Okonomiyaki..Christmas..

The picture of the children is one of the first grade classes that I volunteer for at the local elementary school by our apartment. There are many more pictures of the students under the photo's link. They are so fantastic, I love every time I get to go. The second picture is from Sunday night when Michael and I went out to dinner with Hayashi-san and his family. They took us to an okonomiyaki place that cooks it right in front of you. We probably did not get to cook as much as the other tables considering it was our first time. We tried three different styles, first was Osaka style where the meat, veggies and okonomiyaki batter is mixed into one big thing and then pour onto the griddle. The second style was Hiroshima and the batter gets poured onto the griddle and then topped with meat, veggies, yaki soba and topped off with a fried egg. The final style was Tokyo style (second picture), we have to cut up the meat and veggies into small pieces and then the batter/sauce was poured onto and we used little spatulas and ate right off the griddle. Overall, it was a great experience and I really enjoy okonomiyaki. The final picture was Christmas Day. Matt, Annie, Arnulfo, Dinorah, Michael and I did a secret santa gift exchange plus dinner. I made spring rolls and shrimp/crab wontons. Dinorah and Michael helped with wrapping the spring rolls. Thanks! Dinorah also made a vegan carrot cake which was delicious. Annie brought over some iced sugar cookies and wine. Matt brought a cake and homemade eggnog. Arnulfo made peppermint hot chocolate. We have such a nice group of chefs! We had dinner then enjoyed all the yummy desserts. During the desserts we did our secret santa gift exchange. I went first and Matt was my secret santa. He got my lots of rilakkuma items which was awesome. I really like rilakkuma and he got me this pencil case I was actually looking at a couple of weeks ago. I had Annie and I got her a nabe pot, sake set and some red bull. Annie had Arnulfo and he got some running shirts. Arnulfo had Dinorah and she got a big fuzzy super soft cozy pillow. Dinorah had Michael and he got a nice Mashiko sake set. Last, but not least Michael had Matt and he got a Gun O'clock and a Oishi (Utsunomiya Restaurant Guide). It was a great time. I'm glad we decided to do the gift exchange! We finished off the night with some Mad Gab and Taboo. It was a great Christmas! Thanks!