Matt Cooking, Cooking Stuff, Family, Friends, Japanese, Travel

HULA’S KITCHEN: PART 1

Every time we visit Japan, we always visit Aya’s friend Kio. They met way back in the fifth grade and have kept in contact all these years. She was even one of Aya’s bridesmaids in our wedding. I find that quite impressive considering the long distance between. It would have been very easy for them to lose touch with each other. Through their friendship I met Kio’s mom, Izumi, at our wedding party in Japan. And with the power of Facebook, her mom and I are now “friends.” She doesn’t speak very much English and I don’t speak Japanese, but we both understand the same language; FOOD.

Continue reading “HULA’S KITCHEN: PART 1” →
Matt Christmas, Dad Stuff, Family, Holidays

WRAP IT UP!

Are you tired of spending money on pretty wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows only to have them torn to shreds?

Are you sick of fighting the crowds and standing in line to purchase these wrapping paper?

Are you bored with the conventional way of wrapping presents?

Do you want to put a little fun into your gift giving celebrations?

Look no further!

Continue reading “WRAP IT UP!” →

Matt Fall, Family, Halloween, Holidays, Making Stuff, School

HAPPY HALLOWEEN MR. ROBOTO

I’ve been trying to get one of the kids to be a robot for Halloween for a longtime. I made Ellie be a robot ballerina when she was 3, which was super cute, but it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. I’m talking old school 1950s sci-fi robot. Cardboard box, dryer vent arms and light-up eyes type of robot. As she got older my influence over her Halloween choices quickly faded. My robot dreams did not. 

Continue reading “HAPPY HALLOWEEN MR. ROBOTO” →
Matt Dad Stuff, Family

THE CONFESSION

The year was 1986 and I was in 2nd grade. It was quite the time for a child in the 1980s. The era of big hair, big money, the Cold War, the war on drugs. The Oprah Winfrey show had just debuted and was making waves in households across the nation. MTV was in it’s 5th year of broadcasting and had well established itself as the voice of the youth. My young mind was being bombarded with intense images of rock stars with long hair thrashing around wildly while scantily dressed women were gyrating their hips in a display of sexual freedom I had yet to understand.

Continue reading “THE CONFESSION” →
Matt Christmas, Dad Stuff, Family, Holidays

THE POLISH SOAP OPERA and THE VAMPIRE BROTHERS

Ok, for starters, you have to know my family is a bit strange. There was a time I thought the things we did were normal, but my wife assured me that “no, normal people don’t do the things you do.” So with that said, I’m going to share a Christmas tradition my brother and I started. But the more I think about it, it’s something that was started well before we were even born.

When we were kids, there was this cassette tape floating around our house. It was a standard blank cassette tape from Radio Shack. Written on the label were the simple words “Soap Opera.” It wasn’t just a soap opera though; it was the Polish Soap Opera. The Polish Soap Opera was a tape my mom, dad, and uncle made when they were in their early 20s, sometime before my parents got married (that’s right, they knew how weird each other were and still got married). It was the story of Stash and Stella who were Polish mushroom pickers. Yes, you read that right. The story was a total of 5 minutes and half of it was fake commercials. It was ridiculous and made no sense to me, but it was pure gold!

Continue reading “THE POLISH SOAP OPERA and THE VAMPIRE BROTHERS” →