Happy New Year!!!

I did not take many photos from the new year celebration, however, we did it up big. Hawaiian style- family-focused, filled with mochi and tons of fireworks.

Stage 1 of the celebrations kicked off with my baking five types of mochi- pumpkin, strawberry, blueberry, butter and chocolate. I stupidly didn't realize I needed six mochi varieties to properly fill my bento boxes, so next year I will be adding matcha to the line up. ;-)

They all came out perfectly (a rarity), so we quickly packaged them up and made deliveries to about 12 family/friends while they were still warm.

I fine tuned the technique from last year a bit to expedite the process- namely, I borrowed two glass pans from two neighbors so I could prep all five at once. Then, I baked two at a time (was too scared to push my luck and try to bake four at once).

Cooling down for about an hour before we started to cut them up...

The finished product! I can't wait to add the green matcha next year!

We made two platters as well, one for the neighborhood New Years party (our cul de sac rocks), and one for the family party. I also ordered a platter, as I didn't have the time/skill to make chichidango and anko-filled daifuku mochi myself. The platter we ordered was SO good, I will definitely be ordering some again next year even though I also want to try and make my first daifuku mochi as well.

The cul de sac party was perfect- just neighbors, distanced, and a potluck with some fireworks to catch up and reconnect. We only got to spend about 90 min with them before we rushed off to my parents for some fireworks. I was a little nervous about the neighbors wanting to eat mochi, since it's a local Japanese dessert and most did not grow up here, but they loved it! It was very flattering. Mochi can be hit or miss at parties, but it's usually a hit as it's not too foreign/exotic.

Once we got to my parents around 9:30pm...it was a fireworks bonanza for most of the family (my mom and I tend to hide indoors since we're not huge fans of the noise/smoke.

My adorable nieces were rocking their Christmas present from us (dresses from Macy's), and accessorized with some 'pearls' so they looked like little debutantes ready for their cotillion. ;-)

I should have taken a before picture of the amount of fireworks we had- it's a bit gauche to say how much was spent between two families, so I'll just say it was close to what I spend in a month at Costco. ;-) It covered two or three tables, and this was only part of what was left after.

And best of all- my nephew Kenichi obtained some amazing aerial fireworks this year and surprised us all with QUITE a show at midnight we were not expecting. Here is a sampling of just one of the fireworks he set off one after the other at midnight. It was amazing!!! We all had no idea and were just thrilled!!! 

It happened in tandem with the 40,000 firecrackers we set off on the four corners of the house, so it was quite a racket. Chinese tradition is to set them off around the property to ward off the evil spirits. My father has not one drop of Chinese blood, but he does this for my mother, whose father was Chinese. 

We celebrated the actual New Year's Day with a lunch and dinner at my parent's house having an outdoor potluck, since we are back on indoor restrictions with omicron numbers ramping up. It was nice to see the family for three meals in two days, as we don't see each other nearly enough. Were it not for birthdays and holidays, we'd never see each other. 

Oh, and since I failed to brag about this earlier...my SIL recently graduated from the Sheriff's training program. To do so, she had to leave her family for a little over six months and move to another island. But this now makes them the most law-enforcing couple on island...as her husband (my baby brother) is a police officer of about 8 years... I am so proud of the two of them for performing dangerous and thankless jobs keeping our community safe(r) for all.

With both working FT in their respective careers now, 2022 will be a nice change for their family. Their daughters are too young to understand what awesome work their parents perform, but I hope they do someday soon. Lord knows I don't think I'd have the patience/bravery to do it!