Hello everyone and hello 2011!
Hope you had a relaxing and joyful new year holiday. I'd been away from blogging (and crafting) for a while, but I'm so glad to be back :)
As you may already know, 2011 is the year of rabbit. I wanted to make something relating to rabbits, so last night I quickly handcarved this rabbit stamp.
I plan to make some coasters using these stamped linen squares.
Away from crafting, I wanted to show you our Japanese style new year food that we had for this new year celebration...
For us Japanese, new year celebration is one of the most important holidays.
Family members get together and spend time together, with special kind of food, known as "osechi" (お節料理), which are mainly cooked veggies, beans, chesnuts, eggs, meat, and fish. We also eat lots of "mochi" or rice cakes. (It may be hard to see, but "mochi" in soup is shown below image in the lower center).
I prepared all this food myself... well, actually not all, but most of them ;)
Following the Japanese tradition, I packed the "osechi" or the new year dishes,
in a Japanese style lacquer box like this one.
When opened, the food is literally "packed" inside.
Because I tend to cook too much new year food, I delivered a couple of these new year food in a box to our friends and neighbors for this new year.
And in return for the food I brought over, we got this roast beef dish from my friend :)
I love this kind of cooked food exchange... So delicious and fun!
And this sushi was prepared by another family friend.
She is about the age of my mom (in her sixties) and also a great cook! We got this sushi on the night of new year's eve and they looked so yummy that we couldn't wait until the next day (or the new year's day) so we ate most of them on the night before the new year's day... It was that good!
Rabbits are fertile animals, and they are considered as lucky symbol in Japan.
Hope your 2011 is filled with love, happiness, good health, wealth... and of course, with lots of crafting time!!
Hope your 2011 is filled with love, happiness, good health, wealth... and of course, with lots of crafting time!!
7 comments:
明けましておめでとうございます＆おかえりなさい！！
ちゃちゃっと消しハンを掘り堀り、すばらしいです。
とっても可愛くできていますね。
下の紫色の布との相性がバッチリで、コースターになった姿を早くみたいです♪
それにしても、おせち料理！！豪華ですね。去年も同じことを思いましたが、今年もしっかり用意してえらいと思います。
ウチはお雑煮だけでした～。
明けましておめでとうございます！
今年もよろしくお願いいたしま～す。
去年はいろいろとお疲れ様でした。
今年もAmyさんにとって
健康で怪我のない良い一年で
ありますように。
おせち、すごいですね～。えええ？
ご近所にも配ったんですか？
いいな～。私も一応作ったんですが
淋しい中身でございました。（笑）
今年のAmyさんのクラフト楽しみに
してます。
Happy new year, ladies!
cocostitchさん-新春コメント第一号ありがとうございます♪年明けしても毎日なんだかバタバタしていてまだミシンに向かう心の余裕がない私です（とほほ）。その点、消しゴムはんこはナイフ一本＆消しゴムひとつあれば彫れるので良い気分転換になります～。そうそう、この紫色の布はJoann の stonehill シリーズなのですが、なかなか気に入っています☆
gazimamaさん、おめでとうございます☆昨年中はホントにお世話になりありがとうございました！今年もよろしくね～♪♪ gazimamaさんもお節作られたんですね！私は長女が生まれてからかれこれ１０年ほど毎年作っていますが、結構準備も大変だし、毎年もうこれでやめようか？なんて思うんです。でもま、これも海外在住子女たち（うちの子ら）の食育の一環だと思って頑張っていますが来年の正月はどうなることか…！？
hi amy!
happy 2011! hope you and the family had a nice holiday. hmmm - so many of the wonderful items you showcase on your blog look very familiar :).
i enjoy checking out your latest projects - especially the stamps. i finally attempted my own carvings....but none have quite turned out. it amazes me how perfect your stamps look!
Happy New Year! So glad you are back Amy. Looking at your yummy food pics makes me hungry! You are a master chef!! The food looks so elegantly presented, I bet they taste delicious too!!
Amy, your rabbit is just too lovely !
Your Japanese food looked so delicious ! I love to eat sushi very much .
Thank you for your encouraging *new year* comments, ladies!
Shelley - Thank you for stopping by at my blog \^0^/ Hope you had a wonderful new year holiday with your family. I recently visited your blog and I love, love, loved your handmade felt ornaments!!! I also enjoyed your *baby diaper* card, too! They're so fun and sweet ;) Thanks!
Speckled Hen - Thank you always for your warm comments!! BTW I am NOT a master chef, but I try my best to do all the traditional Japanese style new year cooking, esp for our girls... In fact, our girls are more Americanized by now (they're ages 11 and 8) and I don't think they really appreciate my Japanese style cooking as much as my hubby does, but I still want to continue to cook our traditional food while they are still young...;) Hope you have a wonderful 2011♪♪
PY - Happy new year! And yes, this sushi was really good! Hope you have a fantastic 2011 (the rabbit year)!
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