Thanks for visiting our 2014 Year in Review. It's a good thing we have photos because it's amazed us at things we did this past year. A year is more time than you'd think, and we must have enjoyed it, because it seemed like so little time. We haven't had snow, but we have had some very cold and blustery weather. So, we didn't make snow angles with alien trees, but we did snuggle under blankets with pots of tea — with each other and with friends, too. Here are some snapshots, please read along :) It had been years, but we made it back to New Orleans in January. We rented a house in Marigny (and learned we'd been mispronouncing the word "burgundy" all this time ...). We wanted the rainy streets and rekindled our love for the city. But mostly, we visited eateries old, new, and revised. We took recommendations from friends and strangers and re-aligned our rules-of-thumb about all things NOLA. The anthem "I Miss New Orleans" reminds us while we are away that it's a city to return to and photograph, and it just doesn't get old. However, from looking at our photos, we saw that we really both need to lose girth! We've gotten deeper in the CSA and have bought into shares nearly year-round, and have been following friends around who help us find more delicious crops around the city. They also have shared in our online purchases of more difficult to acquire ingredients, like Louisiana crawfish. Even better, mothers of friends have come to brunch and dinner with us, as well as friends themselves. We've made and shared food with so many interesting and wonderful folks — we hope it never stops; we hope to see you at our table, too. :) We've learned how to make mozzarella cheese — fresh — about a pound or more from a gallon of milk, and then to get about half a pound of ricotta from the whey ... and then the whey is used in making bread. Brian did a lot of bread experiments, making everything from a successful multigrain rye to a delicious sourdough batard, to puffy pitas. We experimented all year with a lot of techniques and ingredients, in fact. We eat very very well! Mom and Dad came back in Japan in springtime to spend the Japanese rainy season in New York instead. During that time, Dad's health and mobility improved, as did Mom's humor (no broken bones this year!). This was fortunate because we found ourselves chasing Dad around when he'd take random walks outside. It was a very good and fun spring and summer for us, with lots of family time together. Dad's illness caught up to him by the end of summer, and he died peacefully in his sleep at Mom's place in Mikata. Mom spent the rest of the autumn in Japan taking care of issues and came back to NYC in mid-December. To return to Japan, we discovered airline tickets were simply too pricy to take a non-stop, so they stopped en route. To help Mom and Dad, Brian went too, and dealt with luggage, getting upgrades on each leg of the flight, etc. He also built a pergola in the front garden, built frames for whole-window mosquito screens on the old house, picked plums and peaches, went fishing with a professional fishing co-up, and generally had a wondrous time, even thought it was 115F and really really humid. Back in New York, we resumed the Metropolitan Opera season — we're scheduled for about 30+, but we always end up picking up extras as the season progresses, HD projections, etc. And cooking and seeing friends and eating. Dad's death makes it more obvious that we should not put off situations "till later," because later is now. :) We've had no major illnesses this year, otherwise, and all our bones are intact. We hope this year brings you and your loved ones good health and more happiness than last year. Keep in touch! If you are on Facebook, both of us hang out there a lot and use the fb messenger regularly. 104-40 Queens Blvd., 19V, Forest Hills, NY 11375 maki @ and brian @ hoashi.com | HOME