I hope that the ICC also go after Putin's flunkies, and I hope that they're all quaking in their boots right now.
Saturday, March 18, 2023
Friday, March 17, 2023
Stuff from Daiso
Here are just a few things that I bought from Daiso recently.
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Casualty of the Winds
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Sunday, March 12, 2023
Dd's Hungarian Mushroom Soup
Didi made this soup with her homegrown mushrooms!

HUNGARIAN MUSHROOM SOUP
2 TB butter
1 large shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ # oyster mushrooms, coarsely chopped
Salt, freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ TB flour
2 heaping tsp. Hungarian paprika
1 ½-2 c. chicken stock
1 ½ TB soy sauce
½ c. half and half
1 ½ tsp. red wine vinegar
2 TB Italian parsley, chopped
Garnish: sauteed mushrooms, sour cream, chopped Italian parsley
In a large saucepan over medium heat sauté shallot, garlic and mushrooms in butter.
Season with salt and pepper. Cook until all liquid has evaporated, about 10-15 minutes.
Remove some mushroom tops for garnish. Stir in flour and paprika. Cook 2-3 minutes,
stirring well to combine. Add stock, soy sauce and half and half. Bring to a gentle boil,
reduce heat. Simmer 10 minutes until thickened to desired consistency. Add stock as
needed.
Remove from heat; stir in vinegar and parsley. Season as needed with salt and pepper.
For service, garnish with reserved mushrooms, sour cream and additional chopped parsley.
Serves 2-3 as a meal, 5-6 as a starter.
Friday, March 10, 2023
Mushroom Grow Kit
I discovered this Mushroom Grow Kit a couple of years ago when it appeared on a Lightening Deal on Amazon. It normally goes for $12.99, but once in a great while it'll be reduced to $7.99.
Didi noticed that it was on sale again last month.

Wednesday, March 8, 2023
Aloha Island Jerky
This is my current favorite jerky. I used to buy it at the swap meet until they stopped selling it there.
Now they sell it at Bellows Marketplace on Sundays and at the Every-3rd-Saturday Craft Fair at Koko Marina.

Tuesday, March 7, 2023
President Zelensky on Bucha
Sunday, March 5, 2023
Dd's Red Beans and Rice

RED BEANS AND RICE WITH SAUSAGE
½ # dried kidney beans, soak overnight
3-4 c. water
½ TB vegetable oil
½ # andouille sausage, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
¼ c. green bell pepper, diced
¼ c. red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, or more, to taste
½ tsp. cumin
½ tsp. blackened/cajun seasoning
1 tsp. salt, or more, to taste
½ tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
For service: basmati rice, chopped green onion
In a mixing bowl cover beans completely with water. Allow to soak overnight. Drain beans in a colander and pick them over, looking for any small stones. Transfer into a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a rapid boil. Reduce to medium boil. Allow to boil, stirring occasionally 45-60 minutes until tender.
Into separate saucepan brown sausage in oil until browned on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Set aside.
Into saucepan add celery and onion, saute until just limp. Add bell peppers, garlic, bay leaves, red pepper flakes and seasoning.
Return sausage to saucepan. Allow to simmer 15 minutes.
For service: Ladle beans over rice, and garnish with green onions. Serves 4.
Friday, March 3, 2023
Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Say What?
Monday, February 27, 2023
Stuffed Zucchini Pizza
We had some not-so-fresh zucchini in the 'fridge so I decided to try make some stuffed zucchini using ingredients that we had on hand.
I kinda burnt the cheese, but still was ono. Landon asked if I intended for it to taste like zucchini pizza, and I said yes even though I actually didn't know what I had intended.
Ingredients
- 4 medium zucchini
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Dried oregano
- 10 ounce Portuguese sausage, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tomato, diced
- 14 oz. bottle of pizza sauce (I used 2/3 of the bottle)
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (+ more for topping)
- 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese (for topping)
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Cut off the stem ends of the zucchini. Cut them each in half lengthwise and scoop out the insides with a spoon. Place on a baking sheet and brush each with a bit of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and dried oregano.
- Fry the sausage and drain any excess fat. Add the garlic and cook for a bit. Add the diced tomato, 1/2 teaspoon salt, pizza sauce, parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Heat until reduced and not runny.
- Scoop the sausage filling into the zucchini boats. Top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden brown. I went for an additional 5 minutes and that's when the cheese got burnt.
Saturday, February 25, 2023
Humongous Peanuts
My sister Geri made boiled peanuts and gave some to Wendell because he loves them. They were huge and so ono. I don't have her recipe, but Wendell makes good boiled peanuts too and you can find his recipe here.

Thursday, February 23, 2023
Humongous Strawberry
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Sawsawan Dipping Sauce
Landon invited a few friends over this past weekend, and since I'm the Lumpia Queen nowadays, he asked me to make some.
Everybody liked the lumpia, but what surprised me was that the most asked-for recipe was the sawsawan sauce. The recipe is from The Foodie Takes Flight site. I used calamansi juice (because I had) and regular onion, not red (because I didn't have).
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tbsp distilled white vinegar
- 2 tbsp water
- 1/2 tbsp calamansi juice or 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Ground pepper
- 1-2 tsp sugar adjust to desired sweetness
- 2-3 siling labuyo, bird’s eye chiles, or other chiles of choice
- 1 medium tomato diced
- 1 medium red onion diced
Sunday, February 19, 2023
Quick and Easy Pouch
Saturday, February 18, 2023
Origami Bag
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Geri's Baked Pastele
My sister Geri made some Baked Pastele the other day and we lucked out because she delivered a sampling to each of the siblings. So nice!! Thank you, Geri!!

Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Cute Watercolor Birds
Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you have a good one. Happy Birthday, Zsa's!
This was my fourth or fifth attempt at trying to record this video. Something always went wrong. Mostly I kept forgetting to press the record button. But it was so fun painting the birds that I kept doing them, and I knew that sooner or later I'd be successful in capturing the process.
I learned how to paint the birds by watching a Diane Antone Studio YouTube video tutorial.
Sunday, February 12, 2023
Baby Mangoes
Friday, February 10, 2023
More from Monarch Seafoods
Thursday, February 9, 2023
Monarch Seafoods' Stuffed Ahi
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
Lumpia

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound ground pork
½ cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ cup minced carrots
½ cup chopped green onions
½ cup thinly sliced green cabbage
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (Optional)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon soy sauce
30 lumpia wrappers
2 cups vegetable oil for frying, or as needed
Directions
Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add pork; cook and stir until crumbly and no pink is showing, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove pork from the pan and set aside. Drain grease from the pan, leaving just a thin coating.
Add onion and garlic to the pan; cook and stir until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the cooked pork, carrots, green onions, cabbage, and cilantro. Season with pepper, salt, garlic powder, and soy sauce. Remove from the heat, and set aside until cool enough to handle, about 5 minutes.
Assemble lumpia: Place 3 heaping tablespoons of filling diagonally near one corner of a lumpia wrapper, leaving a 1 1/2 inch space at both ends. Fold the side along the length of the filling over the filling, tuck in both ends, and roll neatly and tightly to close. Moisten the other side of the wrapper with water to seal the edge. Transfer to a plate and cover with plastic wrap to retain moisture. Repeat to assemble remaining lumpia.
Heat 1/2 inch vegetable oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes.
Slide 3 to 4 lumpia into the hot oil, making sure the seams are facing down. Fry, turning occasionally, until all sides are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Repeat to fry remaining lumpia. Serve immediately.
Sunday, February 5, 2023
Dd's Red Clam Linguine


RED CLAM LINGUINE
1 # Manila clams, scrubbed, soaked 30 minutes, drained
2 oz. anchovy (1 TB anchovy oil, 5 anchovy fillets, finely chopped, divided)
2 TB olive oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped
½ small onion, chopped
1 TB tomato paste
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
4 oz. can chopped clams, drained; juice reserved
1/3 c. white wine
½ can (15 oz.) fire roasted tomatoes
½ # squid ink pasta, cooked according to package directions, drained
2 TB butter, cut into pieces
2 TB Italian parsley, chopped
Garnish: chopped Italian parsley
In a large skillet over medium warm anchovy oil. Add garlic and onion; cook until slightly browned, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, anchovies and red pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until warmed through, about 30 seconds. Add clam juice and wine. Bring to a boil. Add fresh clams, tossing to coat in sauce and cook, covered, until clams start to open, 6-7 minutes. Remove clams to a bowl, reserving mixture in pan. (Discard any clams that do not open.).
Into skillet add tomatoes, canned clams, salt and pepper as desired. Bring to a boil over medium-heat. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 10-12 minutes. Return clams, drained pasta, butter, and parsley to pasta mixture and gently toss until butter has melted and pasta is evenly coated.
Serve immediately. Garnish with additional parsley as desired. Serves 2-3.
Friday, February 3, 2023
Wendell's Garlic Chicken Katsu

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, substitute fish or venison
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, substitute regular soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 cup panko
• Oil to fry chicken
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Directions:
The day before: Prepare chicken by removing any fat and cartilage. Break into pieces naturally by separating the chicken into about 1-inch pieces. Mix marinade of garlic, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Put chicken in the marinade and refrigerate overnight or freeze for another time.
Fill a skillet with oil about 1/2-inch high. Prepare the breading by making three bowls with flour, egg and panko. Dip chicken piece in flour, then egg, then panko and put into unheated skillet. When skillet is filled with chicken, turn heat on to medium-high heat. Turn over in about 2 1/2 minutes and continue cooking until browned. Remove cooked chicken and drain on plate covered with paper towels. Continue with next batch until completed. Serve hot or at room temperature with ketchup and Worcestershire sauce mixed together.
Serves 4-6 as a main course, or more as an appetizer.