Monday Night Cooking

Almost every Monday night, my sister, Meredith, cooks a vegetarian meal (as she is a vegetarian) for herself and a friend or two. Naturally, it being Monday night and I being her brother, we cooked a delicious meal - together!

Yesterday, we made a trip to the DeKalb Farmer's Market to purchase the majority of our ingredients. Not only does this market have an abundance of everything fresh that you might need, there are also spices, fruits, vegetables, cheeses, sauces, and goods that you probably have never heard of before. Or if you have heard of them, you have never seen them stocked in your local grocery store. And it's cheap!! Needless to say, I was in heaven and envy my sister's proximity to such a store.

With our fresh ingredients we made a black bean and rice salad including the aforementioned ingredients along with celery, scallions, cilantro, and oranges and a homemade citrus and cinnamon dressing. We also made our own hummus accompanied with warm pita, a side salad (with fresh cherries and sunflower seeds and a homemade dressing), and apple slices with Port Salut - one of my favorite cheeses. Meredith invited her good friend, Caroline, over and she brought a little wine with her. Such a delicious meal with a side of good conversation and fellowship!

In other news, I've been traveling the southeast for the past week and I have been so blessed to visit with so many good friends - some of whom I didn't expect to see before I left for Japan. Today, I got to spend time with one of my best friends, Brittany. She and I did a lot of catching up, chatting, laughing, and learning. Brittany, among other things, is my first friend who has really taken an interest in my progress with the Japanese language. I showed her how Rosetta Stone worked and then I let her do a beginning lesson. I think she enjoyed it! :)

I also have a new toy. I just purchased a Panasonic HDC - TM700 to take with me to Japan so that I might better document my life over there and share it with you fine people on my blog. I don't have the connector cord with me so I haven't been able to transfer pictures to my computer yet (else I would have some of the food that we cooked tonight), but I will be posting videos and pictures from future endeavors along with the blog.

It's lovely :)

I leave for Japan in 6 days! I think I am ready...no, I know I am ready for this adventure. Please pray for smooth flights/layovers!

xo