Strawberry Picking and Tart Making

This month, OSC's event was a strawberry picking adventure followed by making the strawberries into tarts. I had reluctantly neglected to sign up for two reasons: 1) I wasn't really sure I'd be able to go because I'm into "any day now" time with the baby. 2) Even if I could go, I wasn't sure I'd be able to pick strawberries due to the squatting and getting back up repeatedly. My center of balance is not exactly perfect these days. Considering the fact that there were limited spaces available, I thought it in everyone's best interest that I let someone else go.
But then, the day before the trip, our lovely coordinator e-mailed out that there was still one spot left. I called her and told her that if no one else wanted it, I was in. She called back later that night and told me to come along. I was very happy because I LOVE Japanese strawberries. I mean, American ones are good, but Japanese strawberries are waaaaay better.
So the morning of the event came, and it was cold and threatening rain. I was reminded of my very first OSC event, two years ago, for which we went tomato picking on a cold, rainy day in March. At that event, the tomatoes turned out to be in greenhouses. This event turned out to be similar:

So I didn't even have to lean over to get to the strawberries. They were right there at chest level! It was very nice. We were instructed to pick 15 berries for our tarts, and any more than that we would have to pay for. I picked extra for myself. They're too good to pass up. When everyone had their berries, we were led into a little room to make our tarts. The base/cake bit was already made, so there were three basic steps. 1) whip the cream:

2: Make mochi, form it into little pillows for the strawberries to sit on. Mochi, as I've mentioned before, is sticky rice paste. This stuff had sugar mixed in, I'm sure, and it was quite akward to work with. It came to us in powdered form. We added water and heated and stired until it was much like glue. We coated our hands in what felt like corn starch to mold it into the little round shapes to put under the strawberries.

3: Assemble. We spread what I assumed was butter on the tart base, put the mochi on top of that, arranged our strawberries on the mochi, then put whipped cream around the strawberries. Finally, there was powdered sugar to sprinkle over the top. Here's what mine looked like.

After we made our tarts, there was a little shop in which we could purchase more fresh produce, but the prices were equivalent to what I get at my place on my block, so I didn't buy anything else. Then we had an indoor picnic lunch (since it started raining outside) and headed back to Sasebo. All in all, it was a very fun trip, and I'm glad I had a chance to go.
I have been eating on my tart a little bit each day since then and it is quite good. I haven't delved into the plain strawberries yet, but they call to me from the fridge. I predict that the first time I take them out I will eat them all. Yum!

Belly Shots

Zack has been talking for months and months about how we need some pictures of my enormous belly. So one night I told him if he wanted pictures, he just needed to get out the camera sometime and start shooting. He took me at my word and these are the results. Not exactly the most flattering pictures I've ever taken, but what can you do...
This shot is poking fun at every professional photographer whose pregnancy pictures I've seen online. Apparently, if you go to a professional, you must make a heart on your belly with your hands, so we did our own version...

Then Zack started having fun. He was working with a rather reluctant model, so all things considered he did pretty well... notice that the shirt (which is a maternity shirt) barely covers the belly... I am constantly pulling at shirts to keep the bump all the way covered...

The happy father self pic...

And this one captures kind of the opposite of what I see when I look down...

Zack says he wants to do another photo shoot, but so far the camera has not come out again, so I thought I'd post what we have for those of you who are curious.

February ILC

ILC this month took us to a lovely home that was 200 years old that had been moved to Sasebo from Shimabara and is currently used as a Japanese antique shop. Then we visited a sake factory that has also been functioning for over 200 years. There, we were given a tour. Here we are at the shop, note the giant evergreen ball, which is the Japanese symbol for a seller of alcohol.

The tour guide had a hard time getting us through the store to do the tour, but finally he led us through vats of rice in various stages of firmentation and told us about the process of making the sake and the various types they make on site. I had a cold, but the smell was still quite strong and alcoholic. The picture makes the vat look small, but it was big enough to hold three or four people if we had been foolish enough to try to get in...

This particular shop also makes their own fruit wine, so we got the treat of seeing the presses where they squeeze the juice from plums and peaches and what not to make wine. This one was apparently in the process of squeezing something.

After the tour, there were free samples, including one non-alcoholic sake that I tried just for the fun of it. It tasted like cold rice with a lot of sugar in it. Here's a shot of the barrels that were outside.

Anyway, it was a fun trip and the time on the bus was great for catching up with a few people I hadn't talked to in awhile. I didn't sign up to go on the OSC trip for this month, though I was sorely tempted. It will be a strawberry picking/tart making experience, and I have to say that Japanese strawberries are absolutely the best anywhere. However, there was limited room on the trip and I wasn't sure how adept I'd be at picking strawberries just now. Plus every time I leave the house now, at least three people either a) comment on my size, b) ask how much longer or c) express concern that I might go into labor right there. Sometimes all three. Zack is working on getting some good belly shots together. I'll post them when they're ready so you can see what all the fuss is about.