🍳 Cooking & Life

Cooking, fermentation, shopping, and the small discoveries that come with everyday life in Houston β€” documented with real photos, numbers when they help, and practical experience.

Three weeks of bento, counted

14 days, 13 main menus β€” and very repetitive sides

The only repeat was my daughter's favorite chicken meatballs. I counted how tomatoes, corn and spinach keep the routine practical while Costco-sized groceries get used up.

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Is 15 minutes enough for carbonation?

20 lb COβ‚‚ economics + a mass-loss test of rest time

Mass loss at 1 min / 15 min / 80 min / 8 h gave an effective 74-minute time constant and a practical ~4-hour target, plus a Topo Chico tasting.

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150 kW while driving?

Honda D-WPT: resonance, control, durability and economics

A deep dive into 85 kHz resonance, changing coupling k, reflected impedance, per-GA inverters, buried-road durability, and the battery/fast-charging competition.

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Was Houston gas really below $2?

Ariya vs. CX-9: real-world EV cost comparison

I verified the $1.90–$1.94/gal station lows, then compared home charging, DC fast charging, TX/NY/CA and Texas' extra $200 EV fee in $/100 miles.

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How long for beef tongue at 63Β°C?

2h vs. 4h vs. 6h from the same tongue

The root was a tie between 2h and 4h; the middle clearly softened at 6h. For practicality, I am keeping my usual whole-piece 3-hour cook.

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When does homemade kimchi taste best?

Day 1 vs. 3 vs. 7 vs. 14 in the refrigerator

I kept one batch in a normal refrigerator and compared sourness, sweetness, heat and texture. Day 7 gave the best overall balance in this batch.

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One yagen cartilage per chicken?

A Costco rotisserie chicken made me count the cuts

Where yagen cartilage sits, why there is one per bird, and what a supermarket pack looks like when converted back into a rough number of chickens.

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What does Executive membership actually add?

Costco Executive vs. Gold Star: I tried the 9 a.m. shopping hours

A practical look at the annual fee difference, the 2% Reward break-even point, and Executive shopping hours using Costco’s current official information and a real visit.

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Cooking & Life: testing everyday ideas too

More cooking, fermentation, shopping and everyday experiments

Recipes, fermentation, cost comparisons and practical tricks will be added as the real-world results are ready.

Coming soon

What I'm tracking

Cooking, fermentation, shopping, and everyday experiments. When something can be measured or compared, I use the numbers; when it is simply an experience, I keep it framed that way.