Boo!

Happy Halloween from the wonderful receptionists at Y & M King Street.

Taste of Times McCully - 10/31/2008

I went to Times Supermarket today and got the Boneless Hulihuli Chicken plate. I really liked it. This plate fed me and Brandee. It was $5.99 and came with two scoops of brown or white rice, tossed salad and a Coke.

This is Alteri grilling up the ono grub.

And lovely Kehau.

The menu varies a little daily, and this is what was served today.

The Grudge

Coworker Wayne is a riot. He helps to keep things light at work. That's why I love him. A couple of years ago he was the Grudge at a Halloween party. I didn't make it to that party. Nelson took these photos. Make sure to look for the Grudge in every picture.

Mana Bu's, Makiki Bake Shop and Caryn's Okazuya

Brandee went to wait in line at 10:30 at Mana Bu's today. She said it stretched all the way to Baskin-Robbins. She returned with these gems . . . ohhhh, my precious. I decided to go get some okazu from this okazuya I remember passing on my search for the BHiver Wall.
It's on Young Street between Keeaumoku and Piikoi, just past Makiki Bake Shop heading Ewa. Makiki Bake Shop has ono orange chiffon cake, and sometimes they have them on sale to the public.

It's really small inside and when I peeked in they had some cake inside a soft drink refrigerator.
I bought one to take home ($6).

Anyway, the okazuya is called Caryn's Okazuya, and it was my first time there.

I have a feeling the breakfast must be good because I ordered the hash and it was really ono.

UPDATE: My sister Didi says they have "THE BEST SPAM STUFFED EGGPLANT TEMPURA ."

Here are Chris and John, super super nice guys.

I got tofu, hash, shrimp tempura and garlic chicken. I especially liked the hash and garlic chicken; they went well with the Mana Bu musubi.

Daily Bread

The Daily Bread is across the street from where King's Bakery used to be. When you enter the store, there are ham rolls, tuna rolls and some pastry on the left. They got some round baked cinnamon/sugar chips on the right. On the counter there were some ciabatta squares and behind the counter there was a wide variety of loaves. Everything looked good. I ordered a sub sandwich (5 bucks) and asked if I could take some pictures. With raised eyebrow the girl shot me a suspicious look and said, "NO!" I pressed, "I would just like to put them on my blog." She repeated, "NO!" Sooooooo, I would've loved to have posted some pictures of the ono-looking bread, but NOOOOOOOOO I got none. The sandwich was okay.

Brandee's Bread Pudding - 10/27/2008

Brandee made bread pudding and brought some in to work today. The taste was to die for. Unfortunately, I don't have the recipe, and I'm not sure if I can pry it from her. She has school tomorrow so she won't be in to work. So, check back here in a couple days and we'll see what I can get. . . it might be just this picture.

Update: Hooo hooo. Brandee gave me the recipe and no wonda it's so ono; she makes it with croissants! Thank you, thank you, thank you Bran. I thank you and my seven readers thank you. Recipe is after the picture.Bread Pudding
6 croissants (cut in half lengthwise and layer in a 9 x 13" pan). Mix together 8 eggs, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 cups heavy cream, 1 tsp. vanilla. You can also add chopped pecans and raisins if you like. Pour mixture over croissants. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour (until set).

Sauce
1/4 c. cognac, 5 egg yolks, 1 c. sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 block butter

Beat together and cook in double boiler until thickened.

Thai Masaman Beef Curry - 10/27/2008

Wendell used tri-tip for this curry, so the meat was very soft. It was really ono, just like from a Thai restaurant. Too bad nevah have sticky rice.
Boil 1 lb. beef (cut into pieces) and 3 T. peanuts in water. Reduce heat to low and cook for 40 minutes. Add 2 potatoes (cut into pieces) and cook another 20 minutes.

On medium heat in a separate pan stir fry 1 T. oil, 1 1/2 T. masaman curry paste and 4 T. coconut milk until fragrant. Add the meat, potatoes and peanuts. Then add 1 1/4 c. coconut milk, 2 T. fish sauce, 1 t. palm sugar, 1 t. lime juice and 1/4 t. paprika. Reduce heat to low and cook 10 minutes. Add 1/4 onion and cook briefly.

Costco Stuff

My family came over today for my mom's birthday. Because I don't cook too good, I always rely on Costco. These caught my eye. They were about $15.

You bake them at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. I was a bit disappointed in them. They didn't come out looking like the picture on the box, and although there were supposedly four different flavors, they all tasted the same to me.
I've been wanting to try these for awhile, and I thought today would be the perfect occasion to try them out. I think it was about $10. Doesn't the picture look great?!

It DID take only 5 minutes in the microwave, and this is REALLY what it looks like when done. Wendell and Landon liked them, but I hated 'um. Admittedly the broth was very tasty, but the clams were soooo gritty it actually crunched when you bit into them. It sooooo turned me off.
Now this dip surprised me. Costs about $7. Heat it up in the microwave for a few seconds . . .

and it comes out looking like this. Veeeery cheesy and so ono . I couldn't stop myself. I kept saying, "Last chip . . . okay, this one is the last chip . . . okay, FOR REAL, this is the last chip . . . "

Megan Comes for a Visit

Back in February when Megan was just one week old, I took these pictures of her. Rosalyn dropped by with her yesterday! Isn't she just so ADORABLE?!

Cat on Car

Yesterday morning at the parking structure where I work, this cat was enjoying the warmth from this car's engine.
And since I'm talking about the parking structure where I work, awhile back somebody did this to my car. Not cool, huh.

Y & M Christmas Card Design Competition

I lucked out and won with my blue christmas tree light drawing card!

After Work - 10/24/2008

I went to Costco after work today to pick up this iced tea. The last time I was there, the checkout girl mentioned that she had heard it was good, so I've been wanting to try it. It's made with tea, pineapple juice and Maui cane sugar. It's very refreshing, but I think it tastes more like juice than tea. It was $15.99 for a 12-pack.

While I was there, I saw two people with this cream puff tray in their wagon, so of course I had to get it. It was good, but one was too much for me to eat at one time so I had to share it with Wendell. It was $6.99 and there's eight in a tray.

I ended up spending 70 bucks, and all I really wanted was the tea. Anyway, after loading up my car I had to snap this picture 'cause the sky was just so gorgeous.

When I got home Landon was fixing dinner. I quickly scarfed one of these potato wedges. Was ono. He said he slathered the potatoes with mayonnaise, sprinkled garlic salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Then he baked them for about 40 minutes at 375 degrees. He said for the last few minutes he raised the temperature to 420 degrees to get the outside crispy.

He also made these braised short ribs. He didn't use a recipe but said something like: Salt, pepper and flour the ribs and brown in a frying pan. Then in a big pot saute onion, carrots and celery in a little vegetable oil. After it caramelizes add garlic cloves, bay leaves and thyme. Saute for a few minutes then add the meat and tomato paste to the big pot. When everything starts to darken but just before it burns, add some wine . . . lots of wine and couple cans beef broth. Simmer. Something like that, anyway.I went outside to get something and I saw the sky. I quickly grabbed my camera and took a few shots . Within minutes it was gone.

Today's Lunch - 10/23/2008

Lunch for me today was homemade ramen garnished with leftover Chinese roast pork. It was really good.
I found the ramen at Marukai in the refrigerated section. I've eaten the dried version before and never knew they also made it with refrigerated noodles. If you're sodium conscious though, you might want to use only half of the flavor pack.
This is the leftover half of Wendell's lunch. It's a Brooklyn hot panini sandwich from Safeway. Wendell said it's made with Black Forest ham and it was delicious freshly made. I tasted a bit of it and it was delicious cold. It was $5.99.

Light Drawing

I got so excited when I saw these on sale at Longs in this past Sunday's Longs ad. I thought they'd be perfect to use to try out some light drawings. It came in four colors and was only $2.50!!

Here's what it looks like in the dark. What I did was, in a darkened room I set the camera down on a stool, I focused on a chair that's about 8 feet away, I clicked the shutter (which I had set to stay open for about 10 seconds), I ran to the chair and I drew pictures with the light. There's a tutorial at lightdoodles.com. And then watch this neat You Tube video called PikaPika the movie. And if you're still interested, check out behind the scenes of PikaPika the movie. The below is a composite from 5 separate shots. Neat, yeah!

The Two-Headed Monster

This is my favorite picture of me and Landon.