New Year's O-SE-CHI dinner

Hmm... I wonder why everything seems to revolve around food here...
This is the story of my New Year's Eve, when I ushered in 2010 to my life.
My friend Jess invited me along to a dinner party at her, and our, friend Eric's apartment. (This is Eric)
They had dreamt up the idea of having an osechi dinner, which means a lot of little Japanese dishes (I think). I tried to think of something to bring, but only came up with some Japanese candy that I found at Borders, of all places. "MADE IN JAPAN" it said, leaping out at me. "Perfect!" I thought.
But I soon discovered that nothing I could have brought would really have countered the awesomeness of the food I was going to consume this night. Jess and Eric both showed their true gourmet skillz.
There was some sort of sea creature, dried out and in strips, to soften and wind around another sea creature... well, I'm still not sure what I was eating, but I know it was really good. Here's the appetizer I helped with:
The entire exercise was made more intimate and exciting by the size of the range in Eric's apartment:
Cozy! :-)

Abandon all order, ye who...

"And so, abandoning all semblance of order, she decided to throw things up, wil-he, nil-he."

I made these. Some time ago. Here was my result:
Pretty good, right? Well, they do kind of look like dried fish hopping about, but still. I was just watching Mark Bittman video clips, which I find truly funny, because silly, and thought to myself: "He really does do things that are dead easy, but require some knowledge to put together." I would not have thought of this as a way to dispose of the 16 sheets of plain, dried nori I got with my Teaism Afternoon Tea had I not seen him do it online! Bravo, I got to enjoy these succulent morsels instead of assigning them the dustbin because they were tasteless. :-)

Video from Okonomiyaki

Living, Breathing Katsuobushi! On top of our Japanese griddle-cake. :-)

Tokyo Treats (and Airplane Atrocities)

My first food consumed in Tokyo- ramen with pork broth (and several different forms of pork, I think): heaven in a bowl!

My second meal in Tokyo, the next morning: the freshest sushi around, right outside the Tsukiji Fish Market (it was about 6:45 AM at this point). Just for contrast, my airplane meal for breakfast on the United flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles- yuck! The egg-cheese-form was edible, the sausage was not, and the potato-y thing was good with salt.

More to come! :-)