Thank You!!

I met up with R and S yesterday and they gave me two pepper plants and some seeds to plant.  Thank you so much!!

This is called Explosive Embers Pepper . . . so pretty!

 

This is Jay's Peach Ghost Pepper. 

 

Some Photos by me

 

  

 

   

 

 

 

Wendell's Teriyaki Spare Ribs

These spare ribs were on sale at Sam's for $2.49/pound.  So cheap that Wendell wants to go back for more.

 

He marinated the ribs for a few hours in this sauce from Costco and then baked at 275 degrees for 2 hours.  So simple and so yummy.

 

Fred and Max

 

Fred

Meet Fred.  He comes around whenever I repot plants and looks for worms that might emerge from the dirt.  

Dd's Shortbread Cookies with Dried Cherries

I bought a bag of trail mix from Ross to add to my overnight oats, and it was good but contained too many big dried cherries.  So I dug them out and gave them to Didi, knowing that she could probably make use of them. 

She made these! Ho!

1 c. butter, softened

½ c. powdered sugar, sifter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. all purpose flour

¾ c. dried cherries, chopped

 

In a mixing bowl cream together butter and sugar. Beat in extract. Gradually stir in flour and cherries.

Onto parchment paper divide dough into 2 logs 1 ½-inch wide. Refrigerate 2-3 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Slice logs into ¼-inch rounds. Bake 8-10 minutes until slightly browned on edges. Makes 2 ½ dozen.

Sausage Update

Here are Landon's sausages being smoked.  The curved ones are "Italian" pork sausages flavored with Italian spices and the straight ones are "Asian" beef sausages with ginger.  On the right side of the smoker is chili pepper salt.

I learned that sausage-making is a scientific process with lots of steps involved.  Lan worked hard over the course of several days, but ended up not being satisfied.  I thought they tasted good.

Landon has been watching YouTube videos to improve his sausage-making skills, and hopefully he'll keep at it. 

Wendell's Pork and Chicken Adobo

This was ono even though Wendell said that he only had time to marinate for 2 hours instead of the recommended 3 or more.  The noodles and green beans are leftovers from Duk Kee in Kaimuki, near to what used to be Kaimuki Bowling Alley, across the street from what used to be a taxi stand, etc. . . .

The recipe is from the Manila Spoon site.

Ingredients

Adobo Marinade

• 6 cloves Garlic, crushed
• ½ cup Soy sauce
• ¼ cup Rice Vinegar
• 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
• 1 tsp whole Peppercorns

Adobo Components

• 2 tbsp Oil
• 4 cloves Garlic, crushed
• 1 large Onion, sliced
• 2 lb pork butt, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1.5 lb chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup Water, plus more if needed
• 3 Bay leaves
• 1 tbsp Sugar

Instructions

1. Prepare the marinade. Place the chicken and pork pieces in a non-reactive bowl. Pour the marinade and ensure all the pieces are evenly coated. Leave to marinate for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight.
   
   
   Heat the oil in a large pan. Saute the garlic and onion until aromatic and the onions have started to brown.
   
   
   Depending on how big the pieces of meat are, cook the pork ahead for the first 8-10 minutes or until they've rendered their fat. 
   
   
   Thereafter, add the chicken, the rest of the marinade plus 1 cup of water, and the bay leaves, and cook the meat altogether. Cover and cook on low heat for about 1 hour until the meat is tender and fully cooked. Add the sugar at the end of cooking and then stir until it's incorporated into the sauce.
   
   
   If the sauce begins to dry up before the meat is tender, simply add a little more water as needed. You can let the dish dry up if you prefer a dryer adobo otherwise, retain some liquid. Some prefer to fry the adobo which you may do after it’s cooked – just brown it quickly.

Cool Thing

I ordered this from Amazon.  It was around $10 for 50 packs which comes out to 20 cents per pack.

You first soak it in water for a minute.  After it puffs up you throw it in the freezer.

 

Now, when I give away anything cold I can put it into one of my $1 swap-meet chillers with this ice pack and say, "No need return."  "Cool" right!? 

  

  

Wendell's Crispy Oven-Baked Chicken

Wendell saw this recipe in the recent HMSA magazine and decided to make it.  It really did come out very crispy.  And very ono.   He said that there were other chicken recipes in the magazine that he wanted to try.

 

The recipe calls for "aluminum-free baking powder".  Not sure if our regular baking powder is aluminum free or not, but that's what he used.

  

Geri's Cookies

These are super ono cookies that my sister Geri makes. Wendell's friend (maybe the wife) also makes it, and he provided the exact same recipe which is from the Ha'aheo School (Hilo) PTA recipe book.

 

 

Funny

I couldn't stop laughing. When the wife does the Kramer sliiiiide . . . 😂 . . . I was crying from laughter.  "My apologies."  

Around the Yard

Having fun with my old camera.  

 

   

   

 

Pork and Tofu Stir Fry

I made this yesterday just so that we would have something to eat for dinner instead of leftovers (again), and I wouldn't feel guilty about being such a crappy wife/mother.

The recipe calls for leeks, but who has leeks in their 'fridge when they're trying to not be a crappy wife/mother?  So I put in green onions and carrots instead.  Close enough.  

The recipe is from the Food & Wine site.

I used a full 16 oz tub of tofu instead of a half tub and rice vinegar instead of sherry vinegar.  I used chili/garlic paste instead of crushed red pepper (not my favorite green-cover one because cannot find that one in stores anymore).  I also added a spoonful of cornstarch to the chicken broth for thickening.  

Guess what happened.  It came out super ono!  😂 😂 😂

Tip: I had thin-sliced pork in the freezer hoping Wendell would make pork cutlet again, but noooooo.  So I took it out of the freezer and cut it into thin pieces when it was still half frozen.  Was easy to slice that way.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1 pound pork loin, cut into 1 1/2-by-1/4-inch strips

• Salt and freshly ground pepper

• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• Large pinch of crushed red pepper

• 1 large leek—halved and cut into 1-inch pieces

• 1 cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth

• 1/2 pound firm tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes

• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce

• 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar

• 1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

Directions

1. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil. Add the pork, season with salt and pepper and stir-fry over high heat until cooked, 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the remaining vegetable oil to the skillet. Add the garlic and crushed pepper and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the leek and 1/4 cup of the stock, cover and cook until the leek is softened, 2 minutes. Add the remaining 3/4 cup of stock and bring to a simmer. Add the tofu, then stir in the pork, hoisin, vinegar and sesame oil. Transfer to bowls and serve.

Makanai Toast

This was inspired by an episode of Makanai on Netflix (thanks for the tip Honolulu Aunty).  

Actually, Cleta had given me some toast and after they were all gone, I was craving more.  So I cut up a couple pieces of bread and made a small batch in the toaster oven.

Bake at 250 degrees for about 5 to 7 minutes, turning once.

Remove from oven, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.

Return to oven and bake at 250 degrees for another 5 to 7 minutes, turning once.  

(some of my pieces were still a bit soft, so I left them in the oven for a little longer after turning it off)

Note:  Mine wasn't as good as Cleta's.  She said that she makes a paste of softened butter and sugar and smears it on before baking.  I going try her way next time.

Another note:  N, that's your  mom's teacup.  It's so pretty.  I researched the markings on the bottom of the cup.  It's from Kozan Gama (Kozan kiln) in Ureshino, Saga, Japan, and maybe made by the grandson of the founder, Tatsuro Ono, who likes working with gold decorations using a technique called "Kinrande".  Thank you for passing it on to me.  I cherish it.  ❤️

Corn - The Easy Way

 This is too cool!  And Wendell is too funny.