island Slaw

Now before you go judging me give this a fair chance. i wasn't so sold on this recipe either when i first saw it in class (-Oh yeah. Forgot to mention i started the Culinary program at the community college where i went before Matty and i moved- it's awesome! Many future recipes will be coming from here i'm sure)

We were put in groups of 3 and each of us had to make a salad Island Slaw, Market Vegetable, and Warm New Potato & Herb Salad. i knew i didn't want to mess with the blanching of the Market Veggie nor did i want to over cook the potatoes and have our teacher come unglued so i opted for the slaw.

For starts i made the dressing and let that sit covered in the fridge till i needed it.

Dressing:
6 oz Mayonnaise
4 oz Sour Cream
1 C Orange Juice
4 T Rice Wine Vinegar
4 T Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice (we used lemon) - if you so choose to use concentrate that is entirely up to you, but i take no responsibility for the flat flavor.
2 T Black Sesame Seeds
To taste salt & fresh black pepper

Toss everything into a bowl and whisk that stuff up till it's all smooth. it's really thin so if you want it thicker i'd hold off on some of the OJ, or play around with it as much as you want and let me know how it goes!

Salad:
1 Head  Green cabbage, finely shaved like angel hair (by hand for this lab. it took me a half hour! So if you have a mandoline slicer you better bust that thing out! Good heavens don't chop if you don't have to)
1 Red bell pepper, small diced
1 Yellow bell pepper, small diced
1 Green bell pepper, small diced
1 Scotch bonnet (habañero) seeded and minced (please wear gloves if you want to live)
2 Mangos, Medium diced
2 Bunch  Green onions, bias cut (sharp angled edges) - i used 1
3/4 Cup  Cilantro, Chopped

 For mine i decided it would look a whole lot better with all the colors on top. So i mounded high half the cabbage and then mixed the remaining half with the pepper mixture and piled it on top. As you can see the presentation looks much more vibrant compared to the ones behind.

All together for "Show Time"

As a class we loved how the minced pepper leaves the mouth nice and warm for about 5 minutes after you finish eating.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Breakfast!

During my childhood summers i loved Sunday afternoons after church. Everyone got real lazy and i usually walked my dog Cinnamon. After i would come home and watch my mom make Sunday dinner. When i was really young and not helping her yet i would sit at the kitchen table and eat a snack. With her as my witness i can tell you that in one sitting (probably less than an hour) i could put down over a pound of blueberries. Yes, the whole clear box could be gone in one afternoon. The only reason in my mind not to do this was if my mom said she was going to make this heavenly thing. I know for sure i'm the third generation to make this and wouldn't be surprised if i'm the fourth or fifth. (i'll check and get back to you. If not Grammie knows who she got it from and probably the date)

This breakfast, along with corn on the cob, lemonade, BBQs, beach days, camping, strawberries, peaches, running through the sprinklers, sleep overs, library trips, and so many other things mean it's summer to me. So for heavens sake! it's the end of July and i hadn't eaten it yet! Matty was smart and got me a 2lb box at Costco so i could use half and eat half :) Thanks Matty!

Saturday breakfast went like this:

Cake: Mix 3/4 C sugar, 2 eggs, and 1/2 C milk; blend well. Sift in 1 1/2 C flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 nutmeg.  --(we live in Hawaii, there's no way i stocked up on all the spices.. i have cinnamon and pumpkin spice mix. So the mix went in. it was wonderful)--

Gently fold in 2 C washed blueberries. Spread in a greased 8x8 pan. --Mom would you have to double it?--

Top: Combine 1/2 C sugar, 1/3 C sifted flour, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 4TBS softened butter; mix with a fork till it's like wet crumbly sand and layer that goodness on top

Bake @ 375F for 40-45 minutes

Sauce: Combine in a medium sauce pan 1/2 C sugar, 2 tsp corn starch; stir in 1/2 C water, slowly add 2 C washed blueberries. Bring to a light boil; simmer until thickened (4-6 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in 1 TBS lemon juice and 1.5 tsp grated lemon rind

Matty and i did some serious damage before sharing it with our neighbors.

-Something note worthy-

The sauce is so good we plan on dousing cheesecake with it, covering vanilla ice cream in it, and i will figure out how to mix it into a cookie.

Enjoy!

What a good weekend..

Why is it Monday?

Over the weekend it was so hot! (not really. 83F. Hawaii problems..) On Saturday afternoon we all decided to head to the beach. The "we" is because Matty and i moved apartment buildings about a month ago and LOVE our new place! Our neighbors are fantastic! it's quiet! it's on the second floor! More counter space! We really wish this could have happened sooner because we all hang out a few times a week so we'll be sad to leave at the end of August.

On our way we stopped at the farm in Kahuku and got an incredibly good panini stuffed with all their fresh goodness from the 100 acre farm

I'm not sure how we ended up at Kawela Bay but Matty and i have wanted to check it out for a long time. it's probably one of the more hidden beaches on the island because when you pass Turtle Bay going towards Haleiwa it's no more than a mile but the path to get there is hidden by trees and over grown plants. (it's across from the fruit vendors) We parked on the side of Kam hwy and through the trees we went.

This is where Turtle Bay goes on their horseback riding tours.

it reminded me of a movie (which i'm sure there have been several filmed here. So it goes with most of the island) but i liked the tree canopy above us

The actual beach part is tiny so it's a good thing crowds don't come here

And the water is murky with a lot of small rocks & coral so not great for swimming

We couldn't see our feet when we were only in to our hips.. Although we did see 2-3 turtles pop up out of the water that was it.

Since it's a good size bay the wind doesn't come through very easily so we got hot fast and jumped in the water anyway. The water is really calm (where is it not this time of year?) so we just waded in a sandy area for about an hour and headed home after the guys got some touch football in

We showered off and headed to the Laie Days Food Fest in the big field close to the PCC and listened to live music and ate some Tita's Grill (nothing special) and hung out with friends.

Matty and i also got a 15 pound watermelon for this gem of a recipe! We made it Sunday night to go with our homemade pizza night dinner. We will be making it again and again! Very refreshing on a hot day and you can taste all the flavors in there at the same time

Follow that up with some Olympic Games and you have yourself a gooooood night

Possibly my favorite cookie

*Updated 7.30.2012*

-Not a quick throw together cookie- Also these bake best if they get to hang out in the fridge for a while. (over night is best, but at least 3 hours)

Matty got me this book as a present for our first Christmas together! :) The first month or so of us dating consisted of him coming over a lot to bake with me and walk my dog Cinnamon. My Mom or i would go to the HB library and check out as many cook books as we could and try as many recipes as we could before renewing it again, and again.. and finally surrendering it back to the library. This is one of my favorite books and one of the first recipes we tried together. i think it's a winner
i made these today for an afternoon get together at Matty's professor's house - warning - They go fast especially right out of the oven!


MAGNOLIA BAKERY CHOCOLATE DROP COOKIES

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

2 1/4 C flour

2/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 1/3 C (2 2/3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened - i never use that much. Usually about 2 does it for me

1 C sugar - i use 3/4

2/3 C firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

3 TBS milk - today i used heavy whipping cream (just for fun) and wow did it whip up

1 TBS vanilla

1 1/2 C coarsely chopped pecans (optional)

4 coarsely chopped Heath Bars -or- chocolate covered toffee bars (about 1 C)

1/2 C vanilla chips - now honestly, why stop at 1/2 a cup? i make it an even 1C

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt--set aside. (i always sift my flour but stir in the coco powder later since it sticks to everything, especially in Hawaii humidity) Make sure it's good and mixed!

In a large bowl, cream the butter and the sugars until smooth (about 3 minutes); add the eggs one at a time and mix well.  Add the milk and the vanilla.  Mix in Heath, vanilla chips (or white choc), and nuts if desired). Add the flour mixture till all incorperated but do not over mix.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets (or TBS with Matty)--leave several inches between for expansion.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Cool on cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes before removing onto cooling rack. (or your mouth)
-- if you're bringing these somewhere or like your baked goods to look extra nice, save about 1/2 cup of chips and place them on top of the dough before baking and they come out looking store bought! With out the nasty flavor of course ;)