Switching Gears

A friend asked me to sew a few things for her. She gave me the fabric about 2 weeks ago. I busted out my sewing machine yesterday and set it out on our yet uncluttered kitchen counter. I used to do my sewing on my craft desk, but you know what that looks like now, right? 



I need to give the projects my undivided attention, especially since I kinda forget how to do um. So, blogging is gonna be put on hold for a bit. 

Not really sure how long it'll take me, but I will see you again as soon as I'm done.

Colin's Chocolate Chip Cookies with Macadamia Nuts

My 8-year-old nephew Colin facetimed me while he and my brother were making cookies.  

Colin read the instructions aloud while mixing. My brother did the measuring. It was pretty funny (and cute) watching and listening to them as they put all the ingredients together. 

We informed Colin that "mix by hand" did not really mean using your hands to mix. 









I went to pick up some cookies on Saturday. Colin explained that they used regular chocolate chips and not white like the recipe called for. I told him that I prefer regular kind anyway.


Thank you Colin. It was delicious!! 


Here's the recipe that they used. 

Adventures in Spearfishing - 4

Several dive outings had gone by, and I had yet to prove myself as a spearfisher-woman when things were about to change. 

On a fine summer day, in the not-too-deep waters off the shore of south Oahu, I noticed a flash of red in a puka in the rocks. All excited, I cocked my spear and swam toward it. 



It was an aweoweo. A small one. It looked at me with scared, innocent eyes as it backed up further into the hole.

In an instant I realized what I actually must've known all along . . . that there was no way I was gonna spear that fish or any other fish for that matter. 


I decided to hang up my spear after that, and I never took it out again.  I still went diving with Wendell 'cause . . . you know . . . it wasn't fish that I was trying to catch anyway.

Wendell's Mustard Cabbage Soup

I mentioned to Wendell the other day that one of my favorite things to eat was soup.  And look what he made that night. So sweet yah . . . sometimes. 

The recipe is from a recent StarAdvertiser article.  The broth was a bit on the bland side, but I compensated by dipping the tofu pieces in some of  V's Yangnyeomjang Sauce, and that made everything juuuuust right. 

MUSTARD CABBAGE (KAI CHOY) SOUP 

By Lynette Lo Tom

• 1/2 pound kai choy (mustard cabbage, about 1 small head) 
• 4 cups chicken broth 
• 1 (4-ounce) can mushrooms, whole or sliced, drained 
• 4 ounces firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 
• 4 ounces Chinese raw fishcake (or substitute with kamaboko) 

>> Optional garnishes: chopped green onion, Chinese parsley.

Separate mustard cabbage leaves and wash well, especially at stem end. Cut in 1-inch pieces and soak in water. Set aside.

In a large pot over high heat, combine broth, mushrooms and tofu. Reduce heat to medium- high and simmer about 5 minutes.

Drop fishcake into soup by teaspoonfuls. Cook 2 to 3 minutes. Add drained mustard cabbage and heat until cooked, about 5 minutes.

Add garnishes and serve hot with cooked noodles or steamed rice. Serves 4 to 6.

Adventures in Spearfishing - 3

Wendell's favorite place to go spearfishing was in the waters near the Aina Haina area. The prime area to catch the fish was in about 8 to 10 feet of nice, clear water which was, unfortunately, more than 200 yards from shore. 

The depth of the water for most of the way getting out there was only about 1 to 2 feet. You could actually walk to the spot, but it was just easier swimming it even though, depending on the tide, you might be barely skimming the surface of the floor.



Peripheral vision through a diving mask is severely hampered (at least for me it is), and you can see only what's right in front of you until you move your head left or right and up or down.  

This is pretty much all I saw on our way out to the reef drop-off point and deeper water . . . just rocks, sand, seaweed. 


That is until the day a tako suddenly appeared in my view and scared the bejeeezus outta me and caused me to scream and swallow about a gallon of gross seaweed/ocean water.

Photoshoot

I joined Erick yesterday at a Model/Photographer Meet up. I didn't stay for the full session (I pooped out fast), but it was fun meeting and talking with the other photographers.  

Mostly everybody, except for me, had an arsenal of equipment, accompanied by a lot of know-how. 


Even Erick brought his brand-new reflective flash doomahichi thing. 


I felt a little out of sorts, not because my gear in comparison with everybody else's was meager, but because I forgot to bring my flash. Believe it or not, flash is your best friend when shooting people in bright sunlight. It helps remove any harsh shadows and equalizes too much backlight. 

Shot in the shade, this is my best photo of the day.

Cleta's Bread Pudding

Cleta brought bread pudding for everybody in drawing class the other day. And it was still warm! Howzdat, yah! It was so ono and custardy . . . yummmm.  Thanks Cleta!!



Here's the recipe: 

OAHU COUNTRY CLUB BREAD PUDDING

1-1/4 pounds dinner rolls (preferred) or day-old white bread
1/4 cup raisins, optional
9 large eggs
2-1/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 tablespoon vanilla extract
7 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 10-by-12-inch aluminum pan with cooking oil spray.

Slice dinner rolls or break bread into pieces. Place in pan. Sprinkle with raisins, if using, and set aside.

Beat eggs and add sugar, salt and vanilla; whisk until fluffy.

Add milk and cream; mix well, then strain (this mixture is called guss). Pour evenly over bread in pan. Make sure bread absorbs most of the guss.

Spray sheet of foil with cooking oil spray. Cover pan loosely with foil.

Place pan into larger pan to create water bath. Place pans in oven. Add warm water to outer pan, about halfway up the sides. Bake 90 minutes.

Check pudding for doneness. Top should be firm, but center might be a little jiggly. It will set as it cools. Serve warm. Serves 12.

The assignment of the day was to do a person's nose and mouth. Here's my drawing of Erick . . . with much improvement thanks to teacher Vernon. 

Adventures in Spearfishing - 2

Once when me and Wendell went to our favorite diving spot I noticed that the tide was especially low. Stepping into the water felt particularly weird because it was warm and not cool like usual. 

After just a few steps a felt a tiny sting on my ankle, much like an ant bite. Then, I felt another sting. I looked down at the water and saw tiny, little ripples swimming toward my feet. Maybe they were sand fleas. Not sure. Until today, I still don't really know what they were. 

I was still trying to show Wendell what an outdoorsy kind of girl I was and thus not adverse to such things, and so I just continued walking into deeper, colder water to try to escape the bugs. 

I remained outwardly calm the whole time, but inside what I really wanted to do was . . . 




THIS!!


I used Photoshop this time to color the drawings and am just amazed at its versatility.

Adventures in Spearfishing - 1

I was dabbling with the idea of drawing comics. I think it would be fun to use as an aid to telling stories. One small problem. It's hard. 

I did this one page yesterday. It's supposed to be me and Wendell back in the day when we were still dating. Wendell used to love to go spearfishing. I used to go with him and pretend to enjoy it too because I wanted him to like me. 

In reality, I hate being in ocean water, especially if the floor is rock and seaweed filled. Ewwwwww.  So gross.

Anyway, there's supposed to be more to this story . . . but my skills . . . still lacking . . . not sure if I can do it. 

Trail Mix from Costco

I've been munching on this trail mix that I got from Costco. I like everything in it. It's on sale right now. 



Here's the empty bag. Shucks, I just realized that I shoulda taken a picture of the back of the bag so you can see the nutritional info. Sorry, it's deep in the trash by now, and I not digging.


Regular price is $8.99 and you get $2.30 off with the sale. 


Oh, and these cherries were $6.99 for 2 pounds. They're plump and firm. I'd give it a 9/10. If they were sweeter I'd give it a 10, and I would've driven back to Costco for more.