Pizza Pies on Pi Day

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"Carnitas and Jalapeño Pizza" Cedar Park, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO2500
 “Carnitas and Jalapeño Pizza” Cedar Park, 2019

こんばんは and happy Pi Day!

To celebrate the occasion, I made a couple of Costco thin-crust pizzas (the boxed ones in the freezer section of the stores). I like these pizzas but since I had some leftover carnitas and a couple of jalapeños, I decided to replace the pepperoni on one of them with these toppings. I wasn’t sure how the combination would taste, but I think it turned out pretty good! And then the other pizza had double-pepperoni. 😆🍕

Speaking of pizza, whenever I make a frozen pizza, I always feel the need to spice it up a bit by adding oregano, garlic powder, black pepper, and a few shakes of red pepper flakes on top before it goes into the oven. And sometimes if we have some shredded cheese handy in the fridge, I’ll add a little. It takes just a minute but I think it adds so much. 😊

I hope you had a nice day!

またね～

I Made Beef Stew in the Instant Pot

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"Beef Stew" Cedar Park, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO2000
 “Beef Stew” Cedar Park, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Tonight I made a basic beef stew using our Instant Pot. It turned out pretty good! It doesn’t have a very complex flavor, but its simplicity is the key to its beauty. We had some homemade crusty French baguette for dipping in the rich broth, which was just perfect. (Thanks Mariko!)

I found the Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe at the Life Made Sweeter website, and made a couple small adjustments, by omitting the celery (yuck) and adding some canned peas right at the end. Prep was very easy, but I think it’s better to brown the meat using a pan on the stove since you can finish browning the meat in much less time than it takes using the Instant Pot’s sautee function. However, if you want to save yourself from washing another pan, then you can use the Instant Pot for all the cooking.

I think I’ll search for a stew recipe with more spices, but this one is good to keep in the recipe book(marks). Simple and satisfying. ☺

I hope you had a great day!

またね～

Tablet Sketching

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"Sketchpad" Cedar Park, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO1600
 “Sketchpad” Cedar Park, 2019

I’m still trying to sort out in my mind the advantages or disadvantages of digital sketching vs. analog sketching (or even if it’s important to know what they are), but I do know that in the realm of digital sketching, the iPad/tablet experience is way better (for me) than using my Wacom digitizer on the desktop computer.

Basically it comes down to how intuitive and natural it feels. And the ease of use is a huge advantage that the iPad has. When I want to sketch, it literally takes seconds to be drawing on the iPad. In contrast, with the computer, I have to start the software, then File, New, enter in the dimensions, look at the wonky interface and try to remember the keyboard shortcuts. That’s a lot of brain activity even before I start pushing pixels! Plus, I have to be sitting at the desk in the home office. With the iPad, I can sketch anywhere.

Of course, I’m just a hobbyist so I have different needs than a professional illustrator, but for what I am doing, the simplicity of Procreate and the iPad is just perfect. I still think iOS is weird, but once I am in Procreate, it’s a lot like just drawing in a sketchbook. In fact, I renamed my iPad to “Barron’s Sketchpad” since that is pretty much why I bought it.

Anyway, below is one of my latest sketches, and below that is the timelapse video of my sketching process. It’s so fun!

I hope you had a nice day!

またね～

Making Sigeumchi-namul 시금치나물 시금치나물

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"Sigeumchi-namul" Cedar Park, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO2500
 “Sigeumchi-namul” Cedar Park, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Tonight I made a bit of a Korean-style dinner for the kids and I. Mariko is in Japan right now, so it’s just the three of us. Since we had a big container of spinach in the fridge, I decided to try making Sigeumchi-namul, which is a Korean side dish that I’ve had many times in Korean restaurants.

I found a recipe from Maangchi and it seemed so simple and easy that I gave it a go! I think it turned out really good, even though it’s not the most appetizing photo. But it was the perfect side dish to some pan-fried gyoza (filled with bulgogi) that I made as well. Yum!!!

Take a look at the video, and you can see how easy it is.

I hope you had a great day!

またね～

Koa Performed with the Texas Youth Wind Symphony

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"Wind Symphony" Austin, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2.2, 1/125 sec, ISO640
 “Wind Symphony” Austin, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Outside of school, Koa has been practicing with two music groups, the Austin Youth Orchestra and the Texas Youth Wind Symphony. Today the latter had their spring performance at Bates Recital Hall on the UT campus.

The recital hall is really awesome. Not only are the acoustics amazing, but it has stadium seating so you can pretty much see all the performers from an elevated position. In most general-purpose auditoriums, the stage is elevated, so you need to be in the middle/back rows in order to have a chance to see everyone’s face, and then you are pretty far from the stage. But at the Bates Recital Hall, everyone had a view of their student performer, even in the front rows.

Koa plays percussion, so he was moving around among the different instruments. My favorite was when he played the bass drum in “Of Our New Day Begun”. It was great! And LOUD!

There were a total of 4 pieces in several movements. Please enjoy the videos! (I just used my Fujifilm X-T10 and built-in mic, hand-held, so the quality is not the best. Also, I mainly just made sure Koa was in the videos, so apologies if you weren’t able to see your student)