Category: Food

Eating and Drinking

, , , Food, Slice of LifeLeave a Comment on Eating and Drinking
"Yakiniku" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/125 sec, ISO3200
 “Yakiniku” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How are you today?

This evening Mariko prepared a delicious yakiniku (Korean BBQ) meal using her new grill pan which she received as a birthday present. Besides the main grill area, it has “pockets” on the side where you can put different goodies and keep them separate from the main grill. For tonight’s meal, we put cheese in one pocket, corn in another, and kimchee the the other two pockets. It worked great!

This was the first time I had cheese with yakiniku, and frankly, it was a little strange. I love cheese, especially melty, grilled cheese, but it felt a bit out of place with the regular yakiniku. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it quite a bit, though!

Before dinner we celebrated Margarita Day. I never knew there was such a day (and maybe this is the first one) but we might as well celebrate, right? Our basic margarita consists of 1 part lime juice, 1 part Cointreau, and 2 parts tequila. If we want it sweeter, we’ll add a bit of agave syrup. It was yummy as usual!

"Margarita Fixings" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/125 sec, ISO1600
 “Margarita Fixings” Cedar Park, 2017

I hope you had a great day.

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Tex-Mex

, , , , Food, Slice of LifeLeave a Comment on Tex-Mex
"Big As Yo' Face" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec, ISO5000
 “Big As Yo’ Face” Cedar Park, 2017

Hello! A new location of the local Austin Tex-Mex restaurant Chuy’s opened near our house, so we had an early dinner there today. I had the gigantic “Big As Yo’ Face” burrito in the photo above. It was so filling and delicious, but I am so stuffed that I will need to do some fasting this coming week! 😆

Chuy’s is a fun restaurant, with a lot of kitschy decor on the walls and ceilings. And there’s also a huge Elvis Presley theme going on! I’d say Chuy’s doesn’t have the fanciest food, but it’s consistently good and has a great atmosphere. If you ever have the chance to dine at one, I recommend it! Just be prepared to wait a bit for a table. 😝

'Bar Rules" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/100 sec, ISO1600
 ‘Bar Rules” Cedar Park, 2017
"Signature Ceiling" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/100 sec, ISO800
 “Signature Ceiling” Cedar Park, 2017

Late Valentine’s Dinner

, , , Food, Slice of LifeLeave a Comment on Late Valentine’s Dinner
"Late Valentine's Dinner" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/55 sec, ISO3200
 “Late Valentine’s Dinner” Cedar Park, 2017

みんなさんこんばんは。How’s it going?

Tonight we celebrated Valentine’s Day (a day late because Mariko had to work last night) with our annual fondue dinner.

Mariko always prepares a yummy cheese fondue, with bread, sausage, cauliflower, and potato. This year, we also had asparagus, carrots, apple, and ravioli! In the photo, you can see there are two cheeses, one for the kids and one, with wine added, for the adults. 😄🍷

And after the cheese fondue is finished, we’ll have a chocolate fondue, with strawberries, banana, apple, and marshmallows. 😍 おいしかった！

I look forward to our Valentine’s fondue dinner every February, and this year’s version didn’t disappoint!

I hope you had a nice Wednesday.

またね～

バロン

Work, Bread, and Travel Planning

, , Food, Slice of Life, TravelingLeave a Comment on Work, Bread, and Travel Planning
"Fresh Bread" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/100 sec, ISO3200
 “Fresh Bread” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How was your Monday?

Mine was really good! At work, I was able to make progress on some projects that fell by the wayside, and that gave me a good, positive feeling of accomplishment. I find it so interesting that each time I complete a task that has been sitting on my mental list, a small weight is lifted off of my mind and I feel a sense of relief and freedom. I have gotten to the stage where I kind of enjoy having things on my mental list because I look forward to the feeling I’ll have when I finish the task.

Anyways, today’s photo is of a fresh loaf of bread that Mariko made today. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? And I had to steal a slice just to savor the taste. おいしかった！🍞❤️

Tonight I put together a Google Map that contains a bunch of info for our summer trip to Morroco and Spain – hotels, restaurants, and sightseeing locations. Bay had gathered a list of items, so I started with that and now I’ll start doing some serious research into activities I think everyone would be interested in. If you have any suggestions or tips for traveling to Morocco and/or Spain, let me know via comments or my contact form!

Have a nice evening, friends!

おやすみ

-B

Relaxing Sunday

, , Food, Slice of Life1 Comment on Relaxing Sunday
"That Tongue" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
 “That Tongue” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Sunday is my sleep-in day. But I don’t really sleep much later than I do during the week. The main difference is that I don’t need to wake up, so there’s no stress on Sunday mornings. 😄 It’s great.

This evening I grilled burgers 🍔 for the family, and since I had time I decided to grind the meat for the patties using our Kitchenaid rather than buy pre-ground beef. I think it makes the burgers taste so much better, and it is supposedly less risky health-wise to eat beef from a single animal, rather than hundreds of different animals, which is the way regular ground beef is made.

Today I bought a chuck roast, with bone-in because it was a reasonable price and the amount of fat looked good. Before grinding it helps to cut the beef into 1-inch cubes and put them in the freezer for 20 minutes so they just start to freeze. It goes through the grinder easier this way. I also put the meat-grinding mixer attachment in the freezer.

"Essential" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO1600
 “Essential” Cedar Park, 2017

I decided to use the charcoal grill instead of our gas grill to make sure we have the maximum flavor. The last time I made burgers, I didn’t press the patties together as tightly, and they sort of fell apart on the grill (and on the bun). This time I made them firmer, and also oiled the grill nicely using cooking spray. These two adjustments made a huge difference! The burgers held together nicely and didn’t stick at all to the grill. 😄

For toppings, we had the usual lettuce, tomato, and onion, but I also prepared jalapeño, habañero, avocado, Hatch chile bacon, pickle slices, ketchup, mayo, and mustard. For cheese, we had cheddar and Monterey jack. As you can see, there was a big variety of things to choose from to build your own burger!

I went for everything of course. 😝

"The Works" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/90 sec, ISO3200
 “The Works” Cedar Park, 2017

Today’s first photo doesn’t need an explanation, does it. 🐱 BTW, the cats just turned 1 year old! Time flies.

I hope you had a nice weekend!

おやすみ

バロン