Musings of a wife and mother, born and raised in Hawaii. Far away from home now, but creating and discovering bits of sunshine and paradise in everyday life.
Recipes
Kukui Nut Candy Lei

Kukui Nut Candy Lei

Kukui Nut Candy Lei It’s that graduation time of year. So many celebrations…preschool, kindergarten, middle school, high school, college. Giving lei is the quintessential Hawaiian way to celebrate any and all occasions. It’s a custom I’ve seen become more and more popular outside of Hawaii over the years. At graduation time in Hawaii, it’s so...
Vanilla Flax Milk Float with Hibiscus Tea Gels

Vanilla Flax Milk Float with Hibiscus Tea Gels

Remember my Peach Rooibos Almond Float? Well, this is my newest favorite:  Good Karma’s Vanilla Flax Milk poured over tea gels. It’s so refreshing and filled with good stuff for you! Start off by melting in some unflavored gelatin or agar agar powder into some hibiscus tea, Tangerine Hibiscus Tea Juice, or any other lightly...
Guava Rose's Broke da Mouth USB Chocolate Cake

Guava Rose’s Broke da Mouth USB Chocolate Cake

This is the best chocolate cake ever. No frosting needed. The miniscule amount of effort involved in making this is startling once you taste how incredible this cake is. No one can resist a second piece. Sturdy enough to pack for a picnic, yet elegant simply adorned with fresh berries. In Hawaii, it would definitely be...
Sunday Morning Mashed Cauliflower

Sunday Morning Mashed Cauliflower

Yesterday morning I woke up early enough to hit the downtown Sunday Farmer’s Market under the freeway before the big crowds arrived. It was so relaxing perusing all the goods in the early morning quiet. Two things I got were a giant head of cauliflower, and a fresh, crisp loaf of German Pretzel Bread. Mashed...
Vanilla Almond Spongecakes

Vanilla Almond Spongecakes

I’ve been tinkering around in the kitchen again, and made these sweet little sponge cakes. The fragrance of vanilla bean paste and almonds swirled delightfully in the air.   I had been admiring another one of Quill’s drawings she made for me this past Mother’s Day. She told me that when she was drawing this,...
Cold Poached Chicken Tenderloins with Ginger and Green Onion Sauce

Cold Poached Chicken Tenderloins with Ginger and Green Onion Sauce

One of my favorite Chinese restaurant dishes we ordered growing up in Hawaii was Ginger and Green Onion Chicken. It was a whole, poached (skin on) chicken, chilled, cut into small (bone-in) pieces, rubbed with oil and topped with a chopped ginger and green onion sauce. Oh, so good on top of hot rice. I...
Honey Hoisin Pork Tenderloin Wraps

Honey Hoisin Pork Tenderloin Wraps

For the pork, marinate a pork tenderloin overnight in honey, hoisin, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sea salt, and 5 spice powder. Then bake for 30 minutes the next day. If you’re really in a hurry though, instead of marinating the whole tenderloin overnight, cut it crosswise into slices and marinate the slices for 30 minutes....
Buttermilk Scallion Flatbread

Buttermilk Scallion Flatbread

Sometimes you need some kind of bread or starch for a meal, but you don’t have anything at home, and you don’t feel like making a trip to the grocery store. This simple flatbread is easy to throw together. White Whole Wheat Flour from Trader Joe’s I like to use half unbleached all purpose flour,...
Tangerine Hibiscus Tea Juice

Tangerine Hibiscus Tea Juice

With flu season in full swing across the country, I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather lately. The cold I’ve been fighting off for the past couple of weeks has finally burst towards the side I’ve been trying to avoid. Lot of fluids have been in order for me, especially herb teas. I love...
Easy Spam Fried Rice

Easy Spam Fried Rice

Hi folks, Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. It’s been a bit hectic here lately, but the kids finally went back to school today. Yay! A while back I posted my party spam musubi, and showed some musubi filled with fried rice. So here’s a quick recipe you can use for that,...
Smoked Salmon Musubi

Smoked Salmon Musubi

Here’s a great little appetizer- snack for New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day celebrations. Of course spam musubi is always popular, but this version is especially for those who don’t eat spam, like my dear little Quill. She loves smoked salmon a lot, and could eat it everyday. Start off with good rice. I...
Holiday Sherbet Punch

Holiday Sherbet Punch

Once a year, at Christmas or New Year’s, we have this sherbet punch that my mom used to make for all our holiday dinners and special events. Really simple: 1/2 gallon sherbet, 1/2 gallon juice, and 2 (2 liter) bottles of ginger ale. I think Cole was about ten or eleven years old when I...