From 2010.  Unfortunately, all my Aunts who know how to prepare Shogatsu are getting too old to do all of the preparation and cooking.  But the memory will always stay with us.  From 2022, my 90 year Aunt in SoCal will prepare a modified shogatsu meal for her family!!!

If you should ever get invited to a Japanese family on January 1, you MUST go!  It is a life-changing experience, and ensures you will be invited into perpetuity!!

The three-day New Year holiday is a very special time in Japan, a time of solemn prayers and joyous greetings. While New Year’s Day is a holiday in many parts of the world, the occasion has a unique significance to the Japanese, who take the opportunity to begin anew many aspects of their lives.   New Years is regarded in Japan as an auspicious occasion. As such, it is filled with traditional activities which, it is hoped, will result in a more successful year. The people particularly observe the age-old Japanese custom of not carrying-over any debts or tasks from the old year to the new. As the end of the year approaches, therefore, businessmen busily wind up their affairs of the old year. They try to pay all their obligations by New Year’s Eve. Even non-businessmen try to clear the slate by the end of the year.  I wish I could do the same.

Homemakers all over the nation work extra hard preparing for the holiday. They must prepare many special foods, clean the house even more rigorously than usual, and make decorations for the holiday season. The cleaning is called Susuharai, or soot-sweeping. Both inside and outside the house, the stains, physical and spiritual, of the past year are rubbed out in order to purify the home and make it fresh for the New Year.   

Then, on New Year’s Eve, a pine decoration known as Kadomatsu is set up on both sides of the front entrance. Some homes have elaborate Kadomatsu with bamboo added to the pine, as well as plum branches. The Kadomatsu is thought to welcome good luck into the house.  Another, equally-important decoration is the Shimenawa, a sacred rope made of straw on which zig-zag strips of paper have been hung. This is placed above the front entrance in order to prevent “evil spirits” from entering the house.

My favorite part is the food.  My Aunt in Fresno has graciously invited us to attend Shogatsu at her home.  Many special dishes are prepared for the New Year celebration. An important food at New Year is Omochi, steamed rice that has been pounded and formed into cakes. There is actually a machine that has replaced making this by hand and wooden hammer. This is eaten either grilled on a frying pan or in a soup, known as Ozoni. Vegetable dishes are also popular during the New Year holiday, partly because they are easy to prepare and easy to store. Food shops generally remain closed throughout the holiday period, so it is necessary to stock up on all items.

Offerings are made to the household gods on a small table. The offerings usually consist of Omochi, dried persimmons, dried chestnuts, pine seeds, black peas, sardines, herring roe, a cray fish, a sea-bream, some dried cuttlefish, Mochibana, or flowers made of rice and straw, mandarin oranges, and many other items varying from district to district.

Preparations for the holiday are all completed by New Year’s Eve. By then, all businesses and nearly all stores are closed, and a calm settles over both city and countryside. During the three-day holiday period in Japan, known as Shogatsu Sanganichi , everyone except those who run amusement enterprises or are responsible for essential services, such as transportation, have a period of vacation. For many people in Japan, the year-end holiday actually begins around December 29, when all public offices begin their vacations. Others end their work either on the 30th or early on the 31 st. In recent years, therefore, more people have been taking advantage of the long holiday to travel to the countryside for skiing and skating, or for relaxing at hot spring resorts. We generally are not able to do this here in the United Sates.

On New Year’s Eve, most people spend their time with their families. Sons and daughters who have moved to the city return to their parents’ homes in the country if this is at all possible. That way the entire family greets the New Year together. Many families pass the evening watching special television programs. Others visit shrines and temples where they pray by the light of bonfires.
 

Customary Shogatsu foods include toshikoshi soba, a long buckwheat noodle eaten on New Years Eve that symbolizes long life. It is also customary to eat Osechi-ryori, a collection of traditional foods served together in the small sections of jubako box.
Jubako box
 
Each food served in the jubako box carries its own symbolic meaning. For example, black soybeans symbolize health, while herring roe symbolizes the prospect of many children. Mochi, or sticky rice cakes, are made in the last days of the closing year, and eaten during Shogatsu. Mochi may be topped with persimmon or orange, and are used as a decoration as well as a food.
 
Osechi DishesKobumaki – Kelp RollsKuromame – Simmered Black BeansDatemaki – Rolled Sweet OmeletKurikinton – Mashed Sweet Potato with Sweet Chestnuts)Kinpira Gobo – Braised BurdockTazukuri – Candied Dried SardinesNamasu – Pickled Daikon Radish and CarrotNimono – Simmered Dish
Nimono includes gobo (burdock root), satoimo (taro), renkon, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, and more.Kazunoko (herring roe)Ebi-no-saka-mushi – Sake Steamed ShrimpPink and White Kamaboko (fish cakes)Tai-no-shio-yaki (grilled sea bream)
Added to this are many typical American and Japanese foods, and foods that children are more likely to enjoy.  These would include:  shrimp and vegetable tempura, sushi, sashimi, teriyaki chicken, sato imo (a cousin of the taro), barbecued pork (char-siu), rice, renkon (lotus root), and edamame (soy beans).  Many special desserts are also made for the holidays, including:  chi chi dango, manju, yokan, and various traditional pastries.

It takes several days of preparation and shopping to put this celebration together.    In most cases, the home is opened up to friends and relatives.  During the course of the day, people come and go.  But each time, the host and hostess are expected to join the newly arrived guests in some food and drink.  Stick around all day, and you can expect to eat and drink yourself silly for the New Year. 

So, we will see all of my cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and some old time friends.  We will eat all of the traditional foods and root for the Pac 10 to win the Rose Bowl.  For now, this is the best New Year next to watching my Cal Bears play in the Rose Bowl, someday.

How I miss this celebration, my favorite of all holidays.

gerry


If you want to learn more, check this out:

https://japantoday.com/category/special-promotion/Why-we-eat-‘osechi’-at-New-Year-and-what-each-dish-means#.Y4Y4qnoY7OM.gmail

I doubt I will ever be a vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, or flexitarian.  But I will confess to periods, as short as a day, maybe longer, where I avoid eating red meat or chicken.  One of my favorites now, is eggplant, an often-forgotten purple vegetable.  What do any of us know about it?  Another favorite is Brussels sprouts, along with many Chinese greens (like gai lan), names of which I cannot spell or pronounce very well.  Here is more on both:

From “Explore” Health:  Eggplants, one of the few purple vegetables you’ll find in a mainstream market, aren’t very popular with consumers. In fact, they don’t even rank in the top 20 veggies sold in the U.S. But after reading about the nutritional benefits of eggplant, you may want to step up your intake. Here’s the lowdown on this somewhat mysterious plant, and easy ways to incorporate it into your everyday eating routine.

One cup of cubed eggplant provides just 20 calories, but offers up some important nutrients. Anthocyanins, the pigments that give eggplants their purple hue, have antioxidant properties linked to anti-inflammation and obesity protection. Another, called nasunin, is particularly good at fending off free radicals, and protecting cells from damage that can lead to premature aging and disease. This may be especially true in the brain, making eggplant an important food for protecting against neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.

Eggplant’s chlorogenic acid supports immunity through its antimicrobial and antiviral activities. And a cup of eggplant also provides about 10% of the daily target for manganese, a mineral that helps produce collagen and promote skin and bone health. The veggie supplies smaller amounts of folate and other B vitamins, potassium, and vitamins C and K.

In addition to the antioxidants, nutrients, and fiber eggplants provide, they may offer protection against the top killer of men and women in the U.S.: heart disease. Eggplant anthocyanins have been shown to help reduce artery stiffness and central blood pressure in women. Central blood pressure, the pressure in the aorta, which sends blood from the heart out to the body, is a predictive measure of heart disease and stroke. Anthocyanins also help prevent the oxidation of “bad” LDL cholesterol, a precursor to artery hardening, which can lead to either heart attack or stroke.

Eggplant is a non-starchy, or low-carb vegetable. A one cup portion, about the size of a baseball, contains just 5 grams of carb, and just 2.5 grams net carb. In addition to supporting digestive health and bowel regularity, eggplant fiber helps regulate blood sugar and insulin levels, and supports weight loss by boosting fullness. It also makes a great filler when cutting back on other higher carb foods. For example, serving one cup of cubed eggplant with a half cup of cooked penne pasta instead of the reverse saves about 20 grams of carb per meal.

Eggplants are a member of the nightshade family, which also includes tomatoes, bell peppers, and potatoes. Tom Brady famously avoids this group, due to compounds they contain called alkaloids, which are linked to inflammation. If you have an existing inflammatory condition, such as rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis, avoiding nightshades may help to not exacerbate your symptoms. But there is no solid research to show that nightshades cause inflammatory conditions to develop.

It’s also important to know that steaming, boiling, and baking all help reduce the alkaloid content of nightshades by about 40% to 50%. In addition, you lose out on the anti-inflammatory antioxidants and other nutrients nightshades provide when you avoid the entire group. If you have chronic inflammation consider trying an experiment. Without making any other changes to your diet, cut out nightshades for two to four weeks and monitor your symptoms. If you do notice a difference, and symptoms return after adding them back to your diet, minimizing or avoiding them may be for you.Another favorite of mine, Brussels sprouts (also from Health):  

Brussels sprouts (yes with an s, like the city) are named after the veggie’s history of cultivation in Belgium. Part of the cruciferous vegetable family, the sprouts’ cousins include cauliflower, kale, broccoli, cabbage, collard greens, and bok choy.

Low in calories, at less than 40 per cup, Brussels sprouts are also low-carb, packing just 8 grams per cup raw, including 3 grams as fiber. And they’re nutrient powerhouses, providing a range of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and a little bonus plant protein. Here are seven more impressive reasons to incorporate them into your regular eating routine.

Brussels sprouts are antioxidant powerhouses. One study found that when volunteers ate about two cups of Brussels sprouts per day, damage at the cell level was slashed by nearly 30%.

The fiber in Brussels sprouts (about 4 grams per cooked cup) helps regulate blood sugar levels, supports digestive health, and helps feed the beneficial gut bacteria tied to positive mood, immunity, and anti-inflammation.

One cup of cooked Brussels sprouts packs over 150% of the minimum daily vitamin C target. This important nutrient acts as an antioxidant, supports immunity, vision, and iron absorption, and is needed for collagen production.

Per cup, cooked Brussels sprouts pack over 250% of the recommended daily target for vitamin K. In addition to helping to clot blood, this nutrient plays a role in bone health and may help protect against bone loss.

Compounds in Brussels sprouts act like natural detoxifiers, meaning they help deactivate potentially damaging chemicals or shuttle them out of the body more quickly.

In addition, the sulfur compounds in Brussels sprouts are known to reduce ulcer risk by limiting Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) overgrowth and preventing bacteria from clinging to the stomach wall.

Just to cleanse your palate:  Life Savers made their debut in 1912, when chocolate manufacturer Clarence Crane decided to branch out and produce a candy that wouldn’t melt as easily in heat. According to ThoughtCo, their name came from their life-preserver-like shape, which was created by a pill-making machine. The first flavor Crane used for his product was peppermint, which was sold as Pep-O-Mint when Edward Noble bought the rights to the candy in 1913.

So, there are two of my favorites.  When I eat them, I automatically feel better, good fiber too.  Not because I am trying to be a vegetarian, but because I really enjoy eating them.