Happy Thanksgiving!

"Pie Time" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO3200
“Pie Time” Cedar Park, 2017

Happy Thanksgiving! We enjoyed a traditional get-together with friends coming over to our house this year. It was a large group of 20 hungry people, ranging in age from 13 to 49 (I think I was the oldest). There was so much good food, with plenty of delicious side dishes which really could be considered entrees at any other meal. However, at Thanksgiving, the turkey is always the entree. 😀

Instead of roasting one large turkey, I prepared two smaller (11 lbs each) birds, and I think they turned out okay. I tried dry brining this time and while everyone said the turkeys turned out great, I honestly would rate them at a 7 out of 10. That being said, almost all of the turkey was gone, with the turkey legs being left. I think because half of the guests were native Japanese, they aren’t used to eating the drumsticks. Speaking of cultural differences, a traditional Thanksgiving dinner is a rare occasion for Japanese. Consequently, when I was carving the turkeys, many photos of me were taken. 😱

"Food and Selfie" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO1250
“Food and Selfie” Cedar Park, 2017

Anyways, besides the turkey, I also made our family tradition oyster stuffing. It’s my favorite, and I am glad that Koa really loves it too! There was also cranberry sauce, roast beef, sticky rice, shrimp cocktail, Maui-style poké, mashed potatoes, bacon-wrapped asparagus, deviled eggs, sweet potato casserole, sausage stuffing,, and fresh muffins. And for dessert, there was pumpkin pie (homemade by Mariko), matcha cheesecake, custard pie, and mango cheesecake. As you can imagine, we were all stuffed!

It was fun to have everyone over this year, and while hosting a lot of people can be stressful, I have to say that having foodie friends who bring over a ton of amazing side-dishes makes it a lot easier.

I hope you had a nice day!

またね~

Burger Time

"Burger Time" Cedar Park, 2017
“Burger Time” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。

Today we decided to barbeque some burgers for dinner, so I fired up the charcoal grill (for maximum flavor) and made some good-sized patties using both ground chuck and ground pork. They were tasty and still pretty juicy, which surprised me a bit since the pork tends to be on the dry side. Toppings were pickles, jalapeños, cheese, Romaine lettuce, onion, tomato, and the usual condiments (plus habañero sauce). Was a yummy and filling dinner!

The photo below shows the grocery haul in the back of the Subaru. You can see the roasting pan for the turkey. Thanksgiving is just around the corner here in the States!

"Grocery Haul" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: Motorola Moto G (4), 3.64mm, f/2, 1/230 sec, ISO50
“Grocery Haul” Cedar Park, 2017

I hope you had a nice day.

おやすみ

Performance 🥁 and Sushi 🍣

"Performance" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/125 sec, ISO4000
“Performance” Austin, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today Koa performed with the Region Orchestra, and they sounded great! It’s pretty cool that since Koa is part of the percussion group, you can hear his playing pretty distinctively. 🥁 In the three pieces, he played bass drum, snare, and timpani. I was so proud!

After that, we visited our friends’ restaurant opening. It’s always great to taste delicious sushi 🍣 and other Japanese delicacies, including saké! This time I tried something new: jellyfish sushi. It was ok. Maybe I was a little tipsy, but I thought it would be fun to broaden my horizons. 😆

"Ama-ebi and Kurage Sushi" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/35 sec, ISO3200
“Ama-ebi and Kurage Sushi” Austin, 2017
"Sushi Bar" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/80 sec, ISO3200
“Sushi Bar” Austin, 2017

I hope you had a wonderful Saturday!

またね~

Stew and Cargo Basket

"Beef Stew" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO4000
“Beef Stew” Cedar Park, 2017

It’s time for cold-weather food! So a hot beef stew really hit the spot today. Actually, Texas is fairly warm, but it’s so grey out that it feels like it’s colder than it really is.

But any excuse to have beef stew is good enough for me. 😄

And look what arrived in the mail today! It’s a rooftop cargo basket that I am planning on using for camping gear. It looks pretty simple to set up (simple is good!) and is probably a one-person job to put on top of the car.

"In the Box" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO6400
“In the Box” Cedar Park, 2017

The cats love it too. Especially the box it was packed in. 🐱

I hope you had a great day!