*** Quoting Nancy Backus from a message to CAROL SHENKENBERGER ***

NB> Some of those pregnancy-hormone thingys don't make a lot of sense, do
NB> they...?  Another for me was fresh popcorn... the smell of it cooking
NB> doesn't bother any more, but I still can't eat a lot of it.

It does smell kinda wierd when cooking up, if not eating it right away.


 CS> Craved squid, Cottage cheese, chedder cheese, bok choy, brussell
 CS> sprouts,  canned spinach, and honeydew melon.  The melon I got over, 
 CS> The rest I still  love but dont obsess over .

NB> Don't see anything all that strange with your list...   Good stuff.

Yeah, I stuck to pretty normal things when you get down to it.  Squid may
have ¨been a little wierd then (I was in California and long before I moved
to Japan) ¨but harmless.

Squid is a *very* common dish here for us.  It's the cheapest 'meat' we can
get ¨so tends to show up 3 times a week .  Maybe more because it
gets added as a ¨dabble to congee (a rice soup, you may know it as Juk). 
Congee normally has at ¨least 15 different things besides the rice porridge
(rice made somewhat between ¨soup and stew thickness with broth instead of
water).  Japanese 'congee' is ¨called 'rice porridge' here.  The name
doesnt do it justice.  It's great stuff.

Here is my simplist version.  I'll add commentary at the bottom.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: Xxcarols Japan 'Rice Soup'
 Categories: Xxcarol, Soups, Japan
      Yield: 16 Servings
 
      2 qt Chicken stock
      3 c  Dry rice, calrose
    1/2 c  Chopped green onions
    1/2 c  Chopped bok choy (cabbage)
    1/2 c  Shrimp meats, deshelled
    1/2 c  Mussels or clams, deshelled
    1/4 c  Chopped squid
    1/4 c  Octopus chopped
    1/2 c  Shredded carrots
      2 oz Shredded dry nori (seaweed)
      1 tb Dry parsley
      1 ts Black pepper
 
  I've had this many times here in Japan but cant find the recipe typed
  up anyplace.  It's very close though to 'congee'. To serve this
  right, you need a metal or very thick pottery pot with a lid and
  several small bowls to serve it out in to each person.  Heat the pot
  by filling with hot water from the sink, and place the cover over it.
  
  Place all the ingredients in a soup pot and let boil for 10 mins, then
  serve in the preheated dinner pot.
  
  Add raw eggs to the dinner pot and let them cook in the liquid as
  you serve dinner.  How many is up to you, but 6 would be normal for a
  12 person dish.  As this is made to be served 8 people at a time,
  you'd add 4 and next meal, another 4.
  
  The meats are all pretty much precooked and all veggies are fine
  chopped or shredded.  The squid can be all just the left over
  tentacles and that is actually perfect for using them up.  If you do
  not have octopus, use more squid.  The reverse also works.
  
  Excellent place for any leftover seafood type as long as it is deboned
  first.  Little balls of Kamaboko (fish paste) work really well here.
  The key is lots of different things, not too much of any one.
  
  Optional additions run into the hundreds but these are good ones:
  Tofu in small cubes, mild white cheese added at the serving time
  (small chunks that melt in the almost boiling serving dish as the raw
  eggs cook), chili powder of choice at the serving table, edamame (soy
  beans, fresh), spinich.
  
  Serving suggestions:  With hard crusty bread, hot tea, and fresh
  cucumbers.
  
  From the Japan kitchen of:  xxcarol 23May2005
 
MMMMM

Now that above is 'Americanized' which means it tastes just fine and is
close ¨enough but doesnt use much that you'd find hard to get.  The real
one uses ¨Dashi (a fish/seaweed stock that is mild and not all that
'fishy').  The ¨americanized version adds a bit of crumbled seaweed sheet
to make up for not ¨making it with dashi.  If the idea of that wierds you
out, or you just arent ¨sure you'd like it and want to play safe, omit it.

It's a sort of 'kitchen sink' or 'scrap' soup but the leftovers in Japan
are ¨different.
                                       xxcarol

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