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The Gift

Since moving away from the USA in 2001 I have had to realize that while most things I cook using a recipe will turn out using the foreign equivalent of an ingredient, that is not true for baking. I have had more baking failures in the last ten years than in all the years before that. Most often, I think it is the butter. Right after I moved to Tokyo there was a butter shortage and the foreign market started selling American butter. The quality of my baked goods improved as soon as I began using this butter. Well…the American butter didn’t last long and I rationed out what I had stock piled in my freezer. Eventually, it ran out and I was back to Japanese butter and baking failures again. I mentioned this one day to my friend Natosha and the next time she came over she brought 2 pounds of this:

I had both pounds in the freezer until last night when a batch of cupcakes I needed for today failed. I pulled out the Challenge butter and made a perfect batch of red velvet cupcakes with it. This afternoon Natosha stopped by to bring me an inspired birthday gift…you guessed it a pound of Challenge butter. It is such a great gift because I cannot buy it myself in any store in Japan, Natosha can but I cannot ask her to buy it for me. It can only be a gift.

Missing????????

I’m not really missing, I’m in North Carolina.  I thought I would be able to post daily, however I’m keeping busy playing with Leigh and Rorey and as of today Rorey and I are on our own during the day. I’ll finish my year of photos when I update from Tokyo next week.

Houston Children’s Museum

Today James came home around noon and we all piled in the van and went to the Houston Children’s Museum. They have recently completed huge renovation and the museum is fresh, new and fabulous. We all had a great time and could have stayed forever. That explains the purchase of an annual membership. Here are some photos:

Sewing projects

I stopped off in Kingwood for two days on my way to North Carolina. Caitlyn and Aimee are interested in sewing so we got fabric for everyone and got busy sewing pillowcases. Caitlyn and Aimee made their own and Lainey, Havana and David helped by stepping on the “gas” while I fed the fabric through the machine for them. It was a fun project!

Travel day

I have been posting a lot of travel days recently. Today after church I am going back to Narita airport and I’m on my way to Sugar Grove, NC to see Andrew, Leigh, Rorey, Chaco and Emma. I’m going to help them with Rorey and the dogs while Leigh is at a conference in Minnesota.

Tokyo American Club

When we first moved here the Tokyo American Club was in a fairly central location near Tokyo Tower. About a year later the club was demolished and the construction of a new club on that property was started. The club was relocated to a temporary location that was not as convenient for me to get to.

The new club opened this week. Today Rick and I walked over to explore the new location. It is quite impressive. It seems so much larger than the old club. The exercise facility has all new equipment and great views through the large windows. The pool is on the roof-top with it’s own outdoor restaurant. There will be several restaurants when it is completely up and running. I really liked all the windows with views over Tokyo and the many terraces that provide outdoor relaxing.

Dogs

I have talked about the life and status of dogs in Japan before. Many people have dogs instead of children. Today I noticed a small specialty shop for dogs. They sell custom made dog clothes encrusted with Swarovski crystals.

Cooking Class

For one of our “additional” Relief Society meetings we had a cooking class in my kitchen. My Australian friend, Tammy, taught us how to make 4 Aussie desserts, Chocolate ripple cake, Anzac biscuits, scones and Lamingtons. They were all delicious and we had a fun time visiting.

Dawn

On my walk this morning I noticed a shrine I hadn’t seen before. It amazes me everyday how many shrines and temples are tucked away off of the main streets and tiny lanes of Tokyo. I have walked this lane before and never noticed this shrine. Here it is in the light of dawn.

In my neighborhood the buildings are so close together that there is not much of a view. This morning I discovered this view from a lane at the top of the hill where my neighborhood sits:

Moto-Azabu to Roppongi Hills

Dusk

We have had amazing weather here in Tokyo since I arrived back on the 5th. Most days have been cold with clear blue skies. So many of my favorite kind of days all in a row! Here is the view from my window this evening.

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