<Begin Segment 19>

MA: And what, what are some, I guess, special holidays that you continue to celebrate? Like you were telling me about New Year's.

KY: New Year's, I've been doing that for as long as I remember. And last year -- all these years I've been doing it at my place in Spokane, but last year we had it in, in (Edmonds) where my son is. So now we decided, let's do it here, let's do it there, we're kind of moving around now, but all these years up to last year, it was always at my place. And I have a menu that I follow every year, and I think I have maybe twenty items, maybe more, each item I've listed, you know. So when we're ready to cook, you know how much, what to buy and all that. So we celebrate, that's the only tradition that my kids want to keep, is that New Year's tradition. And my daughter said... you know, I told her, "I'm getting too old to do this," and she says, "Don't ever quit." I said, "Well, I've got to quit, I'm getting too old." So she says, "Okay, then we'll take over," meaning the kids will take over. But they don't know how to flavor. When they come, I have everything all ready, all they do is help me cook. Well, you know, that isn't the whole part of this. You need the flavoring part, and that's the part I have to teach 'em yet. I haven't gotten to that yet but I'll do that, so I won't have to do it anymore. [Laughs] They're gonna take over. They're gonna take over, that's what she said.

MA: That's great.

KY: Uh-huh, but she wants to keep it up. I said, "Let's quit," and she said, "No, we're gonna keep it up," she said.

MA: So when you have these New Year's celebrations, is it your whole family that gets together?

KY: Everybody comes, yeah. Then we invite a few other people, too.

MA: How long does it take you to prepare the meal?

KY: The whole... well, I have a shopping list, and I start, I buy it and put it in the freezer, you know, so it takes two or three weeks. I buy it, put it in the freezer, then I keep a list of what I need at the last minute. I mean, it's not every day for three weeks, but you know, I buy my things ahead of time and put it in the freezer. And the actual cooking day, we start about eight o'clock in the morning and we usually have our dinner at two o'clock. So during that time, we're busy, but most of the things, I have it all organized, so the cooking part doesn't take too long, you know. But I'm the only one that knows how to make sushi, and I'm gonna have to teach one of my girls how to roll that sushi.

MA: Is that the plan for next New Year's?

KY: Yeah, I'm going to. I'll have everything ready, but I have to teach 'em how to roll it. You know, now there's so many different places you could buy sushi, but I still like my own flavoring.

MA: That's great, so that's something you kind of celebrated when you were little, growing up, and then you continue to do it?

KY: Yeah, my mother, yeah. I remember New Year's, it wasn't as elaborate in the old days, you know, but now we got kind of carried away. [Laughs] Because the kids like to eat different things, but I don't mind. But I am gonna quit, and they're gonna have to take over. [Laughs]

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.