Everybody was hungry, so we had to have a person guarding the grill.

I think everyone had a good time and enjoyed the food.

All of the food was homemade by me. I made barbecue sauce, spicy sauce, hamburger buns, and baked beans.

Baked beans are a traditional part of an American barbecue. Here's my recipe:

Baked Beans

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup barbecue sauce

1/4 cup vinegar

2 tablespoons mustard

8 slices bacon, halved

4 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces

2 tbs vegetable oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 small green peppers, diced

4 cans navy beans, 400g each

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Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celcius.

Put the brown sugar into a medium sized mixing bowl. Pour the barbecue sauce over that and stir. Then add the vinegar and mustard and stir until all the ingredients have combined.

Lightly fry the bacon halves over low heat in large, deep saute pan until bacon is partially cooked. The bacon should still be pink and floppy when done. Remove bacon from pan and pat with paper towels.

Add vegetable oil to the bacon grease in the saute pan and heat. Add onions, peppers and the small cut bacon pieces. Saute until the vegetables are tender.

Add the beans and the barbecue sauce mixture. Bring to a simmer.

Pour bean mixture into a lightly greased casserole dish. Top with the bacon strips. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 – 40 minutes. Let stand to thicken slightly and serve.

********

And here is the recipe for my barbecue sauce:

Cap’n RJ’s Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3/4 cup vinegar
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
• 1 piece garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon dark rum
• 1 teaspoon honey

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Put all ingredients except rum and honey in saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add rum and honey; simmer for 10 more minutes or until sauce reaches desired thickness.

**********

Have a nice day!

I had a very busy weekend last week. On Saturday, I went to the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo for the All Japan Aikido Demontration (全日本合気道演武大会). Last year, I participated in the demonstration, but this year, I just went to watch my Shihan's demonstration.

I have an American friend when lives in Tokyo and practices at the Hombu Dojo. After the demonstration, I met with him and we stopped by Yasukuni Shrine before we went to dinner with some other Hombu Dojo members. I stayed at my friends house, which is close to the Sky Tree, but I couldn't see the Sky Tree from where I was. 

On Sunday, I met my British friend in Ikebukuro. We met about 10 years ago at Japanese language school in Okazaki in Aichi. About 7 years ago, Ayumi and I attended his wedding in Tokyo. I hadn't talked to him for a few years until last Sunday. He had some big news for me. He got divorced about a year and a half ago and since then he fell in love with a Taiwanese girl who is living in Vancouver. Next month, he is leaving Japan to live with her. I was really surprised by his news, but he is very excited about changing his life, so I am happy for him too.

In the afternoon on Sunday I took the shinkansen to Nagoya and met with some American and Canadian friends. I had a good view of Mt. Fuji from the train. Two friends used to live in Okayama, but have moved to Nagoya. Also, Nick and two other Okayama friends were visiting for the weekend. One of the guys now works for the Hilton hotel in Nagoya and he got a big dicount for us to stay there. We had a great room on the 23rd floor with a beautiful view. We ate dinner at a Romanian restaurant and saw some traditional Romanian dancing.

I came back to Okayama on Monday in the early afternoon, and took a walk with Tatsuki around our neighborhood. I was tired, but had a really fun weekend!

ときどきタツキのことを尋ねてくれますが夕方のキッズ時間になったらNEOに戻ってきています。

Day Careデビューをしてから様々な菌をもらって不調だった本人ですが今日から少し元気が出てきました。

バロメーターとしてはレッスンが終わった後のお兄さんお姉さんキッズの輪に入っていくかどうか。

金曜の今日はRKT君やSK君がよくタツキを可愛がってくれますが大人しくその横で一緒にDSを触らせてもらったり図鑑を見たり、お兄ちゃんたちのテキストを触ったりしていました。

Thank you boys, for babysitting Tatsuki!

My team won! At first, we we doing very badly, but we we did very well in final few events and took 1st place! We won a 4000 yen gift certificate for a local bar (each person!) and we also won free entry into the Osaka Beer Olmypics in July.

Most of the players were foreigners, but some Japanese people joined us too. It was a nice day and we did all of the events outside in a park next to Okayama Dome. I had a lot of fun.

これ、一体なんでしょうか??

It's not a bone nor a recorder.

答えは・・・

「グリップ先生」

ゴルフのクラブの握り方を練習する道具です!

子どもがお箸の持ち方を練習するときの道具みたいなものですね。

色々な道具があるものだと感心してしまいます。

Thank you very much for your present, Y san!!

It included a set of her used golf clubs, shoes, gloves and everything we need for golf.

Those shoes and gloves are just the perfect size for me!

Y san, another student will teach me how to play golf, so I'm very excited!!

I'm glad I have a new hobby now.

Thank you very much A san and Y san!!

かわいそうなのはRJ。
彼のお誕生日は10月10日の体育の日。
だいたいHappy Mondayの祝日でNEOがお休みなのです！ごめんよ、RJ。