u/chrispy_tempo

Her majesty’s on her 2nd week of daycare. Struggling a bit with naptime, wasn’t eating much (even her faves) initially, but doing progressively better.

Walgreens was having a 40% off, same day prints sale, so i had a bit of fun with my camera roll. Featuring Tuna, our 16yo morkie, to accompany/stare her down during lunch.

(Clockwise):
-garlic/butter shrimp, with hello kitty narutomakis
-peach (think the season is dwindling down on us..)
-olives
-buttered mushrooms
-corn + pickles
-stir fried bean sprouts, brocc, carrots

The day has come. Armed with a green gummy worm in hand, her majesty bravely marched off to her first day of daycare. We’d spent the past few weeks filled with adventures and birthday festivities. And suddenly the house is so eerily quiet..
Perhaps this is my arc where I adopt a duckling or start raising chickens.

(Clockwise):
-marinated chicken thighs
-butter sauteed mushrooms, stir fried carrot flowers + broccoli
-white peach
-plain egg rollup
-shrimp shumais + hello kitty narutomakis
-broken hearted riceballs

I had to rush this one, but it’s still fun so I’ll share it. The princess is starting daycare, so I made it classroom themed.

**Wieners were quartered, per the sub’s rules on hazards. She usually doesn’t eat the “heads”, but they were cut regardless.

(Clockwise):
-some supremed oranges
-steamed egg + naked cukes
-an octopus teacher + a cuttlefish student (didn’t have time to add eyes lol) cocktail wieners
-soy/sesame noodles
-tofu “book” (it flips!)

It’s the final week before she leaves for daycare, and I’ve been slacking off on groceries. Subpar fruit, no real proteins, I need to go on a run tonight. Featuring a giant pig made from an orange that was too dry/sour.

(Clockwise):
-orange pig
-blueberries + peaches + cukes
-steamed egg
-brokenhearted riceball
-tofu pyramid

A bit of a fridge cleanout day.

(Clockwise):
-peaches
-blueberries + mini cukes
-tomato + avocado roses
-dad’s torta
-corn

It’s the final two weeks of using this flair, and also before she starts part-time daycare 😢. I’d fired the princess’s nanny, and we’ve been without any childcare for months. But it’s still hard to let go…even if it won’t be 5x weekly…

My wife asked me to increase her veggies, but I’m also working on ramping up her omegas/proteins before she hits a classroom + new settings.

(Clockwise):
-yellow peach (extremely hit or miss, these days)
-soy eggs + cukes
-a mushroom quartet
-grilled eel (I don’t really recommend this, takes too long too pick out errant bones)
-panda face riceball
-mackerel

Bonus:
-various fish prep

She’s obsessed with the entire book series. Pete, Bob, the mom, all recurring characters. It started with the halloween one (Five Pumpkins), and it became her core reading material before bed. We frequently go over every detail on this page, so I decided to make an actual junk meal out of it.

(Clockwise):
-buttered peas
-fries
-cheeseburger with nothing but grilled onions (keeping it as flat as possible)

Bonus: pickle

Whats on your board today? I’ve got the world’s smallest red snapper + my baby’s weekly mackerel.

-Snapper was scaled, skin retained. Braised in sake, soy and ginger.
-Mackerel was V-cut generously, to be grilled.
-Both tripled checked for bones, baby safe.

Hatsukokoro Shirasagi ginsan deba 150mm
(Tamura-san + Myojin Riki)
Corrected/sharpened to scalpel perfection by JKI

I’m sure there’s a version from every culture in the world- this one’s a rough cut, korean “jjang-achi”. I’ve been drinking more at home and loving my tarts. This quick version’s missing cucumbers + radish, but it still does the trick. Acts as a nice palate cleanser for pork belly + soju/beer.

Tool for the job is a Tanaka Kyuzo B1 210mm. An onion’s greatest nightmare. Whispers through jalapeno seeds. The patina dances every time it gets rinsed.

Lots of “eyes” in this one. $45 fruit/pickle haul from the farmers market, everything hand picked/inspected by her majesty.

(Clockwise):
-orange bear
-angry pickle
-yellow peach + cukes
-accordion cut, fried potato “rib”
-roasted red peppers
-angry rice
-steamed egg + butter mushrooms

Bonus:
-eating the potato like a babyback rib
-custom Shibata 80mm petty knife

Yesterday she played really hard, so I went with a hearty meal. I figured grapefruit=orange and offered it to her majesty. But she made a face and rejected it promptly. I swapped it for a yellow peach, which was graciously accepted. She must’ve been hangry, because everything was devoured from then on.

Including our fresh squeezed OJ activity from earlier in the day, since she’s crazy for oranges. Twas a huge hit, but she “samples” almost as much juice as she produces. To her credit, princess’s juicing skills have improved dramatically since we last tried this at 12mo. Next time, I’ll need a full dozen...

(Clockwise):
-grapefruit
-corn and pickled onions
-cuke cabin + strawberry hearts
-butter grilled asparagus
-rice with belt
-chicken plucked out of oyakodon
-a chrysanthemum cut/blooming tofu in broth

Bonus:
-fresh squeezed OJ prep

Oranges are back! And the princess is revisiting her onion addiction.

(Clockwise):
-oranges
-soy eggs, pickled onion, cukes
-avocado rose
-beef tamale
-leftover basmati

Happy Tanaka Thursday!
I’d thinned out a few from my collection and found this Kyuzo, special thanks to u/MouseFit2218.

I didn’t really know what to expect- I’ve been meaning to try Kyuzo/Yauchi for awhile, but this is my first ironclad knife. I’d recently come into a SS clad Togashi and forced a coffee patina on it, which I’m really happy with. But no amount of reading/browsing on the sub prepared me for how reactive this TxK was. It even smells reactive.

I spent the night polishing and cutting on a batch of sous vide chicken breasts + (to be pickled) red onions. I let the chicken juices drip everywhere, and left briefly for a smoke. It didn’t really look like much until i rinsed with some hot water, and BAM…the colors flashed. I’d vowed never to ask “patina or rust?” in a post, but I suddenly understood (sorta) when I saw some orange flashing instantly before my eyes.

I sous vide my breasts at 140F, to the tune of 3-4hrs. At this temp, the texture is an odd fickle one that cheats pathogen safety, but robs poultry of its natural, familiar fibrous fleshiness. A tad better structured than toilet paper pulp, to put it bluntly. I “finish” it at this tenderness, so I that can nuke it later and still enjoy warmed outstanding chicken. I digress..
I don’t care too much about stickiness, but I think it matters when it comes to warm bath chicken. Here, I give the Kyuzo an 8.5/10- I only had 2 notes. I was using massive, 2.5inch thick, hormone pumped breasts from Walmart, and the Sakai 210 length had me (slightly) wishing for a 240. Second, the cutting performance was better than cutting feel. The fancy bias slices looked slick and gorgeous, but it wasn’t as effortless as the end product. I felt as if i was using 3-4 full blade length strokes to keep that pulpy, sticky flesh from breaking. Probably a skill issue, and purely a sous vide thing, tbh.

I swapped over to 8 red onions- here, i give the Kyuzo an 11/10. I think it beats my Tetsujin on this one…Absolutely effortless, I thought Myojin vs onions defined “effortless” until I tried put this Kyuzo against onions. Thumb + index only type of effortless cutting. There was one slighttt instance of wedging when i tried to halve a giant one, but the 11/10 still stands.

Excited to throw all of next week’s prep at this one.

Pics 3-5: side by sides with my Ukiba 210.
Pics 7-8: patina from 1 sesh

Some rough stats, I wasn’t too exact with my calipers and will revisit all of these when the house is quiet.
Length: a Sakai 210, lol
Height: 46.5mm
Width at Spine: 2.84mm
Width at Shinogi: 2.93mm
Weight 169.8g

Her majesty is out of oranges.

(Clockwise):
-corn
-roasted cauliflower, pickle, sauteed red (sour) cabbage
-grilled portabella
-radish plucked out of soup
-custom tiny shrimp/chicken dumplings
-carrot plucked out of soup
-radish soup

Price cut/Repost

Catch/release. I snagged this one, BNIB, from a fellow, well-known BST member for $260.

It’s forged by Okeya, and sharpened by none other than Maruyama. (Confirmed by Okeya as well)
I haven’t seen it anywhere, other than on Enjiki’s collab post from August last year (pic 7)

The taper is almost nonexistent along the spine, but super aggressive towards the tip. Needle-like, in the final 2 inches.

I was going to gift it for my mom, but I don’t trust her with expensive knives yet. Culling the herd first.

Kept BNIB, no test cuts. Was going to rehandle into a rosewood, but it’s very comfortable as is. Also keeps the price down.

Looking for $210 shipped $185 shipping included for Conus. We can work something out for intl shipping. Prefer Venmo/Zelle/PP FF.

Edge Length: 168mm
Weight 114.3g

I’ve had my last two consecutive posts reported/taken down over choking hazards (grapes and corndogs), so hopefully this one’s safe enough.

Costco’s food court is the gift that keeps on giving. Quite handy when it’s sitting in the fridge, and the 1-2 items knock out a lot of prep.

Oranges have taken over as her majesty’s #1 fruit. And corn is officially back on the menu, after weeks of bad pickings.

(Clockwise):
-watermelon tower
-pickle
-corn
-Costco foodcourt turkey sandwich
-oranges and cukes
-hooded wizards (inari, essentially)

Her majesty’s really into Costco pizza.. “Love” she says.

I had her make her own omelette as a morning activity. She cracked her own eggs, whisked it herself (for a solid 10 minutes), and added some cocktail wieners that i sliced for her. All i did was flip/fold and cut the finished product.

(Clockwise):
-fruit
-cukes, pickles, white kimchi
-braised babyback rib
-Costco turkey sandwich
-Costco cheese pizza

Bonus:
-omelette prepared by princess

-raspberry “ring”

-braised babyback prep, cooked on low for an hour

Catch/release. I also snagged this one, BNIB, from a fellow, well-known BST member for $260 (locally).

It’s forged by Okeya, and sharpened by none other than Maruyama. (Confirmed by Okeya as well)
I haven’t seen it anywhere, other than on Enjiki’s IG collab post from August last year.

The taper is almost nonexistent along the spine, but super aggressive towards the tip. Needle-like, in the final 2 inches.

I was going to gift it for my mom, but I don’t trust her with expensive knives yet. Culling the herd first.

Kept BNIB, no test cuts. Was going to rehandle into a rosewood, but it’s very comfortable as is. Also keeps the price down. Looking for $210 shipped

Edge Length: 168mm
Weight 114.3g

Kept things light here, as her majesty had been snacking all morning. She shed her sleepsack the night before, and it’s heartbreaking- hence the slightly torn nori heart. Just kidding, it was just overcut.

(Clockwise):
-sliced grapes on whipped cream + honey reindeer touile
-bullseye soy marinated egg
-steamed sesame broccoli
-Wienerschnitzel mini corndogs
-heart riceball
-imitation crabmeat w/ belts
-cukes
-orange slices + white kimchi
-featuring my custom Shibata 80mm petty knife

Bonus:
-corndog ring

Catch/release. I snagged this one, BNIB, from a fellow, well-known BST member for $320 (locally). It’s from Ashi’s new ‘Precious Woods’ series, which features 5 new, mono handle colors. He had this Ho handle color version, which i’ve never seen anywhere other than on Ashi’s website.

Ashi deserves all the praise that it gets from this sub. I think I have enough 210’s, is all.

Never sharpened, never stropped, by me nor the prev owner. Used once lightly for a veggie prep (1 meal at home). SOLD

Mono Ho handle
Edge Length: 201mm
Height at heel: 42.5mm
Weight 109.4g