I can't stop myself

I know I shouldn't post when I have no pictures and when I can't even make what I ate, but I am so continually impressed by Okinawan school lunches that I have to remember them somehow.

Today, we had a marvelous soup. It was a thick, creamy, rich pumpkin chowder made from kabocha, with lots of little pieces of kabocha and potato swimming inside. Very thick and rich. It also had yummy bits of chicken breast, parsley, onion, and other unidentified tasty things swimming in it. The jumpy yellow-orange color was also quite striking.

The other course was just as good! It was a kind of frittatta (spelling?), made with sweet onion, bacon, spinach-like veggies in small amounts, and red beans (sounds weird, i know, but it was really good!). It was covered in something like katsu/barbeque sauce. Delicious.

I ate the above in a sandwich with the seasame-covered dark-what-sweet hamburger-style bun that was already cut down the middle for me. The bread was surprisingly wholesome for Japanese bread.

Salad was marinated won bok, sweet and slightly salty, with grated carrots and some kind of sausage (peppercini-like?), cut into pieces. I love how the flavors of it all melded together beautifully. I need to learn to marinate vegetables.

And, of course, a pint of milk.


I almost forgot to mention! Some very kind friends got me a birthday cake today, made from a fruit (I don't remember the name) all the way from Peru! My goodness! It was delicious. It was a 2-layer cake, with maple whipped cream frosting, and a dark, sweet cream layer made from the fruit, which is apparently like a persimmon but with the texture of an avocado. It was quite delicious.