Mitsuko - I Birth - New Year's foods

Around 10 PM on December 30, Mitsuko was born in Tokyo. Mitsuko’s mother gave the story about Mitsuko’s birth to Mitsuko at the time of leaving for Chicago to join with Mitsuko’s husband, Masato.

I (Mitsuko’s mother) wanted to tell you Mitsuko, that I was sorry for myself to give birth to a baby on the day before New Year. Your Grand-ma came from Yamagata, where Mitsuko’s father was born, with lots of New Year’s delicious foods, but Grand-ma told me I couldn’t eat all those foods, because I had to make ready to give birth for the baby. Giving birth is not sick we understand now days, but in those olden days in Japan they treated the woman giving birth as ill. So I missed all those delicious New Year foods that year.
(The New Year foods Mitsuko’s mother missed and some recipes are listed below.)

Grand-ma and I wanted to change your date of birth from December 30 to January 2nd. In those days in Japan, no one kept the date of birth December 30 or 31. However, your father disagreed with us and said that he didn’t want his daughter to have two dates of birth. We found out your father’s brother kept his daughter’s date of birth on December 31. We all laughed about that and didn’t change your date of birth.

Well, now this is serious and important story connected to your birth.

You gave me labor pain such long hours. The labor pain started around 10 AM. The regular old experienced mid-wife came to take care of me till evening, and then she decided to go home to have dinner with her family. She told me to call her associate if I needed help. I was little scared, because this is my first experience to give birth.

Grand-ma made the delicious dinner for your father, and she said even I could eat a little bit of the dinner. After the dinner I was little tired and took a nap.

Around 10 PM the mid-wife came soon after we called. I felt I was ready to give birth. Grand-ma had already prepared all the necessary things for the child’s birth. They had just sat down at the next room with anxiety.

Only sound everyone heard was my heavy breathing, I think. The mid-wife said something to me but I didn’t hear. The labor came to me so bad that I knew it was time. I was in so much pain and then felt something out from me. I knew I gave birth. I heard the mid-wife’s big sigh, but no baby’s crying. I was afraid and wanted to know if the mid-wife knew what she was doing. She was very young and looked inexperienced. Then, I saw that the mid-wife put the baby up-side down and put her fingers in my baby’s mouth. She was trying to take the umbilical cord from the baby’s neck. I didn’t know how she did. Finally, I heard the baby crying. That really scary scene made me pass-out, I think. I didn’t know after that.

The mid-wife shook and brought me conscious, and she started talking what had happened. The mid-wife exclaimed to everyone, “Congratulation! You have a baby girl. The umbilical cord was wrapped around baby’s neck three times, so the baby couldn’t breathe. Somehow I had to take the umbilical cord immediately from the baby’s neck. I was so thankful when the baby girl started crying. The baby seemed O.K. Please take the baby to a pediatrician as soon as possible.”

We were shocked with the mid-wife’s explanation. Grand-ma and I were starting to cry. The mid-wife said hesitantly, “Well, I’m going home.” Your father asked the mid-wife to introduce a pediatrician who was practicing at the end of year. The mid-wife told your father to come to her home to pick up the list of the pediatricians. We didn’t say “Thank you” to the mid-wife.

We took the baby girl to the pediatrician introduced by young mid-wife on January 2nd. The pediatrician said that the baby, that is you Mitsuko, were one of the lucky girls because the mid-wife’s action saved the baby. Under the circumstances, the baby girl might have died or brain damaged, the doctor continued.
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Mitsuko’s mother said, “Mitsuko, you could have lost your life or brain damaged at your birth 30 years ago, but you lived till now very well. Please take care of yourself wherever you go.

After Mitsuko became a Christian, Mitsuko was thinking about this incident a lot. At the deliverance prayer Mitsuko saw Jesus was always with her and care of her even at Mitsuko’s birth, and God led Mitsuko to salvation through Jesus Christ.
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Mitsuko’s mother missed most the Ozoni (mochi, sweet rice cake in the soup)
There are hundred different recipes in hundred household. It means each household has their own Ozoni recipe
Basic Recipe (4 bowls)
2 cups soup – made with shaved bonito and kobu
1 tsp salt and 2-3 drops of shoyu
6 sliced baked mochi

With this basic ozoni recipe many different ozoni can be made with the following ingredients.
Meats -thin sliced white chicken – i boiled with salt water
ii Soaked in shoyu and sugar, and then baked
-thin sliced pork soaked in shoga (ginger) shoyu
coat with corn starch and fry
Or just cooked
Fish -fish cake called kamaboko, naruto, satsumaage, etc.
-shell fish, shrimp, clam, oyster
-yellowtail
Vegetable -spinach, boil
-shiitake, cook with shoyu and sugar
-carrot, thin slice and boil
-daikon (Japanese turnip) thin slice and boil
-shungiku (chrysanthemum leaves)
-gobo
-green onion or scallion – can be added always
Tazukuri (fried dry sardine)
2 cups dried sardine
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 Tbsp shoyu
3 tsp sugar
3 tsp hot pepper or white pepper
1 Tbsp sesame seeds, white
Put oil in the hot frying pay
Fry sardine in the fry pan with high heat, constantly mix to prevent from burning
Around 15 minutes until the fish is crunchy
Add shoyu, sugar, hot pepper and sesame seed
Mix well about 1 minute, then cool them off

Kinton (cooked lima beans with sugar and salt) – lima beans paste
2 cups lima beans – soak over night
(2010 Mitsuko learned Kinton is usually made with Japanese sweet potato instead
of lima beans. There are no Japanese sweet potato in olden days in Chicago.)
Wash the lima beans couple of times
Cook lima beans with about 3 cups of water
Bring to boil until the foam builds up
For the purpose of taking the bitterness out from the beans, pour the hot lima beans in the strainer and drain the water and foam
Cook with 3 cups water with low heat till tender – add water as needed
DO NOT PUT sugar or salt until beans are very soft
Put 1 cup sugar and 1 tsp salt and cook till all the juice evaporate
Mix the beans every 30 minutes to prevent burning
Mash the beans for bean paste
It takes about 5 hours from start to finish cooking. (use slow cooker till soft)

Chicago Children’s Chorus Group Concert

The concert was held on Sunday, February 21, at Lakeshore Baptist Church. Around 100 children were standing under the big cross singing “Alleluia!” beautifully. Children’s innocent voices are so pure and heavenly. The picture of Jesus on the wall seemed to listen to those beautiful voices singing “Alleluia!” Those voices made me shiver as if I were in heaven in front of Jesus.

They sang many popular songs, I think. For some of the songs, the conductor asked the audience to sing along. Many in the audience enjoyed singing with them. I don’t know any of the songs except one song sung in Japanese. Many Japanese children sang the song in summer time. I was singing along the Japanese children’s song happily.


The final song was sung in Hebrew called “Shalom!”

It was a very enjoyable concert. Thanks to Eugiene and Nathan who belongs to the group for inviting me to this concert.
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The Revelation Chapter 4 in the Bible talked about heaven. Please read the following Bible passages.
Revelation Chapter 4 The Throne in Heaven
1After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." 2At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. 4Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits[a] of God. 6Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." 9Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11"You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being."
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Croquettes recipe (for 4 people)
Croquettes can freeze to keep for emergency dinner. We ate them for the dinner after the concert.
4 or 5 medium size potato
1 lb ground beef
½ lb sausage meat
1 tsp of each black pepper, garlic powder (or 3 cloves chopped garlic)
½ tsp chicken & beef stock powder or 1 tsp salt,
½ cup of each chopped green onion, celery
any other vegetable such as mushroom, cabbage, beans sprout
2 eggs
2 slices bread
1 cup panko (bread crumbs)
1 cup oil
Cook potato with skin on, and peel skin after potato cooked
Fry ground beef and sausage meat – throw the juice away (80% of the juice is fat)
Beat 2 eggs and mix bread with eggs
Put meat, egg and bread mixture, and all seasoning into cooked and mashed potato
Shaped above potato mixture into 3 inch round (keep into the freezer for later use)
Heat the oil
Coat panko around the shaped potato
Fry the potato into hot, hot oil

Healthy Tempra by Taro's Mother

Taro, 15 years old, Mitsuko’s nephew’s son, living in Sapporo came to Chicago last December. He said he loved shrimp, so Mitsuko made shrimp tempura for him. He said his mother’s tempura is like sauté, not real tempura, because she uses watery batter and a little amount of oil. Mitsuko was deeply impressed with Taro’s mother’s concern for her children. MItsuko said to Taro,
“Your mother knows your stomach has trouble all the time, so she tries not to use too much oil.” Taro didn’t say anything.
Mitsuko made her smelt and vegetable (carrots and green beans) tempura with watery batter and little oil. It is very good for health conscious cooking by controlling cholesterol and diet.
Regular smelt tempura next to round sweet potato and less flour and oil tempura on one plate.
Everybody didn’t say anything.

However, carrots and green beans tempura was not succeeded.
Carrots and green beans were separated, regular ones stuck together.

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The Bible mentions different father and mother functions to raise the children.
I Thessalonians 2:7 “But we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.”
Gentle – mother’s care. Women’s sensitivity and carefulness are good to raise the children
I Thessalonians 2:11-12 “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you …
Father duty is heavy.