Cy's Breakfast

Beef Stew ($17) from Young's Fish Market in City Square.

🤣  You know what I laughing at, right?

Easy Baked Spaghetti

I was craving pasta so I made this fast-kine baked spaghetti the other night.  I followed the recipe from the Salt & Lavender site. 

I used a tube-shaped pasta instead of spaghetti and Italian sausage instead of ground beef.  Also, my bottle of marinara sauce was around 1 cup shy, but still came out okay.

Ingredients

• 1 pound uncooked spaghetti
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups marinara sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella 
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375F and move the rack to the top third of the oven.
• Boil a salted pot of water for the pasta. Cook it for 2 minutes less than the package directions indicate. Once it's done, drain it and add it to a 9x13 casserole/baking dish.
• Meanwhile, add the beef, onion, oregano, and red pepper flakes to a skillet. There should be enough fat released by the beef to cook the onion, but if it's particularly lean, add a tablespoon of olive oil. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the meat has browned/cooked through (about 10 minutes). If there's a lot of excess fat, spoon most of it out.
• To the skillet, stir in the garlic and cook for about a minute, then add in the marinara sauce and cook for a few more minutes until it's warmed through. I stir in some salt & pepper as well.
• Pour the beef mixture over top of the spaghetti. Toss until everything is coated. Smooth it out into an even layer.
• Top with the cheeses and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Broil for a few minutes to brown the cheese if you want (watch it carefully). Let it sit for 5-10 minutes, then serve by cutting it into squares using a spatula.

Knife Sharpener

Talking about knives.  😁

I found this in our knife drawer.  I never used it before.  Maybe because I didn't think it would do much good.

I like it!  Easy to use and makes knives noticeably sharper. And I see that Amazon has it for $6.99!

Ceramics Class

Yesterday was our first day of ceramics class.  It was fun even though I had to socialize. 

Here's what we made.  Erick's penguin is on the left, my cup is in the middle and Geri's air plant planter is on the right.

 

This is Cleta's cute little doxie. 

 

Cruisin'

Just cruising on a cold, rainy day. 

Dd's Shrimp Scampi

I've been craving pasta lately, and this looks like it would totally fit the bill.

 

SHRIMP SCAMPI

 

6 oz. pasta, cooked according to package directions

½ # large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Garlic salt, as needed

2 TB olive oil 

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/3 c. white wine

Juice of 1/2 lemon, plus wedges for serving

1 small bunch broccoli, florets

3 TB butter

2 TB Italian parsley, chopped

 

Season shrimp with salt.  In a skillet over medium-high heat sauté garlic and red pepper flakes in olive oil 30-45 seconds. Add shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally. Cook until just pink and just cooked through, 1-2 minutes per side. Remove shrimp to a plate.  

Into skillet add wine, lemon juice and broccoli. Simmer until slightly reduced, 2 minutes and broccoli is cooked to desired doneness. 

Into skillet add pasta, butter and shrimp with  any juices from the plate. Continue to cook, tossing, until the butter is melted and shrimp is heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt; stir in parsley. Serve with lemon wedges. Serves 2-3.

Cy's Breakfast

Duck ($20) from New Char Siu House and buns (6/$3) from Dim Sum Village in Maunakea Marketplace. 

Bad Dog

Kai is free to come and go as he pleases through his dog door, and yesterday he came into the house with muddy feet.  When I went outside to inspect, this is what I saw. 

 

Turned into bath day for the bad boy.  

Kai and Giraffe

Kai and his giraffe are doing fine.  Me, I'm kinda traumatized.

The other day I took Kai to Kokohead District Park.  Just to walk around in a different setting.  We did it once before, and he enjoyed it.

I pulled into the parking lot.  It was pretty quiet.  Had choke empty stalls.  Just as I was trying to decide on which stall to park in, I heard something (I can't remember the sound exactly).  I looked outside of my window and Kai was there lying on the ground!  He had fallen out the window!

I put my car in Park and ran out to him.  He seemed scared and didn't run away.  I grabbed his leash, opened the back door and led him back in.  I checked the seatbelt tether that should've held him securely in his seat.  It was broken.  I inspected Kai for any injuries and kept asking him if he was okay. 

After seeing that Kai looked fine, I finally pulled into a stall and sat there for a bit trying to collect myself.  Kai pawed and scratched at his door.  He wanted out. 

We went for our walk, but I was pretty shaken.  I couldn't understand what had happened.  There was no way that he could've fit through the half-opened window.  Apparently, I was wrong because he did fit through. 

On the ride home with his window fully closed, I felt grateful that it didn't happen while we were on the road.  I realized that me and Kai were very lucky and that I was taught this lesson in maybe the safest possible way.  Thank God. 

Hunka Beef

I told Wendell that I was thinking of making Dd's Beer-braised Brisket and he came home with this.  I used about a third of it, the skinny end.

 

I used the softball team's strikeout beer that was in the man cave's fridge.

   

And this hand blender thing that I got at the swap meet awhile back and never did use.

   

It came out good! 

 

Fave Knives

I asked my family to send me a photo of their three favorite knives.  I was just curious. 

The first set is mine.  Because of my lack of knife skills, my third fave is scissors.  LOL. 

 

This is Wendell's.  Sashimi, bread and general. 

  

Cy and his wife use the knife on the left.  My mom's on the right.

   

I think Sweetie said meat on the left, sashimi in the middle and tomatoes on the right.  I like her arrangement the best . . . so artistic.

   

These are Geri's.  She makes good bread, so must use the knife on the left a lot.

Here are chef extraordinaire Didi's.

Dd's Beer-Braised Beef Brisket

Kinda plenty ingredients (for me), but maybe not so hard to make.  I think I'll try make someday 'cause sure looks yummy.

BEER BRAISED BEEF BRISKET

 

1-1 ½ # beef brisket, trimmed

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 ½ TB olive oil

4 cloves garlic, smashed

1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped

1 medium carrot, stew-cut

1 medium rib celery, stew-cut

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 bay leaf

1 TB tomato paste

½ c. chicken stock

½ c. red wine

12-oz. beer

 

Remove brisket from refrigerator 1 hour prior to cooking. Pat brisket dry; generously season on both sides with salt and pepper. 

In a saucepot over medium high heat sear brisket in oil until well browned on all sides, about

2-3 minutes. Transfer the brisket to a plate. 

To the saucepot, add the garlic, onions, carrots, celery, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf. Sauté until golden, about 8 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add stock and beer and bring to a simmer, scrapping up any bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan. Return brisket into saucepot. Allow to simmer covered 1 ½ hours or until fork tender. 

Remove brisket to cutting board and cover with aluminum foil. Allow to rest 10-15 minutes. Using an immersion blender puree sauce to desired consistency. Season as needed.  Slice against the grain for service. Serve with sauce. Serves 2.

Cy's Breakfast

This was from back in September, but I still had to share because I wanted to show you Cy's condiments brought from home.  LOL.

Duck and Spare Ribs from Mei Mei.  $14.

Inomata Mochi Microwaver

I bought this awhile back from either Marukai or the swap meet.  I'm glad I didn't "goodwill" it because I've been using it a lot recently.

You place a block of mochi into it, cover the mochi with water and microwave it at 500W for a minute or so.  You flip the contraption over to drain out the water.  Then you can enjoy the softened mochi however you like it.

 

Lately, I've been having it like this, topped with big-bean kuromame that my cousin V gave to me!  Sooo oishiiiii!!

  

And because life is so synchronous, I found one at the swap meet this past Sunday and gave it to Cleta because she didn't have one.

  

Kai - 10 months

 

   

   

   

 

Dizzy Kai

Click on the photo below to watch Kai making himself dizzy.

Wendell's Japanese Potato Salad

Wendell made this a few days ago.  He didn't have cucumbers or ham, but it still came out good.  He substituted crab for the ham.  The recipe is from the Just One Cookbook site.

You can find the recipe here.

Sunlit Nap

Happy New Year, peoples!  It feels like the years are just flying by now that I'm old(er). 

Here's wishing you a safe and healthy 2025, and praying that Russia gets the hell outta Ukraine already.

I just entered the photo below into a contest.  Flickr's Your Best Shot 2024.  Small-kine shame because there are some really awesome entries, and mine was taken with just a phone, but the grand prize is the choice of one of four cameras and I would love to win one of them, so gotta try, yah.