There more to Obon than food...

... there's taiko!




































































































































... and dancing!

Obon Snacks

An Obon tradition (well, for us) - kakigori (shaved ice) breakfast:

















Kakigori is a summer staple in Japan and at Obon festivals here. It bears little resemblance to substandard (in my opinion) snow cones with their giant chunks of nasty teeth-shattering ice. The ice for kakigori must be shaved. The machine my 'bachan had required a cylinder of ice and had a large blade and rotary crank that shaved the ice into super-thin snowy chips. My favorite flavor is melon, but that's hard to find outside Japan. So I got strawberry with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the bottom. Breakfast of champions.


Yumi gets pineapple/orange with ice cream.













Trish's lemon/pineapple is crazy-sour.









Stew gets azuki (sweet beans) in his. Trish hates sweet beans. So do I.

Shaved ice con frijoles. Bah.






Yurika's first San Jose Obon shaved ice!













Don't remember what flavor Alex got, but whatever it was...








it turned his tongue red.










The food booths have the usual JA eats: sushi, tempura, udon, chicken salad, yakiniku...








chicken teriyaki in giant grills...










manju...










and more manju...









and corn! Mike came back from his 3000+ tandem bike ride just to get some corn. Don't believe me? Check out his blog.

Our next group hobby?

Movie review: Wordplay
















Delightfully nerdy and entertaining. Who knew Stamford, CT was such a hotbed of intellectual gamesmanship?

Four you food people, there's a crossword clue give in the movie that is totally incorrect (shame on you, Will Shortz). Can you find it?

Verdict: Two bachi way up. Go see this movie, go see it now.


Next movies to see: Prairie Home, Inconvenient Truth, & Who Killed the Electric Car.

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, June 27

Have been home one week.

Weight gained in Iowa: none (How is that possible? I feel fatter.)

Kitty's attitude upon arrival: needy

Current recipes being tested: gelato, chocolate cake, peanut brittle, etc.

Weight to be gained from recipes: four thousand pounds

Plan for working off all those calories: a sprint relay triathalon!















Stay tuned...

So long, and thanks for all the pork!

Monday, June 19
Last day in Iowa!


We spend the morning packing and taking our stuff to FedEx. Franco, Wisa, Roy, and I manage to load 3000+ pounds of equipment into the AMJ box without the aid of a forklift.

Forklifts are for sissies.

All that heavy lifting puts us in the mood for snacks.



We meet Ron & Dan for lunch at Venuto's World Bistro (Judy's recommendation), another adorable place on the ped mall.

Check out their theme dinners and eclectic menu: http://www.venutosworldbistro.com/











I have the Sicilian meatball sandwich. It is slightly spicy, tasty, and substantial. Once again, I manage to finish the whole thing.
















Yumi gets the corn chowder.



































Pam gives the Iowa pork tenderloin sandwich one more try. This one's lightly breaded, not covered in gum-shredding overcooked bread crumbs. She likes this version much better. The pomme frites were a little soggy, though. I would've liked them a little skinner and a lot more crisp. But that's a minor complaint.

Verdict: Venuto's is great - nice service and yummy food. Go to Venuto's!


After lunch, it's time to head to the airport. We say goodbye to Ron, Dan, and the trusty Hancher minivan with her dented bumper.














Thanks Ron & Dan! See you in the fall!














We go to the airport and check in without incident.

Here we are back in May, at the beginning of our trip, crouched in a corner at SFO, frantically trying to find any airplane that's heading east:














And here we are today, happily waiting for our regularly scheduled flight:


















What a difference.

Thanks to Chuck, Judy, Ron, Jessica, the rest of the Hancher staff, and everyone with the SPOT program! We hope to see y'all in the fall at the other school (University of Iowa will always be our favorite).


Stay tuned for Obon food reports...

Concert & Cosmos

Sunday, June 18
After three weeks of playing short sets on the street and in cafe-gymna-toriums, it's finally time to play a concert! Since this is mostly a chronicle of our food adventures, I won't go into details about the concert, except to say that it went okay.

As usual, we do our post-show meet-'n-greet in the lobby. We talk to some folks from a martial arts dojo who are thinking about starting their own group. Finally - taiko in Iowa.

Party afterwards @ Chuck's. We meet some of the donors who helped make our residency possible. We also meet Jack the dog.

PJ gets her puppy fix.









Uncle Roy seems to be slipping Jack some snacks. Both of them deny it. Hm.
























Chuck's wife makes her famous ham balls and some really good spinach dip. PJ gets the dip recipe - unfortunately for me, it includes bleu cheese. I get the ham ball recipe and plan on making a triple batch for the obon potluck.


Chuck makes some wicked cosmos. He says he perfected his recipe one night after making eight versions.









Anyone who can drink eight of these and remain standing gets my respect.

Free day! Mostly.

Saturday, June 17
Morning off. We go to the Iowa City Farmers' Market, which has some nice produce, crafts, and is way bigger than Perry (IA) or Hartford (WI), tho not as good as Campbell (CA). Then again, I am spoiled - northern Cal is the land of produce, and there are always plenty of interesting things in season. But this market has one thing we don't have at home: Amish jams & baked goods. I buy rhubarb jam, oatmeal cookies, blueberry pie from the Yoder family.

I would've taken photos of their stall... oh well.

We spend the rest of the morning wandering the ped mall, shopping. Yumi & Wisa get cool haircuts.

There are far too many cute stores here, including...

Prairie Table! Pretty, pretty kitchen things! And cheeses! Meats!











And Bochner chocolates!

http://www.bochnerchocolates.com/

We had these at the donor's dinner thing back when we first arrived in Iowa City. Lots of interesting flavors, shapes, and colors. Not your typical truffle.


Pam gets chocolates for Craig. After we do some sampling.

I highly recommend the apricot gelee.






We stop by a pet store, which is filled with wandering cats, all available for adoption. I get my kitty fix.



All this shopping puts us in the mood for snacks, so we go to...






...Atlas World Grill. Another excellent Ron/Dan suggestion.

http://atlasworldgrill.com/

Tomoko arrives! Just in time for lunch.







Roy and I each get an enormous burrito with pulled pork (nicely seasoned), mashed potatoes (with parm), cole slaw (yummy but skimpy), onion rings (genius). These are things that you can't legally put in a burrito and still call it a burrito, but whatever. I call it yummy.

I finish mine. Roy does not.

Maybe this is why Roy can still fit into his pants, and I cannot. Hm.


Yumi gets a giant Buffalo chicky salad.









Believe it or not, it's too big. Even for Yumi. She declares defeat.









PJ gets lemon & raspberry tart. Nice curd (thought it could've been more tart), fresh raspberries (lovely), brisee crust (oy, why not sucree???). It comes with raspberry ice cream (which makes up for the brisee).



We waddle off to Hancher Auditorium and spend the rest of the day loading in & doing all the tech stuff.

Late dinner at Perkins (the only thing that's open 24/7). I am still full from the burrito.