Happy Spaghetti Saturday

"Spaghetti Dinner" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/75 sec, ISO6400
“Spaghetti Dinner” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today was a relaxing day, with a couple nice highlights. First was that my 16-year-old son and I made spaghetti sauce with meatballs and Italian sausage. It’s a recipe that I got from my Mom and everyone in the family enjoys it. But today, I had my son make the meatballs. He’ll be heading off to college in a couple years, so I think it’s good to get him familiar with the kitchen more!

The recipe is pretty simple but there is some room to add your own ingredients and make it to your own preference. For instance, I use less salt, but add some more spices to the mix. And I am sure that when Bay makes his own spaghetti (maybe for his own kids!) he’ll adjust the recipe to his own tastes.

As expected, the spaghetti sauce is yummy, and the meatballs were especially good! He did a great job mixing, forming, and browning the meatballs, only complaining about splattered oil 2 or 20 times. 😆

Earlier in the day, I watched the local High School marching band pass by our house as they marched through the neighborhood. My 13-year-old son is looking forward to joining the band when he goes to High School, but he still has one more year in Middle School. But he’s excited to see his friends who have become Freshmen marching in the band.

"Marching Band" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/750 sec, ISO200
“Marching Band” Cedar Park, 2017

I hope you had a great day!

おやすみ

Tasty Treats

"Carnitas Taco Dinner" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/75 sec, ISO3200
“Carnitas Taco Dinner” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。Tonight I present to you two photos of some tasty treats. The first is of our dinner of carnitas tacos. One of my sons requested it, and I provided my recipe to my wife who prepared it. I ate maybe 4 tacos and was stuffed! When we eat out at Mexican restaurants, I often get carnitas and offer some to my kids. But they never really like it until lately. Now they love carnitas! 😀

Later in the evening, we met some friends at Texas Saké Company and enjoyed a saké tasting and tour of the brewery. It was a lot of fun, and educational too! If you are in Austin, stop by for a drink! 🍶

"Sake Flight" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/75 sec, ISO6400
“Sake Flight” Austin, 2017

My Typical Day

"Pork Donburi" Cedar Park 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/80 sec, ISO3200
“Pork Donburi” Cedar Park 2017

Dinner, dishes, and drawing. That’s a typical evening for me lately. I am enjoying life!

The pork donburi with shishito peppers and eggs was delicious, and then while doing the dishes, I enjoyed the pretty clouds as they floated by. 🌥

"View from the Sink" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/600 sec, ISO200
“View from the Sink” Cedar Park, 2017

Tonight’s drawing is actually a copy of a previous drawing, which I scanned, printed, and then applied ink with a brush. It was difficult to control (the brush was too long and soft) but fun to try something new. I think I prefer the line portraits right now.

"Inkling" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/70 sec, ISO3200
“Inkling” Cedar Park, 2017

To see all the sketches I’ve been working on, you can check out the Flickr album “My Sketching Journey”, or my Instagram account barron.sketches which I created just for posting sketches, watercolors, and stationery items.

I hope you had a good Thursday!

おやすみ

Beer, Gumbo, and Dorama

"Refreshing" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/125 sec, ISO5000
“Refreshing” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

This evening was filled with tasty treats. Actually, just two but they were excellent. First, Mariko surprised me with the Yebisu beer which she had brought back in her suitcase all the way from Japan. So cold and refreshing! ❤️🍺

Next up, we made a big pot of gumbo for dinner. Mariko did most of the work, while I just literally stirred the pot. And of course, I am on dish duty, which I am happy to do! It’s a small price to pay for getting to eat like a king. 😊

"Gumbo" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/125 sec, ISO4000
“Gumbo” Cedar Park, 2017

After dinner, I watched a couple of Japanese tv shows. The first was “Kaettekita Ie Uru Onna / 帰ってきた家売るオンナ”, which is a 1.5 hour special follow-up to the 2016 series, “Iie Uru Onna / 家売るオンナ”. I really enjoyed the original series (Kitagawa Keiko is a favorite of mine) so was happy to see the continuation of the story. There wasn’t anything groundbreaking… was just like a long episode. But it was fun nonetheless.

And I just started watching “Tsubaki Stationery Store / ツバキ文具店”. It’s about a young woman who takes over the family store after her grandmother’s death. The main business of the shop is ghostwriting letters for people. I’m only one episode in, but so far it’s very interesting. Can’t wait to watch the rest of the series.

I hope you had a nice Thursday!

おやすみ

Dreary Weather, but Excellent Food

"Indian Dinner" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/80 sec, ISO6400
“Indian Dinner” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today I worked from home and watched a moving company load up our neighbors’ stuff into trucks all day. Unfortunately for them, it rained a bunch this morning. Or maybe that was a good thing because it meant the intense heat was kept away.

At any rate, rain is welcome even though the grey day depresses me. I love the sunshine!

Tonight’s photo is of the super おいしい meal we enjoyed tonight. Bay helped Mariko to make the chicken tikka masala and naan, and he also helped me grill the chicken. It was a super dinner and tasted even better because it was a group effort. 😀

In other news, I was reading some of my favorite blogs and came across Annie Bananie’s Travel Checklist. And I thought it was such a great idea that I made a checklist of my own. Check it out if you have time.

Lastly, I’ll leave you with a photo of my cluttered workspace. I actually try to keep it pretty uncluttered, but I’ve been practicing drawing and enjoying trying out my fountain pen ink samples that it gets a little crowded. 😮

"Clutter" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: SONY SLT-A77V, 11mm, f/4, 1/45 sec, ISO640
“Clutter” Cedar Park, 2017

I hope you had a nice Wednesday!

おやすみ