Ichiro is doing such a great job on the back porch. I honestly have no idea how he’s doing this! I’ve been inside with Noby and keep telling him to call me if he needs help, but he hasn’t yet. At one point he had the right side jacked up so it was level and was hammering in the brackets for the stairs. It’s wonderful being married to such a handy guy. Even if he first said it was a DAY project!! Day 3 starts tomorrow!!!
At the end of day two! Maybe I'll actually go on the porch now!
Back porch is looking great but the front is now ghetto again!!! I told him he better not scratch my newly painted rails!!!
As Ichiro works hard outside, Noby and I are still trying to pick a color for the inside. I have samples all over the place!
So because the front porch looks so nice, I really wanted to have the back porch done before the big party. I asked Ichiro to take a look at it. I could tell he wasn’t very happy with the idea but he knew how badly I wanted the house to look nice. He originally said it would only take changing the top boards and posts. So he agreed and Friday night we went to Home Depot to pick up the wood. Today while Ichiro started to take the boards off the top he realized we had bigger problems. Alot of the wood was rotted and and needed to be replace. This wasn’t a big deal, the biggest problem was the stairs. Here are a few pictures from the day.
Before we figured out ALL the problems. Ichiro taking off the top boards.
Tonight we have met up with Niels and Lana for some of our favorite pizza! She is so cute and getting so big. I have to say Noby was not to happy when I was holding Lana. Very Jealous
So if you follow my blog you’d remember Kerry celebrated her thirty something birthday last week. Getting older sucks but having a boyfriend that is so creative and thoughtful must make it better!! He made several gifts for Kerry but the one that got me the most was the flowers he got her. It wasn’t just flowers, as my mom would say, “it’s all in the presentation!”
Kerry came home to this…
Jeff planted test tubes all over the ground in front of Kerry's house! He filled them with water and added a flower!
Ichiro said he was giving all other guys a bad name!
Last nights dinner was so easy and came out perfect, it will definitely be put in the rotation. Which is great because I was starting to get tired of the same old meals we’ve been cooking. So because last nights dinner was so great I thought we should push our luck and try another new Japanese recipe!! While in NY I was also instructed on how to make Sukiyaki. Actually we had this for dinner one night so I had a full demo.
One of the main reason I enjoy this dinner, beside the yummy taste, is the idea of cooking right on the table. I love how someone isn’t stuck in the kitchen cooking all night. All I had to do was cut the raw veggies and get everything out to the table. At that point Ichiro started “cooking.” Tonight was bowling night so who better to test a new recipe on then Keith! haha He didn’t seem to mind! And actually it turned out great. Ichiro figured out the perfect amount of soy sauce, sugar and water. I didn’t take many pictures because there wasn’t much to show. Most of the ingredients are just raw veggies and beef that you cook at the table. Check it out…
The ingredients!
As you can see everything is just tossed in the sauce mixture. As the beef and veggies cook you just pick out what you want and eat it over your rice.
Maybe next time you visit, I’ll make this for you!
I know what you’re saying… “the URL for this site is COOKINGwithbecky and I haven’t seen any cooking lately!!!” Well tonight I have a treat for you!!
While in NY last week, Ichiro’s mom gave me a few recipes for Japanese meals I have been wanting to try. Well they weren’t actually recipes but she explained how to do it and I mentally took notes. She also took me to the Japanese market and set us up with all the right ingredients and sauces.
I’ve been dying to try what I learned but since we’ve been back we’ve been pretty busy. First helping the Cormier, then it was Ichiro’s colonoscopy, and this past weekend was spent painting. Lots of takeout. So there was no time to try out my new skills. Well tonight was the night!!
One of the many websites I check daily, actually it’s one of my favorite sites I check daily, has a cooking section to it. Ree, The Pioneer Woman, has so many tasty looking recipes that she cooks for her ranching family. The best part of the site is she documents the entire process of cooking the food with pictures. (I do so much better with pictures!) I tried my best to copy her style. She definitely does a better job but I thought you might enjoy the photos!! When you have some free time, check out The Pioneer Woman website, she has amazing photos of her family as they work with cattle, an entire section about photography and like I said some wonderful recipes!!
And so, without further ado, our dinner tonight… Tonkatsu!
The ingredients!
First I cut the pork chops in half (the long way) and got all my aggression out by pounding them with my new meat tenderizer!
Next the cutlets get dipped in floor, egg and then the special Japanese bread crumbs.
Then we deep fried them. I actually had Ichiro do this part.
While Ichiro did that I cut up all the all the "extras." In Japan everytime you order tonkutsu you are giving UNLIMITED cabbage. Ichiro was in heaven!! So tonight, for dinner, UNLIMITED cabbage!
More extras... pickled radish and pickled cucumbers.
YUMMY! Our dinner!
Even Japanese soda!
This is really cool!! After you are done with the cooking oil, you sprinkle this powder stuff in the hot oil. When it cools...
it becomes a solid and can tossed in the trash!! SOO COOL!!
While in NY, I watched Ichiro’s mom create the glass box form start to finish. She has these all over her house, in different shapes and sizes. I love them and was so excited that she made this one for me!
I think Kerry and I should should start making these!!
