That made this summer even more enjoyable because we treasured each moment realizing it can be taken away in an instant. Ballet was one of the many things on our summer bucket list for my 6 year old. And yes, the ballerina facing the wrong direction… listening to her voice morph through the fan… that’s my girl!

Maple Bacon Cupcakes (makes 24)

2 sticks plus one tablespoon softened butter
1 tablespoon plus 1 tsp bacon drippings (solidified in the fridge)
2 eggs
10 tablespoons brown sugar
8 tablespoons maple syrup
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cooked bacon chopped small
garnish: an additional 1/4 cup cooked and chopped bacon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In medium bowl add flour, salt and baking powder.  Mix well with a wire whisk.  Set aside.
In stand mixer or with a hand mixer cream butter with solid bacon drippings.
Add the brown sugar and maple syrup.  Mix well until creamy.
Add eggs.  Mix until combined.
Sift the flour mixture with the baking soda.
Add a small amount of the flour mixture to the wet mixture (about 1/2 cup).  Stir with paddle attachment if using stand mixer or use a fork.
Add a small amount of milk.  Stir.
Add more flour.  Stir.
Add more milk.  Stir.
Alternate like this until all the flour mixture and milk are mixed in.
Fold in bacon.
Spoon the batter into baking cups.  One spoonful per cup.
Bake @ 350 for 12-15 minutes until slightly golden.
Remove from oven and let cool.
Frost with the maple frosting.
Garnish with bacon pieces.
Try to refrain from eating all 24 yourself.  In one sitting.

Maple Frosting:

2 sticks butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
8 tablespoons maple syrup
1/8 tsp maple flavoring (no more than 1/8 tsp) – optional
2 pinches of course ground sea salt – a must

Mix in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer:  butter and powdered sugar
Add: maple syrup, maple flavoring
Mix well.
Add: salt
Mix a few more times.

The cupcake is sweet and savory with a slight cornbread texture.  Yum.  The frosting is the perfect consistency for piping and holds its shape really well at room temperature.

I made these tonight while the kids and I watched National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets.  It was a good movie but the cupcakes were even better!  They are like crack in a baking cup though.  Consider yourself warned.

I modified this recipe from one I originally found through Pinterest (of course).  Thank you Amanda at Amanda’s parties to go for sharing this deliciousness.  Here is the original link:  http://amandaparkerandfamily.blogspot.com/2011/06/fathers-day-cupcakes-maple-bacon-that.html#

This is one of the MANY things the kids and I can check off our summer bucket list.  Let me know if you try it!!   Hope you are having a wonderful summer and are enjoying the simple things that make it golden.

aloha, malia

p.s. disclaimer:  i am not responsible for any addiction that results from making or trying this recipe.

Sunset view pic from our property taken one night this week with my iPhone + good quote + iPhone app phonto = ….

I rented a camera lens the other day for a short 24 hours.  Since my precious one month old nephew happened to live close by the camera shop I couldn’t resist stopping by for a very quick snap sesh.

He was napping at the time but his mom was a good sport and let me pull his blankets off to get a couple of shots.  I just had to see those toes!

Snapping a few pics of this fresh little one made my heart swell.

Isn’t he dreamy??!!

The warmth returned when I was processing the shots and for some reason I was singing the song Baby Mine the whole time I edited.

Okay, by now you may think I am a little obsessed with baby toes.  But don’t these just make you smile?

He fluttered in and out of deep sleep.  He kicked and stretched.  He yawned, hemmed and hawed…

Finally he had enough.  He wanted to be swaddled.

He let me lull him back to sleep for a bit.  (let me take a moment to bask in the reverie of it all…  SIGH…)

Then it was time for mama. 

These simple yet golden moments captured, tell the story of A Day in the Life of Mama and Me for baby Mosiah.

Sometimes he likes his mom to push up his feet like this when he nurses.

Sometimes he doesn’t.

If there is one thing this little one has figured out… it is how to assert his own prerogative. You can’t blame him though.  With 5 older sisters he has got to show them who’s boss!

Family and Friends:  Please keep having these precious little ones so that I can keep on LOVIN’ ON EM…  (and take more pictures of their toes…)

So blessed to live on the same island as this little boy (this Aunty misses the other little ones who are far away)…

I must admit though…  There is also another baby I am having separation anxiety from… the sweet Canon 85mm 1.2 lens that I had to return to the camera rental store yesterday… Come back to mama!

I am a “stay at home mom”.  I am non-stop busy.  I still love Friday’s… no school til’ Monday… but mom’s don’t really get a break.  We are on the job 24/7.  We don’t get a paycheck either.

We get paid in other ways.

And I just hit the lotto…

My eight year old Kainalu presented this to me.

This photo my dad took Christmas Eve pretty much sums up Kainalu.

Mellow.

His voice is usually a quiet, calm and mumbled monotone.

Kinda like Napoleon Dynamite.

Kainalu wrote this paragraph to go along with my award.

It made my day.  It made my years…

Kainalu told me that I should save it forever.

He said that if I ever have a bad day that I should pull it out and read it and it can help me feel better.

Sweetness!

Be still my heart…

Those are some kind words.  Being his hero is a lot to live up to!

Reading this makes me want to be all these things… everyday.

But it was almost sweeter that Kainalu realized that though I try I sometimes fail.

I am not always these things everyday.

I have bad days.

And he hopes reading this will make me feel better.

He loves me anyway.

Now here is a photo of my 6-year-old Kalena with her cousin Joe.

She is opposite of Kainalu.

Most pictures of her are blurry because she never stops moving, dancing, singing or screaming.

My dad managed to capture her still for a split second this Christmas.

This is Kalena’s homework that she ironically did on the same day I received my award.

She needed to write the word ‘do’ five times along with two sentences using the word ‘do’.

I suppose this is how she sees me.

I asked her to think of something more interesting but she was set on this.

She was very adamant that I liked to DO these things.

My dad has always said that being a parent is life’s greatest blessing but also life’s greatest challenge.

My friend Robin shared this article recently and it made me laugh.  And relate.

Check it out and you will know what I mean when I say….

 I am grateful for these Kairos moments…

happy aloha friday, malia

It was hard to leave my mom realm.  Minutes before my departure my 10 year-old wound up with skinned knees, palms, elbows and stomach.  My 4 year-old fell and got a knot on his head and the 6 year-old literally had to be peeled off me crying.  Thankfully my 8 year-old was mentally and physically stable but as I was driving away I wondered what I was thinking leaving them like that.

When I arrived to the event at the Haiku Mill the night morphed from over worked and under paid super mom-ville to a whimsical world straight out of a fairytale.

I took many photos with my 50mm but computer and hard drives are still not working.

So I snapped some quickies with my iPhone too…

Hope you can catch a glimpse of the magic with these late night phone shots.

I was entranced…  I am not accustomed to this but I sure could get used to it…

Here my dear… let me serve you a lilikoi, mango spritzer.

Enjoy the calm company of your dear friend and mother all while in the presence of extremely kind and talented creative minds.

Somebody pinch me.

If that wasn’t enough to make my heart sing let me share a few photos from the bridal suite.

Can you hear my heart’s pitter-patter?

I may need to renew my vows just so we can have it here at the Haiku Mill.

Had to throw in a couple of photos proving I was there.

Yup, me and my mom bag.

Well, I can’t actually blame my huge bags on the kids.  I was always the bag lady…

Mini desserts anyone?

Fancy pacific rim cuisine?

Yes please and thank you very much.

And of course the very talented Tahitian and Hawaiian style entertainment by Manutea Nui E.

Fun and enthusiastic fire dancer Kawika Dang.

Can you see the waterfall?  The hula dancer?

Kaniala Masoe on the Uke… He can sing!

I am Akinaka.  Teahi is Okimoto.  The Oki and Aki ohana’s have been dear friends for many years now.  We have been through a lot with them and love them like family.

So grateful to have had this moment in time to share with the most loveliest of ladies.

Mahalo to Jill LaFluer and all others involved for so graciously hosting such a beautiful, relaxing event.

True ho’okipa…

One of the highlights of this Holiday Season was the homemade vanilla syrup that we served with our annual waffle bar tradition on New Years Eve.  And today, you too can enjoy this vanilla bliss because you are getting the recipe here for free!

I feel so excited for you like I am on Oprah’s Favorite Things show giving away this deliciousness.  In fact I can almost hear you all cheering!

Let me just tell you that I am not a syrup fan.  But this stuff I could drink from a glass.  Thank you to my friend Diana for letting me share her recipe!

1 C unsalted butter (I used salted butter)

The waves were big and strong.

There were plenty surfers out.  Good fun to watch.

There were lots of wiped outs and oohs and aahs from the shore.

Kids enjoyed playing in this tide pool and letting the waves fill it up and knock them over.

Kalena was working on some serious sand business.

She kept me well fed with “ice cream cones.”

The kids always want dad to bury them.

And then to show how strong they are to break free!

Kainalu was intrigued (for what seemed like forever) with the sea life in the crevice of the tide pool reef.

Gotta have the Thanksgiving left over turkey sandwiches.

Super fast to slap together and easy to inhale so not to interrupt important play time.

I took all of these photos with my iPhone.

I did not want to bring my real camera down.

I wanted to be hands free and just enjoy for once.

It was a simple but lovely morning.

So grateful for this time as a family.

So grateful for the beach and the happiness it brings.

“Lucky we live Hawaii.”

aloha, malia

Looking at lovely things makes me smile.

Creating, delights my soul and helps me feel purposeful.

Pondering on the good and the beautiful and the potentials of life bring me comfort and peace.

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I speak with my photos.

My computer has been dying a slow death for awhile but now it is not allowing me to upload my photos.

I have been at a loss for a blog post without my words, I mean photographs to share.

I decided to share some photos that are inspiring me right now from pinterest.

(see source at the bottom of each photo.  some i was not able to find the original source so they are linked to the pin but i would love to find it so please let me know if you know so i can add it, mahalo)

Sun, sand and surf have been apart of my life since I was born to a die hard surfer father in the 70′s.

Believe it or not I looked something like the photo below at one point in my life. Hard to imagine but I was tan.

My perfume was sun tan lotion.

Our family life revolved around the beach.

I learned to drive stick on a VW van like this one driving from Hilo to Kona.

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My dad is from San Diego.  He first moved to Hawaii with his military father in third grade but San Diego was their  home base.

I have lived at several different places in Southern Cal for short times at different points in my life.

I fell in love with this piece of art below showing the Southern California beach towns.

I am familiar with them all.  We have a deep family heritage in many of these areas.  

My dad started a surf shop in Kapa’a Kauai in the 70′s called The Greenroom.  It was re-opened by new owners in the 90′s in Ocean Beach and is still there today.  Ironically that is the same beach my dad had been a lifeguard at in the 60′s.

I could go on and on telling you Southern Cal stories for DAYS.

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I can’t imagine a life without the ocean.

I once read that… “Just breathing the air near the ocean may help you feel happier and more vibrant:  Research suggests that negative air ions, molecules plentiful in the atmosphere near beaches and waterfalls, may boost mood and energy and relieve stress and depression.”

No wonder we are drawn to the sea!

Even though we live on Maui we get caught up in the busy day-to-day and don’t always get to the beach.

When we do make it a point to get there my whole countenance and spirit changes and I wonder why we don’t go every day!

Isn’t this next pic just dreamy?!  It makes me happy.

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I recently saw the poster for The Reef Hawaiian Pro going on right now in Haleiwa and fell in LOVE.

I tracked down the artist online.  You can read about his beautiful art creation by clicking the source link below the photo.

I have been trying to track down a poster. (I would modge podge it onto a stained piece of wood for the boy’s room)

My brother is a lifeguard on the North Shore of Oahu and lives in Haleiwa so I have him on the hunt for me!!

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It can be the simple things in life that make our hearts happy.

You know that happy feeling or rush you get right after you ride a roller coaster?

Or when you drop in to a wave (for me a 0-2 foot wave will do!)

Or when your favorite team scores the winning touchdown?

Well,  I feel a bit of that during simple moments of the every day…

I feel it when I am living in a pretty and clean space.

When I shower in the refreshing beach shower and feel dry and clean after spending time at the beach.

When I see a golden moment through my lens and capture it.

When my husband affectionately brushes into me as he walks by.

When I have my family bundled close next to me while I read them a book.

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Noticing beauty all around even when others don’t see it brings me enlarged appreciation for life and joy.

I hope everyone experiences this on a daily basis.

I want to instill this in my children.

When I see my four little ones I treasure the sight, the touch, the smells and the sounds of them.

They bring smiles, happiness, purpose, gratitude, joy, peace, comfort and love.

I love them more than they can comprehend.

I see the good, the beautiful and the potential that lies within them.

And when life gets hard they help me to see the good.  To keep calm.  And to surf on…

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Let’s enjoy the ride and make life golden… aloha, malia

First time linking up to life made lovely today!