Amy's Cilantro

Amy dropped by the other day and gave me a bunch of her cilantro.  What's so amazing is that I rarely see her, and because she doesn't do internet she had no idea that I wrote about her and her cilantro-growing tips. 

I was so excited to see her.  I said, "Come. Come." and led her to the back of my house.  I showed her all of my cilantro-growing paraphernalia, mostly recommended by her.  I showed her my "leggy seedlings" and asked her what she thought.  She said that they'll be okay and recommended a spot in the yard where the morning light would be the best for them.

Thank you, Amy, even though you're not gonna see this.  Have a nice trip!!

Growing Cilantro - Leggy Seedlings

I was happy that my cilantro seedlings were growing so fast.  Until they started becoming fragile and started flopping over.  I learned that that's called "leggy seedlings".  Most sources say that insufficient light is the most common cause.

One source said to start all over.  Leggy plants will not produce healthy leaves and "it's not worth trying to nurse the doomed plants".  Another source said to replant them deeper, submerging all the way up to the leaves. 

 

I plucked out about half of them and threw them away.

 

Remember these?  I decided to plant these deep to the leaves in the vacated spots of the planter.

   

The roots on most of them looked promising.

   

I put the pot out in the sun.  But I left them for only a few hours.  It's just so brutally hot here, I feel uneasy about leaving them out for longer.  I think I'll try for early morning or late afternoon sun.

If the remaining leggy plants survive, I may try the second suggestion and replant them deeper.  But I do believe that it's easier said than done 'cause they seem so fragile.

   

Afterwards, I went to my desk to work on these.  Much easier to do.  LOL.

   

And here's Kai with a ball.  😍

  

Dd's Kalamata Quick Bread

Didi says:  

SOOOO ono…….wonderful with salami & cheese !!! Great recipe coz it's stuff you would always have on hand.

 

KALAMATA QUICK BREAD

 

1 TB olive oil

1 c. onion, chopped

¼ c. sun dried tomatoes, chopped

2 TB melted butter

1 c. buttermilk*

2 large eggs

2 c. flour

1 ½ tsp. dried Italian seasoning**

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

¾ c. kalamata olives, pitted, coarsely chopped

 

In a small skillet, saute onion in olive oil 3-4 minutes until wilted. Turn off heat; stir in sun dried tomatoes. Allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; generously grease 2/5” loaf pans or a 9x5-inch loaf pan. In a mixing bowl, combine melted butter, buttermilk and eggs well. Stir in dry ingredients and onion mixture. Stir well to combine. Mixture will seem very dense.

Transfer into prepared pans. Bake 20-25 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool 15 minutes.

*Buttermilk substitution – pour 1 tablespoon of white vinegar into 1 cup measuring cup; fill with milk. Allow to sit 10 minutes.

**Can substitute Italian seasoning for basil and/or oregano…holiday time? Use dried thyme & sage.

Ceramics Class

Ceramics class started up again.  After two hours this is what I ended up with.  I tried making an oxtail soup bowl with an attached section to put your ginger/shoyu sauce in.  In the end, the bowl proved to be too soft and couldn't support the dipping portion.  It kinda collapsed.  I might need to go back to the drawing board or just move on to another project.  We'll see.

 

When I got home I finished working on this watercolor greeting card to help make me feel better.   It's a medium I'm more familiar with, but this too is also a work in progress.

 

Growing Cilantro - Method #2

About three days after I potted the cilantro seeds, I decided to put a few seeds into a damp paper towel.  I actually forgot about them until yesterday. 

I think crushing them first is the key to successful germination.

 

The roots are so long!!

 

With the encouragement of my sister Didi, I'm trying the colander method of growing . . . using a colander inside a bowl of water.  The gal in the instructional YouTube video says that as long as you change the water daily, you don't need to provide nutrients.

  

In the meantime this is how the potted seedlings are doing.

Dried Aku

My brother Cy went to Azama on 10th Avenue in Palolo Valley to pick up his fave dried aku yesterday.  Dried aku is actually not my thing, but I just wanted to share his pics.  

They also have fishcake, miso butterfish and lau lau!  I haven't been there in awhile.  I might need to pay them a visit soon.

Growing Cilantro

I'm a crappy gardener.  And I've heard that cilantro is very hard to grow.  But I wanted to try.

I got tips from the internet and from my friend Amy who grows the most beautiful, healthy cilantro.

Here are my sprouts today.  I planted the seeds 8 days ago.   Cilantro sprouts don't like to be transplanted so you should right away plant the seeds in a tall pot for their forever home.  Amy said to allow for long roots.  I used a 12-inch pot.  One source said to plant the seeds an inch apart.  I ignored that one.  I scattered the seeds and topped with around 1/4 inch of soil.

 

Amy said to use local seeds because "mainland seeds are hit or miss".  This pack was around $4.99 from City Mill.

   

It helps a lot if you crush them before planting.  It speeds up the germination time.  Each seed contains two seedlings.  I got my small suribachi in Japan.  Came in handy!

   

This might be the biggest tip of all.  Amy said to use the soil recommended by pakalolo growers.  Landon got it for me for Christmas.  It's from Ace Hardware in Kaimuki.  I think it was $60.

   

I added a lot of black cinder to the soil to help with drainage.  One tip that I saw online sticks to my mind because I tend to overwater, and the tip is to keep the soil "moist not soggy".

   

And finally, I added some worm castings . . . because somebody gave me . . . and it seems like a really good thing.   I would love any additional tips if you have them.  I think the hardest part is yet to come.

  

HIGOTO Japanese Eatery

Landon went to Kaimuki Shopping Center to pick up some fishing gear at J. Hara Store so he decided to go next door for some Japanese food.  Score!

Tofu Salad ($10.90). This actually is just part of the salad.  I already ate some before I thought to take pictures.  😄

 

Salmon & Ikura Cup Sushi ($14.90) 

 

Tenmusu ($3.80), Kombu & Harihari ($3.00), Tuna Mayo & Apple Cucumber ($3.00)

 

Miso Butterfish ($18.90)

  

Homemade Frozen Waffles

Cleta gave me a bag of frozen waffles that she had made from scratch and they came in so handy for a quick breakfast that after they were all gone I decided to make more.

 

I picked a buttermilk recipe from the allrecipes site.  It made 22 waffles.  They were a bit limp right off the waffle iron, but they crisped up perfectly after being frozen and popped into a toaster oven.

 

This was my setup.  I got the mini waffle iron from Ross awhile back for about $5.

  

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons white sugar

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 2 cups low-fat buttermilk

• ⅓ cup melted butter

• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Gather all ingredients.

2. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl until evenly combined.

3. Whisk buttermilk and melted butter together in a separate bowl; whisk in eggs.

4. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until just combined and batter is slightly lumpy; stir in vanilla extract.

5. Preheat a waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.

6. To cook each waffle, pour enough batter into the preheated waffle iron to reach 1/2 inch from the edge. Cook according to manufacturer's instructions.

Wendell's Soy-Glazed Chicken

Wendell made this for his softball team and for his monthly gathering with classmates.  I got to taste one slice and it was goooood!!

The recipe is from Genio Ng at the Cooking with Genius site.

• 2 chicken thigh, with skin and boneless
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tsp of ginger
• 2 tbsp of soy sauce
• 2 tbsp of mirin
• 2 tbsp of sake
• 1 tbsp of honey or sugar
• Cornstarch, to coat the chicken
• Salt and pepper, to season

To garnish:  Sesame seeds, spring onions

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
2. Coat the chicken with cornstarch and shake off the excess.
3. Heat the oil over medium heat. Cook the chicken skin side down for 7 minutes, flip and cook the other side for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
4. In the same pan, saute the garlic and ginger until fragrant.
5. Add soy sauce, sake, mirin and honey. Give it a good mix and cook the sauce until it thickens.
6. Add the chicken back to the pan and baste the chicken with the sauce.
7. Serve with hot steamed rice, garnish with sesame seeds, spring onions and enjoy!