Taking a Break

Yes, sorry, I'm gonna be taking a break from blogging.  Not sure for how long . . . maybe a couple of weeks or so. Everything's okay. I just like take one break.  Maybe even clean house.  Or not.

I wanted to leave you something cool to watch while I'm away . . . a butterfly cinemagraph. You can watch it f-o-r-e-v-e-r and the flapping won't ever stop.  I used a segment of one of my video clips and created it by following the instructions on this YouTube video:  How to Create a Cinemagraph. I did it once before and posted pictures here: My First Cinemagraphs.  

K den. Bye. See you soon.  Enjoy the flapping.

J-Shop (Again)

I can't seem to stay away from this store . . . even though everything is so expensive there. I'm so glad that I went yesterday because they were giving away samples.  Besides this meat there were tomato, melon (the $60 one), and little musubi samples . . . all veeeery delicious.



I actually went there to see if maybe they might've discounted this mochi yet 'cause I knew that the expiration date is coming up.  Welllllll, not only had it not been discounted, but this is the last box they had.  No, I didn't buy it. 


I almost bought this Lemon Honey.  The honey has Shikoku lemon in it and looked so good . . . but it was around $15 so I decided not to.


I did buy this kuromame.  I wanted to buy it the last time I was there, but didn't.  It was $4.50.  It's good.  I had to force myself to not eat the whole thing.


This pickled egglant was discounted 30%.  I got it for $5.25.


I wasn't sure how to cut it.  I think this way it looks pretty.


I also got this narazuke . . . $13.50.  EXPENSIVE!!!  But oishiiiiii.


So crunchy.  Landon doesn't like it, but Wendell does. 


Cute yah!  In the back is some won bok that I salted to make into kim chee, but never got the kim chee base yet so been eating with just some shoyu.


I thought this shoyu looked intriguing.  It says that it will make your eggs taste good.  I wasn't sure if I was reading it right so I asked the guy there if the kanji said "tamago" (egg).  He said yes. He said that they use it on top of tamago kake gohan (raw egg on rice).  I bought a bottle. It was $6.25.


As soon as I got home I boiled some eggs.  While it was still warm I poured some of the shoyu on top.  IT WAS GOOOOOOOD!!!!!  Even Wendell said that it was VERY good.  


I almost bought some wagyu beef again. But I didn't.  And now I wish that I did.   And I don't even care for beef . . . normally.  But OMG . . . BUTTAH. 

Ruth and Family

I met Ruth and her sweet family a couple of weekends ago at Magic Island for some picture taking.  Ruth's two sisters live on the mainland, and Ruth and her mom and dad will likely follow suit soon, so they wanted some photos for remembrance. Ruth is a former coworker, and although I don't get to see her too much anymore I feel sad that she'll be leaving the islands. 

Birthday Cards for Danny

5-year-old Danny Nickerson has a virulent form of cancer and may not live longer than 18 months.  His birthday is this Friday.  It would be so awesome if we could all send him a birthday card. The address is P.O. Box 212, Foxboro, MA 02035.

You can read more about Danny here:  Danny Nickerson




Thanks for sharing, Rand!

Metamorphosis - Part 2

I almost missed the Grand Entrance, but caught it just in time. Whew!  It happened early Saturday morning while the light was still somewhat dim so my depth of field (focus) was very narrow. But still, I'm glad I got to witness it.  

Coming Up Next - Metamorphosis Part 2

Stay tuned!

Warabi Mochi

I got an idea to try and recreate the $15/6 kinako mochi that I bought at J-shop. I ended up making this.  For real!



I found this package on the clearance table at Nijiya. It says Warabi Mochi Tezukuri Set (I think). I saw that it contained kinako and I thought that it might be similar.  It was only $1.49 so I bought it.   


The "set" contained a pack of this warabi mochi powder (or flour not sure about the kanji).


And kinako.  That's it.  What kind of "set" is that, yah?  The instructions were in Japanese so I took it to Geri's working place and asked her coworker to translate it for me. I also found this site with instructions:  TGIB.


I put the warabi mochi powder (about 1 cup), 1/3 cup of sugar and 2 cups of water on high heat. I stirred and stirred and stirred until it started to thicken.  Then I lowered the heat to medium.  When it got kinda translucent I took it off the stove.


I let it cool a bit and then put it on some plastic wrap. I was afraid it would melt the wrap if I put it on too soon. I covered it with three layers of wrap.


Then threw it in an ice bath to cool.


After it cooled off I cut it with a plastic knife and then tossed the pieces in the kinako with a bit of powdered sugar added.


I made the sugar syrup by boiling 2 tbs. of brown sugar with 1 tbs. of water. 


It tasted really good, but I didn't like the texture.  It wasn't sticky enough for me.  I waited until Geri got home from work and brought some over to her house.  I wanted her opinion.  She said that the texture was a little different from regular mochi, but she liked it, and she proceeded to eat around three pieces in a row to prove it.   


If you wanna try and make some for yourself, I saw this warabi mochi flour at Marukai.  It was around $2 something. 

Stuart Scott

Thanks for sharing, Cy.

Wagashi

Wagashi are Japanese confectionery that I suspect are more a treat for the eyes than they are for the taste buds.  I found these photos online.  Too pretty to eat, yah.

Metamorphosis - Day 4

Not yet.  I hope it can hold off until the weekend. Otherwise I might have to take off from work.  Yikes!

J-Shop

There's a new Japanese market that opened up on Young Street just Ewa of Kalakaua Avenue, next to the storage place. As soon as Geri told me about it I went to check it out.



The products are more on the gourmet end and are rather pricey.  I've never, ever seen meat as marbly as this.


Hoo hoo!!


Hoo hoo again!!


These are tomatoes. So red, yah!


This melon was $60.


I bought this.  Had to try, right? 


I can't find the words to describe how good it was . . . maybe one word . . . "buttah".  It was worth it.  Maybe I'll buy more for Wendell or Landon on their birthdays.


I also bought this.  Have you ever had it?  About 40 years ago my then boss brought some of this back from Japan, and I never forgot about it . . . I liked it that much.


It was expensive.  $15 for this box.


They're only six of these cute, little wrapped packages in the box.  And they're tiny . . . about 1 1/2 x 2 inches.


It comes with this little wooden pick. 


I'm not sure, but I think this is honey.


You pour it on before eating.  I ate three in no time and was saving the remaining three for my sisters.  Only thing . . . I didn't see them this past weekend, so now there's only one left.  I think I gotta go back and buy another box.