4" x 5" and 8" x 10" Single Sheet Film Daylight Developer

 Sheet film daylight developer for 4' x5" and 8' x 10" black and white sheet film (Assembled).   

 3 part developer tube for single 4" x 5" sheet film. The longer tube holds the film, the center piece is the light stop, and the smaller piece is the cap to allow changing the chemicals during processing.  This tube requires only 2 ounces of developer per sheet.

 The parts of an 8" x10" daylight development tube of the same basic design.  3" ABS tubing and sheet.  3 round flat sheet of ABS cut to the pipe diameter and cut at a chord to allow liquid to pass through.  2 3" ABS end caps., 1 @ 10" tube, 2@ 3" tube, 2 3" connectors, ABS glue.  An 8" x 10" and 4" x 5" film holder are included for scale.   

 Affix the flat piece to the end of the 3" section of tubing with the ABS glue and sand to reduce the flat to the size of the pipe.

Alternate the openings at 180 degrees on each end of one of the short sections of tubing. Affix the third piece to the end of the other 3" section of tubing.  

 Assemble and glue the pieces into three assemblies.

The construction of the 4" x 5" daylight developer is the same as the 8" x 10" except that it uses 1 1/2" ABS pipe instead of 3".

To use this, in a darkroom or dark bag, place the exposed film emulsion side in, into the long tube and put the light stop section onto the end of the tube to make it light safe.  Add developer (> 8 ounces for 8x10 and >2 ounces for 4x5) and cap the end. In a tray roll the tube for the appropriate development time.  When complete remove the end cap and dump the chemicals, add stop and cap, roll to agitate.  Repeat with fixer and rinse.

Combini Sandwiches

These sandwiches are common in convenience stores or sometimes a popular breakfast in Japan.
I will make two common choices, tuna and ham, A third popular one is egg salad, which is not hard to figure out, just like you might make in america, but with some sugar added.

 Canned tuna, japanese Mayo, mustard, scallions.

 Almost neatly trimmed white bread.

 Mix.

 Mayo on the bread for the tuna, Mayo-Mustard and lettuce (or in this case  kale) for the ham.

 Not so neat combini sandwiches.

Hu Jiao Bing

Okonomiyaki

When I was in Osaka, Japan, I remember some pretty delightful street food (and food in general).  The Okonomiyaki was unforgettable.   Here I try to recreate one of the delights I found there.  

   

 Fertile eggs from the garden.

 Konbu dashi stock and some water. 6-8 ounces.

 3 Scallions.

Small chop.

1/2 head of small cabbage.

Finely sliced into sticks.

Tenkasu, About 1 cup.

1/2 shallot. Small dice.

Mix flour with konbu dashi and mix until ther are no lumps. Add onions, shallot, cabbage, tenkasu and eggs. Other veggies may be added as well.

Some pickled ginger.

Mix thoroughly.

Render fat from bacon. Octopus or Shrimp may also be used, in which case skip the rendering step.

Heat skillet to high and add cabbage mixture in round slabs 3/4" thick. Add bonito and strips of bacon on top of this mixture.

When it browns like a pancake, flip. 

Cover and steam for a few minutes.Flip again to make the bacon is cooked.

Garnish with Okonomiyaki sauce and Japanese Mayonnaise.  You can make your own Okonomiyaki sauce.  Combine 1 ½ T. sugar, 2 T. oyster sauce, 4 T. ketchup, and 3 T. Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl.

Okanomiyaki!

Kung Pao Chicken with Fried Cabbage and Rice

 Mostly I followed a recipe found in Anna Kao's Classic Chinese Cooking. Marinade 2 breasts of chicken with 1:2 ratio of cornstarch to soy sauce.

 2 T. soy sauce, 1 T. wine, 1/2 T. cider vinegar, 1/2 t. sugar, 1 t. cornstarch 1 t. sesame oil, 1 T. water. I added roughly 6 Sichuan hot peppers to the sauce. I'll remove these later to fry them with the rest of the goods.   

 1/2 diced sweet brown onion.

 4 Green onion with tops.

 Copious garlic and ginger.

 Some peanuts for topping.

 Rice.

 Oil and pepper in a pan.  Hot fire. Brown the chicken.

 Reserve.

 Saute garlic, onions, ginger, and about a cup of bamboo shoots for a few minutes and add the chicken and sauce to reduce. 

 Caramelize a bit of cabbage in a separate pan by putting a pinch or two of sugar into the pan ... this might take a few minutes.

Make a stack of the whole hot mess, rice, then cabbage, then the Kung Pao chicken. 

Mac and Cheese

 

 Pasta as Giada does it ... macaroni ... go figure.

  

Onions.

 

 Flour. 2 T.

 Butter.

 

Cook the flour and the butter a bit.

 

Garlic.

 

Mustard.

 

Cheddar. 

 Romano.

Combine everything, loosen up with some cream.