Renfield (2023)

Nicolas Cage was a great Dracula!  The acting was impeccable as he talked down to Renfield, and Renfield had no way of fighting back.  Words could hurt so much.

Some plot-holes here and there; so don't think too much.  Overall a very enjoyable movie.

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Banana Bread, ver. 5.0

I changed the recipe again.  Less coconut oil and more honey than version 3.0.

Dry Ingredients:

• 1¾ cups flour
• 1 tspn baking soda
• ½ tspn baking powder
• ½ tspn pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ tspn salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 4 bananas (2 larger ones and 2 smaller ones)
• 2 eggs
• A little bit less than ½ cup coconut oil because I was running out of it
• ½ cup honey
• 1 tspn vanilla extract

Extra Ingredient:  1 bar of chocolate, chopped.  I used Lindt 70% Cocoa Dark Chocolate Bar, 3.5 oz (100g).

Note:  Pumpkin pie spice is not normal.  Normal people use cinnamon.  I don't like cinnamon that much.  Math Teacher bought pumpkin pie spice during Thanksgiving thinking we'd make pumpkin pie; that didn't happen.  So now I have a lot of pumpkin pie spice left.  Anyway, cinnamon is the first ingredient listed on the pumpkin pie spice label; so good enough for a novice baker like me.

Steps:

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Definitely do this step first.  Then I'll have clean measuring cups and spoons for the wet ingredients.
2. Smoosh the bananas in another large bowl.
3. Scramble the eggs into the smooshed bananas.
4. Add the rest of the wet ingredients into the banana-egg bowl.  Combine well.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Fold the mixture and make sure no flour lumps.
6. Add the chopped chocolate into the mixture.  Fold well.
7. Dump the mixture into a greased loaf pan.
8. Bake at 180℃ for 55 minutes.
9. Let the bread cool enough to handle, then transfer to a rack to cool off even more.

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Banana Bread, side view

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Banana Bread, top view

See the hole in the side-view photo?  I didn't grease the loaf pan enough again, even though I thought I did.

A little bit less than half of a cup of coconut oil made no difference at all.  So maybe I'll stick to this recipe from now on.

Eggslut

Saw this restaurant at Shinjuku train station (Tokyo, Japan).

Eggslut Shinjuku

Is it selling eggs?

But it has a big picture of a hamburger.

But then the word "Luke's" is embedded inside a lobster.

But I thought "Boulange" means bakery.

Maybe "Eggslut" is not English.  I'm not sophisticated enough to understand.  Or I'm simply a dumb American that doesn't speak another language.

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Banana Bread, ver. 4.0

I changed the recipe again because I ran out of honey and chocolate.  This time I also used fewer bananas because they were larger.

Dry Ingredients:

• 1¾ cups flour
• 1 tspn baking soda
• ½ tspn baking powder
• ½ tspn pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ tspn salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 4 bananas (ripe)
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup coconut oil
• ½ cup honey + the last drips out of the bottle
• 1 tspn vanilla extract

Note:  Pumpkin pie spice is not normal.  Normal people use cinnamon.  I don't like cinnamon that much.  Math Teacher bought pumpkin pie spice during Thanksgiving thinking we'd make pumpkin pie; that didn't happen.  So now I have a lot of pumpkin pie spice left.  Anyway, cinnamon is the first ingredient listed on the pumpkin pie spice label; so good enough for a novice baker like me.

Steps:

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Definitely do this step first.  Then I'll have clean measuring cups and spoons for the wet ingredients.
2. Smoosh the bananas in another large bowl.
3. Scramble the eggs into the smooshed bananas.
4. Add the rest of the wet ingredients into the banana-egg bowl.  Combine well.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Fold the mixture and make sure no flour lumps.
6. Dump the mixture into a greased loaf pan.
7. Bake at 180℃ for 60 ~ 65 minutes.
8. Let the bread cool enough to handle, then transfer to a rack to cool off even more.

I don't know why this time it took more than an hour to bake.  Was it the larger size of the bananas?  Was it the absence of chocolate?  Was it more honey than before?  I am not good enough to guess.  Also, I gave this to a friend so I didn't get to cut into it and taste it.  I had no idea if this was good.  The friend and his wife made no comment.  So I'm guessing it wasn't that good???  😞😭

Willow (1988)

This was such a wonderful movie.  I barely had anything to be picky about it.  The movie was simply adorable from beginning to the end.

Willow was such a good father.

It was strange to see Val Kilmer in this.  All I knew about Val Kilmer was Top Gun (1986) and Batman Forever (1995).  The acting was different and enjoyable.

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Banana Bread, ver. 3.0

I changed the recipe again.  Less honey and more chocolate than version 2.0.  As a home cook, it is difficult for me to follow a recipe.  Home cooks take whatever is in the supermarket and cook whatever is in the refrigerator.  Cooking can be adapted.

Not baking.  It is really a bad habit of me, not to follow an entire recipe.  I've got to remember everything goes into a baking dish then goes into an oven.  There's no way to change it.  There is a reason why the measurements are written a certain way.

Dry Ingredients:

• 1¾ cups flour
• 1 tspn baking soda
• ½ tspn baking powder
• ½ tspn pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ tspn salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 5 bananas (ripe)
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup coconut oil
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 tspn vanilla extract

Extra Ingredient:  1 bar of chocolate, chopped.  I used Trader Joe's Organic Dark Chocolate Bar 73% Cacao, 3.51 oz (100g).

Note:  Pumpkin pie spice is not normal.  Normal people use cinnamon.  I don't like cinnamon that much.  Math Teacher bought pumpkin pie spice during Thanksgiving thinking we'd make pumpkin pie; that didn't happen.  So now I have a lot of pumpkin pie spice left.  Anyway, cinnamon is the first ingredient listed on the pumpkin pie spice label; so good enough for a novice baker like me.

Steps:

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Definitely do this step first.  Then I'll have clean measuring cups and spoons for the wet ingredients.
2. Smoosh the bananas in another large bowl.
3. Scramble the eggs into the smooshed bananas.
4. Add the rest of the wet ingredients into the banana-egg bowl.  Combine well.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Fold the mixture and make sure no flour lumps.
6. Add the chopped chocolate into the mixture.  Fold well.
7. Dump the mixture into a greased loaf pan.
8. Bake at 180℃ for 50 minutes.
9. Let the bread cool enough to handle, then transfer to a rack to cool off even more.

Banana Bread version 3.0 top view

Banana Bread version 3.0 side view

Banana Bread version 3.0 cut view

See the hole in the side-view photo?  Grease the loaf pan!  This was me not reading the recipe.  It was difficult to pull out so it broke apart.  Then because of that hole, it was difficult to maintain the integrity when I cut into the bread.  The loaf simply couldn't withstand it.

Version 3.0 was even spongier than version 2.0, which was spongier than version 1.0.  I don't know if it was the five bananas vs. four bananas before; or it was the chopped chocolate instead of chia seeds.  I like the spongier the better.

100 grams of chopped chocolate was enough.  The chocolate pieces were all throughout the bread.  Because I used so much chocolate this time, I thought I could decrease the amount of honey.  Math Teacher liked the large amount of chocolate but would prefer it sweeter as before.  So I guess I'm back to use more honey next time.

13 April 2023 Update:  the bread was days-old.  I was worried it wouldn't be as good.  So I cut them into pieces and toasted them for a few minutes.  Oh my gosh!  The chocolate melted a little bit, and the bread tasted like brownies.  This was so good!  😋

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME 2023!

Takao Mountain House:  quite expensive

高尾山

Soleil Boulangerie

Mochi combo from 7-11

Doutour Coffee

Akirunodai Park

Cherry Blossom by Tama River 1

Cherry Blossom by Tama River 2

Cherry Blossom by Tama River 3

Mister Donut

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

Clocked in at a little more than two hours, this movie was very compact.  It moved quickly; the story flowed smoothly; the actions kept coming.  This was a great fantasy comedy movie.

The movie set up the premise well, and the movie explained the powers and their limitations well.  Nowhere I felt the characters just "magik'ed" their way out of trouble.  The trailer told us "so you make plans that fail?", and the movie actually showed us the plan failed.  Then the characters had to salvage the plan with their own powers.  Logic, something a lot of movies lacked these days.

All characters were great.  I didn't know Hugh Grant could be a good conniving slime-ball.

I hope the movie makes lots of money, and the filmmakers build a universe around it.

Scrambled Eggs with Wood Ears / 木耳炒蛋

Easy Chinese cooking #3

Chinese cooking is not difficult at all.  What you see in the restaurant is not what we eat at home.  Basically Chinese people stir fry everything.

Wood ears (or "cloud ears" or "black fungus" or "kikurage / きくらげ" or etc.) come in fresh or dried forms in Asian supermarkets.  If it's fresh, wash it and pat dry.  If it's dried, rehydrate, drain, and pat dry.  Or any other types of mushrooms will do.

Ingredients:

• Wood ears (any amount)
• Eggs, scrambled (any amount)
• Green onions (any amount)
• Sake
• Salt
• Pepper
• Sesame oil*

Steps:

1. Cut the wood ears into bite-size pieces.
2. Scramble the eggs.
3. Chop green onion into tiny pieces.  Separate the white and green parts.
4. Pour sesame oil into a pan and put the chopped green onion white parts in.  Wait until the green onion is sizzling.
5. Put in the wood ears.  Stir a bit.
6. Pour in the scrambled egg.
7. Add in sake, salt, and pepper.  Stir a bit.  Cook the egg to the desired doneness.
8. Transfer to a dish.  Sprinkle the green onion green parts just so the dish looks pretty.

*Disclaimer:  Chinese cooking actually requires a specific kind of sesame oil.  It is specially made for high-heat cooking.  Most of the sesame oil sold in the supermarkets is not the high-heat type.  So watch out for the pan and don't overheat the sesame oil.  And it's important to pat dry the wood ears before cooking; or the sesame oil will splatter everywhere.

Home cooking, so the picture is ugly.

Scrambled Eggs with Wood Ears / 木耳炒蛋

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Banana Bread, ver. 2.0

I realized I did not have a photo of the bread in the previous post.  The bread was so good that Math Teacher and I immediately devoured it.  This was unacceptable behavior for a blogger, and I apologize.  Here's the recipe again.  I changed it a little bit.  I also attached several pictures!

Dry Ingredients:

• 1¾ cups flour
• 1 tspn baking soda
• ½ tspn baking powder
• ½ tspn pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ tspn salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 5 bananas (ripe)
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup coconut oil
• ⅓ cup honey
• 1 tspn vanilla extract

Extra Ingredient:  1 bar of chocolate, chopped.  I used Trader Joe's 72% Cacao Dark Chocolate Bar, 1.65 oz (47g).

Note:  Pumpkin pie spice is not normal.  Normal people use cinnamon.  I don't like cinnamon that much.  Math Teacher bought pumpkin pie spice during Thanksgiving thinking we'd make pumpkin pie; that didn't happen.  So now I have a lot of pumpkin pie spice left.  Anyway, cinnamon is the first ingredient listed on the pumpkin pie spice label; so good enough for a novice baker like me.

Steps:

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Definitely do this step first.  Then I'll have clean measuring cups and spoons for the wet ingredients.
2. Smoosh the bananas in another large bowl.
3. Scramble the eggs into the smooshed bananas.
4. Add the rest of the wet ingredients into the banana-egg bowl.  Combine well.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Fold the mixture and make sure no flour lumps.
6. Add the chopped chocolate into the mixture.  Fold well.
7. Dump the mixture into a greased loaf pan.
8. Bake at 180℃ for 45 minutes.
9. Let the bread cool enough to handle, then transfer to a rack to cool off even more.

Banana Bread ver 2.0 in the loaf pan

Banana Bread ver 2.0 full side view

Banana Bread ver 2.0 cut view

Version 2.0 was spongier.  I don't know if it was the five bananas vs. four bananas before; or it was the chopped chocolate instead of chia seeds.  I like version 2.0 better.

47 grams of chopped chocolate was not enough.  If I bit directly into the chocolate, then I knew the chocolate was in the bread.  Otherwise I couldn't really taste it.  Next time I'll put in more chocolate to see if it makes a difference.

The A-Team (2010)

Second time watching, and I noticed so many plot holes.  For example, if the team were on the run, how did they get money to buy anything?  After so many years, I couldn't take the shaky cameras and quick cuts anymore.  Still entertaining, though.  Liam Neeson, my #1 man!