Xmas Eve

"Dumplings" Torrance, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
“Dumplings” Torrance, 2017

Hello! Happy Christmas eve! This evening we went out for dinner at Din Tai Fung, which is a popular Taiwanese restaurant. The dumplings were so good!

This location we went to was at the Del Amo Fashion Center, which is the mall that we always used to go to when I was growing up since it was only a few minutes away. But nowadays, so much has changed that I hardly recognize it! But, I’m glad that this restaurant is there. 😄

Earlier in the day, I went with my mom to King’s Hawaiian Bakery to pick up a cake for Christmas day. It was super-crowded, but they had plenty of cakes to go around. Can’t wait to dig into the Haupia cake tomorrow!

"Haupia Cakes" Torrance, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.2, 1/300 sec, ISO200
“Haupia Cakes” Torrance, 2017

I hope you had a nice day!

おやすみ

Drive North

"Lunch Stop" Santa Barbara, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/6.4, 1/220 sec, ISO200
“Lunch Stop” Santa Barbara, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today we drove up north to being a three-day trip to Monterey. It takes about 6 hours to travel by car from Torrance, but it’s a very scenic drive, and we stopped at a couple really cool places along the way.

In Santa Barbara we had a nice lunch at The Shop Kitchen, which is a cool cafe/restaurant attached to a auto-shop. Our avocado toast, chilaquiles, and salmon eggs benedict were delicious, and I sipped on the cold-brew coffee on the drive up to Paso Robles. But before hitting the highway again, we stopped at Renaud’s Patisserie for some snacks and gifts.

"Cafe" Santa Barbara, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/350 sec, ISO200
“Cafe” Santa Barbara, 2017

Our next stop was Paso Robles, to visit Sculpterra Winery for a tasting and shopping. It is a pretty cool winery with lots of sculptures to look at in the garden, and a yummy wine-tasting.

"Arrow" Paso Robles, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5, 1/120 sec, ISO200
“Arrow” Paso Robles, 2017

After that, we drove straight up to Monterey, and had a somewhat disappointing seafood dinner before finding our way to the hotel where we conked out big-time. It was a long drive, but we’re thankful to make it safely and we’re excited for tomorrow!

おやすみ

Clouds and Oden

"Fine Weather" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: SONY NEX-6, 16mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec, ISO100
“Fine Weather” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

So I mentioned the other day that we had a nice cold-weather meal in curry 🍛, and well, tonight we had another perfect cold-weather food: Oden! 🍢

"Oden" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/125 sec, ISO3200
“Oden” Cedar Park, 2017

Mariko use the Instant Pot to cook the oden, and it turned out great. She really loves her Instant Pot!

I hope you had a great Sunday.

またね~

Pizza Time

"Homemade Pizza" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/125 sec, ISO3200
“Homemade Pizza” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。Tonight we used our new stove-top pizza oven for the first time and the pizza turned out pretty good! A few weeks ago we bought a Pizza Pronto, which is basically an enclosure with a double-layer pizza stone inside. You put it over the burner and after a while, it will come up to temperature and you’re ready to put in the pizza. After about 8 minutes, the pizza is done. 🍕

Mariko made some homemade pizza dough and we had some leftover tomato-based pasta sauce to use on two pizzas, some pesto to use for another pizza, and then a store-bought CPK pizza. All of them were cooked nicely, and the oven crisped up the dough deliciously. 😀

"Pizza Oven" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/125 sec, ISO3200
“Pizza Oven” Cedar Park, 2017

My only complaint is that it took longer than expected to come up to 500° F, and it never rose above that. Our burner is rated at 18,000 BTU so we should be able to achieve more than 500°. I guess it just takes more time? Or maybe the built-n thermometer is broken?

"Baking" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/80 sec, ISO6400
“Baking” Cedar Park, 2017

Anyways, more “testing” is needed. 😉 Bring on the pizza!

I hope you had a nice Saturday.

またね~