Some Thoughts...

The photo is from Saturday...a nice Spring day around here...OK, it's a retention pond, but still...

Waiting for the repairman to show up and finish repairing our NEW clothes dryer. He replaced the "coils" and gas valve yesterday and, after calling his tech manager, said he would come back today to replace the "burner." This on a NEW dryer. I think if he replaced the motor, then only the cabinet and controls would be original.

See, this dryer is from a reputable company/store and is a brand that we've purchased in the past and had little to no trouble with for MANY years. What gives???

Sweet Home Hawaii:

Well, the agony continues for the birthplace. Aloha Airlines finally gave up the ghost last week after 61 years. Just the latest in Hawaii businesses that have packed it in over the last year or so.

Then ATA goes belly-up. As of yesterday, there were still several THOUSAND people looking for trips back to the mainland. Auwe...what next?

The latest local food business to close was Tropic Fish and Vegetable Market at Ward Farmers Market. This place was there for decades. I remember going in there to buy "local" food items that were not available at local markets.

Fresh veg and fish always there...now...who knows?? The "homoginization (??)" of Hawaii continues. I think I wrote here that a local fave spot at Ala Moana Center, Patty's Chinese Kitchen, which was there when I was in high school (that was during the age of dinosaurs), closed, in part to the competition from...are you ready...Panda Express!!!

Folks, there was NO comparison. Local, unique Chinese items vs "MALL food" Chinese. Yet, as an article in a Honolulu paper put it, most tourists want places they are familiar with (I call it the "McDonald's effect"...no matter which one you go into in the world, you know what to expect), so passed Patty's for Panda. Ugh!

FOOOOOOD

Mmmmmmm...Kirschbaum's Bakery...BAD place, BAD place.

Barbeque weather made an appearance this past weekend. BTW, today it's rainy and cold. SNOW showers expected by Saturday. Gotta love Chicagoland in the Spring.

Anyhow, made huli-huli chicken on the barbie. Yummmmmy. Can't replace that smokey taste you get from hardwood charcoal. AND...DON'T USE LIGHTER FLUID. Go get a "chimney starter" that uses newspapers to get the charcoal going. NO BAD TASTE.

Tomorrow, flatbread from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Go buy the book.

OK...that's all folks.

A hui hou...

Post-weekend depression...

So, city-dwellers, are you now looking up at those construction cranes more often as you walk through your city? One story said that there are more than 250 (!!!) in NYNY alone. LOOK UP...it's a bird...it's a plane...nope, it's a crane...RUN, RUN LIKE THE WIND...and watch out for those taxi cabs.

MOTORSPORTS

OK, the F1 race was more like NASCAR. Whoo boy, those guys just couldn't get through the first lap. Patience...patience... Was THRILLED to see Lewis Hamilton drive away with it. I'm one of those few who thought he was kinda screwed out of the championship last year by Alonzo and Ferrari (conspiracy theory here)...sorry tufosi but I LOVE it when the red prancing horse stumbles.

NASCAR was boring. Jeez...just watch the last 10 laps. That's where all the action is. Jeff Burton is one of the low-key, "nice guys" in the sport. Had his whole family with him on SpeedTV's "Victory Lane" wrapup show. Nice.

AND, finally...ALMS' 12 Hours of Sebring: the timing was WEIRD. Missed the beginning AND the end! Screwy TV scheduling, I guess. But, even this race was unique as the "All-Powerful" Audi turbo-diesel's DIDN'T win! Go figure. AND, the overall winner...first across the line...was a P2 car! A supposedly lower-powered, slower car.

OK, enough carguy stuff.

COOKING

OMG, I am so priviledged. I got an email response from one of my FAVORITE food bloggers, Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen. Been commenting on her blog and got a response.

Actually, it's one of the best blogs for me. I love Asian-style cooking/recipes and hers are really tasty and fairly easy to do. She also has a funny, irreverant writing style. Easy to read, informative and VERY entertaining. GO READ HER:

She also takes FABUOUS photographs, so the blog is very nicely illustrated. The food LOOKS so good that you just have to make it.

Braised chicken tonight; meatballs tomorrow night. Nothing special.

BOOKS and TV

Did you see HBO's production of "John Adams?" It's a dramatization of David McCullough's book of the same name. WTF???

Mr. McCullough...I READ YOUR BOOK. THIS IS NOT YOUR BOOK. OMG, OMG, OMG...

First, I like Paul Giamatti as an actor and admire his work. But, for me, he is just HORRIBLY miscast as a late-18th century Boston lawyer. DOES. NOT. WORK. Adams was a medium sized portly man, and so, body-wise, Giamatti fits the part. BUT, I just can't get past his looks...NY Italian, yes...NE Bostonian, NOOOOOOOOO.

Now Laura Linney as Abigail Adams. NO. READ THE BOOK. Abigail is described as "...a little over 5 feet tall, with dark hair and bright shining eyes..." Not a tall slender blonde.

I SHOULDN'T have read the book. Reality intrudes into TV drama, I guess.

Also, the first episode makes it seem that Adams was a reluctant supporter of the move to independence. Ummmm, the book shows clearly, in the first chapter, that Adams supported liberty for years before the first big dramatic incident, the Boston Massacre (1770). He was well-known for an article he wrote in support of individual rights and liberty.

Oh, well, it's only TV...except that I've heard so many media types raving over this show, and it's just not that good... READ THE BOOK!!! PLEASE....

OK, end of rant.


Spring may be here really. Although last night when I went to pick up the BW at the train station it was SNOWING. Didn't really stick, and it was more like sleet, but still...ENOUGH ALREADY.

A hui hou...

Bread and racing...

OK, so I tried the sandwich bread recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day. Mmmmmmmm...go get this book, clear out space in your fridge, make ANY of the recipes and enjoy fresh bread daily.

It REALLY is easy, and the bread is just about as good as the white bread from The Bread Bible...which takes a whole day to make. SO, GO DO IT!!!

AUTO RACING:
OK, for us carguys, this is a great racing weekend. First, ALMS (American LeMans Series) 12 Hours of Sebring on Saturday. Formula 1 in Australia for their first race...quals tonight at 11 PM EDT, race tomorrow night at same time, I think...that time/day difference is so screwy. And, of course, NASCAR is Bristol this weekend with Nationwide tomorrow and Sprint on Sunday. Whew...and I have a 52-inch HDTV with cable...OH. MY. GOODNESS.

IT'S SPRING!!!
FINALLY, the temps are in the 50s...but don't get too cocky, as tomorrow the forecast is for "...cold, windy and mid-30s." SUCKS...but NO SNOW. Thank you, thank you, thank you...

COOKING:

Panko-crusted tilapia tonight for dinner. Steam/sauteed broccoli and cauliflower and steamed rice. Oh, and another loaf of the Artisan bread. Yummy!

You know, when I was a kid growing up in Hawaii, tilapia was "trash" fish. No one ate it although it was easily caught. It tasted awful. How times have changed.

One of these days, I have to try the Kona farm-raised fish, the Kona Kampachi. Supposed to be reallly good, but, whoo whee...some kind of expensive.

I was going for the pan-roased halibut, "...fresh caught off Alaska..." according to the sign in Whole Paycheck, I mean Foods, today, but at nearly $25 a pound, tilapia is a much better deal.

OTHER:

Both sons are in NYNY (a town so nice they named it twice). Elder Son is visiting Younger Son for a week. I envy them. NYNY should be nice this weekend. Oh, the restaurants!!!

OK, enough. Gotta go make bread.

A hui hou...

Monday, Monday...

Spent the weekend in St. Charles with the beautiful wife. Just a get-away kind of weekend. Dragged through some antique stores...they sell antiques, not that the stores were...oh, you know what I mean.

Just before we pulled into the municipal parking lot, BW noticed that the main street, called Main Street, was being lined with portable chairs. Come to find out, as we parked next to a gentleman in a kilt, that last Saturday St. Charles celebrated St. Patrick's Day...yup, had their parade.

Now, it was 25 degrees with snow flurries and snow showers. Those were some COLD Irish in that parade. Must have spent the rest of the day in one of the many Irish pubs in the downtown area. Anyhoo, lots of pipe and drum groups, dance groups and Irish social groups. Nice parade...but, whoo, the weather.

NASCAR:

Am I the only NASCAR fan to think, "Toyota wins...everyone else loses?" Am I just too cynical and negative to believe that in 4 or 5 years Toyota will be the ONLY manufacturer in stock car racing? Hmmm... Well, the IRL (Indy Racing League) is down to a couple of chassis manufacturers and ONE engine supplier. Indy 500 anyone?

COOKING:

Just got the book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I'll have to try their recipes and see how they taste. I use The Bread Bible to make bread, but it takes ALL day to make two loaves. If this works, you can make bread in a very short time.

The authors have a great variety of breads, but I'll start with their basic recipe to see how it tastes. I'll document the results.

Last batch of homemade kimchi is really good. I use regular cabbage, instead of the Napa that is usually used(???). Goes soooooo goooood with homemade fried rice.

BOOKS:

Am reading The Numbers Behind Numb3rs, about the mathmatics used in the CBS tv show, Numb3ers. The main math guy behind the show is a math prof at Cal Tech. Very interesting book. He uses actual episodes from the show and explains the math used in solving the crime.

Of course, some dramatic license is used, such as shrinking the time that would be needed to actually do the math so that the crime can be solved in a timely manner, but then, it IS a tv show. Definitely recommend it.

WEATHER:

It's getting WARMER!!! Whoo hoo...maybe Spring IS on the way...hope, hope...

A hui hou...

Today's Random Thoughts...

Two of my favorite blogs are Michelle Malkin and Hot Air...and yes, they're related. I read them every day. So I was a little sad to learn that Bryan Preston of Hot Air is leaving. BUT, on the plus side, Ed Morrisey of Captain's Quarters is joining the gang at Hot Air. So the universe is back in balance.

Besides, Bryan left to go to the Laura Ingraham radio show. Gee, are ALL conservative women smart AND beautiful...hmmmm...Laura, MM, MKH (aka 'the Hammer)...I could go on.

ANOTHER winter storm is about to hit here. Anywhere from 3 to 9 inches of snow...depending on where you are. Great. It isn't Global Warming, it's another ICE AGE.

NASCAR NOTES:

Well, it certainly DOES rain in Southern California. Finally got in the races today. Very small crowd at the track. SoCal seems to be the "black hole" for sports. They can't even keep an NFL team there. Wonder if demographics have changed...you know different ethnic makeup???

NFL COMBINE:

As a Hawaiian ex-pat, I follow Univ of Hawaii sports, especially football. What a great year! Undefeated. But, then reality...the Sugar Bawl. Whoof. Talk about a letdown. Then head coach June Jones leaves for SMU. Second Whoof.

But, things got better. Great choice for new coach (Greg McMackin, the DCoordinator). Great recruiting with some good prospects. Good hires for assistants.

SO, I followed the NFL combine in Indianapolis this weekend as some UH players were there. Colt Brennan (QB) trying to overcome the SB loss, poor performance in Senior Bowl, etc. He did very well, winning the accuracy drill.

BUT, it seems that ESPN and NFL.com pundits are down on the kid. Huh? I guess if UH was in a "real " conference, like the Pac-10, Big-10 SEC, etc, he would have gotten a break. But it seems that the pundits really want to put the guy down, constantly complaining about the 'weak' schedule (anybody else go undefeated???) and that CB is a 'system' QB.

I don't know the root of all the negative comments, but UH is at a disadvantage in the WAC and playing most games after the East Coast pundits have gone to bed. But still, I hope that CB succeeds and proves them wrong. Hey, they haven't been right about much up till now, huh? END OF RANT.

FUUD:

Make Kau Yuk for the second time yesterday. Turned out much better than the first time. Oh, it's red-cooked (braised) pork belly. Mmmmmmm...it WAS good. Reminded me of buying it at Patti's Chinese Kitchen in Ala Moana Shopping Center. Sadly, Patti's is closing. Yet ANOTHER old time, "local" place that is quitting business. Fond memories of eating there with the beautiful wife and number-one son...who loved the Char Siu (BBQ pork) and tofu dish.

There's a pic of the first Kau Yuk below.

OK, enough. Must get some sleep as I will probably be using the snowblower first thing in the morning to clear the driveway to get the BW to the train.

A hui hou...

Zippy Saimmmmmmmin...

Saimin is a "local" Japanese-style noodle soup that is a staple in Hawaii. I didn't have it growing up in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii. There, the closest dish was the udon that my dad would go and get from a little grocery store/shave ice/udon shop. He'd take a Revereware saucepan and bring it back full of udon broth and thick noodles. My mom would make scrambled egg and shred it to put in the soup with fresh sliced green onions. ONO...as we say...

Well, after we moved to Honolulu, I discovered saimin. Thin noodles, yummy broth with a slice of fishcake, some slices of char siu (bbq pork) and green onions. You got saimin mainly in Chinese restaurants. Variants included wonton min, with boiled, pork-filled wontons added to the basic noodles/char siu/fishcake. Oh so good... It was our usual snack after a night out at the movies or football/basketball games. AH, those nights at the Golden Duck... Really ono...and cheap!

Well, I just finished a saimin for lunch. No, not take out from a restaurant, but made from noodles and soup base shipped out from Honolulu. You see, the intarweb is a wonderful thing.

A local restaurant chain, Zippys, has a website with a shopping page. You can get Hawaiian food (lau lau, poi, kalua pork), Zippy's favorites (their famous chili and soups) or other local foods. Perishable items are frozen before shipping.

One item you can buy is an eight-pack of frozen fresh saimin noodles with eight packets of S&S saimin broth. All you have to do is boil up the noodles, make the broth and then toss in your favorite condiments: SPAM, scrambled egg, fishcake, green onions, etc. They also provide frozen wontons for those of you that want a wonton min.

Of course, this is Friday and Lent, so I made mine meatless, with two kinds of fishcake and green onions. It was really good...ooops, I mean ono.

I've got one packet of noodles and broth left, so I have to order some more online soon. This time I think I'll also get a "local" favorite: Saloom pilot crackers. I used to LIVE on them when I was a kid in Hilo.

Too bad that Hilo Macaroni Factory is now gone, closed because the 80-year old equipment couldn't be modernized to increase production. But Diamond Bakery crackers are an acceptable substitute and can be ordered from the Diamond Bakery website or from Zippys.

Last time I ordered from Zippys, I received TWO phone calls from a very nice lady, who was making sure the order was correct and, later after the box arrived, that everything was OK. Very good customer service and one reason I will be ordering from them in the future.

Our local Mitsuwa Marketplace carries Aloha Shoyu from time to time, but the last three time I went in there wasn't any. SO, I either have to order online or just keep waiting...I think I'll order online.

Although there are many great Asian restaurants in the Chicagoland area, the stuff just doesn't taste like the food in Hawaii. Thank goodness for the intarweb...

NASCAR

California this weekend. They renamed the California Speedway; now it's "The Auto Club Speedway of Southern California." Whew... More $$$$$$$ for NASCAR.

Nice article on NASCAR.com about Ryan Newman's wife, Krissie. Seems she's a really nice, down-to-earth young lady, and a great role model (hate that term). That's one of the attractions of NASCAR...they seem to be "real" people and not at all like some Britney's or Lindsay's that are slutting around...did I say that out loud? Anyhow, go read the article.

FLYING

I've been a flying nut all my life, from the time my dad would take us to watch the airplanes land at the airport to my stint in aviation in the military, to my attempts to get a pilot's license (failed).

Recently the FAA and EAA got together and came up with a new class the Light Sport Pilot/Light Sport Airplane. Just need a driver's license and no medical to learn to fly. BUT...

...THE LSA AIRCRAFT COST OVER $80,000. This, for a two-seat, daytime only, short ranged, SLOW airplane. One I really drooled over, the RANS S-19 starts at $110,000!!! For that kind of money, I can buy a Saleen Mustang or a ZO-1 Corvette AND have money left over. OK, rant over.

Hey, local weathermen are predicting a "warming" spell...yeah, that's right, we should get to......40 degrees!!!! Woo hoo...please, where is Spring...huh??? Where is Spring...help, help...

A hui hou...

As I Was Saying...

Ok, let's get caught up, as it's been a few days:

NASCAR:

Daytona 500...WHOOOOO WHEEEEE!!!! At least Toyota didn't win 'The Great AMERICAN Race.' Sorry, but I just think Toyota will be the death of American manufacturers in NASCAR...it's all about the MONEY $$$$$$$.

Anyhoo, congrats to a legend in American motorsports, Roger Penske, and to Flyin' Ryan Newman and the Dodge boys for the victory. AND, a big tip o' the hat to Kurt Busch for the push that won the race.

Felt really weird not rooting for my old fave, Smoke, aka Tony Stewart. But, hey, it's a TOYOTA...geez.

FUUUUUD:

Mmmmmmade kimchee over the weekend. Living in Hawaii in the 80's, I'd get the cucumber or regular cabbage kimchee in bottles from Star or Times Supermarkets. Now, all you can get is the Bok Choy or Chinese Cabbage versions. So, with a little help from NOH's KimChee mix, I can have my cucumber/daikon or cabbage kimchee. Made the cabbage version and enjoyed it last night with Huli Huli Chicken:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (for easy cleanup).

Make the sauce by combining the following in a small bowl:

1/3 cup EACH catsup and shoyu
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 TBSP dry sherry
1 'finger/thumb' fresh ginger, finely minced
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 stalks green onion, finely sliced

6-8 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on

Season chicken thighs with salt, pepper and granulated garlic.

Lightly oil foil. Place thighs on foil and brush both sides with sauce, ending up with the thighs skin-side up. Use all the sauce.

Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Serve with steamed white rice and homemade kimchee. Mmmmmmm, ohso ono...

WEATHER

In the car this morning, taking The Beautiful Wife to the train, the outside temp was...5 DEGREES!!! It's the MIDDLE of February, for God's sake. OK, enough of this 'global warming.' I'm about ready to sue AlGore for NOT delivering WARMING...get it??? What do I have to do???

Ok, that's all folks.

A hui hou...