tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79956162024-03-13T18:14:33.434-07:00Let's Rock Like da Vinci - Cook Away!To Share, To Enjoy Life Together. Why not make the "Cooking Adventures" as part of family activities to share, explore, and appreciate the differences... Let's Rock together in the Home Kitchen Lab!rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.comBlogger836125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-30143376683620617072024-01-22T22:46:00.000-08:002024-01-22T22:46:40.271-08:00MY TESLA EV, TOYOTA PRIUS HYBRID & PLUG-IN, AND TOYOTA TACOMA the GAS GUZZLER I really enjoy driving and owning TOYOTA cars. My first Toyota Prius was ordered and shipped from Japan. I remember driving as far as Marine county to order the car. It was pretty big deal to change from gas driven car to an Hybrid. I saw the tax break during income tax reporting for purchasing eco friendly cars, and I wanted to trade in my Plymouth Voyager SE mini-van rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-77482240447082365662024-01-12T23:39:00.000-08:002024-01-24T16:50:03.864-08:00GOURMIA FOODSTATION - SMOKELESS GRILL, GRIDLE, & AIR FRYER - IS IT WORTH IT? During 2023 Holiday, I purchased another kitchen gadget - GOURMIA brand FoodStation - Smokeless Grill, Griddle, and Air Fryer that can also dehydrate, etc. I want to give Gourmia another try. The last countertop Gourmia 7-qt Digital Air Fryer Oven failed badly on the TEFLON coated basket. It fumed badly during cooking. It transferred the Teflon burn smell to rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-35057419918943204232024-01-01T00:54:00.000-08:002024-01-01T12:57:47.409-08:00NEW YEAR MOCHI MAKING PARTY It's really fun to get together to make MOCHI. Watch it!, it's dead hot Sweet MOCHI. Everyone ready to Roll! The new modern way to make MOCHI ... well, it's been around for 50 years, but, the old way is quite fun, too.Did someone sneak in cheese dip as filling instead of Red Beans? LOL. While waiting for more MOCHI to turn out from the MOCHI machine,A Self-PortraitA rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-30510695591152054742024-01-01T00:16:00.000-08:002024-01-22T19:48:04.480-08:00RAMEN WAR Christmas Party Just wanted a bit of interactive party with family. We held early Christmas Party on Saturday 12/23, rather on the 25th. It was fun! Prepping: Broth base made from fresh fish, shiitake, and other secret ingredients; ChaShu made from scratch. Everyone showed a great culinary skills. It was a amazing RAMEN War party. Everyone is competing for the $100 rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-38707674044642911112023-12-17T02:38:00.000-08:002023-12-19T13:34:19.268-08:00Delicious Cantaloupe / Melon Cup Cake - Photo Diary Never though cantaloupe can be so delicious as cake. The taste of cantaloupe remain perfumie even after the cake is baked. Though, this particular "cantaloupe" looks so very much like the Japanese "Melon".Use whole cantaloupe or store bought 2 pre-cut cantaloupe fruit bowls. Puree and strain cantaloupes - about 6 cups. Separate juice and flesh. There should be rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-55268970643803506452023-12-17T02:22:00.000-08:002024-01-03T09:30:39.746-08:00ADVENTURES IN KYUSHU ISLAND OF JAPAN - ONSEN SPA WONDERS - KAGOSHIMA, IBUSUKI, KUMAMOTO and back to HAKATA Part 4 of 4 Finally arrived at KUMAMOTO JO (Castle). Luckily, I was able to visit the inside. The repair is well on its way. There is elevator and stairways to choose. From the parking lot, you do need to walk at least 1/8 to 1/4 of a mile to get to the castle. You can see the earthquake damaged walls and so forth. Never thought that I could visit one of the historic rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-48881340649693596412023-11-29T22:25:00.000-08:002023-12-19T13:49:34.620-08:00ADVENTURES IN KYUSHU ISLAND OF JAPAN - ONSEN SPA WONDERS - KAGOSHIMA, IBUSUKI, KUMAMOTO and back to HAKATA Part 3 of 4 Today is a Thanksgiving Day Holiday in the USA. Back when I was still travelling in Kyushu, I was amazed with all the hypes about Halloween. Everywhere from train stations, retail stores, local 7-11, etc, were advertisement for the Halloween. I saw parents and children searching for their favorite candies and costumes. And there I was - wondering and pondering, what rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-68041148727069002842023-11-19T20:19:00.000-08:002023-11-19T20:19:27.017-08:00ADVENTURES IN KYUSHU ISLAND OF JAPAN - ONSEN SPA WONDERS - on the way to KAGOSHIMA Part 2 of 4Adventures in KAGOSHIMA, KYUSHUDriving down from Beppu, Kyushu to Kagoshima was a long drive. Although I wanted to check out MIYAZAKI area, the complete adventure of 7 Hells of BEPPU hydrothermal formations took us full day and half to complete - unrushed leisure pace... but I think we could have hastened it a bit. We left Beppu late afternoon around 3:30 pm hitting after work rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-88452369025119429632023-11-15T21:52:00.000-08:002024-01-01T13:19:30.331-08:00ADVENTURES IN KYUSHU ISLAND OF JAPAN - ONSEN SPA WONDERS Part 1 of 4 I had a great time exploring KYUSHU, Japan. 5 days trip from Tokyo
to Hakata, Kyushu. Riding NOZOMI - the fastest bullet train in Japan.
From HAKATA, northern Kyushu, we rented a card and circled the island.
The two places we left out is NAGASAKI, and SAGA, the two southwest part
of Kyushu. We drove down south via east coast route to Beppu, OITA,
MIYAZAKI,rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-14011953802796163222023-06-11T01:10:00.003-07:002023-06-18T08:40:50.334-07:00TAIWAN ADVENTURE - PHOTO JOURNAL TAIWAN - "MEI LEE' De BAO DAO". Taiwan - Beautiful Jewel Island (my translation) is a Lush and Green beautiful Island. If you paint the map shape of Taiwan in green, it's a beautiful green leaf. Unique aboriginal gourmet food, beautiful nature, and plenty of activities to enjoy your vacation time. Relax at the natural mineral spring ONSEN, affordable massage parlor, great rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-24173841118217568352023-06-09T22:18:00.003-07:002023-06-09T22:18:50.420-07:00SPRING 2023 - ROLLING THUNDER AND RAIN - HAPPY GARDEN It seems this year's rolling thunder and stormy rain brought all the nutrients the plants needed despite of the fact that all these rains caused flooding everywhere. It brought some concerns to the water level of the levy that is about 100ft away from my home. Luckily it passed by this time round. The ground is saturated. Fence post holes created during fence mendingrockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-55423498836631382482023-04-08T16:45:00.006-07:002023-04-18T17:57:47.291-07:00HOME FRIED POTATO CHIPS - Nothing New I always enjoy watching a new kitchen tools of this and that doing its work for what it is made for and the story of Thomas Edison who invent tools, gadgets, and machines, etc. with the intention to help his mother - to alleviate her from labor intensive chores, etc. Maybe that's why they say, ".... is a "Mother" of Success..." maybe that's not the true sense, but rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-91100007733504837522023-04-08T15:44:00.003-07:002023-04-08T19:44:34.451-07:00LEMON TART - MY WAY I have been buying a bag of Lemons and wanted to make Lemon Tarts. But I know how sweet the little tart square can be and all that calories... hmmm.... So I came up to limit the size of each tart. It could have been baked in a baking sheet, then, fairly and squarely cut into nice litte cubes or into size that I wish. But I've done that and I thought why not use a rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-76892293598711854002023-04-08T15:20:00.001-07:002023-04-08T19:45:07.494-07:00GRAPEFRUIT PIE - REALLY? So this is my adventure in testing a Grapefruit Pie recipe I came across in Sunset Magazine, Holiday Issue 2022. I thought it is unusual, and I just so happened to have some Grapefruits and Oranges and Beets Powder. So, here is my adventure result.Recipe from Sunset magazine Holiday Issue 2022 says - for FILLING:1. 14 oz. condensed milk - I used 14 oz rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-64244560197759688982023-02-22T18:23:00.000-08:002023-02-22T18:23:00.911-08:00TIGER JAW SUCCULENT CACTUS I am getting better at taking care of cactus plants. This is Tiger Jaw Cactus. It tried to die while it was growing beautifully two summers ago. I thought in summer, it's okay to water it, especially the sun heats the patio door close to 105'F at least during summer. But it showed the sign of rot. I quickly pinched off the top groups of new petals and replantedrockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-22421997726790930842023-02-22T18:14:00.003-08:002023-02-22T18:14:57.071-08:00PRE-COOKED DUNGENESS CRAB ADVENTURE Back in January, I bought pre-cooked crab from COSTCO. This is my first time ever to buy non-live crabs. They can be disappointingly smelly and costly. But COSTCO is one place you can return if the product is bad. So, I tried. And I was very careful in selecting a clean crab with large pinchers. I was lucky. The crab was fresh and tasted very good -rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-51889388139361900272023-01-16T16:39:00.002-08:002023-01-16T16:39:28.258-08:00SPECIAL WINE WAND - "NO MORE WINE HEADACHES" WINE PURIFIER - REALLY? During Christmas holiday, I came across this "TheWand" Wine Purifier Ad. I thought I would like to try it because I can never get past the first sip of the wine tasting without tasting the Sulfur in it. Most of the people won't taste it, but it bothers me. I am not a wine drinker but I decided to try it. I find it quite ingenious and effective. I even bought a rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-28998562621155802912023-01-16T16:28:00.000-08:002023-01-16T16:28:22.900-08:00MY PET GOLDFISH PHOTO JOURNAL It has been quite busy on a weekly basis ever since last winter when I brought in three gold fish out of my Lotus Ponds to keep them from freezing to death. They thrive and gotten pretty big. It was not intention to keep them indoor, but it became a house pet along with three fan tail gold fish. And to my surprise, the fantail gold fish have been laying eggs every 2 to 3 rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-58579690379480479162023-01-16T16:05:00.001-08:002023-01-16T16:05:57.934-08:00RESULT of AIR FRYER TESTING This is merely my personal opinion after trying three different types of Air Fryer. I was hoping to get one that would be part of my daily appliance to use. But after all I decided that Instant Pot 6 qt with air fryer is even an over kill. If the Sur La Table brand Air Fryer came with the stainless steel or aluminum bottom tray, it would have been a winner. I had to rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-44375073048025267392023-01-16T15:46:00.000-08:002023-01-16T15:46:48.464-08:002022 BEST SIMPLE BAGUETTE FORMULA PHOTO JOURNALThere are many baguette formulas that we come across on the web or in YouTube. Many claims that they had a great success. I only know that it maybe true for them in their well temped kitchen or with tools they have. I've had a few good results in making the baguettes, and I am sure when others try the my formula or method, it might ends with a different result. But that's rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-73826361855624715692022-11-12T18:39:00.006-08:002022-11-12T18:43:25.103-08:00Air Fryer Testing - Gourmia - the Canary Killer I bought this air fryer at COSTCO for $39. I thought it's time to give the Air Fryer a try. I have been satisfied with the countertop electric convection oven frying my French Fries, but with so many advertisement proudly displaying a nice crispy French Fries on the boxes, I thought it must be different and superior. Well, the Gourmia I bought was nothing but a terrible rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-34758233513992042862022-11-12T18:25:00.001-08:002022-11-12T18:25:10.754-08:002022 Summer Cooking (Continued) Test making Pumpkin pie. Not impressed with the taste.Pan Fried Teriyaki Chicken Found a big KABOCHA. That's what I thought it is, but it's more like a cross between the regular pumpkin and KABOCHA.Slice and cut into chunk to freeze. More great Green Onions So throughout the summer months, I can crop the green onions 3 times. Hope everyone else had a greatrockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-90067895591371851182022-11-12T18:16:00.001-08:002022-11-12T18:16:04.917-08:002022 Summer Food Photo Journal - Anything from Tempura, Fried Fish, Flan, Waffled Potatoes, DANGO, TAJIN, ARANCINI, etc It was a fun summer. It was exceptionally hotter than any other year. My garden plants were stressed from the heat. Scorched and sun burned. But, food is good as always in the kitchen. Testing this and that and still making the best of the COVID-19 aftermath is what I really wanted to say, but the COVID-19 didn't go away. We managed to control rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-75464872298376981462022-09-20T17:06:00.002-07:002022-09-20T17:06:23.996-07:00Homemade Raisins from the Homegrown Seedless Grapes Made another good use of the Dehydrator and sun... The grapes grew great this year - seedless green Thompson. Just enough to enjoy them without becoming overwhelmed with them.After a good washing with Salted water and several good rinse to assure all natural residents were moved out. Removed the end stem from each and every single grape and placed on the dehydrator tray.&rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7995616.post-53212529767806122372022-09-20T16:29:00.000-07:002022-09-20T16:29:22.964-07:00Personal Size - One Egg Chiffon Cake Photo Journal You all know how to make Chiffon Cakes... and this is using only 1 egg. It's a breakfast personal size Chiffon Cake.Beat the egg white with 4 Tbsp of organic cane sugar into stiff meringue. MATCHA + Egg Yolk + Avocado Oil + Water + shifted Flour + some sugarAdd the Goodies + ground Flaxseed Mill Then, mix Meringue with the batter mixture.rockdavinci.blogspot.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07390644160498108457noreply@blogger.com0