Christmas Tree Kokedama

Me and da sistahs attended a Christmas tree kokedama-making class held by Ellise of Live Long and Plant.  It was fun!

Dd's Irish Guinness Stew

This looks so good!!  And the meat is probably tender from the beer and the 1 1/2 hour simmer.

IRISH GUINNESS STEW

 

2 TB olive oil

2.5 # beef chuck, stew cut

½ tsp. each salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 garlic cloves , minced

2 onions , chopped

4 slices, diced

2 bay leaves

3 sprigs thyme

½ tsp. each salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 TB rosemary , finely chopped

3 TB flour

1 bottle, 14.9 oz Guinness Beer

4 TB tomato paste

3 c. beef broth

2 carrots , peeled, stew cut

2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, stew cut

 

Generously season stew meat with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour.

In a large saucepan over medium high heat brown meat in oil on all sides. Transfer to a plate; set aside. 

Into saucepan, add additional oil as needed. Saute onions until pale golden, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and bacon; cook until bacon is browned, about 3-4 minutes. Stir bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, and1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. 

Cook, stirring to combine well. Stir in flour and tomato paste; stir for 1 minute. Add Guinness Beer and water. Bring to a boil, return beef to saucepan. Add additional water as needed to cover meat. Cover saucepan; lower heat to a simmer. Allow to simmer 1 ½ hours. 

Add carrots and potatoes. Continue simmering 30 minutes until beef is tender and vegetables are cooked through. Remove bay leaves and thyme. 

Serves 2-3.

Keurig Repair

Our Keurig is kinda old and it stopped working recently.  It would turn on okay, but right after you press the button to brew, it would turn off.  So I googled and found this:

Common Fixes

Clean the needles: Coffee grounds can clog the top or bottom piercing needles, creating dangerous back pressure that trips the machine's safety shut-off. Remove the K-cup holder, unclip the funnel, and use a straightened paperclip to clear out debris from both needle holes and the exit slot. 
The "smack" or invert trick: Many users on Reddit report that removing the water reservoir, flipping the machine upside down, and giving the bottom a few firm taps or smacks helps release trapped air, clear internal water bladders, or reset the switch.

 

I got a needle and poked around in the puka here.  Then I took off the water reservoir and turned the machine upside down and shook it.

And now it works!!!

  

CS Kodachrome 64

This CS Kodachrome 64 recipe for Fujifilm cameras gives a nostalgic film look to photos and leans toward the warmer side.  I like it a lot.  I found the recipe on YouTube.

I had my camera set on Auto for these pictures 'cause I felt shy about shooting and didn't want to spend too much time fiddling with the settings before taking the shot.  

I did need to fix the pictures a bit afterwards.  If you're wondering, I use the basic Photo editing software that came with my computer. 

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Message from Liz Oyer

Elizabeth G. "Liz" Oyer is a prominent American attorney, justice advocate, and the former United States Pardon Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice (April 2022 to March 2025). She is also the author of the Lawyer Oyer Substack and creator of the Lawyer Oyer YouTube Channel.

The following is a transcript of a short video that she posted on the day after Election Day:

Hey everybody.  What a day.  I'm still a little bit delirious from last night, but I wanted to share a few thoughts.  Yesterday's elections were a huge triumph for America.  I think the biggest takeaway is that Donald Trump is not what America stands for. The cruelty, the hate, the lawlessness, the corruption.  That is not who we are as Americans.

Honestly, there have been moments over the past two years when I had started to doubt that. I'd started to wonder where we were headed as a nation.  But last night was a decisive rejection of everything Trump has wrought.  We told our fellow Americans and we told the world that we do not tolerate cruelty, hate, lawlessness or corruption here in America.

Another important takeaway is that our voices matter.  We did this.  All of us.  We had felt powerless at times, but we kept going and it made a difference.  Every time you posted a video documenting ICE abuses, every time you shared a story about government corruption, every time you voted, it made a difference.

The last two years have felt endless, but sometimes change takes time, and it is time well spent.  As far as governing the country, here's what I think we can expect. 

1)  Everyone and everything will be investigated by Congress.  The self dealing, the quid pro quos, the brutality of ICE, all of it.

2)  Trump will not be able to get another Supreme Court justice confirmed if Thomas Alito retires.  He might not be able to get any new judges confirmed at all.

3)  Officials like Pete Hegseth and Todd Blanche have lost the popular mandate to govern.  They have been exposed as frauds, and now they will face congressional oversight.  They could even face impeachment.

4)  Congress can now pass laws that will prevent this from ever happening again.  They can close the loopholes that allow the president and his family to profit at our expense.  They can reform the Supreme Court, and lots more.

The main reason that Trump got so out of control was because Congress was MIA.  Now Congress is back in action.

One final takeaway is this.  Yesterday's elections knocked all the wind out of the sails of the election deniers.  There is no denying these results.  There is no lawsuit the Justice Department  could bring that will have any effect in salvaging the political future of MAGA.  MAGA is over and America is back.

We did this together as a community, and I am so grateful to each and every one of you.

Ceramics Class

We took our pieces home to paint.  Good thing we're allowed to because our class is only 2 hours long and that's not enough time.

Here's Cleta's.

 

Mine

   

Geri's

   

I was wiping off underglaze from my ojizo-san's face and he totally made me laugh. 

   

Here are three more that were made in the last class.  So cute, yah!

  

❣️ Fujifilm XT-2 ❣️

Some pikchas.

Reggie's HP5 Black and White

 

Advanced Filter: Partial Color - Red

  

Caleb Smith's Kodachrome 64

 

Lisa Portinari's Lisa Glow

  

Reggie's HP5 Black and White

Dd's Cream of Mushroom Soup

I love soup, and this recipe looks pretty simple!

CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP

 

1 TB olive oil

1 TB butter

1 medium shallot, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 oz. crimini mushrooms; chopped

2 ½ c chicken broth

2 TB flour

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

salt, freshly ground pepper to taste

1/4 cup heavy cream

Garnish: chopped Italian parsley

In a large pot over medium heat, saute shallot, garlic and mushrooms in oil and butter until softened.  Stir in flour; cook 1 minute until well incorporated.  Stir in broth, cayenne, salt and pepper.  Cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Puree to desired consistency with emersion blender.  Check for seasoning; adjust if necessary.  Stir in cream.  For service garnish with parsley. 

Serves 2.

 

Cy's Breakfast

Cy says:  From Ray's.  I remember when it was $20.  Now it's $30.

Lan says:  Their prime rib is usually killa!

Fujinon XF23mm f2.8 Lens

Two things happened that resparked my interest (fka obsession) in photography.  (1) Mahina's parents are getting married in a couple of years and (2) I discovered Fujifilm recipes.

Weddings were one of my fave picture-taking events, but lugging heavy gear all day and night long got too grueling for me.  Also, post-processing to get the photos to just how I liked them took hours.  

And so, I bought the Fujinon XF23mm f2.8 pancake lens to go with my 9-year old Fujifilm X-T2.  The total weight of both lens and camera is 597 grams (1.32 pounds).   My younger self would've preferred the faster f1.4 version, but I opted for the lighter/smaller lens and crossed my fingers that it would suffice. 

And then, Fujifilm recipes allow you to tweak your Fuji camera using its Film Simulation function to give you your desired look straight out of the camera.  I used Reggie Ballesteros' Reggie's Portra for my sample photos below.  I found his recipe on YouTube.  Minimal post-processing of these photos was required other than cropping. 

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