Category: Slice of Life

Yakitori Dinner at Home

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
 “Yakitori” Cedar Park, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

This evening we made yakitori on the grill. Was yummy! Mariko said the meat was a little overcooked because we kept it on too long to get a nice char, so next time we’ll up the flame a bit so the grill marks arrive earlier.

Besides the chicken, we added onion, and since we didn’t have any green onion in the fridge, we added jalapeño peppers for a bit of color. I guess these were Texas-style yakitori skewers. 😆

Oh, and another thing… we didn’t soak the skewers in water beforehand, so they burned pretty badly. Oh well, next time!

Hope you had a nice day.

またね～

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO800
 “Yakitori on the Grill” Cedar Park, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO250
 “Yakitori Basting” Cedar Park, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO640
 “Yakitori on the Grill” Cedar Park, 2019

CharmBBQ Korean Fried Chicken

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/75 sec, ISO3200
 “Korean Fried Chicken” Austin, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

A new fried chicken restaurant opened up recently so we decided to give it a try. CharmBBQ Korean Fried Chicken is the real-deal and is the sister store to Charm Korean BBQ, which we enjoyed.

Upon entering the restaurant, you can tell this is authentic due to the large shochu ad with lifesize Korean model. LoL. I breathed a small sigh of relief when I saw that. Also, the restaurant has multiple TVs set up on all walls, showing sports, news, and K-Pop. Something for everybody! 😆 I actually switched seats with Koa so I could face the TV that was showing a mega-concert with Twice. Woohoo!

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/100 sec, ISO2000
 “K-Pop” Austin, 2019

Anyway, onto the food. They serve bone-in chicken, boneless tenders, and many other Korean appetizers and dinners including hotpot. If you order the chicken, you can choose from a variety of sauces. We chose half habañero and half traditional Korean sauce. They were both tasty! I was surprised at the number of items on the menu – we’ll definitely be back again to try some more dishes.

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec, ISO320
 “Charm Chicken” Austin, 2019

Charm BBQ Chicken also has a large variety of drinks (there’s a huge bar) including pitchers of beer. I had the beer/shochu combo drink which was pretty good! Next time, though, a regular beer will be my order. Seems like a good place to enjoy a pitcher of beer with friends, have some spicy chicken, and watch a ballgame. I love the restaurant’s slogan: Beer+Chicken=Truth. haha ☺

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/100 sec, ISO640
 “Beer+Chicken=Truth” Austin, 2019

Although we like Korean fried chicken, we all agreed that Japanese karaage is superior, but for a change of pace, Korean fried chicken at Charm BBQ Korean Fried Chicken is yummy.

I hope you had a good day!

またね～

Instant Pot Carnitas Tacos

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/60 sec, ISO3200
 “Two Tacos” Cedar Park, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

A few days ago I bought a 3.75 lb. pork butt at the supermarket, and that means it’s time for carnitas tacos! Ever since we got our Instant Pot, making carnitas has become super-easy. It’s actually not difficult to make carnitas even without the pressure cooker, but with it, it’s really simple.

I’ve experimented with a few different recipes, but this time I wanted to go basic. The recipe is basically salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, and half a cup of beer. Cut the pork into 2-inch cubes, more or less, put everything into the Instant Pot, and cook on high pressure for 60 minutes.

After it’s done, transfer the meat into a large bowl and use two forks to shred the pork. Give it a taste to make sure it’s salted to your liking, and the meat is ready to be eaten! But, if you like it a little crispy, you can put the meat into a hot skillet and brown it up. That’s my preferred way.

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO400
 “Taco Ingredients” Cedar Park, 2019

For toppings, we had onion, cilantro, avocado, lime, lettuce, jalapeño, and salsa. Add to that some rice and beans, and you have the classic taco meal. It was yummy!

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2, 1/75 sec, ISO400
 “Taco Plate” Cedar Park, 2019

I hope you had a nice day!

またね〜

Speeders and Tickets

Misc., Slice of Life1 Comment on Speeders and Tickets
Photo info: SONY NEX-6, 31mm, f/11, 1/80 sec, ISO100
 “Signage” Leander, 2019

This morning after dropping off Koa at school, I was driving on the street in the 25 mph school zone when someone in a pickup truck was coming up behind me, perhaps driving at 40 mph. I was hoping that there was a police car waiting on the side of the road (as they often are here), but there wasn’t. However, I saw a police cruiser coming the other direction. As we passed by each other, I glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw him make a U-turn, then he pulled right behind the truck. At the next intersection, the lights on top of the cruiser lit up and the truck pulled over. I almost cheered when those lights came on!

I might be in the minority on this, but I love to see people get pulled over for speeding, especially in school zones and residential neighborhoods. I mean, it’s really dangerous and there’s no good excuse to be speeding in places where kids or pets could be crossing the street. Sometimes I’m driving at the speed limit of 30 or 35 mph and someone starts tailgating me, and might even flash their high-beams. I used to get upset at this, but now I realize it’s not my problem. It’s their problem and not worth my time. Plus, there’s no way in hell that I am going to get a speeding ticket because of some jerk tailgating me in the neighborhood.

Today’s photo is of some signs at Bay’s high school which I thought were funny. Since Bay is graduating soon, this might have been my last chance to take a photo of it. ☺🐷

I hope you had a good day!

またね～

Vietnamese Pork on the Grill

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2, 1/150 sec, ISO400
 “Sizzling Pork” Cedar Park, 2019

So burgers and steaks are staples of the backyard grill, but tonight Mariko grilled up some sliced pork, which had been soaking in a Vietnamese-style marinade. It smelled absolutely amazing as it cooked on the barbecue!

But the pork was just one ingredient for the banh mi that we had for dinner. Cilantro, pickled radish and carrot, and jalapeño rounded out the filling for the homemade baguette. It was so delicious, and of course, there were no leftovers. 😆

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/80 sec, ISO3200
 “Banh Mi” Cedar Park, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2.2, 1/150 sec, ISO400
 “Grilling” Cedar Park, 2019

I hope you had a nice day!

またね～