

The Potato Gus had to go to the vet because his skin infection came back. He loves the vets’ office. He loves his vets and the techs. Not so much love for the construction workers across the street. Borking ensued. Andi took him because not only was I stressed to hell and gone, I had a conference call and this was a pop up appointment they had come up right when I called. So off the Gus went and… he got all his boosters, a shot for the infection, two types of meds, and a bottle of shampoo which he will be scrubbed with every other day for a couple of weeks. They also cut his back nails because they were too long… because I can’t cut them and our mobile groomer rage quit on us after they left off Gus’ muzzle and a strange dog walked by when they took him out of the grooming van so he went Cujo with borking rage. No one was hurt but she was definitely… grumbly. And of course I said… we TOLD you he had to be muzzled if out in the open. I didn’t hold it against her but we never saw her again.
They said he might not be hungry and will be a bit stiff. He’s definitely stiff from the shots. He always is. BUT he is NOT off his feed.

Dinner last night was a hacked mac-and-cheese. This is the first time I’ve made “homemade” macaroni and cheese and well, I was all… fuck the recipes. Too many opinions on it and I knew the flavours I wanted to bring to the dish. It came out well. Very tasty and very much on point with the profile I wanted it to have. Seasoned to hell but that’s what I wanted.

Lastly, I wanted to leave you this, a gorgeous animation / artistic short with dinosaurs done from a naturalist POV. Can’t give enough credit to Julian Johnson-mortimer. The sheer artistry!
Not going to give you a long drawn out story about how my grandmother used to make this after working a long day in the cane fields because first, my maternal grandmother was Portuguese and secondly, she never made shoyu noodles in her life. But it’s a favourite of mine and can be found in a lot of Chinese restaurants in Hawai’i.

Ingredients
You’re going to need a bowl to put the cooked veggies in while you cook the noodles so.. head’s up.
Directions
Cook the noodles per instructions if they need boiling. If using the precooked yakisoba noodles, simply run them under hot water until they separate. If not yakisoba, then once the noodles are cooked, dry them well and then add a little bit of oil to the noodles and toss lightly. Let them cool.
In a wok or a large skillet, put a little bit of oil and brown the meat with the sliced onion / shallots. When browned, add the greens, the white part of the green onions, garlic and ginger. Salt and pepper to taste. A few shakes will be good. Once this is all browned and cooked down, put them into that bowl I warned you that you’d need.
Next, brown the oiled noodles in the hot pan. They’re not going to get very brown but if you can get a bit of char on them, good.
Once they are a bit more golden, add the soy sauces, oyster sauce, and sugar. Mix well.
Add bowl of meat and veggies, mix well and then add the bean sprouts and rest of the green onions. Once the bean sprouts are a little wilted, it is ready to serve. Can top with toasted sesame seeds if you like.



I admit. I laughed. Because this is so damned perfect.

Tonight’s dinner is a dual dish. Andi is doing vegetarian for a while and I had a craving for an Old School Hawaiian favourite. So tonight Andi has Kung Pao Tofu with blistered green beans and for me, Sweet Sour Chinese Spare Ribs.



Let’s end the year with the Four and Kismet. I needed to scrape 2021 off my psyche and head into the world with a fresh step. Heh. No cat litter puns intended but there we go.
So, you can find the page for the story here. Or download the PDF from here. Have a great New Year’s. Stay safe. Stay happy.
https://atomic-temporary-19117633.wpcomstaging.com/ink-shadows/home-four-the-holidays/
Recently I’ve been trying to get back into writing and doing okay at it. Slow going but the rust is coming off and it’s good to stretch the brain. So I’m having a decent amount of output but still slower than I like. I’ve discovered listening to Rob Zombie apparently helps so… there you go.
But in between the angst of scraping yet another word from my brain, I’ve been watching mini-spotlights on Japanese restaurants. The small diner kind of places that have been around for a long time. Very relaxing but also, inspiring. Well, inspiring to cook. Have a look. There are English captions on most of them and those would be helpful if you’re not familiar with Japanese food. Enjoy!
