Cy's Breakfast

 Per Cy, "$13 char siu good, everything else not so good.

 

 

Lambchop's Ear

Kai chewed off Lambchop's ear the other day and didn't want to give it to me. 

 

You can click on the photo below to watch a video.

 

Thai Yellow Curry

I made this a week or so ago using a box mix that I got from Ross.  I actually used two boxes. Everything you need is included in the box, but I also added chicken, sweet peppers and a potato.  It was gooooood.  But I knew that it would come out gooooood because I've made the green curry version many times before.  You can check out a blog post about it here. 

 

   

 

Kai's Cool Find

Kai was playing with something that he found in our backyard, and I was kinda amazed to see what it was.  You can click on the photo to watch a short video and here to read my explanation.

Exotic Phenomena in Dimension 4

A very smart gal gave a talk at a mathematics conference at Harvard.  I didn't understand a single statement she made, but watched for 8 minutes because I was intrigued.  It has 898,438 views right now.  Does that mean that 898,438 people can understand what she is talking about?

Pork and Pepper Stir-Fry

I bought a bag of sweet peppers to see if Kai would like some added to his meals (he does), and decided to use some to make us some dinner the other night.

The recipe is from The Woks of Life website.  It's a keeper 'cause was ono and easy.

Ingredients

For the pork and marinade:

• 8 ounces pork shoulder or loin (cut into thin strips)
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
• 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce

For the rest of the dish:

• 6 long hot green peppers (6 peppers = 10-12 ounces/280-340g)
• 2 slices ginger
• 3 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce

Instructions

• In a bowl, combine the thin strips of pork, water, cornstarch, oil, Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce and light soy sauce. Mix well and set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
• De-seed the peppers, and thinly slice them on a diagonal. Prepare your ginger and garlic.
• Heat your wok over high heat until smoking. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, and then add the pork. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, until the pork is lightly browned around the edges. Remove the pork from the wok and set aside.
• Over medium-high heat, add another tablespoon of oil, along with the ginger, garlic, and peppers, and fry for 30 seconds to 1 minute. The peppers should be beginning to blister from the heat, but control the heat to avoid burning the garlic! Add the Shaoxing wine to deglaze the wok. Stir for another 10 seconds. 
• Add the pork back to the wok along with the sugar and dark soy sauce. Stir-fry for another few seconds over high heat, and serve.

Kai the Retriever

Click on the photo below to watch Kai in action.

Dd's Pan-Fried Lamb Chops

Lamb is actually not my thing, but this sure does look good.

PAN FRIED LAMB CHOPS 

 

4-6 lamb rib chops, ½-inch thick 

Marinade: 

4 cloves garlic, crushed 

¼ c. olive oil 

2 TB balsamic vinegar 

1 TB fresh lemon juice  

1 TB dried rosemary 

1 tsp. lemon zest

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. freshly cracked black pepper

 

Place chops in a shallow dish. In a mixing bowl combine marinade ingredients well; pour over chops. Allow to marinate 4 hours or overnight. 

 

Over medium-high heat, warm skillet.  Brown lamb chops 3-4 minutes. Turn, basting with marinade as needed. Continue cooking 3-4 minutes to bring to desired doneness.  Serves 2.

Alone at the Dog Park

It was mid day a few days ago when we took Kai to the dog park.  Except when one dog came for a little while, he had the whole park to himself. 

You can click on the photo below to watch a short video.

Kai's Newest Toy

It's a frisbee, BTW.  😁

Christmas Advent Calendar Day 4

Kai's "grandparents" gave him a Christmas Advent Calendar where he gets a treat/toy everyday in December leading up to Christmas.  

You can click on the photo below to watch a video showing us opening up today's treat.

Cy's Breakfast

Hamburger Steak plate from Liliha Bakery.  $17.75.  Cy said was "Winnah".

 

   

 

Costco Alaska Miso-Marinated Black Cod

This marinated miso butterfish was $11.99/pound from Costco which is what I used to pay for similar boneless cuts (unmarinated) from Times.

It was tender and flaky ono, although not quite as tasty as my version. I think next time I'll add additional marinade.  You can find the recipe here. 

 

   

 

Kai - 9 months

 I love this picture so much that I'm a week early for Kai's 9-month photo.

Time-Lapse Video

You can click on the photo below to watch a short time-lapse video shot with my phone.

Photos from a Phone

 Remember when a phone was just for calling people?

 

   

   

   

   

   

 

iPhone 16

The coolest thing for me about my new phone is the camera. Still learning how to use it, not really understanding the technical stuff, but I like it a lot already.

Wendell's Easy Namasu

Wendell made this namasu the other day.  It was really ono and when I asked to see the recipe that he had found online, I saw that it was Didi's recipe.

 He added a bit of ogo that he got from Times.

Ingredients

• 1 Japanese cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 medium carrot, peeled, thinly sliced, slivers
• 1 daikon (turnip), thinly sliced, slivers
• 1 TB Hawaiian salt
• Water as needed
• 1 inch ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
• 1/2 c. rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 c. sugar

Instructions

• In a saucepan over medium heat warm vinegar.
• Remove from heat; stir in sugar until dissolved.
• Set aside to cool completely.
• In a large mixing bowl toss together cucumber, carrot, daikon and salt. 
• Allow to sit 15 minutes.
• Rinse and drain well. 
• Squeeze all remaining water.
• Return to mixing bowl; toss with ginger and vinegar mixture.

How To Serve:

• Refrigerate for service. 
• Makes approximately 3 ½ cups.

New Toy?

Kai thinks I got him a new toy from Ross.  You can click on the photo below to watch a short video.

 

He was right!

  

Sam's Apple Pie Rolls

Wendell bought this lumpia-looking apple pie rolls from Sam's for $9 something for 12 pieces.

They recommend air frying, but I'm too lazy to bust out the air fryer.

 

Instead I pan fried in a little bit of butter.  It didn't come out as crispy as I would have liked, but I still enjoyed it.

   

The next time I threw a couple pieces into the toaster oven.  It came out even limper than when I fried them, but I still liked it.  Maybe I just really like the vanilla ice cream!

  

Kai's Door

Kai doesn't like new things, but he took to his mesh door super fast.  Wendell left a little gap on the bottom so that Kai could see the opening.  Magnets on each side help to cling it shut. Ingenious!  And the best thing . . . 8 bucks on Amazon!

You can click on the photo below to watch a short video. 

Cleta's Easy-Kine Shoyu Chicken

Cleta followed Foodland's Easy-Kine Shoyu Chicken recipe from last month.  Sure looks yummy!!

Note:  I made this the other night 'cause seemed easy enough for me.  I didn't do the extra-step broiling.  Didn't look as good but it WAS yummy.

• 1 cup Water
• 2/3 cup Aloha Shoyu (use Tamari for a gluten free option)
• 2/3 cup Dark brown sugar
• 5 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)
• 3 inch Piece of ginger (finely chopped)
• 4 Green onion (thinly sliced, whites and greens separated)
• 6 pieces Chicken thigh (bone-in, skin-on)

INSTRUCTIONS 

• In a heavy-bottomed pot, add water, shoyu, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and green onion whites, and whisk to combine. Nestle the chicken thighs in the pot, submerging them in the shoyu braising liquid as much as possible. 
• Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low. Cover the pot and simmer for 30-35 minutes, until the chicken is tender and cooked through.
• (Optional step) Preheat oven broiler to 500 degrees. Make sure oven rack is on the top shelf. Transfer the chicken thighs to a small baking sheet. Place in the oven for 4-5 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, until the chicken skin is crispy and caramelized. As the chicken broils, bring the sauce in the pot to a boil by increasing the heat to high for 4- 5 minutes or until sauce is reduced to desired thickness.
• Spoon the thickened shoyu sauce over the chicken and garnish with thinly sliced green onion.
• Serve Shoyu Chicken immediately alongside rice and mac salad.

Kai - 8 months

 

Bonanza!

The other night the wind and rain knocked down around 30 marungay pods.  I quickly raked them up and tossed them over the fence before letting Kai out.  Saved me the trouble of trying to knock them down myself.  

Duracell Flashlight

I got this from Ross for $6.99.  I wanted a bright flashlight so that I could see Kai when I let him out at night to pee.

 

It works really good.  I can clearly see that Kai got to a marungay pod before me.

  

Marungay Pods

I used our mango picker to knock down marungay pods overhanging from the neighbor's tree so that I don't have to worry about Kai getting to the pods that fall into our yard. He likes to play with them and will sometimes eat them.

I could only get to the ones on the right tree.  Am still trying to figure out how to reach the ones on the left.

Kai Boy Can

My grip strength has gotten weak and it's not possible for me to walk Kai.  I bought the gentle leader a few months ago hoping it would help.  It attaches to the dog’s snout so only gentle tugs are needed to guide your dog.

At first we would train in the backyard twice a day. But it was a chore. Kai just didn’t like it. Training got cut down to once a day. Then once in awhile. Then I quit. Twice.  

When I got back from Japan we started again.

And then finally yesterday we went on a walk.

You can click on the photo below to watch a short video.  Kai Boy did well. I’m so proud of him.

Jan Ken Po

 Click on the photo to watch a video of kids having fun in Kobe.

Kai and the Gentle Leader

I paid 25 bucks for this gentle leader, and after months of "training" in our back yard, now even bribes aren't working.

Pay Toilet

I wish I had gotten a wider shot of this much-needed pay toilet that we found in a shopping street in Kobe to show you that on the counter to the left was an honor-system box with a slot where you could insert your 100-yen payment. 

Who's Dat?

 Click on the photo below to watch a video of Kai.

Da Winnah!

Ryan, you finally won one!  I'll be mailing out your box soon!

Congratulations!

Belly Rub

 Click on the photo below to watch a short video.

The Legacy Continues

Landon and I were starting to feel sad when Fred hadn't made an appearance in several weeks.  It wasn't like her to be gone for so long. 

Then Landon started noticing a small lizard lingering in Fred's area.  We decided that it was probably one of Fred's offspring. 

One day Lan offered Small Fred a mealworm and (s)he took it!

 

You can click on the photo below to watch a video of Small Fred.