Day 7/7 Nature Photo Challenge

Pau!!



HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYBODY!!!  See you again next year!

Day 6/7 Nature Photo Challenge

Quartz crystal pyramid . . . counts, right?

Computer monitor for light. On top of black t-shirt. 

6 seconds; f13; 1600 ISO.

Day 5/7 Nature Photo Challenge

Hoping adverse "nature" conditions count.  This was at Ala Moana Magic Island yesterday.

Day 4/7 Nature Photo Challenge

I took this at Koko Head District Park yesterday morning at around 7:15 a.m.  Do you see the cat? So lucky, yah!

Day 3/7 Nature Photo Challenge

This was taken at around 8 a.m. yesterday morning at Sandy Beach.

Day 2/7 Nature Photo Challenge

Yesterday and today's photos were both taken this week at the cactus garden at KCC. I totally got bitten by some kind of bug(s) and was itchy, itchy, itchy on both lower legs and both hands until I got home and took a bath. 

Day 1/7 Nature Photo Challenge

K. I did it. I posted my first nature photo to Facebook for the challenge. Dunno why, but I'm nervous about it. 

Photo Challenge

My photography buddy Erick invited me to participate in a Facebook 7-day Nature Photo Challenge where you share one nature photo a day for seven days.  Wonder if a fake jelly fish paper weight counts.

No?

K, didn't think so.

Maybe I best get off my lazy butt then. 

One Marathon Runner

I went outside at around 6:45 in the morning, took a few shots to test out my just-repaired camera, went back indoors and never went back out again. I missed the whole marathon. Aiyaaaaa.

Just Checking In

How are you guys doing?  Shopping/baking/wrapping done? Almost?

Me? I'm a little bit ahead of schedule this year. I like it. I feel calmer than usual . . . not so frazzled. 

I had to put my sewing on hold because this is my sewing area. 




Guess what happened since I last blogged. My Precious camera broke. I went online to trouble shoot and deduced (hoped) that it might've been something simple like needing a new "clock" battery. I went to Walgreen's (and Longs and Radio Shack and Game Stop and Ross) and picked up the battery and a small Phillips screwdriver set. I nervously opened up My Precious and replaced the battery. Several times. Because it still wouldn't work. And I kept thinking that I was doing it wrong. But no. No matter how many times I tried, the camera still wouldn't work. Waaaaahhhhhh.


The best, best thing about owning a Canon camera is that we have a service center here on Ward.  They still have to send it away, but at least you can drop it off here and they'll ship it for you. I left my camera there and waited for a diagnosis. I got a call the next day. Two circuit boards needed to be replaced as well as the lens contact assembly, and LCD assembly. My shutter had a very high count (144,000) and needed to be replaced too. My total cost to repair: $531!  I said okay.

And finally for you, here's a funny video about what happened to a car that was illegally parked in a handicapped space somewhere in Europe.  Thanks for sharing, Ross!



That's it for now.  Happy Shopping.

AirPano

Beautiful panorama video for you to watch while I'm taking my December break. If you can, try watch it full screen on YouTube. Enjoy!

Thanks for sharing, Ross!

Wendell's Really Ono Meatloaf

This meatloaf was so, so deeeeelicious. Wendell said that the recipe was from last Wednesday's Star-Advertiser, and so as usual when it comes time to blogging about one of Wendell's dishes, I had to go hunting around for the source. This time it was easy to find. Wendell had put the newspaper with our cookbooks.

And guess what. Surprise. Surprise. The article was written by Mariko Jackson, Nippon Nin's daughter!!  And guess what the recipe is called. "Mom's Meatloaf in Acorn Squash"!! In case you don't know, Nippon Nin is one of my favorite fellow bloggers. I have a link to her blog on my sidebar to the right.

As you can see, Wendell did not stuff a squash with the meatloaf, but I've included the entire recipe below as it appeared in the article.

Mom’s Meatloaf in Acorn Squash

3 slices bacon, chopped
1/2 onion, finely minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 pound ground beef
1 egg
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese powder
2 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Pinch nutmeg
1 acorn squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon flour, for dusting

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In pan over medium, saute bacon, then remove and set aside. In the bacon grease, saute onion and garlic until golden and soft.

In medium bowl, mix bacon and onion mixture with ground beef, egg, cheeses, ketchup, salt, pepper and nutmeg. To check mixture for seasoning, cook a tablespoon of the meat and adjust seasoning to taste.

Microwave whole squash 2 minutes on high. Cut off top cap of squash and scrape out seeds. Cut small slice off bottom to ensure squash stands upright. With knife, cut into flesh inside squash but do not pierce skin. Brush outside and inside with olive oil and dust inside with flour.

Stuff squash with meat, then place cap on top. Bake 45 minutes and then remove cap and bake another 10 minutes.

To serve, while still hot, cut squash into slices like an orange. Serves 4.

Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

Happy Thanksgiving!  This is not Thanksgiving related, but an amazing performance nonetheless.

Here is the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain performing The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Karaage Iidako, etc.

We got this from Chef Zone . . . Karaage Baby Tako.  Interesting, yah. 



 It was kinda expensive . . . $23.47.


Wendell fried up a few last night.


It was good but a little bland to me.  I added a little bit of salt.


This is also from Chef Zone. Landon says it's the best imitation crab stick. It was $4.07. To be honest, I can't tell the difference. Landon said there is no comparison.


This isn't from Chef Zone.  It's from Chinatown.  It's so good, Wendell said he doesn't think he'll ever get tired of it. It's $4.50.


I just bought these grapes from Safeway the other day. They're big, but not really as huge as they appear in this photo. They are, however, crunchy and sweet and the best grapes ever. I think they were $3.99/pound . . . kinda expensive, but worth it to me. 

Wendell's Hoisin Ribs

This was fall-off-da-bone ono!!!  And *happy happy* the recipe can be found online here:  Urban Cookery.




Addendum:  Wendell said that instead of leaving the ribs in a slow cooker for 6 hours, he just boiled it for about 1 1/2 hours, then let them soak in the marinade for about an hour before broiling.

Revenge Parking

Awhile back me and Wendell were looking for parking in a rather full lot at Sam's Club. We noticed an open space and rushed to it. Only thing . . . somebody had just pulled into the stall right next to it and was encroaching so much into the empty stall that we couldn't fit. The driver was just getting out of his car so I rolled down my window and said, "Scuse me.  Could you park your car better so that we can get into that space?"  Do you know what he did? He looked at me, turned around, and proceeded to walk to the store. !!!!!  What an (see below)!!!!!

No, this is not my artwork. I wish I had the guts. I'm glad that some other people do though.





























This is my favorite.  The orange pack is a condom.


Thanks for sharing, Ross!

Nissin Raoh Instant Ramen

Awhile back I saw a program on NHK World about the history of instant ramen. It said that instant ramen was created by the Nissin company back in 1958. This new product surprised everyone and revolutionized the noodle industry. Towards the end of the program they mentioned Nissin's newest product, the Nissin Raoh instant ramen. Restaurant-quality noodles are created using the newest state-of-the art technology and is enhanced by an umami-flavored broth. They said that ramen lovers in Tokyo wait in line outside of a pop-up restaurant which serves it. You can find out more here. 

I had to wait until Amazon got it in stock, but I finally managed to get ahold of this miso-flavored variety.



The noodles look like this out of the package.


I don't think I'd wait in line for it, but it is the best instant ramen I've ever eaten.


If you have time, you can check out the NHK program here:

A Very Cool Project

Guess what you can do with a 20-inch zipper, a 20-inch length of ribbon . . . 



and some liquid stitch glue?


Once the glue is all dried, you zip it up . . . 


and it becomes a nifty triangle pouch. Veeery cool, hah? Instructions can be found here. You're supposed to hand sew, but because I'm lazy I used the adhesive glue instead.


Bobbi Ayn, thanks for turning me on to this project! That was fun . . . and veeeeery challenging!

Off subject, but . . .  this is what you can do to protect your still-sharp favorite scissors from the men in your house.

Miss A

I've had to cut down on my photo engagements because my aching back cannot handle lately, but I did get to take pictures of Miss A today, and as usual she did not fail to entertain.