Kai's Puzzle Toy

Kai loves this puzzle toy and gets all excited when I'm prepping it with treats.  It's the opposite of Kona who had no interest in his toy at all.  You can check out Kona's reaction to his toy here. 

 

I hide pumpkin/apple treats in the puzzle and Kai needs to uncover them to enjoy. 

   

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

Praying Mantisessssssss

Can you imagine how big my eyes got when I saw this!  I was so lucky to be able to get off a few shots before they all ran off.

 

   

   

   

 

Cy's Akule Poke

Per Cy:  Akule, limu kohu, kukui nut, sesame oil, onion and Lan's smoked chili pepper salt.  Lots of work but worth it.

Dd's Beef Sukiyaki

I want to eat this with a big bowl of white rice!

 BEEF SUKIYAKi

 

1/2 lb. sukiyaki style beef, paper thin slices

2 tsp. vegetable oil

1 large onion, 1-inch slices

3 stalks green onion, 2-inch diagonal slices

3 cloves garlic, smashed

3 thin slices fresh ginger, julienne

1 tsp. cornstarch

1 1/2 TB mirin sake

2 TB sugar

1/3 c. soy sauce

freshly ground black pepper

4 oz. fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced

Garnish: slivered green onions

 

In a large skillet over medium high heat, sauté beef in oil. Add onions, garlic, ginger. 

In a small mixing bowl combine cornstarch, mirin, sugar, soy sauce and pepper.  Into skillet stir in sauce mixture and mushrooms; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes until no liquid remains. 

Top with sliced green onions. Serves 2-3.

My Best Pickled Onions

This was actually my first time making pickled onions, but came out good so I think it qualifies as my best.

I followed a recipe from the Keeping it Relle site.  I added Thai chili peppers and made just half recipe 'cause I wasn't sure how it would turn out. 

• 1 cup white vinegar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup water
• 2 ½ tablespoons Hawaiian salt
• 2 pounds sweet onions

1. Place sugar, vinegar, water, and Hawaiian salt into a saucepan set over high heat. Bring to a boil and heat through until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Set this aside to cool slightly.
2. Thinly slice onions and place into a jar or container.
3. Pour the pickling liquid over the onions until completely submerged. Allow to cool at room temperature.
4. Place the lid on and store in the refrigerator. 

Caesar Millan

Here's Kai watching Caesar Millian showing how to walk a dog properly.  I don't think he learned anything.

Cy's and Colin's Breakfast

From Rainbow Drive-In.  Boneless Chicken Cutlet ($12.75) with extra gravy and Chili Dog ($6.75). 

Da Best Pho

Da Best Pho is actually the name of the place and not really my opinion, but I really did like the two noodle soups that I got.  It's located in Market City, my old stomping grounds on the way to Kaimuki High School.  It's great that they open at 9:00 am, perfect for me because that's about the time when I'm in that area on my way home from the swap meet.  

On the left is Wonton Soup with Egg Noodle ($16.99) and on the right is Crab Meat Soup ($18.99).  My favorite part of both was the crispy chicken skin that they gave for garnish. 

 

   

   

   

   

   

 

Dd's Pan-Fried Rib Eye Steak

 I think Didi didn't really have a recipe for this, but I asked her for one because it looked so good.

2 each 10-14 oz. bone in rib eye steaks

Kosher salt, as needed

Freshly cracked black pepper, as needed

3-4 TB butter

1 TB olive oil

Garnish: straight/creamed horseradish

 

Generously salt and pepper both sides of rib eyes. Allow to sit in refrigerator 30 minutes. Remove from refrigerator 1 hour before cooking.  

In a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat melt butter. Add oil. Sear rib eye well, turn over. Baste with butter oil mixture until seared on both sides and done to your preference.

Serve with horseradish. Serves 2 with leftovers.

Kai's New Fave Toy

I saw this tip for making a fun toy for Kai on YouTube.  He loves it.  He even runs away from me with it if he thinks I'm gonna take it away from him.  😁

 

You can click on the photo below to watch a short video.  BTW, you might notice a couple of elevated trash containers in the video.  Kai found and ate a Clorox wipe (or two) from the trash awhile back so now they're on pedestals.

  

Chrissy's Banana Bread

I used up all of the Chrissy Teigen banana bread mix that I found at Ross, so I decided to try and make it from scratch.  You can find more in-depth (and funny) instructions at Chrissy's blog here. 

It came out similar (moist and ono), but just as with the mix I upped the temperature to 350 degrees and baked for longer than instructed.  And for sure, you could use less sugar.

 

• 2 cups mashed very ripe bananas

• 4 eggs

• 2⁄3 cup canola oil (or melted butter), plus a little more to grease the pan

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus a little more for dusting the pan

• 2 cups sugar (or half brown sugar, half white sugar)

• 1 (3.5-ounce) box vanilla instant pudding mix

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

• 1 (3.5-ounce) bar dark chocolate, chopped into chunks (or anything you love—peanut butter chips, nuts, etc.)

• 
  

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.

2. In a large bowl, combine the mashed bananas, eggs, and oil. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar, pudding mix, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine well BUT GENTLY.  Fold in the coconut and chocolate chunks.

3. Grease and flour a Bundt pan. Pour the batter into the pan. (This can also make two 8 × 4-inch loaves, but it’s so much more moist in one Bundt pan!) 

4. Bake until the cake springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 55–60 minutes.

Slow Feeder

I bought this contraption to put into Kai's food bowl to stop him from gobbling up his food so fast.  It was $7.99 from Amazon.

It works great.  Now Kai takes about 6 to 8 minutes to finish his meal instead of 30 seconds.

 

   

I ended up switching to Kona's plastic bowl because Kai (just like Kona) doesn't like the clanging noise made by food dropping back into the metal bowl.

  

You can click on the photo below to see a short video of excited Kai.

 

Wendell's Grilled Shrimp with Chile and Garlic

Wendell saw this recipe in the recent Crave section of the Star Advertiser.  The article is from the New York Times and is by Ali Slagle.

It says that baking soda added into mayonnaise intensifies the mayo's fat.  Can't go wrong, yah.  I ate it with some pita bread and soup.  Was yummy!

• 
  

  INGREDIENTS

• 6garlic cloves
• ½ to 1fresh hot chile, such as jalapeño or Fresno (depending on the chile’s kick and your heat tolerance)
• ¼cup mayonnaise
• 1½teaspoons kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
• Heaping ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1½pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on, patted dry
• 
  

  PREPARATION

  1. Step 1

     Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for high heat. (If you don’t have a grill, you can cook the shrimp in a cast-iron skillet over high heat, with the vent on, following the same timing.) Using a Microplane or the small holes of a box grater, grate the garlic and chile into a medium bowl. Stir in the mayonnaise, salt and baking soda. Add the shrimp and stir to combine. Refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes.

  2. Step 2

     Clean the grates with a grill brush (no need to grease the grates), then grill the shrimp until well browned, 2 to 4 minutes. (If using a gas grill, close the lid to maintain temperature.) Flip and cook until opaque throughout, 1 to 2 minutes. Eat right away.

Kai - 5 Months

 

My Squash with Pork

Cleta gave us some hyotan squash which her husband grew.  I looked at several recipes online and came up with a filipino-ish dish.  The addition of egg is unconventional, but my mom used to add egg to her squash dishes and that was my favorite part.

 

I used this meat from Palama Market.  

Brown in oil:

1/2 onion, sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

Add:

1 finger ginger smashed with back of knife

1 tomato, sliced

2 tablespoons patis

2 cups chicken broth

Add:

1 medium squash, sliced

Cover and simmer until squash is almost cooked, then pour in 3 or 4 beaten eggs.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Fred Update

First, Fred is a girl.  For sure.  Landon caught her and her boyfriend "doing it" several times already.

Then, I just wanted to let you know that Fred still shows up in the mornings for her mealworms.  She doesn't hang out in her house anymore, but will usually appear when she hears me raking.