Kuretake Brush Pen

Sometime last week I stumbled upon this Kuretake Cambio brush pen that was selling for only $2.80 on Amazon. Normally, similar brush pens go for around $5 to $6. 

There were only 3 reviews and 2 out of the 3 weren't favorable. Still, I like Kuretake products so I ordered 2 pens. 


It has a very fine tip, and although it took awhile for it to get juicy, the ink did eventually get to flowing just right. 


I loooove it. I like that you get can very fine as well as broad brush strokes. And if you work quickly you can get a dry-brush effect.

Soon after trying out the pen, I went back online to see if I could order more. They're now $9.80!! Whaaaat!! 


P.S.  I just did an Amazon review. I hinted that if the price drops I'll be getting another pen. LOL. 

On Da Desk

Mushroom houses done with Holbein gouache and Prismacolor colored pencils.

Cheeseburger from Makiki Inn

Awhile back my brother-in-law Glenn recommended the cheeseburger from Makiki Inn. Landon was in the area last week so he picked up one for himself and one for Wendell.

Lan said that it was the best hamburger that he's had in a long time. 

I took a bite. It was juuuuuuicy and ono.



It's on Wilder by Makiki Village Market.

Bye Mr. Young

Crack Seed Store's Mr. Young is retiring at the end of the month. Luckily, he found somebody to take over for him, but still . . . 



waaaaaahhhhh!!

Octolab TV

I love to watch octopuses trying to figure things out.

Sign

I saw this sign for sale at the swap meet.

Surprise at 7 Eleven

I almost missed it. They were in a nondescript plastic bag on the counter in front of the cashier.



Spanish rolls!!!  Six for $2.50.


Guess where they're from.  Nanding's Bakery!! And it looks like you can order ahead of time 30/$11.99. Good for potlucks, no?!

On Da Desk

Dragonflies!!  These were fun to paint.  I'm gonna try make some greeting cards with them.

Chocolate and Vanilla

I was a little later than usual running my errands sometime last week, and when I passed by Chocolate and Vanilla in Kaimuki they were open. 





Yeehaw!!


I got the Apple Pie Bread Pudding ($5.25)


and Blueberry Cream Cheese Bread Pudding ($5.25)


Here are my slices with the provided sauce poured on. My favorite of the two by far was the Apple Pie Bread Pudding. Hope Wendell didn't eat all the rest. 

Shiseido at Ross

I always wondered if I would ever find a Shiseido product at Ross, and yesterday I did.

I didn't buy it though. Even though it was half of the regular retail price, I thought that $30 for 4 uses for your full face was too expensive. 

But now I know that they do sometimes carry Shiseido products, so I'll keep looking!

Kansai Yamato New Item

You might recognize this label. They make mochi right? 

Well, Cleta and I were at 99 Ranch. We had just finished eating lunch and on our way out, Cleta stopped to buy some mochi for her husband . . . 



and we saw this in the showcase . . . strawberry shortcake made with waffles!


Cleta asked if I wanted to have some dessert. I was already soooo stuffed from lunch . . . but . . . hell, yah, I wanted some dessert! 

It was ono!  Thanks for the treat, Cleta!!

Swap Meet Finds

It was a drizzly day at the swap meet this past weekend which resulted in a lot less sellers than usual. I have just a few buys to share with you.

Body wash (2/$5)


Minion duct tape ($1)


Two pillow cases ($2)

Jason's Mochi Rice Stuffing

My nephew Jason (Daniel's brother) made this for Thanksgiving, and you know how I just love anything mochi. It was also one of the first things that I ate, just like Daniel's cake.

Jason got the recipe from a coworker.



Mochi rice stuffing

3 cups (the rice measuring cup not actual cups) mochi rice

1.5 cups (the rice measuring cup not actual cups) white rice

1 package lup cheong (or 2 depending on what you like)

1/2 pkg bacon

1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained

1 packages of sliced, dried, shiitake mushrooms

8 green onions

¾ cup shoyu

30 min to 1 hour before cooking, wash and soak rice, rehydrate mushrooms in a large bowl of water.

Start the rice cooker about 15 minutes before you start the rest of the prep.

Slice the bacon and lup cheong into 1/8 to 1/4 inch pieces. Drain and chop mushrooms (I usually go for 1-2 cm pieces, but whatever). Drain and chop water chestnuts in a food processor.

While rice is cooking, cook the bacon in pan over medium heat until bacon begins to brown.  Drain all but 3 TBSP oil (or you can leave it in - I usually just leave it in). Add the lup cheong to the pan and brown.  Add mushrooms, water chestnuts and green onions to cook briefly. Add shoyu and mix well. 

After rice has cooked and cooled briefly, combine the bacon mixture and rice between two aluminum disposable roasting pans.  Mix to evenly distribute the mixture. Cover the pans with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1/2 hour.

Daniel's Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Pound Cake

My nephew Daniel made this for our Thanksgiving gathering.  It was one of the first things that I ate. It was as ono as it looked.

Thanks for the recipe, Daniel!



Mix together:
1 block butter (1/2/cup)
1 8 oz. block cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar

Add:
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup milk

Add:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 1/2 cup chocolate chip morsels

Fill:
2 loaf pans

Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes

Imu Fundraiser

Lunalilo Home held a Thanksgiving imu fundraiser. For $25 you can bring your foil-wrapped turkey, ham or pork butt and have them put it into their imu for you.

They let me put an item in for free as a thank you for volunteering. So nice!!



Here is the imu being fired in preparation. 


This is our finished brisket that Wendell chose to put into the imu! It was a hit at our Thanksgiving gathering!

Wendell's Fruitcake

Here are remnants of a slice of Wendell's fruitcake that I was enjoying yesterday. It's so ono that I decided that it was deserving of a repeat post.

You can find the recipe in the original post from 3 years ago here. 

Swap Meet Finds

From this past weekend.

Meyer lemon ($5 for 6 bags)


Tomatoes and beans ($2 each bag)


Microwave cover (50 cents)


Rubbermaid containers ($2 each)


Shower curtain ($2)


Li Hing Ginger ($4)

My Vietnamese Tomato Noodle Soup v. 2

I tweaked the original recipe and now it's just right for me. 

For this particular meal I fried up some tofu and added it in.


Stir fry:
1 lb. ground pork
1 tbs. oil
4 tbs. dried shrimp
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tomatoes, cut in pieces
1/2 onion, sliced

Add:
8 cups chicken broth
4 tbs. fish sauce

Prepare:
pho rice noodles
fried onions to garnish

Matouk's Hot Sauce

I went to Mercado De La Raza on Beretania sometime last month and decided to look for hot sauce for Landon. The gal there recommended Matouk's. I bought a small bottle for $5.95. She said that she suspected I might be back for the bigger bottle.

She was right. Lan likes it a lot. It's too spicy for me. A small dot on my tongue left it numb for a few minutes.

I went back again yesterday to get a few bottles to give away for Christmas. 


The bigger bottle is $11.95.

Ressie's Kusina Again

We've been going to Ressie's Kusina in Kaneoha every weekend since we discovered it. Can't help it. The food is so ono! Thank you, thank you, Sweetie for always being willing to drive. Love you to pieces!!

Here are new items that we ordered this past weekend.

Mongo Beans (small side order $3.75). Landon always asks for this so we decided to try. We were amazed at how ono beans could be.


Pork Guisantes (choice in a plate).  Didn't disappoint.


Sari Sari (stole picture from Yelp 'cause I forgot to take) ($9.50). You can't help but go, "Ahhhh!" after taking your first sip of the soup.

Unusual Produce at the Swap Meet

Sorry to be neglecting this blog. Nothing interesting to post lately.

I decided to at least take these photos at the swap meet for you. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what these are.

Swap Meet Finds

Here are a few of my swap meet finds from yesterday. 

I'm planning on putting this in my Christmas Shoebox.  It was 50 cents.


This was also 50 cents. I wonder if I can make Christmas gift tags with them.


I always get excited when I see bargain-priced Shiseido products. These were $5 for all. 


Another 50-cent buy. I think it's time I put my passwords in alpha order.


These were 25 cents each. 


These were free from a regular seller.  The top one is going in my Christmas Shoebox. The bottom one is reading glasses for me.


This chiller bag was $1. I just can't resist new, unused chiller bags that sell for $1. I have a bunch. Aaaack!


I also can't resist unused small umbrellas that sell for $1, especially when they have colorful polka dots!


This might be TMI but . . . $2 each!! I had to show off.