Kikkoman Shaku Shaku Shoyu

Pal Cleta picked this up for me from Marukai sometime last week.  It was on sale for $2.79. I tried it last night.

It's an oil-based condiment with the "umami of shoyu and aroma of garlic. You can use it on rice, musubi, tofu, pasta and salad."



The pouch is made to be opened like this, and they advise you to use a small spoon to stir.


It's very much like a rayu (chili oil) condiment but minus the spice. 


I had planned to eat it with only this much rice, but after one bite I said, "forget that" and ate a whole bowlful. 


Thanks Cleta!!

Update on Vitamix:  Wendell said the blender worked real good last night . . . so 🎉 YAY!!

Vitamix Warranty

Five years ago we bought a Vitamix from Costco. It was around $300. Expensive. But Wendell, Landon and I chipped in $100 each and considered it a Christmas present to each other. 

Lately, Wendell had been having Shaklee's shakes for dinner and so was using the Vitamix almost daily. A few weeks ago it stopped working.

When I checked online I found that it came with a 7-year warranty. I couldn't remember if I even filled out a registration card when we bought the machine, and I wasn't sure if that mattered, but I filled out a Contact Form that I found on the "Contact Us" page on the Vitamix website. I gave the serial number and left Wendell's phone number and email address and checked "email" as communication of choice. 

I didn't hold my breath. I totally doubted a positive outcome.

Vitamix emailed Wendell back almost immediately. After several email exchanges where Wendell was asked to perform a few tests, they sent a shipping label and asked that the broken blender be sent back to them for repair via UPS (free of charge). 

We got the blender back yesterday. The pitcher portion which includes the blade assembly looks brand new. 

Here are the repair notes.


The blender worked okay last night. But to be honest, it didn't really work "good as new" . . . something wasn't quite right. It seemed to struggle. 

So am crossing my fingers.

Last Breath

If you have Netflix, try watch Last Breath. All I saying is, "True Story with actual footage."

Moe's Southwest Grill

Last week Wendell and I were at Pearl Ridge Mall killing time, and we ended up at Moe's Southwest Grill.

We were almost gonna get pastries from Brug, but Moe's chairs looked nice and comfy, so Moe's won out.


We got nachos. 


And chicken quesadillas. 


They were ono, but cost $29.65 total! I think next time we'll do Brug instead.

Pasta at Ross

I got this from the Hawaii Kai Ross yesterday for $2.19.  They had a bunch so they might still have some left today. I put it in boiling water with a skosh oil for 10 minutes, and it came out perfectly al dente. 

Wendell's Sweet Sour Pork

Wendell made this for dinner last night. He used the recipe from Cook with Susan blog. He said he used pork butt instead of spareribs. 



3 pounds spareribs, cut into 1” strips
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
¼ cup flour
3 cloves garlic, smashed
3 inches ginger, smashed & sliced
1/3 cup cider vinegar
¾ cup water
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. salt

1. Have the butcher cut the spareribs into 1” strips through the bone.
2. Cut the spareribs between the bones into bite size pieces and place in a large bowl. Add soy sauce and mix. Add flour and mix again. Let sit for 30 minutes.
3. In a large pot add the vinegar, water, brown sugar and salt.
4. Heat a wok or nonstick frying pan on med high. Add 2 – 3 Tbsp. oil and gently brown the ginger and garlic. Remove and place in the pot with the sauce. Then add ½ the meat to the wok and spread out but don’t stir. Let brown for 2 minutes. Using a tong, turn pieces to evenly brown. Remove pieces as they brown and add them to the pot. Cook the other ½ of the meat the same way and add to the pot. Stir to mix meat with the sauce. 
5. Place the pot on the stove and bring to a boil then turn heat down to low and let simmer covered for 1 hour or until tender. Stir occasionally.

Card

I made this card yesterday . . . 8 of them . . . all hand painted . . . all  the same.  Took me all day. 

I'm wondering if I should do more. Maybe. 'Cause it was fun.

Last Class Project

For our last art class project, we could choose any medium of our choice and was given a month to work on it. 

Erick did this watercolor painting of a room at Plantation Village. He used QoR paints.


Cleta did this pencil sketch portrait. The left half is a black and white photo. The right side is her sketch. !!!!!


This is mine. I used Prismacolor Nupastel sticks. 

My Pasta Salad

Look what I made! Hoo hoo! Was ono.

I learned something about broccoli.  I just zapped fresh broccoli in the microwave for around 10 seconds and it came out perfect for the salad.


This is at Aina Haina Foodland.  I never paid much attention to this Olives and Antipasti bar before. 


In fact, I often wondered what people did with all those olives.


The other day I decided to get this olive tapenade to enhance my pasta salad. Glad I did. It totally works.


I got some of this artichoke hearts too.


I got this from Ross last week.  I really like it. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any more on my Tuesday Ross run yesterday. I did find it at Foodland on sale 2/$7.00.


I used this dressing from Whole Foods.  It's perfect for me . . . very mild. I don't remember the price, but I think it was under $5. 

For Susan

As requested, here it is.  And again, to give proper credit to the real artist, here's a link to kelogsloops instagram account.



And Susan FYI, I used the Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors that I told you about for this painting.