It all started several months ago--I was over at Dave's apartment, and he was showing me the newly cleaned grill sitting un-used on his patio. We were both thinking the same thing, that it was about time for a barbecue! However, many weeks passed and it took the combined birthdays of my glorious motherland (July 4, 1776)
and the handsome Keizo (July 7, 1981) to actually make it happen.
Last Thursday I sent Dave a text message asking if had plans for the weekend, and if not, would he be interested in a 4th of July barbecue? I had also causually mentioned the barbecue to Allison and Jamie, so it's a good thing that Dave wasn't busy. We decided that after a tiring week at school, it would be better to have our little potluck on Saturday rather than Friday; and hey, with the 16 hour time difference, we would be partying right along with heartiest of the 4th of July revelers at home! I had already made tentative plans to celebrate Keizo's birthday with him on Saturday, but why not just combine the two?
Preparations got underway in my apartment Friday night, when I went out in search of ingredients for "Mocha Ooey Gooey Cake." I found most of them, although the box of chocolate cake mix was much smaller than the ones I know from home, and there was no instant chocolate pudding mix to be found. I substituted regular pudding mix and added some melted chocolate bar. These ingredients with some butter and eggs form the bottom layer of the cake. The top layer consists of cream cheese, more butter, more eggs, strong coffee and powdered sugar. These were all readily available at "Amusement Food Holes," one of the more upscale grocery stores on the main road near my apartment.
I started baking on Saturday morning after being rudely awoken at 7:45 AM by an army of landscapers. I am awake and practically out of the house by 7:45 AM on any other day of the week...WHY DID THEY COME ON A SATURDAY?? I was not a happy camper, but in retrospect it probably was for the best, as there is a lot to do to get ready for a party. I had the first layer of the cake in the pan and had blended the second layer into creamy goodness when I realized that the proportion of bottom to top was way off--nor would all of the top layer fit in my small pan without serious overflow. So I used about half of it, and the rest is sitting in my fridge, waiting for another half of a cake to cover. I haven't baked in ages, so I was a bit worried about the results, but how could so much sugar and fat taste bad? Plus, I made sure to serve it with ice cream, so that any unsavory parts could be covered up by more sugar and fat. No one complained.
Going into the oven. Unfortunately, I was too slow to capture the few moments the finished product was adorned with glowing candles.
After the cake, I started on the potato salad. Nothing too extraordinary there, just good, old American barbecue side dish. I am pretty excited to eat the leftovers this week. Then it was lunch, a trip to the 100 yen store for some decorations, and some vaccuuming. Keizo told me he was going to come over at 5; but he walked in the door at 4:30. As a result, I wasn't quite ready for him and he had to decorate for his own party. Kinda lame. But at least the party itself was a surprise!
Everyone was told to come over around 6 for delicious eating. Jamie was there, but Allison, Dave, and Dave's downstairs neighbor Murray, were all missing. Jamie left and came back, Allison returned from an afternoon of shodo, and around 7:30 Dave and Murray came over with the burgers and to rescue Keizo from the intimidating trifecta of hungry, noisy girls. Let's just say, the burgers were definitely worth the wait!
OMG! Delicious!!
After the burgers, cake and ice cream, it was time for the fireworks. When Dave went out to buy charcoal for his grill, I asked him to see if he could find some sparklers. He came back with what looked a bit like sparklers, but packed a whole lot more punch. The picture on the back of the bag showed them sticking out of an empty bottle, but we had not ventured outside prepared. Jamie stuck one in the ground and lit it. It shot up, over Keizo's car and straight towards the neighbor's window with a shower of sparks and incredibly lound BANG! at the end. We decided to move to an area with more room for the rest of the pack, which we split between the rice fields and a nearby park. As far as we know, fireworks are completely legal, hence the relative ease Dave found them, but I am still surprised no police were called to investigate.
The night ended with some hose spraying, and watching the New Zealand/South Africa rugby match in Murray's apartment. I asked Keizo what he thought of the party and my friends. His only comment was directed at Jamie and Allison, and it was "Are they always like that?"
Yes, yes they are. Happy Birthday!!
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