Unlike the Chinese, who celebrate the lunar new year, January 1 is the start of the year for Japanese and Japanese Americans. For my family living in Hawaii, the week between Christmas and New Year’s was a time of frenzied activity — cooking and cleaning in preparation.

We wiped down cabinets, washed windows and screens, did all the laundry and made our house sparkle. We decorated the front porch with bamboo and pine branches.

New Year’s Eve was the thrilling start of the celebration, with firecrackers exploding sporadically from every front yard. Kids and adults set off Roman candles, sparklers, cherry bombs — a cacaphony of noise and sulphrous smoke filled the air — culminating in a mighty roar at the stroke of midnight.

And there was the food. [more…]

Recently, my 86-year-old mother lost her balance getting out of the car, fell and fractured four ribs. Which is why I wasn’t blogging last week. It’s made me think about the challenges we are going to face when 76 million Baby Boomers find themselves battling the aging process.

The first of the Boomers turn 60 next year. Last week, the White House Conference on Aging tackled the issues of aging by exploring cutting-edge technologies. Some of those technologies have to do with food. [more…]

At this time of the year, I look forward to hosting a holiday party. A fresh evergreen wreath at the door, the tree decorated with hundreds of ornaments, mouthwatering aromas emanating from the kitchen, a blazing fire in the fireplace, friends coming in from the cold…our annual party is the highlight of the season for my family.

According to an American Demographics survey, I can expect that guests will spend 2 hours and 36 minutes at my party, as they will at each of the 2.7 parties they attend during the holiday season. I like guests to linger, so I should hope for more Hispanic friends since the survey says they will outlast the average non-Hispanic by 36 minutes. Or more friends from the Northeast who will stay even longer — four hours or more. The ones to avoid are Southerners, evidently; eight percent won’t even stick around for 60 minutes. [more…]