Category: Food

Holiday eating

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"Grilltime" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/10, 1/100 sec, ISO800
 “Grilltime” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Good evening!

How was your Monday? Here in the States, we had a holiday so many of us did not have to work and the kids have a holiday from school as well. We didn’t have any big plans, but we stayed home and cooked, relaxed, watched TV, and enjoyed each-other’s company.

The one thing we did plan was our dinner – t-bone steaks and sausage on the backyard grill. In addition, we had a couple of delicious salads and home-baked bread. It was all so good! We usually like to eat rib-eye steaks, but Koa said t-bones because he enjoys gnawing on the bones. 🍖 Of course we love the filet-mignon part of the steaks the best! So yummy. Bay, on the other hand, is not a big fan of steak, so I grilled some pork and garlic sausages for him. They were yummy as well. 😃

Today’s photo is one I took of our new grill, which is a gas grill. I like our charcoal grill, but Mariko wanted to get a more convenient grill for herself. This one is pretty good and easy to use. It heats up quickly and although it was my first time using it for steaks, they turned out pretty good! I did take them off a bit too early and then had to put them back on for a couple minutes, but since the heat adjustment is so responsive, it didn’t take long to get the grill back up to temperature.

These days, I am trying to eat better, with less processed foods and more natural and organic whole foods. For snacking, I like nuts and fruits, but occasionally I will have chips. And I rarely have sugary foods. I can’t remember the last time I had a soda… but I know I made the decision in January of 2013 to quit sodas… so I guess it has been over 3 years. And I have to say, I rarely get sick anymore. I think it has been one of the best decisions I’ve made. It’s funny, but at my work, we’ve had free sodas available for years now, but I don’t have any cravings at all for them. 😄 Besides the sugar, I don’t want my body to have to deal with all the chemicals that sodas have. Just water is good enough! Well, and my coffee, beer and wine. 🍷

Anyways, sorry to ramble on about my eating habits, but you are what you eat. 🍴

I hope you had a nice Monday, and we’ll see you tomorrow!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Half-over

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"Afternoon Clouds" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/15000 sec, ISO200
 “Afternoon Clouds” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！Hi, how’s it going?

The week is half-over! Has it been going ok? My week has been good, especially at work. I feel energized in the new office and I have started a couple new projects, and continued a couple old ones that had fallen by the wayside. It’s kind of exhausting, though. It takes a lot of concentration and that can be fatiguing. Every night this week I feel so tired… but it’s a good kind of tired. Like how you feel good after exercising because you know the effort is important and healthy. 💪

I haven’t taken many cloud photos lately, but this afternoon when I arrived home, the sun was peeking through and it looked really cool. So I couldn’t resist! ☁️ 📷 I bumped up the clarity a bit using a graduated filter in Lightroom… I think it came out pretty good!

Below is a photo of tonight’s dinner – Hawaiian-style char-siu chicken. It was so yummy! We got to use our new grill for the first time, too. I’m happy to report that it works nicely and is so easy to use. A successful inaugural effort. 😊

"Char-siu Chicken" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO2000
 “Char-siu Chicken” Cedar Park, 2016

Just two more days in the work week, and then it’s the weekend. Let’s have a good Thursday!

おやすみなさい！😴

– B Barron Fujimoto

New song

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"Japanese Dinner" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/125 sec, ISO2000
 “Japanese Dinner” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Hello, how’s it going?

Tonight’s photo is of another delicious dinner that Mariko prepared for us. It’s a Japanese style meal, with ebi-furai (breaded and fried shrimp), hamburg-steak, noodles, and some salsa. It’s very eclectic I guess! But soooo yummy!

After dinner I started learning a new song on the ukulele – Utada Hikaru’s “花束を君に” which is the theme song to the current Asadora, Toto Nee-chan. It’s an awesome song! I love it. 🎵

Here’s a great cover version:

Have a nice evening!

– B Barron Fujimoto

Gyu-don

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Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO2000
 Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Hello!

How was your Tuesday? Mine was pretty good. And the weather is nice and warm, which I like. Tonight there is a chance for a storm but tomorrow should be beautiful again. It’s good to get some rain though. ☔

Tonight’s photo is of our Gyu-don (beef on rice in a bowl) dinner. Mariko asked for a dinner idea, and I of course said Oyako-don (my favorite; chicken and egg over rice), but she said we don’t have chicken. So next I asked for Katsu-don (pork cutlet over rice) but we don’t have pork, so then I asked for Gyu-don… and she said yes!

Anyways, it was delicious as you can imagine.

おやすみなさい！ Take care!

– B Barron Fujimoto

A-Z Challenge – S

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S is for “Spicy”

Spicy foods are my favorite, and if I have the change to add hot pepper, sriracha, rayu, jalapenos, etc… I will do so! I’m not sure when I started loving extra hot flavors, but it must have been in high school.

I think there have only been three times when something has been too spicy for me to eat… Mariko and I went to an Indonesian restaurant in Akasaka and whew!!! it was so spicy we couldn’t continue! I was sweating like crazy… then in Malaysia, a friend took us out to eat and one of the dishes was crazy. Probably not as hot as the Indonesian food, but hot enough where we couldn’t eat it. And the other time was something I don’t think I ate, because maybe I was too young, but my parents made shish-kebab when my grandparents were visiting, and for some reason, the peppers used were too potent, and no one could eat the grilled meats. I don’t think I had any of it though.

The photo below was taken in 2011 in Osaka at a curry restaurant we went to. The curry was extra spicy, and I was in a bit of pain, but I was able to finish. Wow, though… have you ever eaten something so spicy that your throat kind of has a reaction? Almost like gagging, but nothing to do with the stomach. It’s purely in the throat. It’s a little scary! But I think at the curry restaurant, I was really sweating and my eyes did water! Koa insists that I was crying… but I can’t really remember

Osaka, 2011
Photo info: OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. E-PL1, 14mm, f/3.5, 1/60 sec, ISO1600
 Osaka, 2011

But of all the people I know, I think I enjoy the hotness the most. When we go to Coco Ichiban curry, I would get level 10 spiciness, which is pretty hot, but not nearly as hot as the Indonesian food! Yow! 🔥