808 Urban

On the right side of the Estria Mural on King Street I noticed another painted wall. It's signed 808Urban.com. 808 Urban is a non-profit organization committed to supporting the urban art scene in Hawaii by providing local youth a place to express themselves artistically. Just Lilla caught them in action creating a mural for a newly renovated library.

Driving Through the Rain

Somehow rain makes for a good ramen-eating mood, so Wendell wanted to go to Tenkaippin Ramen. Wendell was hungry and just wanted to eat, so sheese, okay then, no need take pictures of the ramen. So you get to see welding glasses pictures instead. Blame Wendell.

use real butter

I found the most incredible blog. It's done by Jennifer Yu and it's called use real butter. Click on "recipes" on the top and you get a list (along with thumbnail pictures) that links you to her recipes. Don't forget to also click on "copyright" to view her rules as well as an unreal-looking chocolate dipped strawberry cake. Click on "about" to learn about Jen and while there click on the link "my website" for more. Her Thanksgiving Day post "giving thanks" reveals that she's a breast cancer survivor. The content of the blog, Jennifer's writing style, her layout and especially her photography truly humble me.

Beaded Heart Charm

I was shocked when I completed this. I had never made it before and . . .
these were the directions I was following. Don't ask me how I did it 'cause I don't know. I'm gonna try it again to see if my success was maybe a fluke.

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

Leslie shared her salad with me awhile back. Strawberry in a salad seems weird, yeah. BUT IT WAS ONO.
Here's the recipe from Les:

1/3 C cider vinegar
3/4 C sugar
2T fresh lemon juice
1t salt
1C vegetable oil
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1 1/2 T poppy seeds
1t dry mustard
1/2 t paprika

2 bags fresh spinach
1/2 container fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 cups strawberries, stemmed and sliced
1 C chopped pecans
shredded cheese (I used the 3 cheese mix - mozzarella, provolone, and feta? oops! sorry, I forget what the last cheese was!)

For the dressing, combine the vinegar, sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a small, non-reactive saucepan and heat over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, stirring frequently. Remove pan from heat and let cool to room temperature. When cooled, whisk in the oil, poppy seeds, dry mustard and paprika until thoroughly combined. Set dressing aside. In a salad bowl, combine the spinach, mushrooms, strawberries, cheese, and pecans. When ready to serve, add some of the dressing, and toss gently. Serve the remaining dressing alongside the salad so diners may add more, if desired.

Warning

I found this warning in Mililani Blog:

BE AWARE: A warning from Councilman Dela Cruz

“There is a young man posing as a security alarm salesman for Honeywell going door to door thru the Makakilo neighborhood. He is actually “casing” the neighborhood to find out who has alarm systems, dogs, and who stays at home during the day, etc. The police are looking for “someone matching his description” as a suspect in many home robberies in the Kapolei/Makakilo areas.

He is about 5′9-10″, slim, dirty blonde/lt brown hair and green eyes. He’s caucasian/asian and looks clean cut. When he came to our house (Nov 19) he was wearing a white polo shirt with a logo “SECURE” on the left breast embroidered in blue. I couldn’t read the smaller print above the “SECURE”. He didn’t introduced himself or offer a business card. We already have a security system so our conversation was very short. (He did want to know if we had a direct line to the police.)

I called Honeywell and they knew about him because they received many calls from residents in Mililani Mauka last month. Honeywell does not sell home security alarm systems. They are now taking steps to try and stop him from using their company name in his scam by alerting the public.

If this person should appear in your neighborhood call the police immediately.”

Freedom the Eagle

A friend e-mailed me the following story. It's written by Jeff Guidry. You can read more about Freedom and Jeff at the Sarvey Wildlife Center site.
Freedom and I have been together 10 years this summer. She came in as a baby in 1998 with two broken wings . Her left wing doesn't open all the way even after surgery, it was broken in 4 places . She's my baby.

When Freedom came in she could not stand and both wings were broken. She was emaciated and covered in lice. We made the decision to give her a chance at life, so I took her to the vets office. From then on, I was always around her. We had her in a huge dog carrier with the top off, and it was loaded up with shredded newspaper for her to lay in. I used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight; and she would lay there looking at me with those big brown eyes. We also had to tube feed her for weeks.

This went on for 4-6 weeks, and by then she still couldn't stand. It got to the point where the decision was made to euthanize her if she couldn't stand in a week. You know you don't want to cross that line between torture and rehab, and it looked like death was winning. She was going to be put down that Friday, and I was supposed to come in on that Thursday afternoon. I didn't want to go to the center that Thursday, because I couldn't bear the thought of her being euthanized; but I went anyway, and when I walked in everyone was grinning from ear to ear. I went immediately back to her cage; and there she was, standing on her own, a big beautiful eagle. She was ready to live. I was just about in tears by then. That was a very good day.

We knew she could never fly, so the director asked me to glove train her. I got her used to the glove, and then to jesses, and we started doing education programs for schools in western Washington. We wound up in the newspapers, radio (believe it or not) and some TV . Miracle Pets even did a show about us.

In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. I had stage 3, which is not good (one major organ plus everywhere), so I wound up doing 8 months of chemo. Lost the hair - the whole bit. I missed a lot of work. When I felt good enough, I would go to Sarvey and take Freedom out for walks. Freedom would also come to me in my dreams and help me fight the cancer. This happened time and time again. Fast forward to November 2000, the day after Thanksgiving, I went in for my last checkup. I was told that if the cancer was not all gone after 8 rounds of chemo, then my last option was a stem cell transplant. Anyway, they did the tests; and I had to come back Monday for the results. I went in Monday, and I was told that all the cancer was gone.

So the first thing I did was get up to Sarvey and take the big girl out for a walk. It was misty and cold. I went to her flight and jessed her up, and we went out front to the top of the hill. I hadn't said a word to Freedom, but somehow she knew. She looked at me and wrapped both her wings around me to where I could feel them pressing in on my back (I was engulfed in eagle wings), and she touched my nose with her beak and stared into my eyes, and we just stood there like that for I don't know how long. That was a magic moment. We have been soul mates ever since she came in. This is a very special bird.

On a side note: I have had people who were sick come up to us when we are out, and Freedom has some kind of hold on them. I once had a guy who was terminal come up to us and I let him hold her. His knees just about buckled and he swore he could feel her power coarse through his body. I have so many stories like that.

I never forget the honor I have of being so close to such a magnificent spirit as Freedom's.

Hope you enjoy this.

Jeff Guidry

BHiver Wall Revisited

When I went in search of "some graffiti" last month I had no idea that my search would lead me to the BHiver Wall, a memorial created by members of the Aloha Family honoring a fallen comrade. I had no idea that I would develop a respect for the creativity and talent of urban artists. And I had no idea that the memory of a young man I had never met would remain ingrained in my heart forever. I dedicate this post to BKeeper, keeper of memories.

CPK Frozen Pizza from Costco

Me and Wendell both like pizza with thin, almost cracker-like crusts, and this thin-crust frozen pizza from Costco was sooooo goooood. I think it's because of its fontina cheese which is the same kind of cheese that Brandee uses for her prize-wining pasta. The pizza is normally $13.79 for a three pack, but there's a coupon for $3.50 off right now. We were lucky that the cashier gave us the $3.50 off 'cause we cannot find the coupon book. Wendell claims I threw it away. I said how could I have thrown it away if I never even saw it. Hah?!

I Wannabe Like Frank Amodo

Frank Amodo is my favorite local wedding photographer. I so admire his work that at one time I would try to find the locations of some of his shoots and then try to copy his photos. It was fun.

It was kinda amazing that I even found this bench.

It's in Kapiolani Park by the water fountain. I got Taryn and Kona to go with me to look for it.

This set of stairs is on the side of the Convention Center.
Susie was my model for this copycat shot.

These lanterns and door are in Chinatown.

Wendell and I had just had dinner nearby and I asked him to pose. Cars were stopping at a stop sign right in front of us and he was soooo embarrassed. He kept saying, "Hurry up, hurry up."

I just loooove this photo. This was the best I could do in recreating it.

This walkway is in Waikiki. I wondered if Frank asked the boy to walk on the edge like that.
I was so lucky to get this shot. This man is a stranger and so are the group of people out in the background. Pretty neat how it came out similar, yeah.
This wall is by some flower shop in downtown on Beretania. It so doesn't look like that anymore.

Would you believe I was on my way to go look for the wall, when I saw my sister Didi waiting to cross the street. I shanghaied her and asked if she could come with me and be my model.Leslie found the location of this door for me. It belongs to an old brewery in Kakaako.

Since Didi was already with me, I dragged her to go look for the door. I spent 7 bucks on a white Snoopy balloon to act as the flying up veil, but it blew away as soon as we got there. . . bummahs. Notice her yellow flowers she picked from a bush. Sooo funny. I had a hard time getting this shot 'cause Didi kept opening her mouth WIDE like she was at the dentist and I couldn't stop laughing.

The Bane of My Existence

Wendell "scored" this ice machine awhile back. Some business was getting a new one and was gonna dump it. I HATE IT. It's huge and the only place it fits is outside our bedroom window. When I'm at home I spend a good deal of my time in the bedroom 'cause that's where my computer is. The ice machine is so LOUD when it's running it irritates me to death. Wendell turns it on almost every weekend so that he can have ice to chill the drinks for after his softball games. He thinks he's saving CHOKE money by not having to buy bags of ice, but I often wonder how much running the machine adds to my electric bill. Anyway, I was particularly annoyed by the noise one afternoon and composed the following e-mail entitled "Please Join Me in Prayer". Much to my chagrin later, I realized that I had e-mailed it to WAAAAY too many people than I should have.

Subject: Please join me in prayer
Let us begin . . . "Please God, can you somehow cause that #$%^&' ICE MACHINE TO BREAK SO THAT IT CAN NEVER, EVER BE REPAIRED. That constant racket of droning, engine running, water running, water filling, tray turning, ice CRASHING into bin is driving me INSANE. I promise I will be a good person from now on. I will be patient and kind. I will not answer back to my mom. I will go to church once. I will TRY really, really hard not to curse. Please, God, whatever it takes. Thank you in advance. Amen"

It never did break. It still works, loud and clear, every weekend. By the way, since it's in this picture, do you see that numbered pole thing on the right? It's an extendible mango picker that Wendell made. It's soooo neat. It can get really long. Brandee borrowed it once to steal avocados from her neighbor's tree.

Perfect Prime Rib

I'm not a prime rib eater, so I almost wasn't gonna do a post on tonight's dinner. Wendell insisted though, "Take a pikcha, take a pikcha!" Funny, yeah. The lighting had gotten too dim in the house so he even carried the hunk of meat outside for me. This "pikcha" was taken with the prime rib on the hood of my car! The recipe is kinda weird to me 'cause you roast the meat for an hour, then you turn the oven off and leave the meat in the oven. Then an hour before you're ready to eat, you roast it for another 45 minutes. And it doesn't matter what size your meat is.

Mix 1 TBS each of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion salt and rosemary together with 2 TBS flour and rub into roast.

It doesn't matter what size your roast is, you follow the same directions below and you can make it several hours ahead of time.

Put roast into a 400 degree oven for one hour. Shut off the oven, but leave the door closed. About an hour before you're ready to eat, turn the oven back on at 325 degrees and cook for 45 minutes. The prime rib comes out at a perfect medium rare. If you like it more well done, give it an extra 5 or 10 minutes.

BKeeper

BKeeper, you touch my heart.

BHIVER . . . . . from dad

Chicken Enchiladas

Last night's dinner and tonight's leftover. It was really good. This is my sliced up portion to show you the insides. Recipe is from Hawaii's Best Local Dishes.

Mei Sum Chinese Dim Sum

Susie and I had lunch today at Mei Sum Chinese Dim Sum at the corner of Smith and Pauahi. Only had the two of us, and we (okay mostly me) ordered so much stuff. Everything was sooooo ono, we ate almost everything, and it was only 20 bucks!!

Little char siu manapuas, the bread was so light and airy with just a hint of sweetness brushed on the top.
Susie is allergic to shrimp so we didn't order anything seafoody, but she could eat this fishcake. And good thing 'cause was soooooo good.
This was really ono too. It's fried eggplant. The crumbly stuff on the top is fried garlic!!
Sorry, but I don't remember what you call this. It's kinda like aburage with vegetable stuffing, very moist.
This is like a shrimp shu mai, but had pork inside instead.
Look fun with char siu
And for dessert we had the coconut gin dui.

We were soooo stuffed, but as we were walking around Chinatown I came across this curious-looking thing in Maunakea Marketplace. It's about the size of a tennis ball, and the lady said it's a Thai dish and it's made with rice and coconut. I bought one to take home. After dinner I tried a bite . . . it was soooo tasteless. She did say, however, that you could break the ball up and fry it up with . . .

this other weird looking thing. It's pickled pork made with LOTS of garlic, and normally you're supposed to eat it RAW. It was just left out in the open and not even refrigerated. I was so intrigued that I bought one thinking that Wendell might be interested. As soon as I got home I showed it to Wendell and explained that it was pickled pork and that you're supposed to eat it RAW. I said that the lady told me what it's called, but I couldn't remember. He said, "Sudden Death?" Cracked me up.

The Colors of Chinatown

It's been like FOREVER since me and Susie got to go out on an excursion together. As usual, I had a blast with her walking through Chinatown.

S & T Thai Cuisine Again

I went back to S & T Thai Cuisine today.

This is the Thai Noodle Soup with chicken. I liked that they separated the broth from the noodles for take out. It was very, very tasty, but a little bit too lemongrassy for me. This is the Tofu Patties. I would definitely get this again. The peanut sauce was very ONO.

Hawaii Bloggers

I was curious about the musings of other Hawaii bloggers and have found these blogs to be interesting so far. I can hear Leslie now, "Whatda hell is a muuuusing, anyway?"

Some of the blogs haven't been updated recently, but are still worth a look.

Kam Family Blog
Photolulu
Rick's Blog About Anything
Barefoot Blogging
Hawaii - Island of Oahu
Lucky We Live Hawaii
Straying from the Norm
Renee's Almost A Photo a Day
Pikko's Bento Blog
Lunch Time Grinds
Hotel Waikiki
Eat, Sleep, Shit, Sew

My favorite food blog: Tasty Island

Manhole Cover

I pretty much take pictures of anything, and today this manhole cover caught my eye. This one obviously belongs to Hawaiian Electric. I wonder how many different kinds of manhole covers we got around this island. I never noticed before. I wonder what got beneath them. I think I'm gonna start a collection and do a post called, "Manhole Covers of Oahu".

Which leads me to this question. Do you know why manhole covers are round?

This caught my eye too 'cause it says Honolulu T.H. (Territory of Hawaii). We became a state in 1959, so this cover must have been in place before then. I wonder if what's beneath it actually works.

And look at this cement cover . . . H.T. for Hawaiian Telephone?

Japanese manhole covers are an artform. I doubt I'll find any like these here.

Getting a CT Scanner to the Second Floor

Last year my working place got a new CT scanner. Watching the preparation, skill and work involved trying to get the unit up to the second floor of our building was pretty amazing.

This is the wall of the CT scanner room. Now you see it . . . And now you don't. Here's the wall tucked away to be put back later.
This crane was actually used to remove the old unit from the building.
A tall forklift was used to remove the scanner bed. So here's the old unit being trucked away. It was donated to some South Pacific Island. I forget which one. Here's all the new stuff.Uncrated, the gantry gets forklifted on to the tall forklift. And raised up to the second floor.

U Chun Korean Restaurant - 11/17/2008

I met Erick for lunch today. We had planned to meet at Taishoken for some ramen but they were closed so we ended up at U Chun on Keeaumoku. U Chun is noted for their black noodle. They prepare it in a variety of ways. I've had it twice before and both times it was really ono. The problem with it though is that the noodles are so, so chewy I can't bite through them. I don't know if my teeth are just not sharp enough, but for me it's like eating very tasty rubber bands.

We got this Rice Cake and Mandoo in Soup instead and it was delicious. It's like a Mandoo with Noodle Soup but instead of noodles you get mochi slices.
We also got the Squid Tempura. Erick liked it, but I didn't particularly care for it. I thought it was too oily and the batter was too thick. I still ate a good share though.

Happy Birthday Didi!!

Today is my sister Didi's birthday. She's an awesome cook and has published two of her own cookbooks - Dd's Table Talk and Dd's Table Talk II!! I looked through my old photos to see what pictures I should post and decided these from last Christmas might be entertaining.

I had gone to Price Busters to buy headgear for everybody to wear, but Didi and Glenn came with their own.

My sister Geri is in the middle and sister Leigh is on the right.
My mom
My brother Cy Nephew Daniel
Nephew Aaron

Brother in law Michael

And my husband Wendell. Hahahaha. Luckily he doesn't read my blog.

I Yelled at My Mom Yesterday

My mom called me in the morning. She said that the Hawaii State quarters are out, and she wanted to get one roll each for her grandkids. She said that the bank will give you only one roll per visit. She said that my brother already got one roll for her, and since she recently sprained her ankle and couldn't go herself, could I go to my bank four separate times and get her four more rolls. Honestly, tell me really, who asks somebody to do something like that? Before the words even left my mouth, I already knew I would regret it, but I just couldn't help myself. I said, "YOU want ME to go to MY bank FOUR times to get these quarter rolls?" She said, "Yes." I said, "Do you know how HUMBUG THAT IS? I HAVE TO GO TO MY BANK AND WAIT IN LINE FOUR TIMES? NO, I'M NOT DOING IT!" She replied in that weak-I'm-getting-old-apologetic voice, "Oh . . . no problem . . . don't worry about it. I'll ask your brother." Sooooo, needless to say, after work I went to the bank and waited in line. They were sold out of the quarters, but the teller said that I can go back on Monday after 9:30.

Mona's Hand-Painted Ornaments

My talented friend Mona has created some hand-painted ornaments which she will be selling on Saturday, November 29th at the Kawaiaha'o Craft Fair.

Our Dog Kona

Here are some of my favorite shots of Kona.

I've posted this picture before, but it's just too cute to not post again. Learning to shake hands. Helping Wendell put up a gate that blocks out puppies. Bath Day Finding a prize A favorite toy Enjoying the Sunday paper Destroying an air plant Two chickens - one is a rooster and one is a dog. Watching some tilapia Another previous post - bee-sting face Trying to get a different perspective of the world

Troy Dunn - The Locator

Have you ever watched The Locator on WE TV (Channel 66)? Troy Dunn and his crew help people reunite with long-lost loved ones. I cry every single time I watch an episode. I cry even when I view the same episode again. If you click on my link you can watch some excerpts from the show and despite the annoying Pillsbury ad that keeps popping up, you're gonna cry too . . . even you, Erick.

Scalloped Potatoes from Costco

Here's another frozen product from Costco. It was actually not bad . . . after I added some salt.
You can either bake it for 30 minutes or microwave for 15 minutes. I microwaved it 'cause I couldn't wait. It probably would've ended up looking more like the picture on the box if I had baked it.

Millipede

I was almost late for work yesterday 'cause on the way to my car I spotted this guy. I don't know how the National Geographic guys do it 'cause in order to take macro shots of anything your subject's gotta be still, and even though this guy wasn't moving at break-neck speed or anything he was still moving. Plus that, the lighting was such that I couldn't get the plane of sharpness wide enough to get the whole ummm insect . . . okay, I googled it, he's an arthropod . . . to get the whole arthropod clear.

Isn't his "face" kinda cute? And look at those weird antenna. Okay, I know you think I'm weird already so it doesn't matter if I tell you that I tried to count the legs. I think he's got about 400 legs!! Good thing humans don't have that many legs . . . we wouldn't be able to afford the shoes! Anyway, I have no idea what my neighbor thought when she drove past and saw me lying on my stomach in my driveway, but oh well . . .

Hi Ruth!!

WE MISS YOU!!

Mona and Me

This is like the best picture of me in ages.

Thai Steak

Last night's dinner was Thai steak. I'm not much of a steak eater, but I can tell you that it was very, very tasty and small-kine spicy. Marinate steak in the following sauce for 15 minutes before broiling or hibachiing:

1 T. fish sauce
1 t. worcestershire sauce
1/4 t. sugar
1/4 t. sweet soy sauce
3/4 T. lime juice
1/2 t. each (minced): garlic, chili, pepper
1/2 T. minced onion

Katch's Ditch

Geoff (coworker Cindy's son) gave me directions to Katch's Ditch, but I don't know if I misunderstood him 'cause I ended up here. It's in the Pearl City Industrial Park area. This is looking left . . . This is looking right . . . And this is looking straight ahead. I couldn't see myself blazing a trail through all that brush, so I got back in my car and drove further in.
I did find this ditch which probably would lead me to the Mushroom Wall, but I was so high up I don't know how I would get down there. Good ole buddy Erick said that next time I should just bring a length of rope and climb down. He said he would call Search and Rescue if I'm not back in a week. What a pal.

Tanabe Market BBQ Plate - 11/8/2008

Leslie called me from her cell today and excitedly said that Tanabe's was having some kind of grilling action going on outside of their store. So I dropped by after work today to check it out.
The owner said that they do the grilling thing every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday from 10:00 to 2:30. She said that they've been doing it for a month now and are getting many, many repeat customers, some who buy 20 plates to take back to the office.

Sounded good so I got 2 combo plates(steak, kalbi and chicken) to take home. I don't know if it was all the hype that the owner gave me or what, but I was small-kine disappointed . It wasn't as tasty as I expected, like the meat wasn't marinated long enough or something. But you go try it out and let me know what you think. . . maybe I was expecting too much.

Katch 1 Artwork

I didn't take these pictures, but I would love to get shots of my own of this mural. Does anyone know where it is? The picture is dated 6/16/2007. From what I've been able to find out it was done in the 90's by an artist called Katch 1. It might be in Pearl City.

I think this is part of the same wall, probably to the left of the mushroom mural. You can see the front of the truck above.
Not sure if this is part of the same wall 'cause the windows on the building are different.

These are details from the second picture.

Amazing, yeah . . . especially if they were really done over 10 years ago. Very, very talented guy. He now is the exclusive artist for Natural Koncept, a small skateboarding company in Los Angeles.

Sweet and Savory Meatballs

There was still some sunlight left when I got home for dinner, so I decided to go outside to take the picture of the Sweet and Savory Meatballs that Wendell prepared. And what better place than on our "handy shrub" that I blogged about earlier.
I got the recipe from my mom long ago and it's one of the few "hard" (more than 5 ingredients) things that I can make. My mom says that you can always tell what recipe card I used or what page in a recipe book that I looked at 'cause it gets all grungy after I'm done with it.
1 lb. ground beef
1/4 c. fine dry bread crumbs
1/4 c. finely chopped onion
1 egg slightly beaten
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 tbs. shortening
1 can Campbells Golden Mushroom soup
1/2 c. drained chopped tomatoes
2 tbs. soy sauce
dash pepper

Mix beef, crumbs, onion, egg and garlic. Shape into 16 meatballs. In skillet brown meatballs in shortening; pour off fat. Add remaining ingredients. Cover; cook over low heat 20 minutes or until done. Stir now and then. Serve with rice.

St. Andrew Church - 11/6/2008

St. Andrew Church is on Beretania and Queen Emma. I'd been wanting to check it out ever since photog buddy Erick took some really awesome pictures there. I had a doctor's appointment a few blocks from there this afternoon so I strolled over after my appointment.

This is above the entrance to St. Andrew's Cathedral.

There were flower arrangement offerings along the side.

The stained glass windows were beautiful.

Aren't the columns and ceiling just gorgeous?!

I purposely underexposed this shot so you can see the reflections from the windows.There was a Japanese bridal couple there (my favorite) so I started shooting some pictures. I thought if nobody scolded me it must be okay.
I got scolded right after this shot . . .

by this lady.

So I wandered over to the adjacent building which was called Parke Chapel.

I looooved the look of this walkway, but the windows were all kapakahi, some open, some not, some open only halfway so I walked down and opened them all about even. I was sure I was REALLY gonna get a scolding then . . . but must be no one saw me.

I went back into St. Andrews Cathedral and sneaked this shot, just so that I could have the last say.

Brandee's Birthday Cake - 11/05/2008

Today is Brandee's birthday. Her cake was sooo neat. The hearts are all rings. It's from Sam's Club and was about $26.

S & T Thai Cuisine

We ordered Thai food today from S & T Thai Cuisine. It's across from Wall Mart on Keeaumoku next to Subway. I only noticed them for the first time a couple of days ago, but the owner said they've been there for a year already. I really liked the food. Hopefully, I'll get to try different stuff from their menu in the future. I'll keep you posted whenever I try something new.

We ordered two kinds of curry but didn't realize until we got them that they were kinda similar. This is the Red Curry with pork. This is the Evil Jungle Prince with chicken.
This was really good. It's the Minced Meat salad. We chose chicken.
Here is the Pad Thai noodles.
This was really good too, the Fried Calamari.
And here's the Eggplant Tofu.

Palama Market Kim Chee

Palama Market makes their own kim chee. It's really good.

Bale Chocoloate Croissant

Have you tried the Bale Sandwich and Bakery chocolate croissant yet? If you haven't, I'm warning you . . . DON'T DO IT!!!!! Once you start you won't be able to stop. It WILL become habit forming. Trust me. Almonds and Chocolate! DANGER, DANGER!

Temari Crystal Ball

I had this bright idea that I would try to teach you guys how to make a temari crystal ball. It soon became apparent to me that no matter how hard I tried to keep things simple it just wasn't happening. So for those who dare to try, here are my sucky instructions. And for those who don't, here are some boring repetitive pictures.

Supplies: 30 bicone beads, 1-1/2 foot monofiliament (suji), cell phone dumahichi cord (I forget what you call it) and bell.

Cut yourself a 1-1/2 foot length of suji.

Attach bell to cell phone dumahichi. The rule of thumb throughout the lesson is 1) add beads on the left, 2)crisscross last bead added and 3) anchor on the right.

1) Add 5 beads and crisscross last bead. Position cluster in center of line so you have an equal amount of suji on each side. 2) Add 4 beads.
Crisscross last bead.
Anchor through one bead on the right.

It should look like this. 3) Add on 3 beads, crisscross last bead and anchor through one bead on the right.

It should look like this. 4) Now do exactly as in step 3: Add on 3 more beads, crisscross last bead and anchor through one bead on the right.

5) Add on 3 beads, crisscross last bead and anchor through TWO beads on the right.

It should look like this.

6) Add on two beads, crisscross last bead and anchor to one bead on the right.

It should look like this.

7) Add on three beads, crisscross last bead and anchor to TWO beads on the right.

It should look like this.

8) Add on two beads, crisscross last bead and anchor to TWO beads on the right. It should look like this.
Sorry but the curvature of the now-forming ball prevented me from getting any usable photos for this part, but it continues:

9) Add 2 beads, crisscross last bead and anchor to TWO beads on the right.

10) Add 2 beads, crisscross last bead and anchor to THREE beads on the right.

You should end up looking like this.
11) Finally, add one bead and crisscross.

Put your cell phone dumahichi with bell into the middle and tighten the suji to enclose the bell. I then feed the two ends of the suji through the bead pukas to encircle the top and tighten the bell. I make a knot and again feed the loose ends through some more pukas before I snip it.
If you got this far . . . CONGRATULATIONS!! You're done!

Coach's Oats

My sister Didi's coworker Cathy gave me this microwavable oatmeal. I was really, really surprised 'cause it tastes just like the expensive steel cut oats that I bought from Whole Foods Market and it took only 3 1/2 minutes to cook in the microwave. I actually shoulda shortened the time 'cause I used milk instead of water and it kinda small-kine splattered the oven. Oops!

Didi said Cathy said you can find it at Costco!

Spaghetti Carbonara

Wendell found this recipe behind the spaghetti noodle box! He's not sure if he did something wrong 'cause the cream curdled while cooking. Tasted good though, like ricotta cheese.
8 oz. (1/2 package) Golden Grain Thin Spaghetti
1 T. margarine or butter
2 c. broccoli florets
6 oz. (2 cups) sliced mushrooms
2 c. half and half cream
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Cook pasta according to directions, drain. Melt butter/margarine in skillet, saute broccoli and mushrooms. Add half and half and parmesan cheese, simmer 5 minutes. Toss with bacon and spaghetti.

Ugly Doll

Leslie brought me back this Ugly Doll from New York. He's Deer Ugly. Isn't he cute? My camera bag is small, so he might look big but he's actually only 4 inches tall. According to the store locator on their website, you can find them here at Mary's Toys, Bella Mommy and Me, Tinker Toys, Cupcake Boutique AND SENSUALLY YOURS (wouldja believe).