Crimas 2006

Christmas this year started with a company party. Cheese fondu, cheese pizza, cheezy jingle bells and cheezy prizes (an autographed framed portrait of each teacher)...lots of cheese for a girl whose swarn off the stuff. I love that Yuske won my picture and he isn't even one of our students. Who let him in anyway???




I had a little shindig at my place on Christmas Eve. Everyone brought great food to share and we had a cozy time complete with my mom's recipe for apple cider. Here's a shot of the early birds. (That's me with the ladel)



One of my heaters is an old style that I got for Y300 (about $2.50) . I had no idea what a gem I had purchased! Kengo showed me about a month ago how to cook right on top of it. I had always seen people place a kettle on top, the steam helps to give a little humidity, it's convenient when you're having/serving some tea and it makes a homey sound. But I never thought about putting oranges in tinfoil on top!! They get charred up and are soooooo yummy!!! So anyway, that's where I cooked the cider and it made the house smell just like Christmas.













The last ones sauntered home around 4am, Wendy and Kengo decided to stay the night and it was great to spend Christmas morning with them. Shortly after, MT and I enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL day at Koffee Kan for my very favorite sandwich in all of Japan. It was a lovely day. We were smiling so big, could barely keep our eyes open. As it should be.