iron chef gar: the birthday edition



It was Shiv's birthday last night, so like the dutiful BF that I am, I did my best to throw her a party and cook for her. I decided to try to make okonomiyaki (pron. "o-ko-no-mi-ya-ki") from scratch, a favorite dish in the Osaka/Kansai area where I stayed in Japan and something that's pretty much unknown here in America. Shiv got to eat some when she visited me in Japan, so the pressure was on for me to make an authentic approximation of the dish.

I pieced together a recipe using Google, but my biggest worry was about finding the sauce, but luckily, Uwajimaya saved the day (whoohoo!). They actually had the same brand of sauce that my host mother would always use with her tasty homemade okonomiyaki. Combined with a $18 hot grill from Target, I'd say the result was a success - Shiv and everybody devoured all the okonomiyaki I made. Kata!

The chef also got tickle attacked by the nannee of my sister, the nanny (in between episodes of VegiTales, of course.).




Ah, if only my life was filled always with such laughter.


.:.


In retrospect, maybe I went a bit overboard in preparing the okonomiyaki. After all, it was my first try cooking it and there are other things I can make. But I have strong feelings about the celebration of birthdays, probably because of my experiences with my own. I vow never to have a kid born near Christmas or New Year.

To completely forget or ignore someone's birthday... it's a horrible thing to do. You might as well say, It doesn't really matter that you're alive... in fact, it doesn't really matter that you even exist. Hell, why were you born?

Birthdays are more than just having a party on the anniversary of the day that someone flew (or was yanked) out of their mother's womb. Celebrating a birthday is showing love to a person, and recognizing a person's existence in the world as something important. Celebrating a birthday says, You're a part of my life. My life is connected to your life and I consider the fact that you're alive to be significant.

I'm not a proponent of egomania or self-centered thinking, but a birthday is unique in that a single person's intrinsic value can be focused on and celebrated - that they because God created them, they matter and their life has worth. People, especially those who claim to have faith, need to remember that fact.

Sure, there's love in saying "Happy Birthday"... but there's a whole lot more love in taking action to show someone you really are thankful for them being born - make a card, or buy a present... cook food or write a note... burn a CD or give a book.

Do something. Naw mean?

(/end birthday rant)
posted by G at 3:38 AM   |

in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
1. The act or an instance of inscribing.
2. Something, such as the wording on a coin, medal, monument, or seal, that is inscribed.
3. A short, signed message in a book or on a photograph given as a gift.
4. The usually informal dedication of an artistic work.
5. Jeremiah 31:33