Wendell's Hot Sesame Oil Tofu

Wendell made this a few nights ago and it was so ono.  Looks like it's easy to make too.  

The recipe is from Kathy Chan's site called Onolicious Hawaii and can be found here.

 

Ingredients

• 1 block soft tofu (about 14 ounces)
• 2 stalks green onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon furikake
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

Instructions

1. Remove the tofu from the package. Rinse and drain. Cut the tofu into small blocks. 
2. Top the tofu with the chopped green onions.
3. Heat a small pan to medium heat. Add the sesame oil and heat until the oil gets super fragrant and nutty. Just as it begins to smoke (about 1-2 minutes), turn off heat, and quickly pour the hot sesame oil over the tofu. It should make a slight smoke/sizzling sound. 
4. Top with the furikake and soy sauce.

Unclogging an Inkjet Cartridge

We have a 6-year-old laser printer that works pretty good still, but it only prints in black.  Wendell wanted something that also printed in color so about a year ago he picked up an inkjet printer from Walmart, an HP Deskjet 3752, "the world's smallest printer/copier/scanner".

A few months ago it stopped printing in black.  I figured that the cartridge was clogged because we hardly use it.  After unsuccessfully trying all the recommended methods for cleaning the printhead on the cartridge I gave up.  The good ole laser printer still worked after all.

But every few weeks or so, I would try again to fix that bloody thing.  And I would give up.

A few days ago, I came across a YouTube video that recommended something different.  There was a good chance that I would mess up the cartridge, but I figured WTH, right?  It wasn't working anyway.

Following the instructions on the video here's what I did.   I peeled back the label on top of the cartridge to reveal this puka.

Using the nozzle on a can of dust remover I blasted air into the puka several times.  Thick, sludgy ink squeezed out of the print head.  Sorry, I didn't take photos.  My fingers were all black from the ink.

After wiping up the sludge, I soaked the print head in a little bit of warm water for about an hour or two (I forgot about it).  The water actually got all black.  This is a re-creation for you.

It worked!!  I printed this yesterday.  Even though I don't like to waste the expensive ink, I'd hate for it to clog again from non-use.

Side note about the laser printer:  It's a Canon printer that's not made anymore.  I bought it on Amazon and paid $69 for it back then, which is about what the HP Inkjet printer cost.  The laser cartridge is expensive ($76), but I've only needed to replace it twice in the six years we've had it (second cartridge still in use).  And so far, it hasn't clogged. 

KOHA Foods Spicy Takuan

My siblings and I like to share photos of our meals with each other, and recently this was one of Didi's breakfast plates.  I asked about the takuan.

It's this. KOHA Foods Spicy Takuan.  Didi said that she usually gets it from Times, but I found mine at Longs.  I like it a lot.  As Didi puts it, it's very "ko choo jangy". 

It's like a Korean Japanese blend of flavors.  

Here are the ingredients.

On a Walk

This is a short slideshow of pictures that I took on a walk last year.  I almost trashed them because they're quite boring.  Glad I didn't because it gave me something to fuss around with in Keynote, and now I get to share the boring photos with you.  You so lucky.

Dd's "Canned" Tomato Basil Bisque

 

“canned” TOMATO BASIL BISQUE

26 oz. can tomato soup
½ 26 oz. can heavy cream

½ 26 oz. can milk
2 tsp. dried basil 

1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Dash tabasco
Garnish: chopped green onion, Parmesan cheese
** croutons

 

In a saucepan over medium heat combine tomato soup, cream and milk. Add seasoning; simmer 10 minutes. 

DO NOT bring to a boil; simmer until heated through. Garnish as desired. 

** Croutons would make a great topping!  Serves 4 starters or 2 as entrees.

Cheese and Onion Buns

I wanted to do another 4K video so I made cheese bread again . . . this time with onions . . .  because I didn't have any more jalapeños.  

I found that it's not so easy cooking and filming by yourself.  It's totally different from just stopping and taking a shot with your camera.  The hardest part is not really knowing if you're in focus and in frame.  But I did have a lot of fun making and editing the video. 

YouTube's 4K High Definition processing for this 3 GB video took over 2 hours.  Make sure it says "4K" in red on the wheel icon in the lower right hand corner to get its full benefit! 

Now, about the recipe.  It came out a little oilier than I like this time.  If I make it again, I probably wouldn't slather on butter before sprinkling on the cheese and maybe just do an egg wash on top instead of adding on even more cheese.  

Cheese and Onion Buns

Slice half an onion and sauté.  Set aside. 

Stir:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons yeast

Add:

1/2 cup warm milk

3 tablespoons melted butter

1 large egg, room temperature

Mix for 5 minutes.  Cover and rest for 90 minutes.

Flatten and roll out dough to 16-inch diameter.  Spread on butter.  Sprinkle 1 cup or more of grated cheddar cheese and onions.  (Throw in some pieces of sliced ham too!)  Cut into triangle wedges and roll up.

Place pieces in an 8 x 8 inch baking pan.  Top with more grated cheese, cover and let rise 30 minutes. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. 

Miles

I happened to notice this on my dashboard and took a photo.  When I googled it I found this:

"When the number sequence 4444 appears repeatedly, it is an indication that you are surrounded by your angels.  The angels are at your side to reassure you of their presence, love and help."

Not sure if I believe that, but I think it's cool.  Would you believe my car is 8 years old?  So low miles yah.

Wendell's Spam Donburi

Wendell said that he saw this recipe on Facebook and he decided to try it.  It's originally from a blog site called Miss Mochi's Adventures.  That recipe can be found here.

Wendell's double-ish version is below.

Sorry peoples, but I can't figure out why all of a sudden my videos don't have the arrow to click on anymore.  If you click on the picture it'll take you to the video on Flickr. 

Broth:

2 2/3 cup dashi

1/2 cup shoyu

4 Tbs. mirin

2 Tbs. sugar

1 onion, sliced

1 can spam, sliced, fried

5 eggs, beaten

Place onion slices in the broth and bring to a boil.  Boil until the onions are to your liking.  Add spam and eggs.

Cover and cook for 30 seconds.  Turn off heat and wait for 30 more seconds.

Serve over hot rice.

The Backyard in 4K

I realized a few days ago that my camera can shoot video in 4K resolution, so I decided to test it out.  I don't really understand the high-tech explanations, but I think 4K is something like Ultra High Definition. 

One drawback for me in shooting 4K is that the file size is huge.  This short 1 minute, 30 second video is a whopping 550 MB.

Costco's Hamburger Steak with Gravy

 Wendell bought this the other day for dinner.  It was not bad for fast-kine heat up in the oven.

It was perfect topped with an egg loco moco style (no photo - 🙄).

At the Swap Meet

It was fun doing this video, but I must say that if you're prone to motion sickness maybe you'd better not watch.  I got kinda queasy watching all the footage while editing.  I weeded out most of the bad parts, but there are still some unsteady moments.

The video's file size was too big for Flickr so I put it onto YouTube. If YouTube loads the video in low quality, you can click on the wheel icon and choose HD for better viewing.

Dd's Mexican Chorizo Meatloaf

MEXICAN CHORIZO MEATLOAF

 

Meatloaf:

2 TB olive oil

1/2 c onion, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped 

1 rib celery, finely chopped 

1 clove garlic, minced 

1 # ground beef 

6 oz Mexican chorizo, removed from casing 

4 oz can diced roasted green chiles, drained

3/4 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp ground cumin 

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper 

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 

1 large egg, well beaten 

1/4 c ketchup 

1/4 c sour cream 

1/2 c breadcrumbs 

2 TB cilantro, chopped

Pico DeGallo:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced 

1/4 medium white onion, minced 

1 medium tomato, diced

4 oz can diced roasted green chiles

salt 

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a heavy skillet over medium-high heat saute vegetables in oil until softened, about 8 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle.

In a large bowl, combine sauteed vegetables with remaining ingredients. Transfer mixture into a loaf pan or shaped on cooking sheet. Bake 45 minutes. Remove from oven carefully pour off any pan juices. 

Pico de gallo: Combine all ingredients; allow to sit 30 minutes. Season with salt to taste. For service serve over meatloaf. Serves 6.

Alvin

Here's another drawing that I videoed.  Alvin is the name of the person in the photo that I used for reference.  It's from the Unsplash website.

Isn't my title cool looking!!  I learned how to do it from a YouTube tutorial. First you write out what you want on a white piece of paper and take a photo of it.  Then you import it into Keynote where you can do magic on it, save the results onto your computer and then import it into iMovie. I was so stoked when it worked. 

I used my camera to shoot this time because of the problems I had previously with my phone's limited storage capacity.  My camera uses storage cards that can hold gigaloads, so storage is not a problem.  The problem came with the camera's auto-off feature.  This happens when filming for an extended period of time to prevent the camera from overheating.  

Again, for a bigger view click on "Alvin by Jalna" in the lower left corner which will take you to my Flickr page. 

Smashed Cucumber

This recipe is from the Allrecipes site.  It's really easy to make, so just right for me. 

Ingredients

2 English cucumbers

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more as needed

2 cloves garlic, finely crushed

2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

red pepper flakes to taste

2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds

Directions

• Step 1

  Wrap each cucumber in plastic wrap to minimize splattering. Place on a work surface and pound with a flat object (like a meat pounder) until cucumbers crack and are slightly flattened. Remove from plastic. Cut cucumbers in half; halve each side lengthwise. Slice into 1- to 1 1/2 -inch wide slices. Transfer to a strainer set over a bowl.

• Step 2

  Sprinkle cucumber with sugar and salt; mix until well combined. Refrigerate bowl and strainer for 30 to 60 minutes so cucumber pieces can drain into the bowl.

• Step 3

  Place garlic, seasoned rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes in a large bowl. Whisk together thoroughly.

• Step 4

  Transfer drained cucumbers into bowl with dressing. Toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate for about 30 minutes to allow flavors to mingle.

• Step 5

  Place cucumbers in serving bowl and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Chef's Note:

In place of seasoned rice vinegar you can use plain rice vinegar and add an extra pinch of salt and sugar to the dressing.

Artichoke

Here's another video. I drew an artichoke . . .  or four.  I really don't know why I enjoy the process of creating videos so much.  Even the messed up parts.  Or the why-no-work parts. Maybe it's because it gives me something else to focus on besides scary things that are happening right now.  Maybe, yah. 

I found the artichoke photo from a site called Unsplash.  

"Unsplash grants you an irrevocable, nonexclusive, worldwide copyright license to download, copy, modify, distribute, perform, and use photos from Unsplash for free, including for commercial purposes, without permission from or attributing the photographer or Unsplash."

This time I learned how to do picture-in-picture and a jiggly see-through logo. 

Leslie's Back!!

Finally!!  Leslie is into a new venture and posted about it on her blog, Leslie's Pics.  Sounds interesting.  Go check it out. You can find a link in my sidebar to the right.

Dd's Taco Soup

 

TACO SOUP

 

1# ground meat or ground turkey

1 TB olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 small carrot, peeled, chopped

½ medium red bell pepper, seeded, chopped

1 large tomato, chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped

15 ounce can black beans, drained

15 ounce can corn, drained

½ c. favorite salsa

2 TB taco seasoning

1 tsp. EACH salt, ground cumin, dried oregano

2 c. chicken broth

Dash favorite hot sauce

Mojo Sauce:

½ c. cilantro leaves

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 TB fresh lime juice

½ TB EACH agave nectar, apple cider vinegar, favorite taco seasoning

1 tsp. ground cumin

Salt, freshly ground black pepper

2 TB olive oil

Garnish: shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, avocado, crushed tortilla chips

 

In a saucepot over medium heat, brown meat in oil. Add onion, carrot, bell pepper, tomato and garlic; saute for a few minutes.  

Stir in remaining ingredients until combined. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Note: Add a little water to bring to desired consistency (should be consistency of a stew). 

Mojo Sauce: Combine all ingredients in a food processor; drizzling in olive oil. Garnish with desired toppings and 1 tablespoon of Mojo Sauce.  Serves 4.

Desk Tour

For lack of a better topic, here is a tour of my desk.  Clicking on "Desk Tour by Jalna" in the lower left corner will take you to a bigger-sized format to view on Flickr.

La Birria Tacos

A few days ago Wendell picked up these tacos from the La Birria Tacos truck that he saw in Kakaako.  It was kinda expensive . . .  3 tacos with dipping sauce for $12, but it was super ono. 

Here is the taco opened up.  Yummy.

Butter Cookies

Wendell bought too much powdered sugar for I-don't-remember-what so I decided to make some butter cookies with them. 

Actually, I wanted to take photos so that I could fuss around in that Keynote app again.  It's a pretty amazing program with lots of controls and options to click on.  It's fun discovering all the different things that can be done.

The recipe in the video is for a double batch of cookies because that's what I made.  The salt should be 1/2 teaspoon for a double recipe (I put 1/4).  

My typed recipe below is for a single batch.

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream butter.

Add sugar gradually.

Add unbeaten egg and vanilla.

Add sifted dry ingredients.

Make into rolls and refrigerate or freeze.

Bake at 400 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. 

Mini Book by Cleta

 It was so nice to receive this in the mail from my pal Cleta.  I love it!!

Why So Hard, Bread Dough?

I found this info at the Taste of Home site on reasons why bread dough might not rise.  I'm not sure if I should just quit already.   

1. Your yeast is old.  If your yeast is too old, chances are you aren't going to get a good rise.

2.  The water is too hot.  Anything hotter than 105 degree to 115 degrees F could kill the yeast.

3.  It's too cold inside.  If your kitchen is too cold, the yeast could die.

4.  You added too much salt.  Too much salt can keep the yeast from doing its job.  Never pour yeast and salt on top of another in your mixing bowl.

5.  You added too much sugar.  If you added too much sugar in your dough, chances are that it will gobble up almost all of the food the yeast needs, leaving you with dry, ineffective yeast.

6.  You added too much flour.  Too much flour can make your dough stiff and dry.  If there's not enough liquid present it doesn't work the way it should.

7.  You're using whole grains.  Whole wheat and other alternative flours don't develop gluten as easily or at all.

8.  The crust is too dry.  If a crust develops on top of the dough, it can be difficult for the bread to rise.

Cheese Bread with Jalapeños

I fussed around with the Keynote app on my computer.  It felt totally foreign to me and after stumbling around for awhile I came up with this presentation. The fact that I did end up with a workable video actually surprised me. 

And the fact that I ended up with an edible cheese bread was also a surprise.  My dough never did rise . . . not at the initial 90-minute rest and not at the second 30-minute one. It was looking like I was going to end up with burrito nuggets instead of bread. 

But surprise, surprise!  It came out okay.  And ono too.  

I got the recipe from this YouTube video and used jalapeños instead of onions.

Stir:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons yeast

Add:

1/2 cup warm milk

3 tablespoons melted butter

1 large egg, room temperature

Mix for 5 minutes.  Cover and rest for 90 minutes.

Flatten and roll out dough to 16-inch diameter.  Spread on butter.  Sprinkle 1 cup or more of grated cheddar cheese and jalapeños.  Cut into triangle wedges and roll up.

Place pieces in an 8 x 8 inch baking pan, cover and let rise 30 minutes. Brush on an egg wash and sprinkle with more grated cheese. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. 

Time-Lapse Drawing

A couple of weeks ago Kat from Our Adventures in Japan posted this photo that she took of a liquor store in a neighborhood in Tokyo called Chuo. 

I thought it would be cool to try to draw the picture and wondered if I could document the progress in a video.  I realized real fast that without a proper setup (tripod, etc.) it would be pretty impossible.  Plus, the video would probably end up being too long and boring. 

I decided to take intermittent photos of my progress instead and put them together in a video.  The drawing took me 2 days to do, so taking photos in the changing light was a problem, but not a biggy. 

This was maybe the funnest video project that I've done so far.  I learned so much.  

I did the title for the video in Keynote which is a presentation software application that is included with my Mac.  I never even knew what it was before. I learned about it from a beginner tutorial for iMovie on YouTube.

I learned how to insert a "camera click" sound between my photos in the video.  It is one of many sound effects that is included with iMovie.  Even the music that I used is from the sound effects list.  

I also learned how to "crop to fit" so that my photos would more or less generally stay in the same location relative to each other. 

Anyway, here's the video.  It's really short.  Only 36 seconds.  Enjoy!  😄

Dd's Korean-Style Hot Meat

 

KOREAN-STYLE HOT MEAT 

(adapted from Dd’s Table Talk II)

 

2 lbs. chuck roast or pork shoulder, 1 ½-2 inch cubes

water

1 c. water

1-1 ½ c. soy sauce, as needed

¾ c. brown sugar

5 red Jalapeno peppers

2 green Jalapeno peppers

 

In a large saucepan over medium heat, cover meat with water; bring to a boil. Skim off scum from top of saucepan. Drain all but 1 cup of water. 

Add additional 1 cup of water and soy sauce as needed to cover meat. Add sugar and peppers. Return to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 1 hour. 

Serve hot or cold with lots of hot rice and kim chee on the side. 

Note: Optional to use sweet peppers. Serves 2-4.

Bread "Rolls"

My sister Geri has been into bread making lately so I felt like making some too.  I imagined myself having fun and getting great satisfaction while kneading the dough. 

But tell me . . .  seriously . . . how are you supposed to knead something like this?  It was not satisfying at all.  It was totally ANNOYING.

After kneading I was supposed to separate the dough into six pieces and roll each into a small log and then coil them with the tails nicely tucked in the middle. Forget that. I barely managed to divide the dough into six pieces and then plop them into a loaf pan.

Here it is after the dough rose.  I admit, seeing the dough rise was kinda satisfying.

And after it baked, it did look good.

And it tasted good too.  Yippee!  But I'm not sure if I'll be making this again. 

Here's Maangchi showing how it's supposed to be done.  Easily.  So annoying. 

Ant Break

I had an ant visitor the other day while I was painting, so I took a break and tried videoing him.  My phone struggled with focusing because he was so tiny so I went and got my camera.  He actually appeared and disappeared several times, and I got a lot of footage, but most were blurry.  Luckily, one short clip came out and I was able to make a 1-1/2 minute movie. 

For the music I searched through several YouTube videos and found one that kinda suited.  I recorded it with my iPhone's VoiceMemo feature.  Then I Airdropped it onto my computer and was able to attach it to the video. 

More Gouache

 Here's a recent page that I did using gouache paints.   

This is my paint set.  I actually got it 2 years ago from Amazon, but had only used it a few times until recently.  It's $34.42 right now in case you're interested.

You can use the top to mix the paint, but I like to keep it clean so I use a separate palette for mixing.  

This is what I had been using to mix.

But I'm transitioning to this palette that I just found at the swap meet. 

Gouache Painting Video

Looks like a kid might've done the painting, but it was me.  And it was fun painting . . . and filming . . . and editing.

This time around I learned how to splice and shorten loooooooog, boring clips.