Ceramics Class

You can click on the photo below to see a quick video of our final bisqued pieces ready to be painted. 

Flour for Baking

 I thought this was interesting.

 

Bottom line:  They recommend these, especially for bread making.  

  

Kai Boy Keeps Me Active

No, I didn't want to go out into the cold and wind.  But the rain had stopped and Kai was bored and I had no excuse.  

Kai walks faster than at the leisurely saunter that I prefer, but I try to keep up.  Our walks down the street are short, around 1/2 hour.  Maybe good enough for him.  For sure good enough for me. 

Bird Deterrent

I saw a bunch of these very reflective, spinning things at Kahala Mall where Whole Foods and Jumba Juice are.  They must have a bird problem. 

 

You can click on the photo below to watch a video of one of them in action.

  

Wendell's Crispy Mayo Chicken

Wendell got this recipe from the FeedThePudge site.  It had a light, airy crispy coating and was really good.  But da splattah!

Ingredients

• 2 lbs Chicken Thighs

• 1⁄4 cup Oil, for frying

• Marinade:

• 1⁄4 cup Kewpie Mayo

• 2 tbsp Soy Sauce

• 1⁄2 tbsp Mirin

• 1 tsp Garlic Powder

• 1 tsp Ginger Powder

• Salt and Pepper, to taste

• 1⁄4 cup Cornstarch

• Garnishes:

• Green Onion

• Lemon Wedge

• Black Pepper

Directions

• Cut boneless, skinless chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces and trim off any excess fat
• Add chicken to a bowl and combine with Kewpie mayonnaise, soy sauce, mirin, garlic powder, ginger powder, salt, black pepper, and cornstarch
• Mix until all pieces are evenly coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours
• Heat a pan over medium-high heat with a few tablespoons of oil. Add chicken in an even layer without overcrowding. Cook for 6 to 7 minutes, turning as needed, until golden brown, crispy, and fully cooked through

Ceramics Class

Next week we build, the following we glaze and the week after is our last-day pot luck where we pick up the finished pieces.  This session went by so fast!

These are my pieces.  Erick calls me the Pinch Pot Princess. 

 

Here's Cleta's hanging planter.

   

And Erick's cow.

  

Battery Backup Bulb

When Wendell brought this home from Costco awhile back and told me about it, I barely paid attention.  I humored him and said, "Oh, cool!"

But let me tell you, when you suddenly don't have electricity and are engulfed in darkness, IT IS TOTALLY COOL!  It is a lightbulb with a built-in rechargeable battery.

 

You screw the bulb into wherever you normally have a lightbulb.  While it's in normal use, it is charging itself.    

And when you lose power, the bulb recognizes this and STAYS LIT automatically.  The box says it'll stay lit for up to 10 hours.  We were out for 30+ hours so it didn't last the whole time, but it was so handy in the beginning.  The 6-pack was under $20.

 

Here's the bulb at work in our bathroom.

   

And this is our light in the bedroom.  SO, SO COOL, WENDELL!

  

Cy's Easy Kalbi

 Cy made this for their dinner the other night.  He said that it was super easy!

 

He marinated short ribs in this sauce overnight and then pan fried the next day for dinner.  He bought the sauce from Walmart for $6.44.   

  

Back Up Again

We lost power from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning. 

Landon's power bank thingy saved our food.

 

This puzzle book saved my mind.

 

  

Power Outage

Just a heads up.  Our router got fried from the surges during the outage.  😒

Blogging will probably get delayed until I can get WiFi to my computer. 

Ceramics Class

Erick's lamb was my fave piece this week.  He also made the abstract figure in the back of it.  The ball fits into the pocket.  Both very cool!

 

I made three more bud vases.

  

Beastside Kitchen

To celebrate Kai's birthday we got takeout from Beastside Kitchen.  I loved everything, especially the Pork Belly Bao! 

Garlic Umami Shrimp ($27)

 

Kalbi ($32) 

  

Crunchy Garlic Kimchee ($18)

  

Fried Saimin ($24)

   

BBQ Pork Belly Bao ($23)

  

Kai had Steak and Sweet Potato! 

 

Dd's Garlic Bread Loaf

Didi says:  Dis was da bomb…da bottom gets super crispy from all da buddah and da top is gooey melty yummy !!  😉

GARLIC PULL APART BREAD LOAF

 

½ 6-8-inch round loaf country or sourdough bread

3-4 TB butter 

1 ½ TB olive oil 

2 cloves garlic, finely grated 

Kosher salt 

1 TB Italian parsley, chopped

1 tsp. dried basil 

3 TB Pecorino cheese, grated (can substitute Asiago or Parmesan cheese)

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use a bread knife to cut lengthwise into top of bread loaf,

stopping short of cutting through to bottom of the loaf. Turn loaf and cut cross hatch

pattern; again, stop short of cutting through to bottom of bread loaf (so the loaf holds together).

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Add olive oil and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until very pale golden, 4 minutes. Stir in pinch of salt, parsley and basil. Remove from heat.

Place large sheet of aluminum foil onto baking sheet. Place bread loaf into center of foil.

Gently separate cubes of bread from top of loaf. Spoon butter mixture into “cuts” of bread.

Spread over cut surfaces, saving 2 TB of butter. Drizzle remaining butter on top of loaf.

Distribute cheese between cuts and on top. Wrap bread loaf in foil forming pocket on top

area of bread, making sure to not touch surface of bread. Bake bread until heated through,

10 minutes. Unwrap foil and continue baking until slightly crisp, 5-7 minutes more.

Serve immediately. Serves 2-4 depending on size of loaf.

Wendell's Easy Sautéed Yama Imo

Wendell found this recipe on the RecipeTin Japan site.  It's pretty much just three ingredients - yama imo, shoyu and butter!  And it came out so tasty that he made it again for pupu for his softball team.

Ingredients 

• 300-350g Chinese mountain yam
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• Pepper (optional)

Garnish (optional)

• Chives cut into short pieces

Instructions

1. Peel mountain yam and slice it into 1cm thick discs.

2. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and melt the butter.
3. Put the yam discs in the pan without overlapping.

4. Cook for 2½ – 3 minutes until the bottom of the yam pieces are browned.

5. Turn the yams over and cook further 2½ minutes until the bottom of the yams becomes browned.

6. Sprinkle pepper (if using) over the yam and add soy sauce.
7. Quickly turn the yam pieces over to coat both sides of the yam pieces with the soy sauce, then remove the pan from the heat.

8. Pile the sautéed yams on a serving plate, scatter the chopped chives over it.

Happy Birthday, Kai Boy!

 Kai is two years old today!

 

We went to Kai's fave place early this morning.  I'm so glad that I changed my mind about not getting another dog after Kona passed.  Kai is such a joy.

  

This is Kai's brother Teru!

Ceramics Class

These are the pieces that came out of our first firing.  I found out that the round flat things with pukas are frogs to put on top of flower vases to keep the flower stems separated.  So clever!

 

These are my pieces.

  

Here are a couple of Cleta's!

And this is what I made in this week's class . . . bud vases.  By special request.

Cilantro - First Harvest

Super scrawny.  Not like Amy's.  Maybe it wasn't really time to harvest yet, but I didn't want them dying on me before I got to reap the rewards.

  

So proud!

Hawaii Daiso

Hawaii Daiso:  Where 100 yen = $2.25.

 

I spent $72 for 29 items.  😳.  I was kinda shocked.  Didn't think that it would add up to that much.  But yah . . . 2 items would already be $4.50 and I had one item that was $8 . . . so $72!

At a Daiso in Japan with the current exchange rate, maybe this woulda cost 20 bucks?

 

Moon Gazing

I let Kai out to pee the other night and when I checked to see why it was taking him long to come back in, this is what he was doing.

Dd's Shrimp Scampi

It's been awhile since I've had shrimp scampi, and this looks so good!

 

SHRIMP SCAMPI

 6 oz. angel hair pasta, cooked according to package directions

1 TB olive oil

3/4 # 16-20 count shrimp, peeled and deveined

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 small shallot, finely chopped

½ c. cup dry white wine

2 TB freshly squeezed lemon juice

Pinch red pepper flakes

Pinch dried oregano

2 TB butter, cut up

1/3 c. Italian parsley, chopped

Garnish: grated Parmesan cheese

 

In a large skillet over high heat warm oil until shimmering. Generously season shrimp

with salt and pepper. Add shrimp to skillet in a single layer; cook 1 minute. Turn and

cook 1 more minute. Transfer shrimp to a bowl.  Into skillet add garlic and shallot;

cook for 1 minute. Add wine, lemon juice, pepper flakes and oregano. Simmer 3 minutes

until slightly reduced. Whisk in butter piece by piece, thoroughly incorporating each piece

before adding the next. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed. Return shrimp,

drained pasta and parsley and toss to combine thoroughly. Garnish with cheese as desired.

Serves 2.

Lambchop 2.0

Kai's fave Big Lambchop finally got too tattered for safe play.  So I cut off its two dangly legs and the one remaining arm and sewed them onto Medium-Sized Lambchop.  

You can click on the photo below to watch Kai playing with it.

Sunrise at the Dog Park

Another beautiful morning at the park.

Ceramics and Cilantro

I made a two-well bowl to rinse my watercolor brushes in.  One side for clean water and the other side for  "dirty" water.  Dunno why I didn't think of making one sooner.  

 

Erick made The Thinker.  I thought it was so cool.

   

Cleta made a gyoza dish.

   

Here are my cilantro plants enjoying the morning sun.  Still alive!

   

And here's a new batch.  I used the colander method to germinate them and a couple of weeks after they sprouted I put them in soil up to the leaves.  Hopefully, doing it this way will keep them from getting "leggy".

  

And here's this week's greeting card.

Kahala Goma Tei

Awhile back Landon had an errand to do at the Kahala Mall so he picked up dinner for us.  It was an awesome treat!

Shredded Pork and Szechuan Pickle Tan Tan ($15.75) with Ajitama Egg ($2.25)

 

Char Siu Fried Rice ($16.25)

   

Popcorn Chicken Tatsutaage ($10.50)

   

Chicken Cold Udon Noodle ($17.50)

   

Mini Curry Rice ($7.99)