4th Annual Kodomo Nohi 2008

For the last four years we have hosted a "Children's Day Party (Kodomo Nohi)" It is a chance for us all to get together for some good food and good fellowship. We invite any and all Japanese we know personally or happen to run into during the course of the year. This year was Fantastic as we had lots of new Families join us. We hold the party each year at my parents and Rieko is an amazing Hostess.Here are the links for the past couple of years: 2005, 2006, and 2007 Party!

Here are the Pictures from the 2008 Party!

If you have any pictures that you would like to add please send them to rieko7@comcast.net

Please post a comment if you came or if you have any ideas for next year!!

We went out on the boat as usual and saw dolphins. The kids love seeing them. We had about 30 people on the boat for each of 2 trips!

We had a lot of new families join us this year which was great. We hope next year is even more successful!

Kids Fishing Tournament

My Favorite photo from the tournament. Yuria and her Barbie Fishing pole.

Our yatch club has a fishing tournament just for kids each year. The kids love it!

Kenneth and his first catch. After a quick measure back into the harbor the fish goes.

Sammy concentrating on getting his fish to the measuring station.

Yuria and her GrandPa.

The Kids and all of their loot. Joining us today is Dima (second from left)
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Presbyterian Collage Boat Trip

My college invited Charleston Alumni for a boat ride in the Harbor. It was for young alumni whichs begs to question why WE were invited. We were the only ones with kids with us...heck I think the only ones with kids period.

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Kenneth's 10th Birthday

Rieko Makes all of the Kids Cakes...ain't she good?!


I can not believe that Kenneth is already 10 years old. It seems like just yesterday I was young and carefreee :)


Here are some pictures. We had the party at our house this year.


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La Caja China

It has been a long time since I posted. Sorry about that. We have been busy with Summer and with School just about to start back up we are cramming in activities we just won't have time for when school does begin next week.

Here are some pictures from the cooking we did for Kenneth's 10Th birthday. I LOVE my Caja China!!

Here is the Raw meet getting ready to be turned into something yummy...for La Caja China experts out there..can you spot my nearly fatal mistake?

Here is Dad adding the lighter fluid. We love this part. As much fluid as you want can be added since none of the flavor goes into the meat. 2 piles of bricks...just like the side of the box says :)

More Fluid and a visit from Yuria.

FIRE!!!!

When the charcoal is ready it looks something like this. Spread it out and sit back and enjoy your hour off cooking with a nice cold adult beverage.

This is after one hour of cooking. We use a dry rub from a local BBQ catering outfit. Great stuff. Can you spot my mistake yet? Bone up for the first hour is the rule...I did not follow it. Luckily it turned out fine but the general 2 rules we have found the MOST important. Start your food from room temperature..especially when doing a pig and ALWAYS do bones up for the first part.

After the flip we decided to lather on some BBQ sauce. The ones to the left is typical ketchup based sauce while to the far right is Mustard based. All of them have the dry rub but the middle ones are left that way.

You will also not that we have added corn to the mix. It is a tough receipie for perfect corn so you may want to take notes.

Step one: Fresh Corn
Step two: 1/4 to 1/3 inch slab of butter
Step 3: Wrap in tinfoil
Step 4: Toss in La Caja China

Doesn't sound like much but it is awesome and in the last 30 mins it takes to finish the ribs the corn cooks perfectly.

AWESOME!!!

Get your own at http://www.lacajachina.com/

Father's Day

We had a great Father's Day which included great steaks, a boat ride and time with the family. Fantastic!!!

Thanks kids for my new Grill cover. It is very special!

La Caja China

We broke out the magic box once more to prepare food for a visit from an old college buddy. This time we did Chicken and Ribs. All turned out fantastic as usual. The Chickens did not brown like I was hoping once I turned them but they were fantastic tasting and that's what matters. We have done ribs 2x now using a dry rub from BlackJack BBQ which is a local James Island Company. We love it. We are going to try and use BBQ sauce the next time. I am thinking we should add the sauce once we flip the ribs at the 1 hour mark. Any Suggestions?

See the little dish in the corner? That is our lame attempt at using Hickory Wood chips to add flavor. My father and I agree that at this point it is more for presentation than anything else. :)

Our next adventure will either be the 4th of July or Kenneth's 10th BDay at the end of July. I have to find more reasons to cook with this thing. I am trying to convince my wife that we can cook 4 racks a rib one Saturday each month and then we could freeze them and eat them throughout the month.