Had a fancy, Japanese-themed New Year's party at my house this weekend. 12 RSVP'd, 10 showed up (2 were sick). Spent three days cleaning,
cooking everything from scratch, and setting things up, including tables, table cloths, our fancy napkins, dinnerware and silverware (which I had to wipe down to polish and remove water spots from):
And yes, I did say cook everything from scratch, in the style of traditional Japanese home cooking (none of that sushi and noodles stuff that Americans traditionally associate with "Japanese food")
So, we had stuff like Kohaku Namasu (salad of pickled japanese radish & carrots):
a lotus root salad in rice vinegar w/ lemon juice:
Datemaki and kamaboko (slightly fishy semi-sweet omlette and fish cake):
a whole bunch of other stuff I didn't take pictures of, like kinpira gobo (braised burdock root that takes A LOT of physical effort to shave/slice), kurikinton (japanese sweet potatoes with chestnuts in syrup), tazukuri (soy sauce sugar-glazed sardines), and a bunch of other things I can't remember now. The main item was Oden, which is a traditional winter dish:
which is a hot-pot of fish stock with vegetables and assorted fish cakes. I was very exhausted by the time it was all done, but it went very well: food was enjoyed a lot by everyone, who also had occasion to dress up and practice proper table etiquette. Total spent on ingredients: about $250 (guests weren't charged anything).
All in all, I have a weird concept of "fun"
P.S. Although I do this a few times a year, I still don't have an xBox360 or PS3, and drive a crap '99 Civic, because I don't feel I can afford those things. "Priorities," eh?
