Meanwhile, on Facebook.....

[Steve Hubbell]

15 hours ago

My first peach pie. It's a little soupy, but I hope it will thicken up later. As usual, I made a macadamia nut crust. Today I learned that you use the lattice crust for fruit pies with a high liquid content. It helps in the evaporation. I'll see how it tastes tomorrow.

I usually macerate my fruit with the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, grated lemon rind, pinch of salt, and flour for thickening. I strain the juices and bring to a boil, then add a tablespoon of unsalted butter. Allow to cool; roll out bottom crust and add fruit. Pour "pie gravy" evenly over fruit and finish adhering top crust. This gives the thickening process a head start, Stan. : )

Thank you, Janice. I did mash up some of the fruit with the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice and rind, and salt. Instead of flour, I used Sure Jell fruit pectin which I cooked in the juices, but no butter. I may have to increase the pectin a little. I'll see how it turns out in the morning.

The pie firmed up very nicely, thank you, and it tastes great.

[Steve Hubbell]

4 hours ago

Cutter from Richard and Wendy Pini's ElfQuest. Trivia: I went up in a hot air balloon with Richard and Wendy many years ago in Portland, OR. Kurt Busiek, as well. ElfQuest is an independent series even older than Usagi Yojimbo. I remember buying Fantasy Quarterly #1 (ElfQuest's first appearance) off the racks, and I've been a fan ever since.

Richard and I are so honored by this lovely watercolor. It may be our character, but it's the epitome of your unique style. Arigatou gozaimasu!

My pleasure, Wendy.

Beautiful, Stan! I'm lettering all the new ELFQUEST books from DH. They have always been one my favorites. The Pinis had me recreate Wendy's lettering as a font so we could use it from then on. I even got to write an article about the process if you've got time for a read:
http://boingboing.net/2014/01/30/creatingafont.html

I enjoyed reading the process of creating a font out of existing hand lettering, Nate. Thanks for sharing it.

stan, are you reading the final elfquest series that is coming out these days?

Yes, I am reading the new ElfQuest series. I am on the Dark Horse comp list. One of the perks of having a publisher.

[Steve Hubbell]

1 hour ago

I received my comps of UY: Senso #3. It will be on the stands next Wednesday!

[Steve Hubbell]

September 28

Pencilling Usagi Yojimbo 146 and watching the Jim Hutton Ellery Queen series. Right now: The Case of the Comic Book Crusader. Who killed the Stan Lee-like writer/editor? Was it the ambitious letterer? The figure specialist? The background artist? The shading expert? Or someone else? With Jack Kirby-esque art, even. It was a great whodunnit series.

Ooh! That sounds good Stan; is it on Netflix?

It may be on Netflix, but I have the entire series on DVD. It's a fun series with wonderful character actor guest stars.

The Nero Wolfe series with Tim Hutton is pretty good, too!

I've got Nero Wolfe as well. Another terrific series.

Fun! next check out The Avengers episode "The Winged Avenger", where Steed and Mrs Peel solve a murder at a comic book studio

I have The Avengers as well. If I remember correctly, Frank Bellamy did the art that was used in the Winged Avenger episode. What was the sound effect they had--"EeeeUrp"?

[Steve Hubbell]

9 hours ago

We are pleased to announce the winners of our Usagi Yojimbo "The Last Request" contest! The winners randomly selected from our Usagi Yojimbo box are as follows:

1. Patricia G.
2. Maka
3. Ed G.
4. go
5. Maichan

Congratulations to the winners and domo arigato to everyone who participated!

[Maka]

9 hours ago

We are pleased to announce the winners of our Usagi Yojimbo "The Last Request" contest! The winners randomly selected from our Usagi Yojimbo box are as follows:

1. Patricia G.
2. Maka
3. Ed G.
4. go
5. Maichan

Congratulations to the winners and domo arigato to everyone who participated!

I was thrilled to win! And it's good to see Go and Maichan won too. We are a lucky bunch! Peace, maka

[maichan]

I was thrilled to win! And it's good to see Go and Maichan won too. We are a lucky bunch! Peace, maka

Ditto what Maka said!

[Steve Hubbell]

September 30

Janice Chiang--thank you for the recipe for the Granny Smith apple coleslaw. I made it tonight with pork and quinoa (first time I made this as well).

Quinoa with a couple of teaspoons of chili powder is nice. You can also boil it in broth instead of water. I like to put in my salads to give them some nice texture and it absorbs the salad dressing nicely.

I cooked it in a 50/50 mix of chicken broth/water. It is a good idea to put it in salads. It has a nice, nutty taste to it.

That is the Trader Joe's ginger-mango chutney on the pork, and it tasted great.

How do you prepare kale?

I'm not a big kale fan, but I have sautéed it in olive oil and garlic and added it to soups. A friend gives us kale from her garden and she suggested cutting it into bite size pieces, marinating it in olive oil, baking it, then sprinkling salt over it to make crunchy kale chips.

14 minutes ago

TBT--2009. Sharon and me at the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo.

[maichan]

Great picture from the Ghibli Museum!

[Steve Hubbell]

5 hours ago

Another TBT--In 2009 Sharon and I went to Tokyo with a group from the Savannah College of Art and Design. I was able to arrange a tour of a couple of animation studios, including Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli. There is a recreation of the animators' studio at the Ghibli Museum with animation desks, sequences pinned to the walls, and character designs left out on the tables. The actual studio looks nothing like that.

Today, Sharon still sleeps about 22 hours a day. Her blood pressure is a little high. A blood technician came out to draw blood because there is concern for her low sodium count. The last time her sodium dipped low resulted in hallucinations and a 10 day stay in the hospital. Prayers and good thoughts are appreciated.

[Steve Hubbell]

October 5

For dinner tonight, I made lamb with rosemary red potatoes and butternut squash soup with a touch of ginger. Homemade peach pie for dessert.



Here is the butternut squash soup recipe:

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A ... =dAQHgyji2



I still put in a lot more fruit than the recipes call for.

Stan, why dont you weigh 300 lbs;)

Stan Sakai I'm holding steady at 299!

October 6

King crab legs were on sale at Sprouts so I made king crab with ginger and green onions for dinner. Dessert was, of course, homemade peach pie that I made yesterday.

RECIPE!!!!

No recipe. I winged it. I usually use an oyster sauce base, but was out of it so used hoisin instead. No fish sauce, so used sake. I added some tongarashi (Japanese chili peppers) for a little kick. It turned out pretty good.

[Steve Hubbell]

October 9 at 9:36am
TBT--2007. I was invited to the premiere of the TMNT movie. I took along friends Jim Lujan and Todd Bustillo and daughter Hannah (who took this photo). It was such an exclusive event that they showed the movie to just the 4 of us and a theater full of paper bags.
Actually, we had already walked the Green Carpet, gotten our freebies--Wii and Play Station games--and picked up our pizza, and wanted to got in early to ensure that we had good seats. Those are gift bags on the seats with more TMNT merchandise.
— with Todd Bustillo and Jim Lujan.

[Steve Hubbell]

October 10 at 8:18pm
Thanks to Peow Yeong for posting this image, I've received a few messages inquiring about my sketchbooks. You can order them from:

http://www.stuartngbooks.com

Stuart is a very reputable dealer, and I order books from him myself. The Usagi sketchbooks are $10 each, and are signed with a small sketch. Or you can get them when they pop up on eBay, though you will easily pay 3x more. Take a look through his site. He has a lot of neat products. I ordered the Robert McGinnis S/N Deluxe Limited Edition book just yesterday.

I have 11 sketchbooks so far, but numbers 1, 2, and 3 are sold out. They are 5.5x8.5 B/W, saddle stitched, 28 page self covered. Each is different. A couple have step-by-step looks at how I create a story with a new Usagi story. Another has an alternate ending to one of my story arcs, and some sketchbooks just have sketches.



I sell them only at conventions. I do not sell anything through the mails. Stuart is your best bet.

[Steve Hubbell]

October 11 at 3:45pm

Working on perspectives and snacking on pomegranate.

Hi Master!
I ended this week to letterer the italian edition of "The first decade of Usagi Yojimbo" book.
It's an honor for me worked on one of the most beautiful comic ever!

Just... Thanks!

Thank you, Simone Campisano. That was the Fantagraphics Books collection. Dark Horse is doing their own BIG Usagi books series, beginning in the US this month. I hope they are translated in Italian as well.

[Steve Hubbell]

October 11 at 9:39pm
Phuong-Mai Bui-Quang--your going to the Ramen Yokocho Festival gave me a craving for ramen, so I made it for dinner. Yes, that is Spam. I am from Hawaii, and I think it is a state law that we have to have Spam in the house.



I would like to point out that this is low sodium Spam. There is 25% less sodium.

ha ha... hickory smoked spam is my favorite

Do you smoke it yourself? Or is it a real flavor?

Wow. That's new to me.

I googled "Spam flavors", and there is a whole world out there that I have not explored! What is "Maui Snow Spam"?

that one is new to me!

"Now with 25% more snow!"

snow crab maybe?

ha ha

I've got cans of Spam flavored mac nuts in the cupboard.

snow crab maybe?

I've got cans of Spam flavored mac nuts in the cupboard.

have to try that the next time I go to Hawaii...

the scoop on the snow

http://mauinow.com/.../experimental-spam-flavors-in.../

Awww rats!

Sharon used to wear a T-shirt that said, "Kamaboko, the Spam of the sea". I thought that was pretty funny.

Yeah... I must be a bad nisei.. kamaboko was never for me

Mr. Sakai, do you mind if I ask how you went about making this, and what all of the ingredients were? Sorry, I've never made ramen before, and this looks so appetizing, I'd love to try it.

For the topping let's start with the strips of fried Spam at the bottom. Going clockwise we have bean sprouts (from mung beans), chopped up green onions, beech mushrooms, baby won bok, and a softly boiled egg in the middle. Under there is fresh thin egg noodles from the Chinese market in a broth made from chicken broth and a touch of scallop powder and salt (or you can make it to your own taste). The kind of noodles I got are very delicate and I put them in a colander and just poured boiling water over them to cook. Otherwise they would get overdone and become too mushy.

I see! And do I prepare the toppings in a certain way before adding them to the noodles and broth, or do I just add them and then mix them up when I'm ready to eat? I apologize if I'm being annoying. ^^;

I par-boiled the bok choy, mushrooms and bean sprouts in the broth then put them aside. After the noodles were done I arranged the toppings, then poured the hot broth over everything.

Thank you sir! I'll definitely try this out sometime!

is that a sunny-sided-up egg in there?

Yes, it is, Faye.

Where do you buy fresh ramen, not that processed, 3 minute in boiling water garbage?

I got it at the Chinese market. They have a variety of fresh noodles. They did have ramen noodles--both straight and crinkly, but I got the thin egg noodles.

I thought spam was bad until I was at my mom's one day and she fried bologna. The smell was ungodly...
I've since learned that in the lean years after WWII, when so many vets came home emotionally or physically damaged and the wives had to make due with what they had, fried bologna because a replacement for expensive bacon, and many kids (including my own older sibs), grew up loving it.

I'll never be a fan of spam, but the history behind some of these products is interesting.

I used a chicken broth base and added stuff to it like scallop powder. You could also add soy sauce, miso paste or dried shrimp.

I haven't had bologna in years, but I used to fry it. Even used to chop it up to add when making fried rice. I grew up in Hawaii, and many of our staples had to be shipped in. I remember shipping strikes and some foods, such as rice, and everyday items, like toilet paper, became short supply.

yikes...
Isn't it funny, the things we remember that seemed "normal", just a part of every day life, that would horrify our kids? lol

My mom stood in line every month for rice, a huge yellow block of cheese, and honey sometimes, the government "surplus". We never questioned it.

We ate a lot of venison growing up, to the point I can hardly look at it now. I think spam would win out over deer meat for me now, but just barely.

What kind of mushrooms are those? I'm used to the basic little white button mushrooms we get at the supermarket., or shittakes.

Those are beech mushrooms, very similar to enoki.

I mentioned to someone that you had used Spam in your ramen, Stan, & the first thing they said was: "Must be from Hawaii."

I'm going to try to make a duck ramen tomorrow!

I love duck ramen!

Never made it before. Roasted the duck last night & made stock. Looking forward to playing with it.