanksgiving, like I usually do every year. So that was very nice that my kids were off school. That means we could truly just be here at the house and spend Thanksgiving as a family. The one slight bummer thing... was that Noboru had to work that day.... he left the house around 1pm. And didn't get home until a little after 10pm. But we knew that ahead of time that he had work. And that was okay. I took this picture Wednesday evening. I made the pie crusts form scratch Wednesday during the day. And when the boys got home from school on Wednesday. We 3 whipped up our 2 pumpkin pies together. Noah cracked the eggs and mixed the things for one pie and Branden did the same for the other pie. As they baked the pies..they made the entire house smell like pumpkin pie. The house smelled amazing. And when they cooled, I popped them in the fridge until Thursday nights dinner. 

The final last thing that was cooked on Thanksgiving day... was the cornbread. Hot buttered cornbread is just the best. 

You can see it was still daylight. A quiet little low-key Thanksgiving dinner, just Branden, Noah and me. We ate around 3:30pm-ish. We had homemade mashed potatoes and gravy. We had stuffing. Cranberry sauce. Black olives. A big salad. The turkey. A very close to 16 pounder this year. We bought a smaller turkey this year since it was just us this year. Hot sliced up buttered cornbread. Green beans. 

Gobble gobble...

One of our two pies. The other was in the fridge.

My Thanksgiving plate this year. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, green beans, black olives and cranberry sauce and a slice of hot buttered cornbread. We did go around the table and said what each of us was thankful for this year. A tradition that we do every year. And we enjoyed good food. And afterwards the boys helped me clean up the kitchen. Thank goodness for paper plates and paper cups. ; ) Just made things tons easier. And thank goodness for dishwashers too. After dinner clean up. We all enjoyed some pumpkin pie. After 10 pm...when Noboru got home...he had a slice of pumpkin pie. I also sent him Thanksgiving pics via Line. And he enjoyed a turkey sandwich Friday afternoon with all the sides. : ) 

One of my turkey sandwiches. Everyone has their own way of making their leftover turkey sandwich. And this was how I made mine Friday afternoon. One slice with Miracle Whip. One slice of bakery bread with mustard for a bit of a bite. Crisp lettuce, salt and peppered tomato slices. And some good Italian provolone cheese. 

Some turkey breast, lightly salt and peppered. 

A little spoonful of Olive Garden's Italian dressing over the meat. 

A very small handful of Lay's chips.

Friday, I  made and then packed up Noah a nice big turkey sandwich in his lunch box for school. And for Branden, he took a nice big turkey sandwich. A slice of cornbread. And a slice of pumpkin pie, since kids in high school can take desserts. We will be having Thanksgiving dinner tonight/Saturday. I will make some more stuffing tonight. Another thing of gravy and I'll bake some more cornbread tonight too after the movies. Saturday/tonight will be our last night of Thanksgiving dinner. We may have a last final turkey sandwich on Sunday. But I think we'll be turkey'ed out by Sunday afternoon. I will be making something different for dinner Sunday night.

Anyway...anything new to add? Yep, today the kids and I are going to the movies. I went and bought the movie tickets yesterday already. We're going to see The new Justice League today at 12 noon. Noboru worked a night shift last night, so he's getting some much needed sleep today. My blog has been a little quiet...because I'm just enjoying my regular life. With my kids. With my husband. Just enjoying life. : ) Anyways...I better go jump in the shower right now. So we can get ready for the movies today. And we 4 will be going to see the new Star Wars in 2 weeks when it comes out. We're so excited for that. : ) Anyways, I better go jump in the shower, have a great weekend everyone. : )

My Dad's visit to Japan last week...

Last Tuesday my dad arrived in Japan to be here in time for Thanksgiving and spend some time with us here at home. He brought a few things for us in his carry-on suitcase. 2 boxes of honey cornbread, omg! This is so delicious! I am so grateful for my dad bringing us this cornbread. 1 of these boxes we will use at Christmas for dinner. And the other we can enjoy during Christmas break! See the picture of the slice/pat of butter under the honey, on that box? Just butter that cornbread as soon as it comes out of the oven. Holy goodness, hot buttered cornbread is divine! He also brought 2 different types of extra thick, heavy duty tin foil. Japanese tin foil is so thin, granted I do not mind it one bit! But it was something my dad wanted to bring. : ) The marshmallows and 2 boxes of Rice krispies are for Rice Crispy treats. Smore's Pop Tarts both Branden and Noah love these! : ) You can see a pinch of the 2 turkey pans in the back of this pic. 

Fritos, Cheetos and Jalapeno Cheetos. : )

Magazines. My 2 favorite magazines too. People and In Touch. Reading material is just something I *always* appreciate so much. Magazines, you know just... tabloid gossip Hollywood stuff, I always enjoy reading the fluff...while picking up the kids at the plaza after school. 

Grandpa and Noah doing math homework together. The quality time spent together was just really nice. Branden and Noah love their grandpa *very* much. : ) 

My dad enjoying a hot bowl of ozoni at the town festival on Wednesday. Wednesday was a holiday for us in Japan. Labor Day or something like that for us in Japan. : ) 

Branden about to dig into his kinako mochi. He also had some fries. Noah had a chocolate banana and a few other things too. Noboru was eating and people watching. I was people watching too and talking with my dad and the rest of the family. The festival is always very nice. And it's pretty local. Just locals for the most part. Just a nice relaxing festival. : )

These are what my dad picked and took back with him. A train bowl and a little train dish and a picture of 2 owls on a cute plate. And I love that because they are handmade...they are unique and different. Even if the same kid drew the same picture, they still come out slightly different. I find that so cool. 

These are the 4 plates, small little side dish plates that I picked. They are each one of a kind. I picked a plate with owls and my plate is definitely slightly different than my dad's owl plate. The eyes are different on the owls. So again...we each got a total one of a kind plate. Even though the child drew the same picture, there are slightly differences. And we both really love that about the ones we picked. The Fall tree with different colored leaves and 2 jizo statue under the tree. The baby chick plate, I used at Thanksgiving and placed our green beans on there. : ) These plates are so innocent looking and I love these. : ) I can imagine placing karaage on here or some kobocha on here in Fall. These are very useful plates and very beautiful to me. : ) 

Smart, wise and a thinking owl. : ) And I like that this owl is not a lone owl...he has a friend. : ) 

I loved the branches and the leaves and the smiling faces on the jizo. 

I also picked a bowl. With 3 tulips. And a cloth magnet that now hangs on my fridge. And this tulip bowl....is what held my salad last night at dinner. : ) I love these works of art made my children! And I use them daily! And appreciate them! Like I said, they sell these here at this festival every year. And this year I was surprised that they also sold professional pottery, bowls, cups, plates etc too at a different table and different part/row/area of the festival of course... from an artist and expert with 30 years of experience under their belt. And while their stuff was indeed nice and perfect. I much prefer the children's dishes! : )

This is just so beautiful to me! I love how 1 of the chicks feet are made from thicker black lines while the other chicks foot is thinner lines. So one thick foot and one thinner foot. : ) That just makes me smile every time I see this plate! The fact they tried their very best. And...I love this chick! I think it came out so gorgeous! I would appreciate a plate like this! And I do...which is why I picked it. : ) And even proudly displayed on my Thanksgiving 2016 table! My only wish is...I wish the child who made this...knew how much I appreciated their lovely plate and artwork!: )

I love this plate too, because I like kokeshi dolls. And the happy faces and cute little hair-do on these dolls are just...the best! : )

Of course as you know we had a lovely low key, relaxed Thanksgiving here at home.

Friday morning, after the boys went to school, the 3 of us went to Starbucks in the small city nearest us, to just relax and spend an hour, to an hour and a half talking! And yet another variety of the Starbucks Christmas cups! We have had 3 so far! Different ones. I think there are quite a few different variety cups and I am always excited to see which cup I get. This cup in particular was gorgeous! : ) 

It is always so wonderful to be able to spend time with you dad! I treasure the time we get to spend together! I really *really* do! I love you dad! : )

CM was for me and that's because I had the caramel machiatto. And GB was my dad's because he picked the Gingerbread latte! Yumm! They're both excellent drinks. Noboru was there too and he had a hot American coffee and a donut that he felt was really delicious! It was wonderful that we could just talk and talk and talk. After that... we went to the small mall and went to Seria, which is a 100 yen store. That small mall also has a Daiso too, and both are great. But, I personally find the quality to be much higher at Seria. So, we shopped in there and looked around. And then we looked around the supermarket. And headed to lunch. 

I am my dad's only child. And Branden and Noah are his only grandchildren. So he always has Branden and Noah on his mind. Because well...he's a fantastic grandpa and thinks of them all the time. As we were leaving Starbucks. He said, I am going to buy Branden and Noah each a giant chocolate chip cookie, since they could not be with us today...since they had school. So...that's what he did. : ) 

After we finished looking around Seria. On our way out. My dad said, I know the boys are into those Cokes with bows. They had been making a few since he had arrived and they told grandpa all the hoopla about these special Coke bottles and how all their friends are making the bows on them. And so as we were leaving the mall, my dad quickly grabbed a cart and before I knew it he had thrown 2 Coke's (special Christmas Cokes) into his cart and he also said...look...pear Fanta, they should try this! When the boys came home from school later that afternoon, my dad had placed 1 Starbucks cookie and 1 Coke and 1 Fanta pear on each of their dinner place mats on the table. Grandpa nonchalantly just said...."Oh today I picked up a few things I hoped you like them" The kids were like..."thanks grandpa!" "Grandpa you're the best!"...Sometimes it's just the little things. Like a soda because he was thoughtful...knowing the kids like making the Christmas bows on the bottles. Or just thinking...they deserved a cookie that day. He said because it was Friday. : ) And even just doing some homework. Just the thoughtfulness that he always has and quality time that my dad spent with the boys and me too. Just a wonderful week...well technically 4 nights. An excellent time well spent. : )

Step 1,2 and 3. And see the bow? That's how it should look. : )

After leaving the mall. It was time for some lunch. At our favorite Indian restaurant. I had the kobocha (Japanese pumpkin) curry. 

Our meals also come with a drink. We spent the rest of our afternoon there, enjoying our lunch and conversation on Friday, November 25th.

We watched American Housewife on Friday night. Came on Thursday for those of you in the states. It was the Thanksgiving episode. It was excellent. American Housewife is one of my favorite shows! My dad and I were cracking up so hard over this show!

She says her mom, pictured here. Was a flight attendant back in the day when it was glamorous. And her mom always steals the spotlight from everyone else. And so she showed up in a neck thing and it wasn't even bolted in and yes it was for attention. This was such an excellent funny episode. It was wonderful for all of us to be able to spend a nice relaxing Friday evening with my dad. And Saturday morning he left bright and early to catch his flight. So anyway, that was my dad's trip in a nutshell. : )