Home cooking

"Mapo Tofu" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/100 sec, ISO1250
“Mapo Tofu” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは!Hi, how’s it going?

Tonight’s photo is of the bowl of mapo tofu that I had for dinner. Mariko made this yummy and spicy dish from scratch, although you can buy the mapo (or mabo) sauce already prepared. It’s one of my favorite dishes.

Here in the States, many would call this type of food a “rice bowl”, meaning, a bowl filled with rice with some kind of topping. In Japan, there’s a similar type of food called “donburi” and it is just about my favorite. In particular, I love oyako-don, which is chicken and egg over rice, but I also love gyu-don (sliced beef over rice), katsu-don (pork cutlet over rice), and una-don (Unagi/eel over rice).

You could say this is a Japanese comfort food, because it is very commonly made at home. In fact, for my birthday dinner each year, I request oyakodon from Mariko, and she thinks it is a strange request because it isn’t very special. But it’s my favorite! Yummmm.

If you live in a city that has Yoshinoya, I urge you to go try one of the “beef bowls” (gyu-don). It’s so good!

I hope you ate well tonight, and we’ll see you tomorrow!

おやすみなさい!

– B Barron Fujimoto

Deck Tomatoes

"Deck Tomatoes" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/40 sec, ISO3200
“Deck Tomatoes” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは!How’s it going?

Today’s photo is of some cherry tomatoes 🍅 that we grew on our backyard deck. Every spring we plant tomatoes and peppers 🌶 in our garden, but this year we also filled a couple of large pots with soil and grew a tomato plant and a jalapeño plant. The plants flourished and we harvested lots of goodies! Especially the peppers.

We have a pretty good-sized yard, with three container gardens into which we plant other veggies and herbs, but they are somewhat inconvenient because there are so many mosquitos flying around. I usually have to put on long pants and long sleeves (jacket) and frantically gather peppers while doing a little dance to keep the mosquitos away. It’s terrifying to be leaning in, cutting peppers and hearing multiple mosquitos buzzing around my ears!

So, we’ve been enjoying having the container plants on the deck. The deck is about 10 feet above the ground, so there are a lot less mosquitos, and it’s only a few feet away from the back door, so cutting some jalapeños or gathering tomatoes just takes a few seconds. I can monitor how dry the soil gets from the comfort of our breakfast room and watering them is as easy as dumping a jug of water in each pot. Also I can enjoy watching the peppers grow and ripen day by day. 😊

"Easy Access" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/6.4, 1/100 sec, ISO3200
“Easy Access” Cedar Park, 2016

Next year I think we’ll plant more on the deck. I love spicy 🔥 food, so having fresh hot peppers at-the-ready is awesome!

I hope you had a nice day, and see you tomorrow!

おやすみなさい! – B Barron Fujimoto

Dinner ideas

"Japanese Fish Fry" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
“Japanese Fish Fry” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは!How’s it going?

Today’s photo is of a delicious Japanese dinner that Mariko prepared. I’ve posted in the past about how fortunate the kids and I are that Mariko is an awesome cook, who can make so many different kinds of foods.

I was thinking how I am incapable of thinking of a wide variety of food to prepare. My brain just stops at sandwiches, burgers, enchiladas, or spaghetti. I have a mental block and have a difficult time of thinking of other possible dishes. It’s really weird! But Mariko can decide on something from a huge repertoire seemingly last-minute, and it always comes out amazing! And it’s not just one dish, but it’s a main dish, plus soup, salad, a couple fresh veggie dishes, rice, pickled vegetables, etc. I don’t know how she does it. My prepared meal, on the other hand, consists of a main dish, and a side dish… 😜

Anyways, I’m thankful for all the yummy foods and gladly help out (which most times means cleaning up, then just getting out of the way). My main job is doing the dishes which is a small price to pay for eating like a king every night. 🍴

I hope you had a nice weekend!

おやすみなさい!

– B Barron Fujimoto

Natural Beauty

"Fresh Fruit" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/105 sec, ISO6400
“Fresh Fruit” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは!How’s it going? Surviving the summer-like heat?

Tonight’s photo is of some fresh pears in our kitchen. I think they looked beautiful in the evening light. The shapes are so perfect in their “pearness”, aren’t they? 😊 I think nature is amazing. Even though most fruits and vegetable varieties have been guided by farmers, scientists, and botanists, it’s still incredible that our planet can give birth to such delicious things.

I often wonder how much life exists on other planets in the universe, and what kinds of fruits and veggies exist there. I wonder how many more types of flavors are out there that we’ll never know about. Or maybe our human physiology wouldn’t allow us to perceive these new flavors? Have we tasted all that we are able to taste? These are the questions that keep me awake at night… 😜

Hope you had a nice Tuesday!

おやすみなさい!

– B Barron Fujimoto