Pie Auction for Japan

It amazes me daily to read how different individuals and organizations are raising money to help rebuild Japan. Such wonderful creativity. I read of an raffle of Japanese items on a expat's blog. Another expat is organizing a walk-a-thon for her community to participate in. Another helped translate lists and lists of people's names and statuses from the Japanese alphabet to Roman letters. Japanese hair stylists are giving shampoos and shaves at shelters. In Japan, a young college graduate who will not be able to join the bank he'd planned on joining this spring will spend the months waiting for work to begin by helping to build homes in the affected region. As I wrote last time, a friend of mine helped organize truck loads of toys to be sent to kids living in shelters. A US military wife in Northern Japan and her family put together a "Home Move-In" kit according to the specifications requested and included a rice cooker, hot pot, toilet slippers etc, etc, etc for a family to move into temporary housing. A company in BC Canada is working overtime with extra staff to provide short-term houses to Japan - shipping the pre-made parts to Japan to be reconstructed there. In our small community here in Eastern Oregon, Japanese immigrants have lived here for a long time. In our church, many folk have relatives that are part Japanese. After the earthquake, I began to give short prayer request/updates during the church service. A group from the Women's group and the Mission group and...well just about everyone else, put together a Baked Potato (we ARE Potato Country here!) lunch and pie auction. I love to bake anything but PIE'S! But I HAD to do something. So I contacted my friend Tracy. She only cooks about 5 things. Good thing for a cooking hubby. And each of the 5 things she makes are out of this world and EASY! I got her recipe for Chocolate Chip Cheesecake - and made it in two pie plates. Jun and I added some decorations to the room at church, brought origami paper and instructions on making cranes. I prayed in Japanese, taught the game "Jon, Ken, Bob." I changed "po" to "Bob" as many men in our church are named "Bob." And Jun sang some songs in Japanese. She says she was shy because she didn't know all the people. What a joke. She was the one eager to hold that microphone - it wasn't my plan at all. And she also wore her yukata. Anyway, they have a professional auctioneer in the church and he did the auction. It was so fun and funny and wonderful to see everyone's generosity for Japan. A friend bought one of my cheesecakes for $35. He cut it in half, and gave half back to be auctioned off per slice - $10 a slice. A blueberry pie went for $150. I wanted to laugh, clap, and cry. It was a wonderful time with our church family. All together this smallish church (by US size standards) raised about $2,000 for Japan. I'm so encouraged by the prayers, gifts, and creative ideas people are using to show Japan their love! I'd love to have you write in what ideas you've heard about! God bless you!!!!

A Tiny Part for the Little Ones

This past week Ryu and I have been glued to our computer. Watching NHK - the Japanese national news channel - in English or Japanese. How many times have I cried this week?

Some may remember that I was in Kobe in 1995 when the Great Hanshin Quake hit. Maybe that is contributing to my tears. I find my love for the land and people of Japan welling up anew inside of me over and over again.

I have been able to make face-to-face contact with all of my students via Skype. Praise God for Skype! My plan was to just listen to them share their experiences. Having a friend listen and listen and listen as I told each and every tiny detail about the Earthquake in Kobe was a big help for me. So, I listen and ask questions and listen. Then, as the days passed, I noticed some students needing more. Like, needing to have a meaning to their daily lives, other than taking care of family or work. Each person reacts differently in a crisis, so I tried to encourage those who felt this way to do something that fit their strengths.

One student works at a clothing boutique. She couldn't imagine going back to sell clothing right after the quake. I reminded her that MANY of her "customers" were elderly women in the neighborhood who merely come by to talk. And they would certainly need someone to talk to after this experience. I also encouraged her to go next door where a Canadian family lived and use the little bit of English she knows to ask if they were alright. To make a connection. She was so encouraged to have something to DO!

An older student (72) told me that the shelters asked that people NOT send fresh fruit and that they DO send games and toys for the children and elderly. The next day I had class with a mother who is a "mover and shaker" in all the best definitions. She also wanted to make a difference. Her son is in the elementary school right next to our former apartment. I told her about the request for games and toys. Jun piped up that she was sure the people needed books too! I thought that perhaps school kids would like to become involved in helping out other kids their age. A few days later, I received this e-mail from her:

Dear Kim!
The advice you gave me about relief goods, I told T. elementary school, the famous people and the president of big company I know the next day. Then, they accepted willingly and the earliest truck taking toys and books will start the day after tomorrow for the stricken area. Surely you and our love will reach to the children.

Also, some mission friends are helping an organization called Samaritan's Purse to distribute the 92 tons of relief supplies that were delivered on a 747 to Sendai Airport yesterday (who's yesterday?).

Lastly, the mission organization that I worked with in Japan before I got married, Asian Access, is collecting relief funds. They have received a matching grant up to 1,000,000USD. Here is the link

So, we pray and wait and listen and encourage people to be who they ARE in the midst of this crisis, especially as our friends and family in Japan are all in "safe" areas.

I Gotta Say...

IF you use your silicone muffin cup pan UNLINED when making candles out of old cut up crayon pieces and a nice new flowery smelling candle that you chopped and melted and then poured over the cut up crayon pieces to celebrate the "C" in the Alphabet guided Advent activities that your kiddo thinks should be continuing on into January because, "it's FUN, Mom!" and I say, "Don't call me MOM! Call me MAMA! You are STILL FOUR!"...Don't use it a month and a half later to bake chocolate banana muffins. PLEASE! Don't! These muffins are NOT disappearing. Wonder if chocolate makes birds sick? Gotta go brush with my MINT flavored toothpaste...NOW!

Things I Burnt This Week

"Things I Burnt This Week." I was going to put this over in my cooking blog, but then thought that people would never stop by there again! LOL!

Only two stories today.

Well, we went home to my folks' for Christmas, and somehow missed all the potlucks at church before that, so I had a (while in Japan - a VERY PRECIOUS) bag of cranberries in the freezer. I am a holiday cranberry person - probably because my cranberry baking repertoire is/was one dish (Cranberry Pudding), so I searched our church's bulletin to find the January potluck.

As luck would have it, we went to "town" the day before the potluck and I was too tired to make anything for anybody. Sunday morning dawned bright and clear. And I had an idea! I would stray from my traditional Cranberry Pudding - making the sauce (seriously heating a few things in a pan) was too much to consider, so I thought I'd make my Wild Blackberry Pie using the cranberries instead. The Wild blackberry Pie is quite sweet - so the sourer the fruit/berries the better. And this is another SUPER SIMPLE dish.

Speaking of dishes - my baking pan collection is slowly growing. I am up to three cookie sheets - thanks to Christmas. I have a super deep cake pan, a "who knows what size it is" smaller rectangular cake pan, a couple of muffin silicone things and some pie dishes. Not having made this cobbler since coming to the US this time, I wasn't sure what dish to use. I chose my largest pie plate. It is the most "socially acceptable" of my baking pans. Pride goeth before a fall.

Now, I'm not sure how much I've commented on our rental. More of THAT in my next post. But, though I know many of the floors are not even, I DID think the one in the pantry where the oven is...was.

When Ryu came running to the bathroom while I was in the shower, talking about smoke all over the kitchen, I thought, "and I gave my MOM an oven liner for Christmas and didn't get one for myself - hitting self on the forehead," I told him to get the soda or salt out. When I checked on the cobbler, the back side of it was fine. It had all slid off the front side of the plate. Well, not all, of course. It looked terrible. It was not "socially acceptable." It was, however "family acceptable." And, I will say, with no hesitations, the Wild Blackberry Pie recipe is PERFECT for cranberries!!!!! YUM! Next time I'll use the deepest cake pan! LOL!

Second story. I ran out of my Candied Ginger. When I get a sore-ish throat, this is just perfect to burn the germs right out of you. So, I opened my new bag of fresh ginger, peeled it all nicely by scraping it with a spoon, sliced it as thinly as I can without my wonderful, slice your hand right off, slicer I was given in Japan, and set it on the stove to boil with some water and sugar. When I realized it was boiling more than necessary (may I mention that this stove is electric? That it is in the room adjacent to the REAL kitchen? That I am an "out of sight, out of mind" person?), I went in and turned it off. As we were eating lunch, Ryu commented that the ginger sure smelled good. (May I mention HERE that he was sitting where he COULD have seen the ginger boiling up and smoking - if he had glanced in that direction?) I hadn't turned the burner off. I had turned it up to HIGH! Well, I reheated the hardened mess in the pan and poured it onto a cookie sheet as it is about 1/2 a second this side of being burnt-burnt. We now have ginger brittle. And a pan that is impervious to the solutions of vinegar and baking powder tried on it. Oh well, Ryu said we can "eat the burnt stuff off." LOL!

The next blog entry will be: Things That Broke Down this Month! LOL!