Pizza

This picture shows our littlest chef in the family sporting his new cooking attire, courtesy of yet another one of my talented aunts. My Aunt Bev made some awesome aprons for the boys, complete with Chefs hat (lovingly embroidered by Aunt Betty), kerchief, and a set of pot holders.

As a little New Year's celebration, we had a "pizza and movie night". This used to be a favorite Friday event in the Felker household when we were still in Juneau. Pizza is harder to come by here in Japan. It's not unheard of, just not as accessible. So, using a foccacia recipe, we made our own pizza. Here are some shots of Ridge assisting with the preparations. Notice the stylish dragon apron he is wearing. Sometimes the kids at school cook as an activity for the day. Now Ridge will be fully prepared with his own apron. For the pizza tonight, Ridge kneaded his own dough and helped chop some of the toppings. We cut up mushrooms and green peppers, along with slicing the cheese into more manageable bits. Unfortunately, shredded cheese is not terribly common here in the village. Usually we find it in one of the bigger cities. So, we had to make do with these somewhat non-descript white cheese slices. We also had some pre-cooked bacon and chicken as toppings.

Ridge and I cutting mushrooms
Ridge creating his pizza masterpiece
Ridge's very own homemade pizza, ready for the oven

Since I wanted to make a pizza for each of us, we used the cool stove-top oven my mom sent. This worked perfectly to cook Ridge and Holt's pizzas while mine and Aaron's cooked in the microwave/oven.

Ridge's finished pizza in the oven
A finished pizza for Aaron and me

I thought the dinner came out quite well, and we had a nice evening eating homemade pizza and watching Mary Poppins. Holt really grooves to the "It's a Jolly Holiday with Mary" bit.

Japanese New Year's Eve traditions apparently involve drinking sweetened sake, making soba (a noodle made from buckwheat), and visiting the shrine at midnight. Our festivities will be limited to a party at Mr. Kamaya's house tomorrow. I am interested in Japanese traditions, but dragging my two young children out to the shrine - at midnight and in the cold- just doesn't sound like much fun.

A close up of Holt in his hat. He didn't want to knead his dough because his hands "would get all messy!"