Shurijo Castle "Shuri Castle"

The Shuri Castle is one of the most significant points of interest in a tour of Okinawa. Originally constructed in the 14th century by the ruling leader of the Ryuku Kingdom, it has been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times over the past centuries. The most recent destruction occured in WWII when it was burned to the groud. The current restoration was completed in 2000.

Today, Burr and I decided to venture out and take a look. Although it was overcast, it was easy to see the beauty of the architecture and surrounding park. Enjoy these few pictures, then click on the "daytrips" photo link to the left for more.











rmf

The Birthday Carrot Cake

This was my first time to A: make carrot cake and B: decorate it with actual decorating tools. It tasted better than it looked...



The recipe was called "Sam's Famous Carrot Cake" and I found it on one of my favorite websites, www.allrecipes.com.

3 eggs
3/4 cup each of buttermilk and veggie oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup each flaked cocount, chopped walnuts, and raisins (I boiled the raisins in orange juice then drained them before adding them in.)
1 (8oz.) can crushed pineapple with juice

- Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour your pan. (8x12, or you can be like me and use a round springform pan.)
- In medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix well.
- In medium bowl, combine shredded carrots, coconut, walnuts, pineapple, and raisins.
- Add carrot mixture to batter and fold in well.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake on 350 for an hour. Check with toothpick. (This is where I overdid it... The knife that I sent through the center of the cake didn't come out clean and I kept putting it back in for a few more minutes. The sides and top and bottom were too well done. It was fine after the first hour.
- Allow to cool before serving.

THE FROSTING!! (and really, isn't that why we all love carrot cake?)
16 oz. cream cheese
1 stick butter
1 teaspoon each vanilla and almond extracts
32 oz. powdered sugar, sifted

Mix these ingredients well. YUM!!!

This frosting recipe yields a huge amount. I think next time I will cut it in half because we have a lot of cream cheese frosting leftover in our fridge right now!

Also, be careful when adding the powdered sugar to the mixer... this is what happened to Gabe when I turned the mixer on too high with too much sugar!





I don't think he minded too much!
rmf

Birthday Cake and Drunk Roast!

We celebrated Burr's ?? birthday Wednesday night (a day early) with his Dad who suprised us from out of town. Our dinner centered around Peggy Ferguson's famous "Drunk Roast" and was sweetened out by a Carrot Cake, per Burr's request. And it was GOOD.



"Drunk Roast"
3-4 pound rump roast
3 garlic cloves, rough chop
Black peppercorns

Marinate the roast in:
1/2 cup Canadian Club Whiskey (or Crown Royal)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Lea and Perrins
(Ok to double this)

Make slits every inch or so in the roast and stuff with garlich chunks and peppercorns. Place roast in large Ziploc bag or cooking bag. Pour marinade over roast and marinate for 2-3 days.

Bake 30 minutes to the pound at 300 degrees. For medium/medium rare, you are looking for an internal temperature of 150 degrees.

Gravy:
Add 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup water to the drippings. Dissolve 1 Tbls Cornstarch in another 1/4 cup of water and add to mixture. Stir well and serve warm with roast and mashed potatoes!

Stay tuned for carrot cake pictures and recipe!

Thanks for all of the ways you all helped celebrate Burr's special day!

grace and peace,
rachel

Gabe ate the Easter Eggs

And that about sums it up! To be fair, I did leave them out this AM when I left the house to go lead "Rockin' Babies..." Thankfully, there were only four to begin with, but there's no evidence of them now! He ate them, shell and all!

A couple of weeks ago he got into a full bag of coffee beans.



It's a good thing that he's cute.

rmf

Changing Faces

Hello All! As you visit our blog today you'll see that it looks different. I needed a change. That's all! The content is the same as always, but just with a different look.

Hope you had a joyous Easter!

Grace and Peace,
Rachel

Look to the Left...

And you will notice a couple of new additions. The first, which is by far the most interesting, is a new link to some photos called "Out and About." I took Gabe on a walk today and just snapped some pictures of interesting sights and signs in our neighborhood. My thinking was that you might get a better feel for what it looks like over here. Although, as I think about it, I only selected the pretty pictures so you still can't really visualize what the concrete buildings and all of the power lines look like. Hmmm... use your imagination for now and I will take even more representative pictures and put them up soon. The album also includes some pictures of the St. Patrick's Day Parade that we stumbled onto on Saturday. Here are some preview photos... enjoy the whole album!





The second new item is called "Shopping List." And it's not for me... it's for you! I hesitated to even put it up, but sometimes when we talk on the phone it comes up, "oh, do you need anything?" and my response is, "no, I don't think so..." Then, about two minutes after hanging up I realize that there are a few things we could use that aren't available out here. Please understand, I don't expect you to rush to the store to fill these little requests... I just think it's nice to know what people actually need when you DO have an urge to send them a little something. You know? And, truth be told, what I really would like is some fresh Cilantro and baby Arugula, but I don't think that they would survive the trip or Customs! Ah well... I shall dare to dream that the Commissary will add them to the stock list sometime in the next three years...

Grace and Peace,
rachel

Valentine's... it just keeps on giving!

I can hear you now... "what an odd title for a mid-March post. why is she just now talking about Valentine's day?"

Because, the Valentine's packages we have been waiting for arrived TODAY. You see, there was some confusion in Tallahassee about which method of shipping was the best to use for mailing overseas. Now, we all know that UPS and FedEX are out of the question b/c they won't ship to PO boxes, so that leaves us with the good ole USPS. Once in the Post Office with all of the happy people who love their jobs SO much, there are several options available for shipping packages. The two most economical are Priority Mail and Parcel Post. I'll say it once. NEVER EVER EVER EVER USE PARCEL POST!!!! ALWAYS USE PRIORITY MAIL.

That said, my (wonderful, fabulous, brilliant) mom didn't really know the difference between the two and shipped the V-day prizes via Parcel Post. OK, the difference is a slow boat to Japan that takes 4-6 weeks or an Airplane to Japan that takes 5-10 days. Always use Priority Mail.

Here's what boxes that have been on a boat for six weeks look like:







But, all's well that ends well, and we are thoroughly enjoying our Valentine's goodies now! Thanks Mom and Bunker for sending the rest of my Christmas loot and the great packages!

LOVE,
rachel

New Toys!

An electric guitar! An acoustic guitar with a pick-up! A gathering drum! All neccessary tools for the home guitar studio, music therapy practice, and aspiring guitarist. Aspiring guitarist? But, I thought you were the teacher, Rachel. Well, I am... so... that leaves... wait for it... BURR!!! Yes! My self-proclaimed non-musical husband is learning to play the guitar! He is my special case study. If I can successfully teach him, I should have success with any student! All kidding aside, he's doing a great job. He can play "Amazing Grace" in the key of D, is learning the intro to Pink Floyd's "Wish you were here" and is working on strumming, singing, and changing chords all at the same time in "Brown Eyed Girl!"

Rock on,
rmf

Our House

Actually, more of a townhouse, but still... we are located in Chatan Cho, across the street from Camp Foster and one block away from the ocean. If you crane your neck the right way from our rooftop, you can even see the water!

Here are some pics of a few rooms of our house. The living room, the kitchen, our bedroom, and my office. The guest room/Marine room is still under construction, and I was doing laundry the day I took pictures so the dining room was under piles of clothes! Stay tuned for more, but enjoy these for now.

Here is Gabe in "his" chair in the living room. It is on the main level of the house to the left of the stairs when you come up.


Another living room view. As you can see, we have our computer/work area set up to the right of the living area.


Penny Lane's new favorite spot is in the storage baskets under the sofa table. I swear, last week she spent an entire day in there!


Living room again, looking towards the stairs from the computer.


Kitchen - it is very functional and I LOVE the gas range and oven!


The kitchen is on the main level and to the right of the stairs and living area.


My office is up the stairs from the main level and on the left. This is no longer an accurate photo - I rearranged this morning!


Bedroom - Burr's side of the bed. This bedroom is up a flight of stairs from the main level and on the right.


Bedroom - my side of the bed.


Master Bath is in our bedroom. Again, the photo is no longer accurate as we put up the shower curtain that Mom sent on Saturday.


Hope this gives you a little glimpse into our home life!

Grace and peace,
Rachel

Bagels

They were absolutely delicious! And it's so empowering to know that with just a little time and effort I can make one of my favorite treats for myself. You see, there is a bagel shop out in town, and they make pretty good grub, but they also fall into the trend of Okinawa's breakfast places. They don't open until noon! Now, I don't know about you, but my bagel craving starts around 7am so it's great to have some delicious boiled bread on hand to meet the need.

Here are some pictures of what I did yesterday afternoon. I made three flavors; Parmesan Herb, Cinnamon Sugar (just like at Bread and Bagels in BG), and Plain. The shape on the first batch is a little off, but I had a better grasp on what to do the second time around. I will definitely repeat this recipe in the future with the confidence that the bagels will get better every time.





Please pass the cream cheese,
rachel