A Jab at the End of the Year

 

Another Year Gone - Bye Bye 2021

 There is not much to say for 2021.  We're hoping for better in the new year.

That being said, I leave you with something beautiful.  We had a volunteer sunflower come up along the sidewalk where we winter feed the birds.

It brightened our summer.

Here is how it started.  

And then...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Review: Sumo Orange

 My Japanese cooking Facebook group has been singing the praises of the 'sumo orange'.  So much so that when I saw them in Publix I decided to try one.  

The sumo orange is not an orange at all.  It is a giant mandarin grown only in Japan.  It is touted as easy to peel - Yes.  It is distinctively sweet - Yes, it has a honey-like taste.  It is seedless - Yes.  It is expensive - YES, one small orange sized sumo cost $4!

I realize that a lot of loving care goes into growing them.  The small trees are hand pruned so each fruit gets sunlight.  They are tree ripened so the shipping time is short.  They are hand picked.  They are transported on a water conveyor belt.  All processing and packing is done by hand.

They are delicious.  But in my opinion, they are not worth $4 each.

Korokee

 Last new recipe for the year - Korokee.  Basically a Japanese potato croquette.  They are favorite of Japanese children and Deane's favorite so far too.

Dry smashed potatoes

Forming the patties

Fry carefully - they brown really fast

Ready to eat!

 Korokke - ala Teri:

 1 lb starchy potatoes

½ lb ground beef

1/4 cup mushrooms (shitake are great), minced

2 TBS finely minced fresh ginger

1/2 TBS olive oil

Oil for deep frying (amount depends on the size of your frying container)

Salt and pepper to taste

Coating:

1 egg

4 TBS flour

3 TBS water

2 TBS Yum Yum sauce

2 cups (maybe more) PANKO bread crumbs

 

Peel and quarter potatoes.  Boil for about 10 minutes or until skewer goes thru easily. 

 Drain completely, and then put potatoes that are still in the pot back on still-warm stove burner to dry off completely.  As you put them on, give a little shake to rough up the surface (helps in drying off).  Then mash potatoes with potato masher to a rough mash (still has chunks). 

 Make batter from first 4 coating ingredients.  Put in shallow wide mouth bowl.  Put Panko into a separate wide mouth bowl.  Set aside near your cooking area.

 While potatoes are cooking, heat olive oil in fry pan.  Add ground beef, mushrooms, and ginger.  As ground beef cooks, break it up to very small pieces.

 Add meat mix to cooked mashed-up potatoes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Mix well.  Let mix cool so you can handle it to form ovals, but it still needs to be pretty warm.

 When potatoes are cool to handle, divide into 8 equal amounts.  Form each portion into a flat oval.  Place on a plate.

 Heat deep fry oil until it is about 350*. 

 Take one potato ovals, dip into batter, then the Panko.   Slip into hot oil.   Quickly repeat with another one or two more ovals depending on fryer size.  Remember, the interior is already cooked so you are just getting the golden crust on the outside.  It goes quick!  Make sure you remember to turn them so both sides brown evenly.  Drain on a paper towel lined plate while you continue to cook.

 Serve immediately.

 

A Great Product for Uber Dry Hair

 Been studying on the pure poison that is put into shampoo.  Dimethicone, silicon, paraben, sulfates and more.  We use 3 different brands that are supposed to be 'good ones'.  Ha!  Each have at least one nasty ingredient.

 Really good ones cost $20 and up (searching Amazon).  Uff-da!

 One whim I pulled out Persia's sensitive cat shampoo.  It is a better product than what we have!!!!!!!  No garbage whatso ever.  Fragrance free.  And it costs about $6 a bottle.  I almost tried using it!

 But I found a new product made for people.  Backing up for a moment, all my African-American girlfriends have issues with dry brittle hair.  Hair that breaks.  And as it would turn out, my menopause 'gift' has been dry, brittle, breaky hair.  So... I hear about this product for African-American women's hair.  And I think "Why not?"  Better yet, I can order it from Walmart and get it delivered out to my car.   

 This stuff is AMAZING!!  It is light and does not weigh my hair down or make it look greasy.  And it smells so good.  I have seen such an improvement in my hair condition since I started using it in June.  

Snake Plant in Bloom

What a surprise I had recently!  Did you know that Snake Plants (Dracaena trifasciata) bloom? 

 

I didn’t either; I was amazed when I pulled open the curtain so it could get light and saw 3 spikes with nectar dripping flowers.  The flowers had no scent but they lasted a long time.

What fun!

On The Edge of the Quad State Storm

 Saturday 11 Dec 2021

 The entire night Friday had been spent watching... praying... prepping as an insane weather system rolled towards us.  The night time temperature here was 73*F. 

 At 10pm news of a bad hit in Kentucky started making the news.  About 80 miles NNW of us a factory had been hit in Mayfield.  People trapped.  Then more reports...  The downtown of this Mayberry-ish town gone.  Destroyed.  Debris was lifted 35,000 ft into the sky.  To give that some context, a commercial jet cruises at that altitude.

 

(Mayfield, KY - to the right is what remains [nothing] of the destroyed factory.) 

At 12 midnight there were 3 tornado reports 30 miles WNW in the Dover, TN area. 

At 12:24 am the Clarksville airport reported a wind gust of 61 miles an hour. 

At 1:15am Bowling Green, KY was hit. 

Because of the weird arching shape of the front line, areas north and west were hit well before we were.     

Around 3am the wind started blowing here.  For the next 20 minutes the thinnest part of a weather band stretching from Texas into Ohio crossed over our home.  This area was spared.  At the same time south of us in Dickson and Greater Nashville was taking a hit.  The Nashville airport recorded a 78 MPH gust (the 3rd highest ever record there). 

I finally went to bed at 7:40am this morning.  Got up at 3pm.  The afternoon temperature is now 46*F (tonight will be around 28*F).  There are a few branches down.  We still have power. 

We are grateful.

If you wish to help in a very real and tangible way, I suggest a donation to Samaritan's Purse.  Semi-trucks were being loaded this very morning to head out to Arkansas and Kentucky.  The crew will be clearing debris and helping people gather what remains.  Blue tarps will be covering roofs to protect against farther damage.  And they will be listening to and holding shocked grief-stricken victims.

https://samaritanspurse.org/     

Edit:  This interview was on Sunday.  Worth watching and confirms what I said about Samaritan's Purse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1lLmgqlUyI  

 

 

#3 Is Done

 

On Friday I received my 3rd Covid vaccine.  I had my strongest reaction yet.  My arm actually hurt to touch this time.  

And tiredness?

First and second time a nap was a very good idea.  This time SLEEP was mandatory... as in all of Saturday and most of Sunday I could not keep my eyes open.  I'm very thankful I'm retired because I would have not been able to work.  Face planting on one's desk just is not good!

But I didn't get sick or have pain so it's all good.

Honor

 It is estimated there are fewer than 100 survivors left...  Give them honor.

Review: USB Laptop Light

 My computer sets on the end of our kitchen table for my ease of use.  Love being able to cook and have something to do while I'm waiting for bake - boil - saute to finish.

The not so great thing about my space is the terrible lighting at night.  My keyboard was liking trying to see into a black hole.  While the keys have 'back light', it only lasts about 10 seconds after the last key stroke.  So much for thinking about anything while typing.

So I headed over to Amazon to see if there was some solution to the problem.  

Oh yes...  

Just what I was hoping for!

I found this little jewel!

It clips onto the monitor frame and has a notch so your camera lens isn't covered.  It is hinged so you can adjust the angle of light.

The light quality is adjustable.  There are 10 brightness levels and you can have 'warm' or 'cold' light... or inbetween.  

It has made a 'night and day' difference with my computer use experience.  

The light I purchased can be found here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NPBRVHP?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

(I was not paid or compensated for this endorsement.  I just love the product!)