Ephemeral Life...

Someone sweet made me this cherry creamcheese pie with homemade crust and all. It was absolutely delicious. Even more enjoyable when I shared it with friends. You can follow a standard recipe and duplicate most food creations. But unless you truly put the secret ingredient of love inside. It just won't taste the same...

My boys asked me why these fish all had open gaping mouths. I told them that they all died screaming when they were caught in the net...

I don't know about you. But my boys and I feel a lot safer swimming in the ocean knowing that this fish is dead...

I'm not sure how fresh the Maaji fish from Japan is. Maybe they mean it was fresh when they caught it and now they flew it to Hawai`i so it may not be that fresh. But it may have been frozen. Or maybe they mean it was freshly flown, not freshly caught. The eyes are supposed to be clear, not cloudy. That is what I teach my boys. The akule may be locally caught and the eyes were much clearer. I couldn't tell how fresh the Japanese tako, or octopus, was because it didn't have any eyes. They were still in his head wherever his head was...

My boys thought these were potatoes and asked me why they were all stuck together. I explained to them that they were Hasu, also known as Lotus Root. And that they were $2.28 a pound. Regularly $3.49 a pound. And that they were used for cooking and you could eat them. And they were brown. And a root. And a Lotus root. Oops, said that already. Actually I knew nothing about them but I read the sign and bluffed as much as I could because as a Daddy, you want your kids to think you know about everything in the world so they feel safe and secure. The unknown can be frightening...

Good thing Don Quijote, formerly Daiei from Japan, was open. Many hungry people milled about foraging for food on Christmas Day. When you are hungry. There is no gift finer than food...

Let's see. One of these knick-knacks truly expresses the Christmas spirit. My son Elliott actually chose it from a grab-bag selection at his school. He made me so very proud. Can you guess which one he brought home?