2011 Garden 2 (Nursery) - Planted!

The new plants are planted on the Memorial Day. Thanks to God for providing such a nice day.

However, the day before the Memorial Day was different.

That day, 60lb. of potting soil for Hiroko, and tomato and pepper pants for Dan-san were purchased at the nursery store called “Lowe’s.” At the Lowe’s, the weather was suddenly changed. The strong wind blew through inside the Lowe’s building. It was so scary that everyone ran to the entrance.

The cloud of the sky looks like starting the tornado. Some calmly said it would not be tornado, but the big rain would be falling. Many were still watching the dark and scary clouds. Dan-san decided to leave from the Lowe’s building, but the big big amount of rain fell.

Well, the Memorial Day was a fine day.

The next door farming expert George

The Back Yard Garden



Dan-san planted those plants and seeds of cucumber and green beans. 

He was too tired to plant those tomato and pepper plants. However, he did plant these next day.

Porch Garden

Elsa didn’t do anything. Hiroko planted 2 jalapeño pepper and 1 hot red pepper in the square pots.

2 biggest pots for cucumber, 2 pots for shishito
There are more plants like shiso, oregano herb, konnyaku and others to take care. Hiroko will do it some other day.

The opposite next door people of George were preparing for the garden picnic while Dan-san and Hiroko was planting.


The Memorial Day was very hot, so they were making plastic pool. How long would it be taking to fill the air in the plastic tube of the pool? They said it would be taking about three hours. Well, it was done in two hours later. They had a wonderful picnic in the yard that night.
 
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Pork Sashimi - Dinner for the day

Pork Roast
Simmer in the water with ginger, green onion, brown onion, garlic, any other vegetables, and seasonings for 6 to 10 hours
Seasoning: beef bouillon, black pepper, red pepper, rosemary, thyme,
Cool off the meat and slice
Serve with sliced lettuce and shoga or hot mustard soy source

Chicago, Maples - Kaede - Momiji

It was a beautiful, warm day in May. All the flowers have usually bloomed in May, but this year, because of the late Easter, or unusual weather, it has not been warm days in Chicago.

The blue sky was so beautiful, but the photo could not express the blue. Regret!

Hiroko thought all the maples are green in the spring, then, it wasn’t. Hiroko was thinking because of this cold weather those maple leaves has already turned in color. Hakoniwa-san posted a beautiful green maple tree in her blog background. Hiroko was so curious that she was walking around in her neighborhood to find out about maple.

There are three different shapes of red leaves. It is called “Japanese maple” in Chicago.

Turning away from the subject, in Chicago, the city provides any trees to plant by the sidewalk. One of Hiroko’s friend requested Japanese maple tree for her sidewalk. Many people must love the maple tree, because there is one tree in each block.

This is one of the beautiful red Japanese maple leaves in the right side of photo.
In the right side of photo, you can see the flowers of the maple.

There is no green leaves of this shape maple by Hiroko’s neighbor, and also her friend’s neighbor in the suburb of Chicago.

This photo of the beautiful green maple leaves borrowed from the Google website. The green maple trees in the Hakoniwa-san’s blog background were also beautiful.

The green maple trees in Chicago

The green maple trees grow very tall. There are so many of this kind of green maple trees by the Michigan Lake.

The big green maple leave

Hiroko’s friend brought the maple leaves from her neighbor.

The leaves in the left-side photo is the same shape of the big tree’s green leaves, but it is red, called “crimson maple.” There are also a “silver maple’ with backside of the leaf is silver color.
The leave in the right side photo is used in the Canada flag. The color of leaf should be in red in the flag.

Here is the Canada flag from Canada official web-site.
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Hiroko’s wonder:
The plants were created at the same day of ground created on the third day. The animals including the human being were created on the sixth day. After the Noah’s flood, only the animals that went in the ark have lived. However, the sea animals and the plants originally made by God has survived. Hiroko was thinking that God would make so many different kinds of maples?

By the way, maple syrup is usually made from xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple or black maple trees, although syrup can also be made from other maple species such as the big leaf maple.

2011 Garden 1, (Nursery)

From the garden hopefully lots of tasty vegetables will be harvesting this year again.
The seeds of cucumber and Shishito (Japanese pepper) were purchased of Kitazawaseed.com in the middle of April. However, the weather was not permitted to plant the seeds in the porch garden. Finally Hiroko decided to plant these seeds inside the house of the end of April.

On the kitchen window frames, 2 each pots of cucumber and shishito seeds were placed

3 pots were placed at the bottom of the window frames, and 1 pot on the top. Hiroko was anxiously watching these pots every day.

Finally these buds were sprung out. It took about 2 weeks for cucumber and 4 to 5 weeks for shishito. One of Hiroko’s friends who bought the cucumber seeds from the same supplier Hiroko bought, said her seeds had never been sprung out. Hiroko gave some of the cucumber buds to her. She said the cucumber plants have been doing well.
Well, Hiroko has to transplant her buds of cucumbers and Shishito soon. When?

Backyard garden

Dan-san put the top soil over the back yard, and said he would plant the seeds on the Memorial Day. Next door garden had already planted all kinds of plants. Hiroko’s cucumber and Shishito buds would also be planted on the Memorial Day. Hiroko hoped it would be a nice day.
 
Before the transplant, Hiroko has to clean up the porch. The porch has collected all the dust and garbages. It was very dirty. Hiroko decided to clean up the porch one day before her brother and sister in-laws coming from California, because she invited some friends to have a dinner with in-laws.

Here is Hiroko’s clean porch garden. The three big pots and square one are added to her porch garden. Elsa wanted to grow some plants, so let her take care of jalapeño pepper plants and red hot pepper which is easy to grow.
Well, Hiroko hoped to transplant all those buds on the Memorial Day.
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Cooking Tips
Chinese cucumber and brown rice were served at the dinner for in-laws and friends.

How to cut hard skin American cucumber
Many people slice all the skin out from cucumber, but it is good to do ….

With fork scratch on the cucumber long way
Peel the part of a cucumber skin

Slice the cucumber
See the design on the cucumber, and the hard skin becomes softer
The Chinese cucumber recipe posted on May 8, 2010, article called “Nursery”
Brown Rice

100% brown rice cooked on the gas stove
Hiroko started to eat brown rice about 35 years ago because she could eat 2 bowls of rice (brown) instead of one bowl of the rice (white). The calorie of 2 bowls brown rice and 1 bowl white rice are same, Hiroko heard. Hiroko love to eat rice. The beginning of two or three months after she switched from white rice to brown rice Hiroko had never been satisfied with any foods she ate. She wanted to eat something all the time. One day she cooked white rice to make maki-sushi for church pot luck. Hmmmm, the smell of the white rice was sooooo delicious. Hiroko ate 2 cups of white rice with eggs and nori. After that she has been enjoying the brown rice.
Recently, Hiroko makes maki-sushi with half and half with brown and white rice, and honey instead of sugar.
By the way, first washing the brown rice has to use little of the water, and then use lots of the water to wash 4 or 5 times. Soak the brown rice over 4 or 5 hours, and then wash the rice again. Cook with the certain amount of the water. It is very easy to cook on the stove, but there is the electric rice cooker for brown rice.

2011 “Mother’s Day” 2nd Time Celebration, Journal

The Saturday before the Mother’s Day, Hiroko was busy helping children to make two Mother’s Day presents at Church, so one week later another celebration was held at the Japanese gourmet restaurant.

The front of “Sun Shine” Japanese Cuisine Restaurant
Hiroko posted the “Maneki Neko” (inviting cats) in the show window of this restaurant May 2010.



Dan-san, Hiroko’s nephew Steven/Amanda, daughters, Elsa and Lisa/Dave came to this dinner.
The beautiful flower on the table from Amanda, and cheered “kampai” with the wine brought by Steven.
Lisa/Dave gave Hiroko couple of the delicious cheese dips from the Farmer’s Market, butter to remember Hokkaido, and oregano plant. Hiroko loves any cheese dips, so she was eating cheese dip spreading on celery, carrot and cracker for her lunch while she was working at the MMIS, so her cholesterol went up to 275. Dr. asked Hiroko quit eating whatever she was eating. Hiroko has to control herself to eat cheese dips.

Appetizers


Squid leg calamari, gyoza and croquettes
Dave wanted to compare with his homemade croquettes to Sun Shine’s one. Of course his home made one was far delicious than this, because in his croquettes lots of butter and cheese, and ham were in.

Dinner dishes


Saba-no-Shioyaki (broiled mackerels with salt) and Una-don (eel on the rice)
Sukiyaki and Tonkatsu (pork cutlet) dinner
Oishikatta (delicious)! Gochisosama (Thank You for the foods)!
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Mother’s Day History
From the Google, searching the origin of the “Mother’s Day” there are many sites are available. Hiroko likes the web-site called www.mothersdaycentral The main idea from the site will be written below. Please go to the site to further informations, and it is interesting to read other sites’ different views of the Mother’s Day.

Spiritual Origin of Mother’s Day
The traditional practice of honoring of Motherhood is rooted in antiquity, and past rites typically had strong symbolic and spiritual overtones; societies tended to celebrate Goddesses. The personal, human touch to Mother’s Day is a relatively new. The material objects from adoration ranged from mythological female deities to the Christian Church itself.
oEarly Egyptian Roots - Goddess Isis
oAncient Roman Celebration – Phrygian goddess Cybele
oGreek – Rhea, the Greek mother of the Gods
oEuropean Celebration – Celebrating Lent and Mother Church

Family Gatherings with human Mom
In the 1600’s in England broadened the celebration to include real Mothers, referring to the day of Mothering Day. During this Lenten Sunday, servants and trade workers were allowed to travel back to their towns of origin to visit the families. Families across England could enjoy a family feast --- Mother was the guest of honor.

History of American Celebration
The first North American Mother’s Day was conceptualized with Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation in 1870. Howe had become so distraught by the death and carnage of the Civil War that she called on Mother’s to come together and protest what she saw as the futility of their Sons killing the Sons of other Mother.
The Rise & Fall of Howe’s Mother’s Day
In 1873 women’s group in 18 North American cities observed this new Mother’s holiday. Howe initially funded many of these celebrations, but most of them died out once she stopped footing the bill. The city of Boston, however would continue celebrating Howe’s holiday for 10 more years.
Despite the decided failure of her holiday, Howe had nevertheless planted the seed that would blossom into what we know as Mother’s Day today. A West Virginia women’s group led by Anna Reeves Jarvis began to celebrate an adaptation of Howe’s holiday. In order to re-unite families and neighbors that had been divided between the Union and Confederate sides of the Civil War, the group held a Mother’s Friendship Day.
Anna M. Jarvis’s Mother’s Day in 1908
After Anna Reeves Javis died, her daughter Anna M. Jarvis campaigned for the creation of an official Mother’s Day in remembrance of her mother and in honor of peace. In 1908, Anna petitioned the superintendent of the church where her Mother had spent over 20 years teaching Sunday School. Her request was honored, and on May 10, 1908, the first official Mother’s Day celebration took place at Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia and a church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The West Virginia event drew a congregation of 407 and Anna Jarvis arranged for white carnation --- her Mother’s favorite flower --- to adorn the patrons. Two carnations were given to every Mother in attendance.

US Government Adoption
Anna Jarvis quit working and devoted herself full time to the creation of Mother’s Day, endlessly petitioning state governments, business leaders, women groups, churches and other institutions and organizations. In 1912 West Virginia became the first state to officially recognize Mother’s Day and in 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed it into national observance, declaring the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

The Fight Over Commercialization
The commercialization of Mother’s Day greatly disturbed Jarvis, so she opposed what she perceived as a misuse of the holiday. In 1923 she sued to stop a Mother’s Day event, and in the 1930’s she was arrested for disturbing the peace at the American War Mothers group. She was protesting their sale of flowers. Despite her efforts, flower sales on Mother’s Day continued to grow. Florist’s Review wrote, “Miss Jarvis was completely squelched.”

Anna Jarvis died in 1948, blind, poor and childless. Jarvis would never know that it was, ironically, the Florist’s Exchange had anonymously paid for her care.