Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5, 1/100 sec, ISO2500 “Bowl of Pho” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。How’s it going?
This evening we went out for dinner to a nearby Phở restaurant. I ordered the beef brisket phở which was so yummy! The broth was pretty tasty, and that was even before I added the basil, cilantro, bean sprouts, lime, and jalapeños. A touch of Hoisin and hot chili sauce and it was perfect!
When I was growing up, I never had phở. I had eaten lots of instant ramen growing up, and then enjoyed real restaurant ramen in my 20s. I even had a lot of Chinese noodle soups when I lived in Monterey Park. So yummy! Then I moved to Japan and was in ramen heaven. But still, I hadn’t had pho. In fact, I didn’t even know what phở was until we moved to Austin.
The first time I tried it, I didn’t like it. I thought it was bland and not satisfying at all. But after a couple of years, I came to enjoy Vietnamese noodles, especially egg noodle soup dishes. But now, I enjoy a bowl of beef phở most of all. It’s so hearty and warm, and of course, I like it spicy so the jalapeños are essential for me. A stinging tongue is what I love! 🔥
I think that ramen is still my go-to, but phở is a close second on my list of noodle dishes. 😅
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/100 sec, ISO1600 “Yakisoba Dinner” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Tonight Mariko made a huge portion of yakisoba for the family. Our younger son (13) eats a lot these days, but he’s still so skinny. I think he had maybe 4 servings!
We have a really awesome electric hotplate, which has a number of different pans, including a yakiniku grill. It also has a water pan underneath so that things don’t get too messy. But tonight (and two nights ago) we just used the flat pan. It’s so nice to be able to cook right at the table! 😀
After dinner I sketched a bit while we watched the Dodger game. I wasn’t too happy with the previous night’s drawing. It looks really weird and the proportions and spacing are unnatural looking:
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/100 sec, ISO2500 “Ugh” Cedar Park, 2017
The arrows indicate where things should move… but even after I did that digitally, it still looked wrong. Very stiff. So… I decided to look at the sketches of my favorite digital artist Ilya Kuvshinov to see how it should be done.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/100 sec, ISO3200 “Better” Cedar Park, 2017
I used one of his drawings as a reference to figure out the proportions and spacing, and I think I learned a lot. What is surprising to me is that I would have never drawn the face shape like Ilya does. So this is a real eye-opener! It’s so interesting to see where the curves of the cheek change direction. I need to take note of that. The shape I have been using in my sketches looks like a boring almond. But the face that I copied has a much more interesting shape, doesn’t it?
I also used a ruler to keep things level and centered, and also used a circle stencil to draw the irises. I think it makes a huge difference… especially the circles.
Tomorrow I would like to continue with this sketch and later try to replicate it without looking at a reference drawing and see if I can remember the proportions and face shape.
I’m really enjoying sketching, especially faces. It’s so fun! There’s a lot to take note of and remember when I look at drawings that I like. It’s difficult but really interesting and challenging to see the spatial relationships between different elements.
And learning new things makes me feel pretty good. I’m not sure why that is exactly, but I want to keep doing it.
To see all the sketches I’ve been working on, you can check out the Flickr album “My Sketching Journey”, or my Instagram account barron.sketches which I created just for posting sketches, watercolors, and stationery items.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/100 sec, ISO1600 “Korean Meal” Cedar Park, 2017
Hi! Just a quick post with photos of our Korean-style dinner. It had chicken, cabbage, carrots, mochi, and mushrooms in a sweet and spicy Korean chili paste. We also added cheese, and then later, rice to make a really nice fried rice. It was pretty dang tasty. 😀
Hope you had a nice Saturday!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/100 sec, ISO1250 “Assembling on the Hotplate” Cedar Park, 2017Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/100 sec, ISO640 “Almost Cooked” Cedar Park, 2017Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/100 sec, ISO2500 “Cheesy” Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/75 sec, ISO6400 “Spaghetti Dinner” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Today was a relaxing day, with a couple nice highlights. First was that my 16-year-old son and I made spaghetti sauce with meatballs and Italian sausage. It’s a recipe that I got from my Mom and everyone in the family enjoys it. But today, I had my son make the meatballs. He’ll be heading off to college in a couple years, so I think it’s good to get him familiar with the kitchen more!
The recipe is pretty simple but there is some room to add your own ingredients and make it to your own preference. For instance, I use less salt, but add some more spices to the mix. And I am sure that when Bay makes his own spaghetti (maybe for his own kids!) he’ll adjust the recipe to his own tastes.
As expected, the spaghetti sauce is yummy, and the meatballs were especially good! He did a great job mixing, forming, and browning the meatballs, only complaining about splattered oil 2 or 20 times. 😆
Earlier in the day, I watched the local High School marching band pass by our house as they marched through the neighborhood. My 13-year-old son is looking forward to joining the band when he goes to High School, but he still has one more year in Middle School. But he’s excited to see his friends who have become Freshmen marching in the band.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/750 sec, ISO200 “Marching Band” Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/75 sec, ISO3200 “Carnitas Taco Dinner” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。Tonight I present to you two photos of some tasty treats. The first is of our dinner of carnitas tacos. One of my sons requested it, and I provided my recipe to my wife who prepared it. I ate maybe 4 tacos and was stuffed! When we eat out at Mexican restaurants, I often get carnitas and offer some to my kids. But they never really like it until lately. Now they love carnitas! 😀
Later in the evening, we met some friends at Texas Saké Company and enjoyed a saké tasting and tour of the brewery. It was a lot of fun, and educational too! If you are in Austin, stop by for a drink! 🍶
