2006-11-06 - 1:35 p.m.
Three Cheers for Masaki, Three Cheers for Minako, and Observations on my Decent into Wifedom
************
Three cheers for Masaki, who gave me a part-time job selling used clothing at his shop. Three cheers for Masaki, who wasn't at all phased when the grand totals at the end of my first and second days at work fell far short of what he'd promised to pay me each day. Three cheers for Masaki for paying me in cash every night!
Three cheers for Masaki for not minding that I try on what is - in my opinion - the nicest item in the whole store at least three times a day. And that item is a Burberrys jacket that fits me like a proverbial glove. Probably I should just buy it - I know full well that he would let me have it for something to the tune of fifty Canadian dollars - but Shuhei and my pressing need for a washing machine prevents me...
Instead, I refer to it as my Dusting Jacket, and wear it while I'm dusting things that aren't dusty, which is what I do while not reading, looking at fashion magazines, or using the Internet when no one else is in the shop (which is often).
I ask Masaki if anyone tries my Dusting Jacket on while I'm not here to please tell them that they don't look so hot in it. Masaki says that he will. I ask Masaki for his permission to do the same. Masaki laughs and says go ahead. Three cheers for Masaki!
(And three more cheers for Masaki for knowing that I'm blogging, right now, and not minding at all.)
************
Three cheers for Minako who, upon learning of my need to perform a diplomatic pilgrimage, invited me to go to Tokyo with her. Three cheers for Minako for actually accompanying me right to the Canadian Embassy to get my Marriage Affidavit signed, stamped, and sealed! Three cheers for Minako for being the only person on the train to the Embassy still human enough to help the young lady who got sick on it...
Three cheers for Minako and for Minako's rich cousin, who took us for a fancy French luncheon of many courses and pastries...
Three cheers for Minako for not making me feel at all like a jerk when I decided that I would rather cough up the extravagent fare for the Shinkansen than have to take the Panda-Go bus again. (The leg-crampiest bus that these legs have ever seen.)
************
And, now that I have a signed, stamped, and sealed Marriage Affidavit, I've got everything I need to get married. Including a nasty collection of cuts and burns on my hands...
Over the past week-and-a-half I've accumulated two of each, of various severities. The most concerning is the burn that oozed for three days and looks as though it will take close to another month to heal. And this sort of thing is unusual for me. I'm not normally a careless, clumsy sort of girl. I worked all summer in a bakery - stuck my arms in and out of hot ovens upwards of twenty times daily - and didn't injure myself once.
I'm not concerned though. In fact, I'm inclined to view it as progress. Two of the most domestically competant people I know (that being Nikky and my aunt Rosie) are also the most accident prone. And I don't think that they will mind me saying that because it's highly unlikely that they don't already know. And the fact that we now all have a tendancy towards injury in common may be rightly interpreted as proof of my Decent into Wifedom.
Further proof may be noted in my ability to resist the fifty dollar Burberrys jacket. Appearently, I now value household appliances over fashion. Appearently, I'm not even ashamed enough by hideously un-cool that is to try to keep it a secret...
And, of course, what Decent into Wifedom would be worthwhile without recipe sharing? I recently made the brilliant, wonderful, and exciting discovery that bagels are shockingly easy to make. Frankly, I resent every penny I ever spent on them. (And that's a lot of pennies.) Not to mention all the time I spent rummaging through the Mount Royal Bagel Factory dumpster...
Shuhei had never even had a bagel before. It's entirely possible that we're the only people in Northern Japan breakfasting with bagels...
Long story short, the following recipe works just great, though I do offer it along with a little advice:
http://www.canadianliving.com/CanadianLiving/client/en/Food/DetailRecipe.asp?id=3013
1) Three cups of flour is an estimate, and a bad one at that. I don't measure flour, but I'm sure that I'm using much more than three cups. Your dough is ready when it's no longer sticky. Use as much flour as you need to get it that way.
2) I don't have a Dutch oven either. Use whatever will provide you with the most poaching surface area. In my case, it's a large frying pan.
3) I liked my bagels more when they were poached for a minute-and-a-half on each side, which made them turn out extra chewy.
