The Kindness of Others...

Bryn-Erinn and I are blessed to have friends, acquaintances in our life that enrich our day to day. We have many who do a large amount of work at our church. We have co-workers who help us in may ways from covering for us, answering questions, or just giving support. Being a resident has given us some sympathy that in some ways has been unexpected, and greatly appreciated. This usually comes from doctors and their families knowing how lean the life as a medical student and resident is. However we have also had untold support from our family, that has been life changing/enriching in many ways. Bryn has a client who found out that I love hockey and decided that we needed to see a professional game. She is the same lady who gave us the Gopher hockey tickets. This last week she gave us tickets to see the Minnesota Wild (previously the North Stars). The game was great and the Wild blew the Maple Leafs out of the water with a final score of 6-1. It was great to see the excitement of Bryn-Erinn as the game progressed. It was a great distraction. Also one of my colleagues, who is a Pulmonary-Critical Care fellow, is Japanese (Nagamatsu Soichiro). I often practice my Japanese with him. While we were working together at Regions I asked him if he knew of any computer programs for 1-3 graders to help them write/read. After his last trip to Japan, to visit family he brought me a grade school study book. Remember that as you look at the cover that they read most books from what we would consider the back to front. We are grateful for those who help us and we wanted to give a thank you shout out. Thank you.

The Christmas Cake...

In Japan they have a unique tradition of having a cake on Christmas day. This is also something that is done in Europe and it is likely that the missionaries in the 1600's brought the idea of Christmas as they were teaching about Christ in Japan (this was before Japan closed it boarders to all foreigners or gaijin). Now a days, it is strange that they would do this as they are primarily a Buddhist country. However the history is quite interesting and a nice way to get friends together. You can link into a brief history about the Christmas cake here. So now it is the Christmas season. For our ward Christmas party they asked those who had lived abroad to help out and bring a treat and a tradition to the party. So I made two Japanese Christmas cakes. They turned out well so I though that I would post the recipe.

Ingredients:

• For sponge cake:
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 tbsp butter
• For topping:
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 4 tbsps sugar
• Various fruits (strawberries, peaches, cherries, and so on)

Preparation:

Whisk eggs in a bowl (for a long time) you want them to at least double in size. The more you whip the fluffier your cake will be. Place the bowl over warm water in another large bowl and whisk further. Add sugar little by little. When the egg mixture becomes light yellow, sift flour and add to the bowl. Mix the flour lightly in the egg mixture. Mix butter in warm milk. Add mixture of melted butter and milk in the batter and stir gently. Preheat the oven in 350-degree. Place baking wax papers inside of a round cake pan (18cm) or use a fat (i.e. butter or crisco) to line the pan. Split the batter between two 9 inch round pans and in the preheated oven for 20-25 min or until a knife can be placed and removed with out any batter sticking. Remove the cake from oven. I let the cake cool in the pan and then remove it to further cool on the rack. Mix heavy cream and sugar in a bowl. Whip the cream well. Take the half of the whipped cream and mix with chopped fruits. Place the cream on top of a round cake slice. Place another cake slice on top of the cream. Spread the rest of the whipped cream on top and around the cake. Decorate the cake with colorful fruits and Christmas decorations. Enjoy.