Hopefully soon to be home to eat ...

Preparing for a visit home. Space A flights Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Will be trying as each comes along. Have to get home for my granddaughter's 3 year old birthday. Promised her I'll take her to Chuck E. Cheese, Aina Haina on her birthday - 30 August.

But have a list of what I want to eat when I get home:

Zippy's (corned beef hash/eggs/rice/gravy all over, saimin)
Char Hung Sut (all dim sum, especially the matai siu)
Royal Kitchen (baked lup cheong bao)
Boston Pizza, Kaimukī (spinach/garlic/anchovies/mushrooms)
Lam's Restaurant, Kahala (black bean clams, roast duck)
Makino Chaya, Aloha Tower (lunch buffet)
Fukuya Delicatessen, Mō'ili'ili
Gulick Deli (new King St. one)
Verbano, Kaimukī (escargot, veal piccata, scampi)
Kona Brewing Company, Hawai'i Kai (Kaiwi Steamed Clams)
Maple Garden, Mō'ili'ili (Beautiful Lady Rolling Bottom)

Been thinking of all these places for the last couple weeks. Really hungry! Been six months since I've been home.

Rotisserie Chicken 2

This what I made with some of the chicken last night - jook (okayu in Japanese). Just used a thigh and a wing in the crockpot with sliced dried shiitake mushroom and foo jook (both soaked first), plus some salt. Ate with green onions and 100-year old egg (peidan), cut up. Ono!

Same chicken has given me 5 sandwiches so far with the slice breast meat. Got small pieces of meat and a drumstick left. Maybe a chicken salad. But what a deal for $3.75. My pake blood is showing. But everything is tasty. Quick sandwiches with sharp cheddar cheese and mayonnaise (Best Foods of course) are delicious!

Rotisserie Chicken

A day old chilled rotisserie chicken bought from the commissary (cheap, half price - $3.75).

Dark meat pieces (wings and thighs/drumsticks) separated, will eat cold with salad.

Sliced white meat, will use for sandwiches.

Simple salad and some...

chicken with mushroom gravy from the other night. My dinner for tonight.

Grilled Ham/Cheese Sandwiches

Just a simple dinner last night - simple but tasty comfort food. Just ham and Swiss cheese. Quick favorite meal.

Can be simple as this or be made more fancy with different meats (sliced turkey or roast beef, bacon, salami), different cheeses (sharp cheddar, American, Monterey Jack, Gruyere), different breads (sourdough, wheat, rye), sliced tomatoes, grilled onions, even spiced up a bit with mustard.

I like it just simple, though add bacon sometimes if I have some already fried amd in the freezer already.

Check out my update on the Banyan Tree from the typhoon. It's coming back!

Loco Moco

Loco moco tonight. Used premade beef patties from the commissary meat department - JUNK! Ended up hard, no taste! Should make my own patties and freeze. Or try some brand names patties. As I've said, hard to cook for one. But the gravy made from the pan juices was good. Used "Better Than Bouillon" beef base to make liquid added to frying pan. Added mushroom stems and pieces, and thickened with cornstarch/water.

Canned Corned Beef & Onions

For tonight another simple old time dish. Used up the rest of corned beef from other night. Used 1/2 round onion, sliced and stir-fried until translucent, added corned beef, stir-fried a while, seasoned with garlic salt, then scrambled an egg in. Eaten with rice and ketchup. Inexpensive, fast, but so tasty!

Sunday Dinner

First thing for tonight was Winter Melon Soup. This time made soup with pork, dried scallops, water chestnuts and shiitake mushrooms.



Also cooked was Pot Roast again. This time added cream of mushroom soup and beef broth, for more gravy.

Canned Corned Beef & Cabbage

Easy, local favorite from Hawaii. Canned corned beef stir-fried with sliced round onion and julienne ginger.

Nothing much this past week...

Didn't make any special meals this past week (no time and too tired) other than stuff I've made before...grilled ham/cheese sandwiches with cream of mushroom soup, gyudon, green onion/chopped ham scrambled eggs, teriyaki Spam slices (like for Spam musubis).

But here is something I eat occasionally, again from small-kid time - Armour Dried Beef.



Good for sandwiches, making SOS, putting in corn chowder, or just nibbling at while drinking biru. This has always been a favorite of mine. My mother used to give to us as a treat when young. This is not for the folks watching their salt. It is loaded, but it does taste so good! Don't know if you old futs out there from Hawaii remember this from 50 years ago!

Oden

Dinner tonight was oden given to me by a co-worker. He brought leftovers for lunch for himself and me, but I had my own bento so I took it home for dinner. Oishii!

From the top: hard boiled egg, carrot, daikon, shirataki, konnyaku, tofu, pork pieces, konbu and potato. The jiru base was made with chops from pork leg (can't see but there's slices of pork skin in there). It was delicious!

The guy's wife is a great cook! Think I mentioned before that I bring in food to the office as I often cook too much for myself. If there's a lot left after lunch he will take home. I'm like his wife - cooking a larger amount results in a better overall taste! It's hard to cook just two or three chicken thighs for dinner, I have to cook at least six.

Nezumi

Nothing to do with food on this. This is ''was'' my doggie Nezumi, a chihuahua/terrier. More at end.

Brought her with me to Okinawa 2 years ago, but she has been since ''evicted'' so she's back in Hawaii with my daughter. At the condo I originally got, dogs were allowed. But after a while the rules were changed and I had to ''get rid of the dog''. There were many people who would have adopted her, but my daughter said giving Zumi away was not an option - either bring her home or send her home.

If I kept her in Okinawa I would have to find a new condo. With the costs of a new housing agency fee (half month's rent), moving costs, etc. would be the same price to catch a plane home with her. Sending as freight would leave a big question mark as to her well-being though cheaper.

So took a commercial flight home with her as baggage. She was a big hit as we waited for the connecting flight in Kansai. But she made it back OK to Hawaii and shares space with my daughter's dog ''Coco''. Of course they knew each other before so they get along great. Sometimes Coco gets irritated with this young kid, so friskey and active, since Coco's about 8 or 9 years old and Zumi is only 3. But I think Coco is happy also with the company at home.

But I caught a free flight back to Okinawa. Lonely without her though.

Was a real chore first to get her into Japan, then get her back into Hawaii!

Nezumi is Japanese for ''rat'' or ''rodent''. Names considered when I got her (fit in the palm of my hand, at the most 2 pounds), was Dumbo or Yoda. You can see why. Those are big ears! But she looked like a rat (tail was as long as her body), so she was named Nezumi. Bigger now - 9 pounds.

Funny though, all white, short haired, but with very fair skin. She loves the sun, but began to get skin irritations (especially on the ears) which the vet says was caused by the sun. So she's not supposed to get too much sun. Maybe some sort of albino?

When I came to Okinawa with Zumi my granddaughter was 1 year old and I don't think she remembers from that time. But my granddaughter is now 3 and being with Zumi for a year now, Zumi according to my granddaughter, is ''MY doggie''! She may think it was a present from Okinawa