Tag: food

Peppers Galore

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E5, 35mm, f/3.2, 1/75 sec, ISO800
 “Peppers” Cedar Park, 2026

This summer, our Scotch Bonnet and Jalapeño plants have been giving us lots of peppers to eat. In fact there are too many for us, so I have been drying a lot of them out to use as pepper flakes. I am also going to try to make some chili crisp oil. I’ve found a few recipes that look good. We’ll see how it goes! 🌶️

Temaki and Taiyaki

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E5, 35mm, f/2.2, 1/45 sec, ISO800
 “Temaki” Cedar Park, 2026

Our friend brought us the most delicious temaki sushi to help out while Mariko recovers from her hip surgery. And as a total surprise, she showed up with taiyaki too! 🐟 Everything was so yummy, we felt so taken care of.

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E5, 35mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO800
 “Taiyaki” Cedar Park, 2026

Pepper Summer

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“Scotch Bonnets” Cedar Park, 2026

This summer’s pepper plants are thriving! A friend recommended watering plenty and fertilizing often, and it’s really paid off. I’ve never harvested so many peppers from our Scotch Bonnet plant before, and the others are doing amazing too. I’ve been enjoying them every day, little by little. They’re super hot, but I love it. Yay! 🔥

Jet-Lag Hosting

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Photo info: Apple iPhone 15 Pro, 6.7649998656528mm, f/1.8, 1/60 sec, ISO500
 “Desserts” Cedar Park, 2026

We had a few friends over for dinner tonight. I always enjoy having them over, but it felt a little soon since we just got back and I’m not acclimated to Texas yet, physically from the jet lag and mentally from the post-Japan blues. I’m afraid I wasn’t the most lively host, though I tried to stay awake and keep smiling. After 30 to 45 minutes I was pretty much ready to check out. Oh well, that’s just how it goes sometimes.

The food was delicious of course, and I definitely had more than my share of the desserts. 🍮

Last Sushi

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E5, 27mm, f/3.6, 1/160 sec, ISO125
 “Eel with Mayo” Tatsuno, 2026

For our last dinner in Japan, we went to Sushiro. This was my third time going this trip, though Mariko insists it was four (I still disagree 😅). Either way, it was satisfying and cheap, exactly what we wanted. Bonus points for spotting a cute Dokinchan in a car in the parking lot. 🍣

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E5, 27mm, f/5.6, 1/600 sec, ISO250
 “Dokinchan” Tatsuno, 2026

Eats and Shopping in Himeji

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Photo info: Apple iPhone 15 Pro, 6.7649998656528mm, f/1.8, 1/60 sec, ISO125
 “Peach Chuhai and Vino” Himeji, 2026

Today we went to Himeji for lunch, shopping, and a light dinner. We started at a small izakaya for drinks and kushiage, and it was all so yummy. The place was full of people enjoying lunch and drinking quite a bit! There was only one guy running the whole restaurant, and he was busy pouring bubbly for everyone. Amazing.

After that we did some shopping at Loft, Hands, and Junkudo bookstore. I picked up a couple of books, including volume 2 of Hirayasumi. I really love that manga. 📚

Later we had a special Himeji style white miso oden before catching the train back home. What a fun day in the city! We really like visiting Himeji. It’s a medium sized city with lots of the same stores as Tokyo or Osaka, but without the overwhelming crowds. And the food is cheap with fresh seafood. Love it! 🍢

Photo info: Apple iPhone 15 Pro, 6.7649998656528mm, f/1.8, 1/60 sec, ISO160
 “Kushiage” Himeji, 2026
Photo info: Apple iPhone 15 Pro, 6.7649998656528mm, f/1.8, 1/120 sec, ISO160
 “Hirayasumi Section” Himeji, 2026
Photo info: Apple iPhone 15 Pro, 2.2200000286119mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO200
 “Hirayasumi Model” Himeji, 2026
Photo info: Apple iPhone 15 Pro, 9mm, f/2.8, 1/400 sec, ISO25
 “Himeji Castle” Himeji, 2026