Most weekends are busy, but this weekend has been way beyond busy. Let me explain.
Yesterday and the day before, I spent most of my time working on a talk for the youth group, which we will present tomorrow. As for the content, let’s just say that it’s a topic Japanese parents (and probably a lot of American parents too) are embarrassed to talk to their children about… wink wink nudge nudge. One of the advantages (?) of being a gaijin in Japan is that you can get away with saying things that others can’t. I have a feeling this will work in our favor on this particular occasion. Please pray for us!
Today we had a 納骨式 (noukotsu shiki—depositing the ashes of a deceased church member in the church’s grave plot). Although this person had died a couple of months ago, we had to wait for the snow to melt to go to the grave. The weather was better than expected, and after the ceremony was over, everyone was standing around eating snacks and drinking tea—at the cemetery—I admit I set down my cup on a headstone more than once. I overheard the deceased person’s younger sister enthusiastically talking about a certain plant, which happened to be growing abundantly across the street. I never would have guessed that you could eat it, since in Seattle it’s generally a nuisance. Yes… I’m talking about Japanese knotweed, which is called イタドリ (Itadori) in Japanese. So, we went together and cut a whole bunch. She taught me a couple of recipes for other wild plants, too. Oddly enough, Japanese knotweed tastes a lot like rhubarb, which is hard to get here… so believe it or not, there is a blueberry and knotweed crumble in the oven.
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| Blueberry and knotweed crumble. Kudos to Keith for peeling all of it... |
2 comments:
Looks yummy.
I'll have to try that.
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