Mochi Night

Song:  Ave Maria (Franz Schubert)

Flute:  Alexander Lipay

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We have been having a spectacular winter here.

I love snow and the deep chill in the air.

 My sisters and I decided to make enough Mochi to last all of us quite some time.

We ended up with 6 gallon sized bags to freeze for later use.

I had presoaked the sweet rice overnight.

As my sisters and my mother played a dice game...

I first prepared a quick supper of scrambled eggs and corned beef hash.

(We don't wear shoes in the house...

these are one of my mother's slippers).

My elder sister had bought these aluminum dies...

which light up when moved.

For the eggs...

in order to make them moist and fluffy...

I add a quart of milk to a dozen eggs.

It was just a quick light meal as no one was particularly hungry...

and, so I could start making Mochi.

My younger sister making individual cakes...

and then rolling them in sweet rice flour to coat them so they won't stick

to each other in storage.

We then bagged them for the freezer.

My elder sister got two gallon sized bags for her freezer.

My younger sister likes to make Mochi Soup with the Mochi.

My mother loves Mochi.

Now we have plenty of Mochi and Gyoza in the freezer

for a quick snack or meal at a moment's notice.

I had eaten about a pound of Mochi with last night's supper.

I butter sauteed flounder and I had freshly made Mochi.

I like a mixture of soy sauce and sugar for the dipping sauce.

Communal Gyoza Night

Song:  Good Vibrations

Group:  The Beach Boys

My mother, younger sister, and I, went to my elder sister's home 

to have a gyoza (pot stickers) making party.

We were going to make hundreds of gyoza and put them into freezer bags

so they may be cooked and eaten all year long.

We just arrived at my elder sister's house...

all ready to start making the gyoza.

It was raining at the time...

so we hurried in.

My mother relaxed a bit as my sisters did the vegetable prep for the gyoza.

My elder sister is going to have the TV mounted higher on the wall on the following day.

My elder sister had bought 6 lbs of ground beef...

a large head of cabbage, several onions, some ginger...

and many hundreds of gyoza wrappers.

As my younger sister did most of the veg prep...

my mother had lain out some of the wrappers...

and when the meat and vegetables were ready...

my mother then mixed them thoroughly. 

My mother and sisters then started stuffing the wrappers with the meat and veg. mix.

I then started cooking that night's meal of gyoza while the wrappers were being filled.

My elder sister has a turbo stove.

It cooks so quickly.

I am used to cooking on teflon.

My sister has stainless steel cookware.

Well...

let's just say that the potstickers earned their name on this night.

I like a simple sauce mixture of soy sauce and yellow mustard.

As my sisters and mother continued stuffing the wrappers...

my brother and law and I ate the first batch.

A quick and simple meal.

There are some meals which...

shortly after eating...

make me drowsy.

This is one of them.

I then made more batches for my mother and sisters to eat.

My mother loves gyoza.

My mother got ten quart size freezer bags filled with gyoza to take home.

I will just take them out of the freezer one day early and allow them to defrost

in the fridge...and then cook them anytime we feel like having gyoza in the future.

There was plenty of gyoza left for my elder sister to freeze...

and she had run out of wrappers...

so, on the next day...

she will get more wrappers and finish stuffing them.

My younger sister, mother, and I, left early since we were all getting drowsy

after our meal.

When I got back...

although I usually stay awake all night long...

I ended up sleeping from about 9:30 PM until about 2:30 AM.

Gyoza is just so filling that it makes me so sleepy...

just like a large Thanksgiving meal makes others sleepy.

Anyways...

we had a good time...

we each have plentiful amounts of gyoza to last us much of the year...

and next week...

my elder sister will be coming to my mother's house 

so we can have a communal Mochi making party.

We will make a year's worth of Mochi for freezing.

This way we can bake Mochi...

or use it for Mochi soup throughout the year.