Keeping up with Keizo

Given the title of this blog, I think it's kind of important to keep you all appraised of what Keizo has been cooking and eating too.

First, thank you for the kind notes and inqueries in light of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Thankfully, Fukuoka, where Keizo lives is located at the opposite end of the island chain from Sendai. His family lives on Shikoku, and they are also safe and sound. Still, the devastation to the north is a big shock to everyone and it will take a very long time before life returns to some semblance of normal for those in the affected area.

Now with the geography lesson out of the way, time for the food!

It seems my love of pasta had rubbed off quite a bit on Keizo:

Bow-tie pasta with sauteed onions, chicken and pesto sauce.

Yummy-san's 3 step minestrone soup with carrots, chicken meatballs and pasta.

But he's also been cooking up some more traditional recipes. He had some teammates over to help him eat the kimchi nabe below:

And this week he is visiting his parents at their traditional house way up in the mountains of Tokushima. I was lucky enough to visit at the end of the my first stint in Japan, and his parents are amazing cooks. Homemade okonomiyaki:

One day we will be back cooking and eating together, but for now, this will have to do.