Inouye's know the blessing of good food . . .

I have lots of food memories from my childhood: Grandpa Sashichi drinking from the spout of the teapot, Daddy (Charles Ichiro) coming home late from the farm and sitting at the kitchen table for only seconds before a plate heaped with food would be placed in front of him; waking up on Sunday morning to the sound of the Sunbeam mixer beating egg whites so that we could have Mom's (Bessie) wonderful pancakes, watching Grandpa (Sashichi) eat mochi after mochi on New Year's morning, the wonderful way that Uncle Henry would cut through his stack of three big pancakes all the way from top to bottom, then left to right, then in-between those cuts before he would pour the syrup over all those now bite-sized pieces, the egg and bacon sandwiches that we ate on opening day at Fishlake, teriyaki beef on a stick with potato pancakes for Dillon's favorite meal, going to Richfield to eat at the Rainbow cafe or Johnson's Hotel where Dwight always ordered a big steak, getting slushes in Richfield on a hot day, eating beautiful, ripe tomatoes with salt and pepper in front of the sink with Daddy (Charles Ichiro), being served a thick slice of cantaloupe with a big scoop of ice cream in the hole in the middle, raisin filled cookies from Parson's bakery, black licorice snaps from Alvins's Market, riding my bike with my Warren and Charles to the Sigurd Merc. to get penny candy . . . I could go on and on. Food was and is an important part of our family. And I love the way that we stay connected to our loved ones by continuing to make certain foods like Grandma's (Bessie) rhubarb pie and Auntie Ruthie's sekihan (happiness rice). So let's continue to share or food stories and recipes with one another through this blog. I'm anxious to hear from you all. AA