Japanese new year's food

We've been having the same new years food (called Osechi Ryori, 御節料理) for many years but this is the first time I have tried to record it. I was told ready-made boxes sold in Japan town can cost between 100-500 dollars (probably with more exotic materials).

The main objective, as I was told, is to give the designated cook in the house a rest (up to 15 days:-), and to eat some food that will bring good luck (I'll explain later). To be honest, these are not my favorite food, but you only have to eat them once a year for good luck, so no complains allowed.

The Osechi Ryouri comes in a set of lacquerware boxes and they are chosen more to do with their superstitious meanings rather than the taste:-). Below is one set we had for this year. The chestnut in mashed sweet potato is meant for money (as gold), the Gobou (牛蒡) root is for strength and toughness, the Kazunoko (herring roe) is meant to give you many children, and the black beans are for smartness. The soup is called Ozouni(お雑煮) and has rice cake in it. I was told every new year, quite a few people choke on them and die. I wander why it is still in the Ozouni, could be the result of heavy lobbying by rice farmers if you are really paranoid:-)

Oh, everyone must have his/her own chopsticks for the fifteen days to eat this food only. You also have to write your names on the paper container, and not wash the chopstics in the sink after each meal.....I'have probably forgotten a bunch of other rules:-)

Finally, update on Thursday training. We did a 100-lap controlled burn (by placing the pro skaters at the front of the pace line to control the speed of the pace line). I was able to hang on to around 80th lap with a 12.8 time before the pack went too fast for me to catch up. The overall time was 23 minute 50 some seconds for the team. Ruri had a music class and couldn't attend the training.