"Wait for Me !"

"Holiday Home"

Some of my friends in Japan are asking what I'm doing for the Holidays.

In Japan, Christmas is not a big holiday.  It is a regular day, people will not get off from work.  

New Year's Day is the biggest holiday of the year.  Most business will be closed on the 30th through  January 5th.  It almost likeThanksgiving Day and Christmas got together.  We do have Religious Traditions. Special Food will be served on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.  So, many people will be traveling to be home before January 1st.  Many of my friends in Tokyo will be traveling to get to their homes to cerebrate New Year's with their family in their home town.  Naturally they are asking me what I'm doing at the end of the Year.

I'm not traveling for sure, but I have more than a few things to do before this year's end and New Year's Day.

Even though I had a quite busy Holiday Season, I could managed to have some happy decorations in our home, thanks to Jonathan.  I didn't have time to get Fresh Christmas Tree for this year, but I had a chance to take Christmas Tree Ornaments out from their boxes.  It has been a quite while since the last time I used them for the tree.  I do remember how and where I got them.  Christmas Ornaments always brings back so many happy memories, don't they ?

Here is how my home looks for a few more days.  Happy Holidays Everybody ! 

Christmas Decoration on the front door.

Left-Over Fabric from a Coat.

Leather Star From Bill Amberg in London.

Red LED Star.

Jonathan's Art StudioMate's HandMade Christmas Card.

Christmas Cards from friends decorate the Windowsill.

My Christmas Tree (an antique barn ladder) in Day Light.

Oshougatsu Kokeshi from Fukushima, Japan.

&

Glass Candies from Venice, Italy.

Miniature Christmas Tree on the Windowsill.

 Antique Indian Wedding Sari at the end of hallway.

Jonathan's Ganesh Collection is the perfect companion.

Jonathan's Heirloom Water Lily Bowl is filled with 

Glass Christmas Balls I collected thought the years.

This is my ChristmasTree for this year.

 Red Ball Shaped Christmas Lights are covering an Triangular Ladder.

Special Glass Ornaments are hanging from the rungs.

If I could get the aroma from a Pine Tree, this room will be perfect.

"Edible Bouquet"

Did you all have a good Christmas ?
I had a great one.  I got invited to a Christmas Eve Dinner with Japanese Delicacies. Then less than 12 hours later, I had another invitation from Ms. M. for a Christmas Afternoon Party. 
I was asked to make a Crudite Basket for that party. 
Because I can't get many different varieties of vegetables in cold months, I had to come up with some new ideas for vegetable baskets for Winter Parties. 
For Thanksgiving Dinner Party I made a Veggie Petal Basket.  After that this style of Crudite Baskets has become my Signature Crudite Basket.  Some people already asked me how to make it.  
But for this occasion that basket was not good enough.  After all, the Rainbow Rose Bouquet she brought inspired me to make Vegetable Petals.  So, I had to make something more than just another Vegetable Petals for her party.
Since I saw the "Victorian" which Ms. M. created for Yuki's wedding day, I wanted to make something inspired by that beautiful bouquet.  I decided to arrange whole platter to look like one big flower.  I didn't even wanted to show the basket itself.  
Here is how I made the "Victorian Vegetable Petal Basket."

This is the"Victorian Bouquet," Ms. M's Creation for Yuki's  Wedding Day.

How I made the "Victorian Vegetable Petal Basket"

Flat Round Basket is covered with Plastic Wrap.

Then completely covered with Bi-Colored Baby Chard.

Savoy Cabbage makes the First layer of Large Flower Petals.

To make them flatter, I cut off hard center stem from each cabbage leaf.

For them to be more organic, cabbage leaves are interlocked.

I carefully chose similar size, but not same color of cabbage leaves.

This is Kohlrabi.

I peeled and soaked them in Red Grape Juice overnight.

The Edge of thin slices will get tinted a purple color by the juice.

To add height to the arrangement

I decide to make Second layer with curled Kohlrabi Petals.

From the Third layer, I just kept placing thinly sliced vegetable petals in circles. 

Watermelon Radish Petals makes the Middle Part of Flower.

Then Chioga Beet Petals makes the Center Part of Flower.

As a finish touch, I added Purple Carrot Petals around the edge of Cabbage.

"At the Party"

 Dukkah, a nut & spice condiment, accompanied my Vegetable Plate,

which blended nicely with all of Ms. M's other dishes.

This is how her appetizer table looked .

Everything was even more delicious than it looked !

Roasted Garlic & Sliced Apples and Pears accompany the Melted Camembert.

Here, our host Ms. M carving the turkey.

This is the main course table. 

We eat, and drank endlessly with occasional conversation between.  After 5 hours of continuous feasting, I decided to say good by to Ms.M and our new friends.  
I had great time at her floral design studio.  Her Huge Flower Refrigerator was filled with fresh flowers.  I was wondering where those flowers are going after Christmas.  Then I realized that New Year's Eve, the Party Night of the year is only a week away.  Parties will go on till New Year's Day all ober the city.  I''m sure those flowers will make somebody's home fantastic....

"It's Christmas Eve."

"Dyker Heights Extravaganza"

Christmas is only a few days away, is everybody ready ?

I know one place where it looks like Christmas has already arrived.  It is in Brooklyn, the neighborhood called "Dyker Heights"   I've been wanting to go there for a while to see how Houses are decorated for Christmas.  It is a very well known place for outragous lights & figurines.  I believe there is even a special bus-tour you can take from Manhattan to visit there to see the Light Show in Winter Nights.

My new neighbors kindly took me there by their car to see the Extravaganza this week, before Christmas.  It is so much more than I expected to see.  It is so much more than a few blocks where you see houses with lights and Ornaments in the front yards, entrances, steps, and windows.

Some homes are done by professionals.  But some of them are done by house owners.  Somehow you can tell which ones are done by whom.

We were wondering how much their electric Bills will be this month ?  
Never the less it is fun walking around blocks of houses, even if it is getting very cold in New York City....

  

If you are looking for some excitement for your Holiday Week, why don't you visit there ?  Even if you think you are too old to do things like that, you will be walking though Dyker Heights in the Cold Winter Nights with a big smile on your face...

If you have a small child in the family make sure to bundled them up, then take them with you.  I can guaranty they will have so much fun !

I'm so sure that I'll be back next year....