The Little Foodie

The Humans are Alive, the Computer is Dead

2012-01-31T00:33:00.000-08:00

Shortly after my last post, we set up our desk, I immediately pulled the computer out of hiding, and then flipped it on, nearly giddy about finally returning to the internet.

Then some error message came up about the computer being really hot.

Ohhhhhh, really? Ok, I'll just ignore that.

Then I decided, just in case, to check the temperature of the computer through the bios.

I can't remember exactly what it said, but there was some panic in my mind. Something about one hundred forty something.

Like, Really super duper hot. Which is weird, because this computer has two fans.

At that point the computer decided to take matters into its own hands, because obviously I was incapable of making a real decision.

It turned off. And then never turned on again.

I haven't buried the thing yet, because I'm vacillating between kicking it in the CPU and paying a witch doctor to reanimate it.

Either way, I haven't been blogging.

I had been cooking. Lots and lots of cooking. Until last week. Now I'm lots and lots of dieting. Which is depressing when you want to cook.

I finally decided to shoot jpeg, so I have a few pictures to show for myself, even if I have nowhere to store the pictures, for now.

This is a poor place to do a review for Christina Tosi's new cookbook, Momofuku Milk Bar, but I think you should run to your nearest on-line book store and buy it. You may be temporarily baffled by the fact that you will need to locate glucose for half of the recipes, but you should do it. You should follow Every. Single. Request. Christina Tosi makes in her recipes. Because if you do, you will be rewarded. You should measure every ingredient on a scale and force your husband to drive to Foodland to buy King Arthur Bread Flour at 11pm on a Saturday Night. You should spend an entire Saturday going to three stores to find CLEAR imitation vanilla. You should study, for hours, her directions, ingredient descriptions, and the products you will need to bake her amazing desserts.

Just bring a napkin to wipe up your drool.

Follow every letter to the T, and you will be rewarded.

Amaya said, "Take a picture of me eating!" So I'm including it, even though I botched up the focus.
Even she has been missing being a part of my blog.

(my instagram wannabe picture.)
Carrot Cake, graham frosting, liquid cheesecake, milk crumb, layered.

All I Want for Christmas

2011-12-24T15:01:00.001-08:00

After searching the entire island of Hawaii and Internets of Amazon.com for 2 months we have finally bought an acceptable computer desk.

I was stoked. I would finally get to blog. I only have photoshop for my raw photos on my desktop.

But no! The table is unfinished and has to be stained. Jake says it will take a week. He could tell I was disappointed and got started on making it right away.

I couldn’t take it. So I am sitting on the floor with the keyboard, sweating after dragging all of my desktop computer parts out of the extra room where 20 unpacked boxes still sit. The computer is covered with furry dust and is screaming at me to update five billion virus scanners and security updates and also wants to reformat my camera card.

I don’t care. I am blogging. And we finally have curtains. I am happy.

I got an early Christmas present when Dianne Jacob came to give a workshop on food writing.

I don’t recommend moving and trying to organize a workshop at the same time, just FYI, but it was totally worth it in the end. About 5 bazillion people had to help me out, a lot, to make it happen, and I owe them so many favors that I will be repaying in baked goods for the rest of time.

Dianne was even better in real life, which is really hard to believe, I know, because I already liked her so much. She was warm and funny and really has such great taste, as she loved my Lantern Ilima lei. It matched perfectly.

We picked her up at the airport before the workshop and ran into Chinatown to get some food. She bought my friend and I each two char-siu buns (which are ten thousand times better in Chinatown than 7-11) and we got a couple of smoothies to go.

At the workshop she prompted our creativity with writing exercises, examined a favorite post, told us the hard truth about cookbook writing, and we shared our frustrations with blogging.

I think the advice that stuck with me the most, weeks later, has been: “Have an opinion. it’s so much more interesting.”

She has lots of opinions and she conveys them in a smart and funny way. It’s possible to be positive without being gushy, I’ve decided. I was really trying to learn from that. I’ve been fired up again to write more and write well.

Dianne bought me lunch nearby. We ate some garlicky ong choi and some stir fried mochi (only in Hawaii!). Dianne said that the mochi had great char from the wok. She told me the technical term but I can’t remember. My internet research led me to Wok Hei.. That smokiness was the smooth edge between burnt and savory. It made me want to go to Chinatown every day.

Catherine Toth met us for the last five minutes of lunch and gave us cake pops. I unfortunately had to share with my kids. I have no idea why I didn’t take a picture of how cute she is and how cute her cake pops were. Shame on me.

After the workshop we went to eat again with the ladies and gentleman from Les Dames I drove Dianne to the airport again, and raced home with a head full of food writing. I have too many New Year’s resolutions that have nothing to do with dieting.

I have been making way too many of these.

In between batches there are neighborhood kids trying to “Catch That Chicken!” whilst scrambling underneath our house.

Then there’s the Jackson chameleon in our car port. He must’ve been looking for his relatives.

We are alive, eating, and Hawaii-living.

Did you get what you wanted for Christmas?

Island Style Filled Chocolate Bon Bons

Lilikoi Filling

1/2 Cup lilikoi puree
1/4 Cup white chocolate chips
5 marshmallows
1/2 Cup powdered sugar

Heat the lilikoi puree, white chocolate, marshmallows, and powdered sugar in the microwave in 20 second bursts, stirring after each. Once it is completely melted, whisk in the powdered sugar. It should be very thick soup. Let cool for 5 minutes and then put in the fridge until you need it. If it is too liquid you can add more powdered sugar. I put in even more lilkoi puree to one batch for extra punch.

Christmas Style Filled Chocolate Bon Bons

Eggnog Filling

3 Tbsp eggnog
1/4 Cup white chocolate chips
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 Cup powdered sugar

Heat the eggnog and white chocolate chips in the microwave for 20 seconds, stir, and return to the microwave for 10 more seconds if needed. Whisk in the cream cheese and powdered sugar and beat until thick. Put in the fridge until needed. Add more eggog for stronger flavor (but you’ll need a little more powdered sugar).

Peanut Butter Bonbons

1/2 Cup chocolate chips, melted
1 Cup natural style peanut butter
2 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 Cups powdered sugar

Combine the melted chocolate, peanut butter, and cream cheese in a stand mixer (with the regular paddle). Beat it together for 30 seconds, scraping the sides twice. Add the powdered sugar and mix again until it is crumbly but can be rolled together in your hands.

Making Bonbons

You’ll need some plastic molds that are dome shaped. I had success with many different domes. Milk chocolate is the hardest to unmold because it is so soft. Darker chocolate and even white chocolate for some reason is easier.

For the chocolate, it does work with chocolate chips but I recommend going with something a little better. I used Trader Joe’s huge dark chocolate bar (well, just a part of it) with good success.

Get a glass bowl with a lip and place it over a sauce pan that has an inch or so of water in the bottom. The bowl should not be touching the water (this is a double boiler). Heat this over medium heat until the water is simmering. Place about 1 Cup chocolate pieces in the bowl, and stir with a silicone spatula until melted and very shiny. If you have a candy thermometer heat the chocolate until about 110 degrees. To tell the truth, I don’t use mine usually. I heat it until it’s pretty hot when I stick my finger in it, but I can still barely stand it.

(Don’t you love my instructions?)

Then remove the chocolate from the heat, throw about 1/3 cup more of chocolate pieces in there, and stir it around until the chocolate is all melted.

Immediately put a little dollop of chocolate into a few of the molds (work with only a few at a time as to not let the chocolate cool down too quickly) and then start brushing it (yes! with a paintbrush!) in the inside of the mold. You don’t want the light to show through the chocolate. You may have to do two coats with a cooling in the refrigerator session in between.

Once you’ve painted the inside of the molds (up to the top! But not over the edge.) place them in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.

When the chocolate is hardened in the molds then add the filling. Fill just under the top level so you have room to drop a little more melted chocolate over the filling. You will probably need to reheat the chocolate to hot again over the double boiler before doing this. If the chocolate is too cool with this last step, the chocolate will not harden properly and will feel too soft.

Put the chocolate molds back in the fridge and wait until they harden. Then pop out the chocolates. Usually I have to kind of tap and press a little on the molds to pop them out. The milk chocolates were the hardest—I ended up freezing them for a little while to get them out.

Clean your molds between batches. Do NOT put them in the dishwasher even though you just got a new dishwasher and you think it’s a miracle. Lesson learned.

Now, what do you do if you have some leftover chocolate?

Why, I can think of at least one thing.

In with the New

2011-12-01T21:30:00.001-08:00

Obviously it's not yet January 1st, but we're getting started with The New a little early around here.

Maybe you'll forgive me for my long silence when you hear we've been moving into a new house.

My new favorite things?

A double oven.

And a dishwasher.

And some new kitchen towels.

Mozely's favorite thing is pulling the towels off the handles. Funnest. Game. Ever.

Yessssss. It's all about the new kitchen.

How I lived this long without a dishwasher, I'll never know. I mean, I know plenty of people throughout the history of time have lived without a dishwasher, but now that my husband and I won't have to be passive aggressive about who should be doing the dishes next, my life is way better.

My entire existence has been so difficult lately that I'm ready for some relief. Between remodeling, babysitting, working, being sick 3 times, and everything else, I'd say that I wouldn't immediately recommend packing up all of your crap on top of that. And my, what a lot of crap one has when you start actually examining how many boxes it takes up.

I'm not even going to tell you how many boxes it took to pack up my cookbooks. Eek. And my kitchen. Double eek.

In between all of the madness, I got the sweetest package in the mail from one of my readers and now e-mail buddies.

These pictures do not do them justice. I received them and packed them right before we moved, and then couldn't find them. I couldn't find the lens I like (packed away), and then I couldn't edit the pictures in photoshop (desktop packed away). Uh, did I mention we moved in 2 weeks ago and I still haven't even started unpacking anything except the kitchen?

Anyway, I love these towels. They are huge, which is so important for kitchen towels, plus they are cotton and they absorb liquid so well. And they are crazy cute. Shar draws these herself and has them printed. I'm afraid to use them too much because all of my towels are nasty stained, but she promises that they wash so easily even if you do wipe up chocolate off of kids faces or try to clean your oven. Ok, so maybe don't clean your oven with it. She is so reliable and does things right when she says she will so if you want to order some of these from her she will send them to you. If you are in Hawaii or coming to Hawaii she will be selling at the upcoming craft fairs:

Aliiolani Elementary, Saturday Dec. 3rd

Okinawan Center at Waipio, Dec. 7th

Moanalua High School, Dec. 10th

Her too-cute towels were recently featured in the Advertiser as one of the "Things We Love" feature they run on Fridays. I couldn't agree more.

I'll be back to posting regularly and I'm excited to be re-energized with writing and blogging because

DIANNE JACOB IS COMING TO TOWN!

Seriously, it is like all kinds of Christmas around here. This is so much more exciting to me than Santa. I told my husband I don't even need any Christmas presents.

(except a kindle. because we have way too many freaking books. I know you agree with me. just give in already. maybe we need 2. oh, and then, naturally, we'll need to buy some ebooks.)

If you are still wanting to sign up, we have limited spots available, plus we made a few changes and were able to drop the price to $75. I'm also excited about the group that is coming. I think the socializing at lunch might be my favorite part.

Come back around on Tuesday. I've got a Lilikoi Bar recipe for you.

Just to keep up our Christmas cheer.

Thanks to Foodiacs, Down to Earth and Mama T, Harvard Common Press, and Mutual Publishing for providing food and giveaways at our upcoming workshop!

Halloween is about Yes.

2011-11-01T01:19:00.001-07:00

Yes.

Yes, I did make popsicles with Pop Rocks. Lemonade base.

Awesome. And crackly.

Yes, I did buy $30 shoes for my daughter for Halloween.

I looked around and even the low tops were $30.

Fantastic.

Yes, I did buy makeup just so I could wear it on Halloween because I don’t own makeup.

And Yes, I did look like a $2 you-know-what because I don’t know how to put on makeup.

Cool.

Yes, I did make Candy Bar Cookies.

No. No picture.

Yes. I ate them all. I had a little help.

Scrumpdidlyumptious.

How was your Halloween?

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

2011-10-20T09:51:00.000-07:00

I have a problem with pumpkin. Call me an addict. When the season comes around I want to bake pumpkin non-stop. Poor husband isn’t as in love with the sweet, wet squash as me. No matter. More for me.

I made two pumpkin cakes in two days. The first one was a bust (I still ate it), and the second was sweet victory. I was inspired by the infamous pumpkin crunch cake that is floating around the internet, which has very little pumpkin flavor and HORROR of horrors, is made entirely with boxed cake mix and is essentially a dump cake. I know, it’s tasty, but this just blows all of those others out of the water.

I think this cake needs no other explanation than the sum of its parts:

Pumpkin cake layers (thanks to David Leite for his perfect pumpkin cake)

Pumpkin pie layers

Cream cheese frosting layers

Crunch in the frosting

Amaya said, “Thank you for making this cake! You make the best food Mommy.”

Dang it. She tricked me into giving her another piece.

Pumpkin Crunch Cake (click to print)

If you don’t know David Leite’s website, Leite’s Culinaria, you’re in for a treat. Tested, awesome recipes, and David’s writing make a great website. This was the best pumpkin cake recipe I’ve made as most pumpkin cakes are dense, soft, and not suited for layering, however tasty. This one was perfectly pumpkin-y without being too soft.

This is a really long recipe. So worth it. Husband approved, and he only got one bite because he’s off sugar until Halloween.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees

Prepare two 8” round cake pans. Place cut circles of parchment paper at the bottom of the pan and butter the bottom and edges.

Pumpkin Pie Layers:

1 Cup and 2 Tbsp canned pumpkin
1 Cup canned table cream (found in Latin food aisles or supermarkets)
2 eggs
1/3 Cup sugar
1/3 Cup brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spices

Whisk together all of the ingredients and divide equally between the two cake pans. Cook for 15 minutes in the oven. While it’s cooking prepare the pumpkin cake layers.

Go to David's web site to get the cake recipe:

David Leite’s Pumpkin Cake Make just the batter.

I did not put in all of the spices. Just the cinnamon and just a pinch of black pepper. I'm sure it's good with all of it though.

1. Remove the pumpkin pie layers from the oven. Turn the heat down to 350 degrees.

2. Spoon the cake batter over the pumpkin pie layers, evenly and gently. You don't want to mix the layers. Smooth it out with the back of a spatula and firmly hit the pan on the counter a few times to remove the air bubbles.

3. Return the cakes to the oven and bake for about 37-45 minutes. Check the cakes with a toothpick or sharp knife after 35 minutes and remove when just done. The toothpick, when removed from the cake, should have just a few crumbs clinging to it. If it comes out with raw batter, cook for longer. This part really depends on your oven. If your oven cooks unevenly, probably rotate the cakes a couple of times during cooking.

While the cakes are cooking, make the cream cheese frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

12 oz cream cheese, softened slightly (1 and a half boxes of cream cheese)
8 Tbsp butter, still cool, but not cold
2 Tbsp sour cream
2 Cups powdered sugar

1. In a food processor/cuisinart fitted with the blade, process the cream cheese, butter, and sour cream until uniform and whipped. Add the powdered sugar and process until completely mixed, about 20 seconds. You will have to scrape down the sides a couple of times. Put it in the fridge until ready to use.

When you remove the cakes from the oven, turn on the broiler and prepare the crunch. Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes, then remove the cakes from their pans. Run a knife around the edge of the cakes and invert to remove. Let cool completely.

Crunch for pumpkin cake

1 cup yellow box cake mix
8 tbsp butter, divided
½ Cup walnuts, chopped into small pieces
½ Cup brown sugar

1. Sprinkle the nuts and cake mix over a quarter of a baking sheet. Don’t worry about being exact, but the cake mix should be in an even layer. Break up the largest pieces of cake mix, but little pieces are fine.

2. Drizzle four tablespoons of butter over the cake mix. It’s ok if it isn’t completely wet, just try to sprinkle it over as evenly as possible.

3.In a bowl, mix together the brown sugar and remaining butter. Spread this evenly over another unused portion of the baking sheet in a thin layer—about 1/8”.

4. Broil for 3-5 minutes, pulling it out when the brown sugar layer is bubbly and glossy and the cake part looks still yellow but just barely getting browned on the edges. You have to watch this very closely and it depends on the heat of your broiler.

5. Let the crunch cool completely. Then use a metal spatula and remove the brown sugar layer to a cutting board and chop it up. Mix the pieces in a bow with the cake crunch part and set aside for assembly.

Assemble the cake.

1. Place the first cake on a serving platter with the pumpkin side up. Put about 1 cup of frosting on the cake and spread over the top of the cake. Layer the second cake on top of that with the pumpkin pie layer on top, again.

2. Spread another cup or more of frosting on the sides and top of the cake in a thin layer to seal in the crumbs. Put the cake in the fridge for an hour or two to let seal.

3. Remove the cake from the fridge and put another layer of frosting on the whole cake—use as much of the rest as you like—I didn’t quite use all of the frosting.

4. Sprinkle the crunch all over the cake, also on the sides. Serve. Serves a lot, or just you. I won't tell.

Chobani Greek Yogurt and Granola Popsicles

2011-10-19T10:16:00.001-07:00

I have a confession to make.

I eat breakfast in the car.

Sometimes I drink a smoothie, but often enough I’m holding a bowl of something and trying to drive at the same time.

This is all while I’m racing to get Amaya to school on time (we’re on time at least twice a week) because getting ready in the morning is like the movie Groundhog Day. We start the same way every day and I can’t figure out how to do it right.

Now, if I have to eat breakfast in the car, wouldn’t it be nice to have something that didn’t require two hands? And included all my favorite breakfast foods?

Granola, yogurt, honey.

Now we’re talking.

I really only love plain yogurt, and I love Greek yogurt, except for that yoplait one because that stuff is made thick with GELATIN instead. What’s up with that?

Chobani has tons of protein and active cultures. The plain yogurt has a tartness that I can’t deny and when I taste flavored yogurts I find myself wondering if it’s really yogurt. I like it when I open up a package of Greek yogurt and I can see that thick cream. Yum.

I’d love to eat this in the car on the way to work. Popsicles for breakfast are awesome.

Chobani Greek Yogurt and Granola Popsicles (makes 3 Zoku popsicles)

1/3 Cup Chobani plain Greek yogurt
2/3 Cup milk
1/2 Cup granola
2 tsp honey or to taste
extra honey for drizzling—optional

Stir together the yogurt, milk and honey. Pour a teaspoon of granola into the bottom of each popsicle mold. Place the popsicle stick in the mold.
Pour some of the liquid over the granola and when it reaches half way up the mold, add more granola (1-2 Tbsp per mold) and then fill it up with the liquid. Sprinkle the rest of the granola on top.
Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. Remove and drizzle with honey if desired. Serve.

For fun I also tried some non-Zoku ones, and the granola of course got soggy, but it was nice, like oatmeal. (I know, you’re thinking, Frozen Oatmeal? but it was chewy and good. I like the berries as well. This one was a better serving size for breakfast.

Let’s face it, I eat a big breakfast.

Chobani Greek Yogurt and Granola Popsicles, Non-Zoku version (serves one)

1/4 cup Chobani plain Greek yogurt
5 Tablespoons milk
1-2 tsp honey
1/4 Cup granola
2 Tbsp mixed berries (can be frozen)

Combine the yogurt, milk and honey in a small bowl. In a pint glass jar, layer the granola, liquid and berries. Place the popsicle stick and freeze for a few hours until firm.
To serve, run the outside of the jar under warm water for 10 seconds. Pull out the popsicle and eat.

Chobani yogurt is perfect for cooking and baking and freezing. I like greek yogurt much better than sour cream, even! I looked over the recipes for Chobani kitchen and found a Thai curry I want to try (which would be a REALLY great way to save some fat on coconut curry). You should check it out.

Do you use yogurt in your cooking? How?

This post is sponsored by Chobani. All opinions and content (except links) are my own.

Red Curry Noodles

2011-10-13T20:33:00.001-07:00

This recipe is crazy easy and delicious.

Just make sure you make enough, or your munchkin will finish it off for you.

Even if she just lost a tooth.

(in fact, this recipe is probably good for people with a loose tooth.)

Sometimes I do long for an evening with the rain hitting softly against the closed windows, and a sweater. We don’t get those in Hawaii too often (rainy evenings I mean. I suppose there are sweaters for rooms with too-much air conditioning.). I can’t remember the last time I was inside my house with the windows closed.

This bowl reminds me of the comfort in a warm dinner.

Make it your dinner. Adjust the flavors. Don’t be afraid of tasting and testing. I had to try a couple of times to get it right, but I think I’ve hit the right combination of ingredients that will make this a success at your house. The first time I made it I used yellow curry paste, but I think the red is better.

Use whatever vegetables you have. This could be great with snow peas, carrots, mung bean sprouts… Add some cilantro if you are so inclined. Chicken if you’d like an omnivore option.

Try some different types of noodles. I know this would be delicious with rice noodles. I think thicker is better.The first time I made it I used regular ramen noodles, but they just were too soggy. Chinese noodles with egg as an ingredient just stood up better to the curry, and were a little thicker. The noodles clung to the sauce so well. I love that velvety soup. I could drink it.

I did.

Here’s my fake instagram picture. ‘Cause I’m jealous of those ihappy people.

Red Curry Noodles (serves 2-4) print this recipe!

I used a fairly mild red curry paste. I used more than 2Tbsp of the paste and just had a hint of spice. I’ve had very spicy pastes as well. If you don’t know the strength of your curry, start with less than 1 Tbsp and work your way up. Or make your own. Then you’ll know how spicy it will be.

1/3 Cup coconut cream (can be scraped from the top of an unshaken can of coconut milk)

About 2 T Red Curry Paste (I used Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste)
1/2 onion, halved and sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1 1/2 Cups broccoli, cut into pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp, or more, fish sauce (if you don’t like the taste of fish sauce, use less. I like that little bit of funk, myself)
1 can coconut milk

1 Cup water
1 Tbsp brown sugar
salt to taste
1/2 Cup tofu, cubed (optional)
Sriracha sauce, optional
2 packages dried Chinese noodles (16 oz each package) or other kind of noodle

1. Heat up 2-3 quarts of water in a large saucepan for the noodles.

2. Heat 1/3 Cup coconut cream in a fry pan over medium heat. When the cream starts bubbling and glistening, add the curry paste. Stir it with a wooden spoon until mixed well.

3. Toss in onion, bell pepper and sauté until softened and just slightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, fish sauce, coconut milk and water. Stir. Add brown sugar and broccoli and bring up to a simmer. Cover but stir occasionally as it cooks.

4. While the curry cooks, cook noodles in boiling water until al-dente and drain. Run cold water over them.

5. Add water to make it the right consistency (should be more like soup) and adjust the seasonings, adding more salt or fish sauce or brown sugar if needed. Add the tofu, if using, in the last couple minutes of cooking. Stir it in gently. If you want it to be spicier, add sriracha sauce to taste and stir.

6. As soon as the broccoli is cooked through, take it off the stove. Serve the noodles in a bowl and ladle the curry over the top of the noodles. Serve immediately.

Crepes are Especially for You

2011-10-07T13:31:00.001-07:00

Last week Amaya woke up in the middle of the night, drooling and crying. When she opened her mouth, we saw that she had a white, swollen tongue.

The next three days were awful. Awful. Awful.

We took her to the hour-away doctor on day one, where she was diagnosed as having some sort of mouth fungus (unusual in kids her age) and we were supposed to pick up a prescription that afternoon at our local pharmacy.

Oops. It wasn’t there. I called, the office was already closed. I called 4 times the next day about it, then again the next. In the mean time, Amaya was completely miserable.

Every time she put a bite of food in her mouth, she would immediately spit it out.

“It doesn’t taste goooood,” she cried.

She didn’t like water, ice cream, popsicles, nachos (her favorite food) or anything at all. She sobbed in despair, hungry and feeling punished.

This was so hard to watch for us. We tried buying her anything she liked, and even demanded her to eat because we worried she would dehydrate. She took a few, miserable bites.

On the third day I tried to give her oatmeal. She was so happy about oatmeal. She ate three huge bowls of it. Later the next day it seemed she was getting better.

First thing we did was buy fruity cheerios, which are basically fruit loops for guilt-ridden parents.

We immediately started giving her treats of all kinds. We took her out to eat, she got to choose, and she was so happy about eating. She has been saying for a week now: “I’m so glad I can eat again!”

I made her crepes for breakfast. With chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and raspberries. Basically, dessert.

I’ve never seen crepes make anyone so happy.

There are a million crepe recipes out there, and they’re pretty similar. My dad has one that’s really thick, which may be like the secret crepe recipe.

But I’ll tell you a couple of things to take your crepe to the next level.

Grate some lime or lemon zest in to the sugar for the batter and rub it around in there with your fingers. It is fantastic. The cooked crepe has just a hint of that sweet zest.

If you have a 12 inch saute pan, Use just under a 1/3 cup of batter for each crepe. The batter should swirl around once and that’s about it. I tilt the pan as I’m pouring in the batter.

Your heat should be at medium. I really recommend this cook’s illustrated recommended pan for your non-stick cooking: The T-fal professional total non-stick 12.5” pan. It’s inexpensive and I’ve had it for a year now and it’s still going strong. Pretty much everyone agrees though that non-stick pans don’t last very long, unfortunately.

Flip the crepe when the edges are just barely turning brown. It will be dry enough for you to flip it over with a little help from a chopstick or spatula. If you have to slide the spatula underneath the crepe to lift it up, either you pan isn’t non-stick enough, or it’s not finished cooking enough. Food should lift easily away if it is finished cooking. I’ve used my cast iron skillet for this too, and it works. It’s just too heavy to swirl around.

Chocolate Sauce for Crepes

When I was growing up this is the only way we ate crepes. With chocolate sauce. I never questioned it. I also have to recommend eating your crepes with your hands. My parents always got mad at me for it, but you know what? It tastes so much better without a fork in the way.

1 1/2 Cups Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips
1/4 Cup milk

Put the chocolate and milk into a microwave safe bowl. Heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Heat for another 30 seconds, stir. If the chocolate is not completely melted at this point, heat for another 10-seconds and stir again.
If the sauce is not loose enough for you, you can add a tablespoon more of milk and stir, but wait until the milk isn’t so cold and the chocolate isn’t so hot. Otherwise it will seize up and get grainy.

Serve with crepes (pour chocolate down the center and roll it up), bananas, strawberries… Anything. After an afternoon in the fridge the leftover sauce has a fudge-like texture that you can’t help dipping into with a spoon. Straight.

Eat the Street Kakaako

2011-10-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

On Friday I was lucky enough to go to Eat the Street in Kakaako with a friend for her birthday.

I love when I can pretend I’m doing something nice for a friend but really just get to eat whatever I want. Birthdays are so great for that. I recommend them.

Eat the Street is an event where a bunch of food trucks and pop-up food tents gather for a crowd of people who are at least as hungry as I am (organized by streetgrindz).

We basically decided there were no limits and no shame to getting everything that looked good.

Our first stop was Inferno’s Wood Fired Pizza. Yes. They brought their own oven and set up shop. Awesome. We ate the cheese pizza with truffle oil and both of us were stuffing our faces even though it was still too hot to eat. These guys are champs—they were churning out pizza constantly and I know for a fact that rolling out pizza crusts is a pain and a half. They were also offering barbecue pork pizza and I wanted to stand in that line too…

Adam, my friend and wedding photographer, is great friends with Jonas Otsuji, the mastermind behind Otsuji farm’s Hawaiian nachos. I missed out on the kale nachos (tempura fried kale topped with fish and sauce) but the breadfruit nachos were delicious too. I slammed them so quickly, one bite each.

Then we were off to the Tiki Truck. I can’t stay away from this place. I was the last order as they had run out of crack sauce. Lucky me!

I could eat about a dozen of these tacos. The green papaya slaw mixed with the crack sauce is just pure bliss.

Then we were off for some corn (lilikoi butter and parmesan cheese), Ono Pops (WHY did I forget to take a picture? Too busy eating), and then a crepe.

I don’t care if crepes are over done with these kinds of things. And who cares that I can make them myself? I just love a crepe.

Yes, that is a real bottle of nutella. Did that not convince you?

While we were waiting for our crepe I sidled over and bought a bleu cheese slider and ate it. (Ok, so I ate half of it.)

Even though we stuffed ourselves I still bought 4 macarons from La Tour Café, and they were buttery deliciousness. So worth it.

I love outdoor eating events with too many people. We met a couple of friends from twitter @hnlmark @melissa808 @nonstopmari (I missed @edoshiro again! and as I found out later, @chefjay and others… Next time, ok?) and even had a lovely chat woman who somehow connected because of a love of Jamaican men. I love a night out.

What did you do this weekend?

P.S. The workshop with Dianne Jacob is December 10 at Cupola Theatre in Honolulu. Click HERE for more information and to register! See you there!

Food Writing for Food Lovers: A Workshop with Dianne Jacob

2011-09-28T01:03:00.001-07:00

Friends, if there was ever a reason to be in Honolulu in December, this is IT.

(Aside from the great weather, beaches, water, food….)

Dianne Jacob is coming to town! A few months ago she told me she was coming to Hawaii and would we be able to put together a workshop? And I just fell over myself, immediately, because yes. I want to go to a workshop with Dianne.

If you don’t know Dianne, you should know that she is just stuffed full of amazing knowledge to help you as a food writer. Whether you want to be a great blogger, a freelance journalist, a cookbook author… She knows how to help you. In addition to keeping up great discussions on her blog, she is a writing coach/consultant, writes (books! cookbooks!), and works as an editor.

So I’m happy to announce that we have worked out the details for an honestly amazing day with Dianne Jacob at the Cupola Theatre, in the Honolulu Design Center on December 10, 2011 from 8:15am-3:30pm.

If you’re a foodie, a blogger, a freelance writer, an aspiring cookbook author or even a wannabe of any of the above, you’ll want to attend.

The schedule includes writing exercises, restaurant reviewing skills, techniques to get noticed, and she’ll give you the inside scoop about publishing and writing.

At the workshop we will have breakfast and lunch catered by Stage Restaurant featuring a buffet of options, including their famous Ahi poke with avocado, Marcona almonds, orange tobiko, spanish onions, yuzu olive oil, and wasabi. I am also particularly excited about their desserts. Their pastry chef is magical. Chocolate cream tarts and apricot frangipane are on the menu.

(plus! We have door prizes!!)

Have I talked you into it yet?

Follow the links to learn more:

Come. I’ll be thrilled to see you there.

Foodbuzz 24x24: This ain’t your mama’s pizza.

2011-09-25T17:42:00.001-07:00

Hooray for Pizza Day
Hooray for Pizza Day
I miss Pizza Day
The best day of the week

--The Aquabats, “Pizza Day”

I remember lunches better than most things that happened at school over the years. I often got school lunch, and even though the pizza didn’t resemble any I’d had outside school walls, we were still willing to eat anything associated with pizza. Maybe that’s what drives my willingness to put anything and everything on a pizza.

My sister-in-law has implemented pizza day with her family which I’ve basically muscled in on. We join them every week for pizza and a movie. I like to eat pizza as often as possible so when Foodbuzz asked featured publishers to come up with a meal using the ingredients found in our cupboards for this month’s 24x24 (since we would use the stipend to go to the festival in November) and I knew immediately what I would pick:

Pizza for Pizza day!

Pizza is the perfect vehicle for creativity. A blank canvas. I’ve made bi bim bap pizza and roasted veggie vegan pesto pizza and I’m always trying to think of a new flavor that goes well with sauce and bread.

This is one of my favorite things to find when I open my fridge. Pizza dough ready for pizza night. Way too much dough, in fact.

I like to use pizza to get my daughter to try new foods. She knows she likes pizza, so it’s hard for her to resist. She’s gotten used to my weird pizza. Today she asked me if she could have sweet potato on her pizza, too.

Due to the price of food and the fact that we live in a vulnerable island in the middle of the pacific ocean, I have a bulk item pantry with flour, cans of tomato sauce/paste/diced, beans, sugar, toilet paper, rice, cooking oil, MRE’s, water…. Islanders have been through enough tsunami, volcano, dock worker strikes, earthquake, hurricane, flood, warnings and real deals that many people think this way. I always have yeast (in the fridge, because it dies in our heat) and I always have cheese, because we are obsessed with cheese. Or maybe that’s me. I buy fruits and vegetables from local sources as often as possible because you can spend a fortune at the regular grocery store for shipped-in and usually sub-par products. My freezer is essentially a bulk storage bin with meats and frozen purees, fruits, nuts and whatever likes to be eaten by bugs or can’t sit unprotected from the humidity. We have a joke that in Hawaii the second you open a bag of cereal it goes stale and chewy, and that on the mainland you leave it open so it can get more crisp. I think of pizza as one of the cheapest foods without actually tasting cheap. It can be gourmet, and still cheap. You don’t need much for toppings and you can use whatever you have around the house or leftovers in the fridge. There’s a price to living in paradise and pizza is absolutely perfect for what we keep around our house.

We had our weekly pizza night and the kids watched Rio and made wrist bands of power out of cups when they got bored. I made way too much pizza. Very typical. Amaya specifically requested a cheese-only pizza for the kids, which is probably a good idea, since I want to stop scaring the kids from coming over.

Pizza Tips I’ve made so many pizzas over the years with so many recipes, I think I have it down pretty well, now. Here are a few things I have learned that could help you. Click the link to read more about making pizza, my favorite dough recipe, and how I make sauce.

Click on the links to print the recipes

Okinawan Sweet Potato and Bacon Pizza

Local sweet potatoes are one of my favorite toppings. I often make sweet potatoes ahead of time and throw them in different dinners all week, so a half a sweet potato in the fridge is very useful on pizza night. I highly recommend regular potatoes on top of pizza, too. For some reason I forgot to take a picture of this pizza. Probably too busy eating it. The purple slices are very dramatic and fun on pizza. They’re much drier, more potatoe-y and sweet than the yam kind of sweet potatoes, but those will do anyway.

Barbecue Chicken, Colby/Jack, Feta and Caramelized Onion Pizza

I am sort of a sauce hoarder. I always have a million bottles in my fridge with a spoonful left of each one. I can’t bear to throw them away until they’re completely gone. I also threw in the last dregs of an orange marmalade jar. It’s perfect for pizza. Especially if you have a little extra chicken or pork leftover in your fridge

Bo Ssam Pizza (leftover Bo Ssam Pork on a Ssamjang base and topped with Ginger Scallion Sauce)

Asian sauces are the other thing I have too many of. I made some Bo Ssam pork the other night and we still had some of that and the sauces I made to go with it. I think this was my favorite.

I keep some bulk storage of nutritional yeast so I made a vegan pizza with homemade vegan cheese but it slid off the parchment paper as I was pulling it out and went straight to the bottom of the oven. And then caught on fire. Filled the house with smoke.

I really need a pizza peel.

Dessert Pizza

The last pizza was a dessert pizza, of course. I had some leftover caramel from a caramel cake Jake made from the Baked cookbook, and that became my base. Then it was crushed up Oreo cookies (bulk buy from Costco, stored in the freezer), chocolate chips (always bought in bulk because I need my chocolate chip cookies), and marshmallows.

Can you say swwweeeeet!

Yep. Maybe too sweet. But it was amazing cold for leftovers today.

Isn’t that the best thing about pizza? Cold Breakfast?

Best Day of the Week!

Ted’s Bakery

2011-09-22T01:21:00.000-07:00

I think there is no North Shore food list without Ted’s Bakery.

And said list, is probably not complete, without a recommendation to eat some Ted’s Haupia Pie.

Well, this is my blog. I get to change the rules.

Here’s what you need to know about Ted’s.

It’s packed, a lot of the time. You can wait quite a while for your food these days because everyone knows how good the food is. There are more locals than tourists, which is a good sign.

Get there early. You want a doughnut. Possibly plural. Fresh, plain, glazed. Trust me. Beats out any of those other doughnuts any day of the week. Just writing this sentence is making me wish it was morning so I could have one, or two.

I may, or may have not, bought 2 doughnuts, intending to share with someone, and then conveniently forgot that I was going to share.

The breakfast sandwiches are killer. Probably what makes it is the bread, and basically, everything made with Ted’s bread is good. Sandwiches, burgers, breakfast sandwiches (my personal fave) and the pig in a blanket. Those sell out early too.

I have a friend who swears by the éclair, but if I’m going to get a dessert for later, I make it the

Chantilly Haupia Cake

I’m trying to emphasize this for you. That’s what you want. Some of you may be skeptical about this. Most people just go straight for the pie and never try the cake. If you try the cake, you won’t need the pie again. It’s moist, light, and the chantilly frosting is this addictive pudding-like cool swath of a mix between custard and caramel. Add the Haupia layer in the middle and you’re very happy. This is probably my favorite cake out there. And I do love my cake.

Outdoor seating, again. The kids love running around and chasing the birds. My girl can down a whole breakfast sandwich and part of a doughnut on her own. Is there any question we’re related?

After you’re finished with breakfast and dessert, you can roll yourself on home.

Or if you realize you need to work it off, jump on the bike path. This path runs the length of the road from just before Sunset Beach to Waimea Bay. It’s great for strolling joggers, or just plain walking. While you walk you can fantasize about where you wish you could live, see some excellent views, and get in a couple of fun pit stops. If you want to see Hawaii, walk!

Ted’s Bakery

Google Maps

59-024 Kamehameha Highway, Haleiwa

(808) 638-8207 ‎

Open: Mon-Tue 7am-6pm; Wed-Sun 7am-8pm

Favorite Eats: Chantilly Haupia Cake, doughnuts, breakfast sandwich, hamburger, pig in a blanket, steak sandwich, teriyaki steak plate

Expenses: Baked goods $1-3, breakfast sandwich: <$4, sandwiches $6+, plates $9+, refrigerated drinks, smoothies, and hot coffee also available.

Little Foodie? Whole family friendly. Food to please everyone.

FYI: outdoor seating, take out style. Often busy on the weekends, midmorning and dinner hour is the worst. Get there early for baked goods! Fish and shrimp available as a meal option. Food can take a while to get. Credit cards accepted.

Feeding Kids Real Food

2011-09-20T00:53:00.001-07:00

I like to pretend that my approach to feeding kids is like this:

Weird, but also undeniably entertaining to kids.

But really, it’s probably more like this.

When my kids talk about me when they’re older I’m going to be the weird food mom. The one that feeds her kids green smoothies and acts like you won’t even taste the tofu.

I mean, I make cookies, but I make kale salad, vegan pizza, and veggie lasagna with marinated tofu and brown rice noodles or other similarly scary to kid items all the time, too.

Sometimes I forget. Say I took this vegan lasagna for a get-together dinner with kids that are not my own. Oops. Suddenly I felt like I am a bit of a food-torturer. I guess tofu mom should stay home behind closed doors.

Food is strange. It has such an affect on the social atmosphere and vice versa.

I think it’s definitely a personal choice how important what your kids eat is to you. I totally get why some parents stick to chicken nuggets and white rice and quesadillas. My daughter would have been perfectly content to eat those things herself.

I think the question: “How do I get my kids to eat real food?” is a tough one. It’s something I’m thinking a lot about now that I’m on my second approach with the 2nd kid. He seems to be just as picky and stubborn about food as Amaya was. The most common answers are flawed. Cooking with your kids is great, but that doesn’t necessarily make my daughter eat anything. Hiding healthy food (i.e. Spinach brownies) is great for getting nutrition into unsuspecting kids, but it doesn’t help kids enjoy real food.

Here’s what I do to help my daughter learn to love real food. She’s pretty great now about eating everything without complaining. Usually.

Cook a lot of different food. I have a few meals that I repeat, but generally I am always trying new recipes. That’s just my personality. It’s easy to stick with a few foods that you know your kids like, but it can give them an expectation that’s hard to break. Amaya knows that rice is not only white or even brown and meat can be bone on or falling off the bone. I don’t have to play the “but this is something you like” game because she’s seen most foods cooked in many ways.

Take kids out to eat at places that have different foods than what you normally eat. Taking kids to restaurants is not ideal for a Friday night date, but it does mix that whole “this is special” thing with the opportunity of trying new foods.

Require them to eat new foods. So many people have told me this is a bad idea. There are a lot of people that subscribe to the “they’ll eat if they’re hungry” thing. I think this is true for many kids, but not for a picky one. Picky kids will wait until they’re hungry and cranky and still fight you.

This part can be painful. Amaya has actually convinced herself into gagging so many times. Fits and multiple time outs are something I hope you’ll find a way around.

My rules have to do with variety. Throwing variables into my cooking is exactly what has taught me to love different and new foods over the years, so why shouldn’t it work for kids?

I’ve had to repeat these steps for years. My daughter is incredibly stubborn. I guess on this issue, I’ve been more stubborn.

How do you introduce your kids to real food?

A Little Perspective

2011-09-14T22:02:00.001-07:00

This is not a post about good food photography. In fact, it’s pretty much the opposite.

Between work and family, life can get hectic.

I’m not a quick and productive person. Some people can handle it all. But not me. I get stressed pretty easily. I get upset thinking about all the things I have to do. I have to breathe and refocus.

These are not very pretty. But they are tasty, and I like having them around for a quick breakfast. If I make a dozen at the beginning of the week, I have enough for the rest of the week. I like to eat them cold, even, and after school, even.

Perspective can change everything for me. I try to remember that.

Sometimes focusing in is good.

Rather than the big picture.

Because even if you step back you can find a lot of things you might need to deal with, and there’s just too much to deal with right now.

But sometimes it’s better to step back and take it all in.

(Amaya’s class self portraits)

Rather than focusing too much on the detail.

At least she’s proud of her teeth.

Egg Cups (makes 12)

(aka One of the few things I like on the South Beach Diet, but I’m really sick of eggs.)

1 1/2 Cups chopped veggies (like, cooked broccoli, uncooked bell pepper, un/cooked onion, raw mushrooms, tomatoes….)
2/3 Cup shredded cheese (more if you’re lucky and not on a diet)
1 carton 16 oz egg beaters product (alternatively, 8 eggs)
1 egg
1/4 C milk
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste
12 strips turkey bacon (I had bad luck with regular bacon)

Heat the oven to 375 degrees and spray a 12 part muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Stir together in a medium bowl 1/4” cubed chopped veggies with cheese, eggs, milk, salt and pepper.
Line the inside of each muffin space with a strip of turkey bacon. It will kind of loop around like a circle and should stand up fine. It will overlap on the ends.
Spoon in the eggs trying to evenly space out the liquid and the veggies. Don’t fill too full because the eggs will rise a little, although it’s ok if the veggies stick up out of the egg mixture. If there’s any left you can discard.
Bake for 16-18 minutes or until the eggs are set.

Fiji Market

2011-09-07T01:05:00.001-07:00

A stone’s throw away from where I work is Fiji Market. I used to think of this as a place that was kind of my own little secret, even though I see local Tongans and Fijians there all the time, but I thought it was sort of an unknown to tourists.

Well, last time I went there were all sorts of people there, locals and tourists alike.

Maybe it has something to do with the sign they have outside?

Hawaii restaurants love to claim to be the #1 of whatever it is they’re selling. That is usually not true.

But I’ll go ahead and believe that Fiji Market’s curry is #1.

The curry is sold at the back window inside the store. The market is small but the aisles are chock full of common brand goods sold in Fiji and probably other Polynesian islands. I love to walk up and down the aisles while I wait for the curry and try to figure out what everything is. There are a lot of Indian food products, frozen meats you won’t find at the bigger grocery stores (goat and lamb), Edmond’s Custard Powder, Vegemite, spices galore in bulk bags, foreign sodas, and other odds and ends. I haven’t gotten up the guts to buy some vegemite yet.

Here are some of my finds last time. I got the “Crunchie” because I was nostalgic for Australia, where I went for a few weeks in high school.

The curries are chicken, lamb, beef, corned beef, shrimp, and vegetarian. The vegetarian option changes daily, and every time I’ve gone it’s been a different kind. There was a “pea” flavor I didn’t care for (split peas? I think?), but every other time it was great. The flavors have been very different too, not just because there was a different vegetable. This time it was cabbage, and it was basically fried with spices, and I loved it. Often my favorite is the lamb. It is very tender and has a deep flavor. The bones may turn some people off, but I think cooking with the bones is what makes it so good. Just eat around the bones and some extra fat and sop your roti in that gorgeous sauce. The chicken is a yellow curry, and the corned beef is brown and has some great potatoes too. I got the corned beef curry wrapped up in a roti which is an option if you don’t want the whole plate. Certainly the wrap is enough for a normal sized portion for lunch, I think.

(but we like to overdo it around here, so I got two other curries.)

The vegetarian curry is cheaper and it comes with a side of yellow dal soup. The soup has a strong coriander flavor and both of my kids really like it. Every curry comes with tomato chutney which has just a slight spiciness to it. You can get your curry with 2 roti or rice, and you can always get more roti on the side.

Supposedly there are meat pies and sausage rolls selling now, but I haven’t gotten to have those yet because they weren’t available when I went. Sometimes tapioca (the root) is an option too.

Amaya was wary of the curry at first (she says she hates curry—but all our Indian restaurant experiences have told me otherwise) but asked for 2nds and leftovers the next day. She’s a big meat on the bone fan, which means I’ve taught her well.

Fiji Market

56-565 Kamehameha Highway, Kahuku, HI Google Maps

On the right of the sugar mill/gas station

Open 9am-9pm Monday through Saturday

Favorite Eats: lamb curry, roti

Expenses: $8-10 per curry plate (includes rice or roti, tomato chutney), less for a wrap

Little Foodie? Usually mild flavors, soup/dal is a kid favorite in my house

FYI: Take out style, cilantro is a garnish, vegetarian curry changes daily. Browse the shop while you wait. Currently every Yelp! review is 5 stars, which is hard to do. #1!

This is part of a series of posts about North Shore Food.

Tita’s Grill

2011-08-30T23:50:00.001-07:00

Tita’s Grill is directly across from the school I work at. As you can imagine, many of the teachers (and students) eat their breakfast and lunch here. I’m not sure if the name is supposed to be pronounced “Tee-ta”, or “Titta” because the implication of the meaning is very different. The signs out front are pretty classic and have that local charm, so I like to think it’s the latter. I’d like to think that a strong, sassy woman is making that bread. So I will.

I can be loyal to good bread. This is the kind of bread that has absolutely no nutritional value and exists only to be absolutely delicious.

You can buy a slice, but c’mon. You gotta just go all in and get the loaf. $5. If you can possibly force yourself to save some, you can make an amazing french toast.

Sweet, a bit of that white bread chew, this hits that absolutely raving carb addict that lives inside all of us.

The bread is awesome. They spread the slice with margarine, but you forgive them the second you sink your teeth into it. All day you can see people walking away with a brown bagged loaf.

You can get a slice for breakfast but you can also get a sandwich for lunch. A melt. There’s pastrami, tuna, and occasionally roast beef. Maybe the Pastrami doesn’t match up to Carnegie Deli, but it is one million times better than what I can buy at the store here. Paired with this perfect bread, I’m happy. The bread is buttered and sauteed, so the cheese is melted too. You won’t even want to give your crusts away.

There are more local style foods here: plate lunches, loco moco, beef stew, sometimes lau lau, and always some great cocoa rice, but I like the sandwich the best. I eat a lot of sandwiches (I mean, every place around here serves killer sandwiches). This one is the decadent version.

As a kid, there were months in a row that I tried everything I could to spend as little time as possible outside. Between the rain, cold, and windstorms, the purpose of existence was about getting in, and getting warm. I do remember many mornings walking to school, violin case in hand, in the rain, my feet hurting from the cold (uphill both ways)….

Now I hardly ever feel like I’m even indoors. In Hawaii we never close the windows. My classroom door opens to the outside (hallways are nonexistent). You can go to the beach even if it’s raining. My pores are basically always open. A/C is a luxury and central air is rare. You can dry your clothes on the line all year long. Winter, if you can call it that, just means that you’re not on the verge of sweat.

I realized, when I was preparing these reviews, that every establishment I went to on the North Shore has outdoor seating (maybe “seating” is a strong word for a few chairs to the side, but that’s what I’m calling it). Some don’t have any indoor area. There’s something to be said for eating in the sun and in a breeze. I’m thinking it enhances the flavor. Plus no dress code and you don’t have to worry about the sand on your feet. It may not be the best place for a first romantic date, but it gets the job done. Hawaii’s pretty good at the whole “no frills” thing. Sometimes it works against you to be too dressed up around here.

And we eat outside. There’s a bit of wildness to it. Like lions on the plain after the hunt. Maybe that explains why I have such a crazy 5 year old. She gets to eat outside whenever she darn well pleases. Maybe she’ll be a tita too.

Tita’s Grill

56-505 Kam Hwy, Kahuku, HI (approximately) Google Maps

Directly across from Kahuku High School and on the right of Kahuku Superette

Open 7am-7pm Monday through Saturday

Favorite Eats: sandwiches, cocoa rice, specials

Expenses: $5-$10 (cheap $1-$2 bread slice, cocoa rice, panipopo, and bread pudding)

Little Foodie? Whole family friendly

FYI: Outdoor seating only, no bathrooms, right by the highway. This is a very local, small establishment, food may take several minutes. Take out style.

This is part of a series of posts about North Shore Food.

Ono Yo

2011-08-22T03:15:00.001-07:00

There’s a fantasy I have where I own a frozen yogurt machine. A real one. The kind that they use on Iron Chef and Chopped and the judges grip each other in anticipation of ice cream being made in exactly SEVEN MINUTES. I want one, so, so badly. Just because. And just for me.

Ok, so I’ll share some with you if I get one.

Actually, most likely, I would lock myself in the house with the proper ingredients and never come out again.

I’m sure such a machine costs thousands of dollars, but wouldn’t it be worth it?

Good news: Ono Yo is a frozen yogurt truck a stone’s throw from my work.

Bad news: Ono Yo is a frozen yogurt truck a stone’s throw from my work.

Yup.

I’d driven many hour long trips to Kailua for Yogurt Mama before Ono Yo parked across from my school. But now I can hit it whenever I want, even during my lunch break. And I do.

Sometimes I happen upon an unfortunate establishment who doesn’t know how good frozen yogurt can be. I cringe when I realize that the yogurt I’m about to eat is, somehow, water based. That stuff just tastes nasty. You can tell because it’s translucent and always claims, “Low fat!”

Instead, Ono Yo is creamy, tangy (made with Greek yogurt), and enlivened with fruity fresh flavors, found locally. How’s that for a tongue twister?

“Ono” means “delicious” and it is. This place is more interesting than your average frozen yogurt place because its flavors are more island-based. The fruit flavor of the day is usually made with a locally found fruit, and often is not one you see every day, especially on the mainland. There is nothing synthetic about the taste. So far, jackfruit has been my favorite flavor. Apparently it was a pain in the butt to deal with, but I hope they’ll have it again. Strawberry comes around pretty often, as does Acai. I want to catch Lilikoi day soon. There are cute little kiddie chairs and adult chairs too, with some umbrellas to keep you from baking (Kahuku, if you didn’t know, is hot this time of year). Oh, and Giovanni’s shrimp is a stone’s throw away from Ono Yo, so you can make a meal out of the afternoon. For you townies, the hour drive would be worth it.

I’ve decided that I like this yogurt best plain or simply dressed, but they do have a large variety of more natural toppings than the brand cereals and candies you see at many frozen yogurt shops these days. The caramel, honey, and chocolate hazelnut toppings are very nice. Amaya’s favorite is plain with dulce du leche topping. She never wants to share with me.

Mozely doesn’t want to share with me either, but he doesn’t have a choice since I don’t buy him his own. I try to eat quickly before he can eat more than me.

They try hard to stick with local and organic when they can. Anahola Granola is a nice touch, and Waialua sodas line up at the window.

I guess it will do, until I get my very own commercial yogurt machine.

Ono Yo frozen yogurt

56-505 Kam Hwy, Kahuku, HI (approximately) Google Maps

Parked in the field to the left of Kahuku Superette.

Open 12 pm – 7 pm Monday through Saturday

Favorite eats: Jackfruit, soursop, plain. Chocolate hazelnut sauce. Flavor changes daily based on available seasonal fruits.

Expenses: $3.50 (+ tax) – $6 Toppings are .50, creations (a mix of toppings) are a better deal.

Bonus: Local and Organic where possible

Little Foodie? Whole family friendly

FYI: outdoor seating only, check facebook page for daily flavors (1 fruit flavor and plain, every day) and last minute closings. No bathroom, obviously. Lunch can be found close by.

Facebook Page

This is a series of posts about food on the North Shore. Stay tuned.

Waialua Bakery

2011-08-17T01:22:00.001-07:00

Waialua Bakery is one of my happy places on this planet. Waialua is a town that’s one more stop over, but this bakery is smack dab in the middle of Haleiwa. I’m not sure what the origin is on the name, and I’ve never asked because I’m just way too busy eating when I’m there to worry about any such details.

Luckily enough, this happy place is a 25 minute drive away from my house, because otherwise Waialua Bakery would have all my money and I would have all of their food. Every morning. For the rest of my life.

If I ever figure out how to make their Passion Pleasure smoothie, I will be set. The smoothie has just the right touch of papaya and some creaminess from frozen yogurt. I get serious cravings for this smoothie, and I like to think I can make a pretty good smoothie myself. There is no other smoothie that can make me drive half an hour and plop down $4 with a smile on my face. Really.

Every time I come here, I get that smoothie, a sandwich, and a cookie. I don’t care if it’s breakfast. That’s what I’m getting.

The sandwiches are packed with lovely veggies and the sprouts runneth over. I always get the home made bread and spread with hummus. The sandwich is a crunchy, moist mess that I inhale as quickly as possible.

Amaya eats more than her fair share of my sandwiches. Even stuffed with all those vegetables, this is a flavor that cannot be denied.

(but I do recommend asking them to leave off the mustard and vinegar. Just in case.)

This has to be followed up with a cookie. Or two. Our favorites are the monster (peanut butter oatmeal with m&m’s) and the Wonder bar which is a cookie addict’s dream: cookie crumbs are combined with chocolate and coconut and more butter and probably something else gooey and gorgeous, all pressed into a bar. It’s hard to describe. It’s a Wonder bar. With good cause. I like to wolf this down before anyone asks me to share.

Amaya got lucky and had two Monster cookies. With ice cream in between. I jealously eyed her dessert while she ate every last bite.

Oh, if it could be summer every day.

Oh, it is. In Hawaii.

Waialua Bakery

Google Maps

66-200 Kamehameha Highway, Haleiwa, HI

On the right corner of the Malama Market parking lot, tucked behind Spaghettini

Open 9am-4pm Monday-Saturday

Good for: breakfast, lunch, snack

Favorite Eats: passion pleasure smoothie, Wonder bar, roasted veggie sandwich

Little Foodie? Baby, toddler, kid, teenager, and adult friendly.

FYI: Some vegan options, easy to take out, beach casual, outdoor seating. Even though it’s called a bakery, there are no doughnuts here. Mostly cookies, fresh breads for sandwiches, and a few breakfast baked goods.

Yelp Review

This is a series of posts about food on the North Shore. Stay tuned.

The Dawn of a New Era

2011-08-02T20:42:00.001-07:00

Apparently, when someone gets old enough to be in Kindergarten, they suddenly know how to model.

I swear I didn’t ask her to pose at all.

She started school this week, and time feels like I’m trying to pick out the scenery when I’m sitting in a convertible with the top down at 80 mph.

Oh well, I guess I can enjoy the wind in my hair.

Amaya asked me to make her pancakes, after I was on that wretched diet.

I dropped in some freeze dried strawberry pieces (especially the little powdery pieces at the bottom of the bag that aren’t good for snacking) and chocolate chips.

She said, “Oh! It’s like we can have a real breakfast again! We haven’t had a real breakfast in a LOoooooooNG time!”

Three weeks is eternity to a 5 year old. 5 years is a blink of the eye to a 30 year old. Now that is a cosmic joke.

Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies and Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies

2011-07-30T14:49:00.001-07:00

Oh.

No.

No, I didn’t.

Yes.

Yes, I did.

Sorry for ruining your figure forever.

It’s a bit painful and ironic to talk about the next things on a FOOD blog. But I hope that I got your attention for this next part. It was a trap for a good cause.

This is the last week of the Foodbuzz and Yahoo! campaign to support Share Our Strength. In New Haven, Share Our Strength has organized a food truck to serve meals to children, during the summer, since they can’t go to school to pick up their normally subsidized lunch. I love that they think creatively about this problem.

Click Here to see how you can contribute. This summer there is a dollar of dollar match for your donation.

Yahoo! is partnering with Foodbuzz to contribute $20,000 to Share Our Strength on behalf of the reading and blogging community. Help support this donation by:

1. Making Yahoo! your homepage now.
2. Sharing the campaign with your Facebook friends and Twitter followers.

I have a serious addiction to chocolate chip cookies. If you were to look at my Tastespotting favorites list, I have pages and pages of links saved of chocolate chip cookies. And blondies, which are just cookies in bar form. There’s something very pure about a chocolate chip cookie to me, and those things are butter, sugar, and chocolate. If you said, there’s only one dessert you can eat for the rest of your life, I know what my answer is.

I saw these on Tastespotting by The Kitchen Magpie a couple of weeks ago. I immediately made them. And then I tweaked it a bit. The recipe is great, and works, but I knew I needed some more FAT in the cookies in order to make it a little more moist, and a little more tender. I added 1/2 Cup of shortening (Crisco) to the original recipe which helps the moisture but doesn’t melt the cookies in the same way as butter, since I wanted to keep the shape.

Also, I learned a little. Let the dough sit for about 40 minutes and stir it again to help the flour soak up the butter. That way you can actually work with the dough, instead of it sticking and melting to your hands in one gooey mess.

And I figured, since I’m stuffing these bad boys, why not look for some other things laying around the house?

And then I thought, why not make a PEANUT butter cookie version?

Then I was drunk on the power so I made ice cream sandwiches, with vegan banana ice cream (made from Veganomicon’s recipe).

Yup.

You’re just going to hate me forever now, aren’t you?

I recommend sharing these. As my friend said, when she bit into one of these stuffed cookies: “The fat girl inside me is very happy right now.”

Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies (adapted from The Kitchen Magpie)

2 1/4 Cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 Cup butter, softened but still cool
1/2 Cup smooth peanut butter (not natural is probably better in this case, for texture. If you like to use natural, it will be a bit more crumbly, but still good.)
3/4 Cup packed brown sugar
3/4 Cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
about 20 Oreos, Tim Tams, Reeses PB cups (full size), or other cookie/candy.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Use a sifter if you are at all worried about lumps, and if you live in Hawaii, you should be.
Cream together the butter, peanut butter, and sugars in a stand mixer on medium speed for a few minutes until fluffy.
Add the vanilla and eggs, mixing in thoroughly after each egg. Remove the bowl to mix in the final ingredients by hand.
Pour in the flour and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until well incorporated. Let the dough sit for at least 40 minutes. Stir the dough a few more times before working with it.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Take about 2 Tbsp dough and flatten it, using short pats. Try not to handle the dough for too long or too tightly, or it will quickly start melting which makes it hard to work with. Lay the cookie/candy in the middle of the dough and push the dough up and around the cookie, trying to make it meet. You don’t need nearly as much dough as you think you do, for this recipe.
Place about 8 on the cookie sheet, at least 2” apart, and bake for 14 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the pan for 2 minutes before moving with a metal, thin-edged, wide spatula, to a cooling rack.

Sunrise Layer Cake

2011-07-23T01:25:00.001-07:00

My son Mozely turned 1-years-old today.

One year ago, we were watching Lie to Me at home and I heard a pop (!).

I had just been telling everyone at work that the baby wasn’t coming out for at least a couple more weeks, based on the previous experience.

Boy, was I a naïve 2nd time mom.

Four hours and a 28 mile drive later I was frantically waiting for the doctor to show up so I could push, because there was absolutely NOTHING more important in the world than pushing, and those freaking #@$&% people just refused to let me do that. Until the doctor came.

I would have delivered to any creature with opposable thumbs at that moment.

20 minutes after that doctor finally showed up, I screamed and pushed and

this is what I got.

I guess it was a good trade. Before that moment I wasn’t totally sure.

We did one of those “Can you come eat some cake in 5 minutes?” thingamajigs. I couldn’t really call it a party, because it wasn’t organized.

Maybe even as organized as this cake, as it was in the early stages.

In Hawaii we’re lucky enough to call some people our family, even if we’re not actually related, and Mozely’s uncles and aunties and their kids came. I felt guilty about not being organized and decided to buy some pizza at the last minute. And my neighbor found an unused bag of party stuff.

Ok, so maybe I can call it a party after all. Maybe parties are just wherever you can be with everyone else.

It was Ethan’s birthday too. I’ve known Ethan since he was, like, two, or maybe just two feet tall, and definitely since he told us funny things about his ears.

I didn’t buy Mozely any presents. Instead I spent most of the day making his cake.

Layers: Strawberry (with beet for coloring), orange, mango, guava, coconut. Lilikoi curd and coconut Italian buttercream between each layer. I’m calling it a sunrise cake. I don’t think I pulled off the coloring perfectly, but for from scratch and trying not to use food coloring—I think it was a good effort. The vegan orange layer completely started squishing and falling apart so I will put that layer up higher next time. For a moment I thought I had a catastrophe for a cake, but some firming up in the fridge helped its looks. A little bit.

The Lilikoi curd was just amazing. I also loved the coconut frosting. I’m still looking for a great mango cake recipe. For some reason, that’s the one that doesn’t cook up so well. However, in the sunrise layer cake, the flavors melded and just tasted light and fruity with a tang of the curd. It worked.

Recipes (click on the links)

I halved each of the recipes to make just one 9” circular cake pan.

Strawberry Cake (I added 1/4 Cup of beet puree to intensify the color.)

Guava Cake

mango cake: yellow box cake with mango juice instead of water.

Orange Vegan Cake

Coconut Cake and Coconut Frosting

Lilikoi curd

I cut each layer in half horizontally and some I threw away because of the unevenness of the cakes, and really, I had enough layers that there was some to spare. Luckily. Lilikoi curd and frosting are in between each. The cake wasn’t as beautiful as my drawing. But I did have a vision.

I spent all day on this cake. There’s something BIG inside of me that wants to feed people. If you’re reading this, you probably know the feeling. Food has a lot of power.

This week I wanted to let you know there are ways YOU can get involved with Share Our Strength, the organization that works to help keep kids fed, even during the summer. I teach at a school where almost half of our students receive some kind of financial assistance for lunch and breakfast. During the summer, many kids don’t have a place to eat a good lunch every day!

Share Our Strength brings in multiple ways to get involved. There are event fundraisers, bake sales, blogger campaigns, and more. Click Here to see how you can contribute. This summer there is a dollar of dollar match for your donation.

Yahoo! is partnering with Foodbuzz to contribute $20,000 to Share Our Strength on behalf of the reading and blogging community. Help support this donation by:

1. Making Yahoo! your homepage now.
2. Sharing the campaign with your Facebook friends and Twitter followers.

What I’ve Learned in Ten Years of Marriage

2011-07-20T03:39:00.001-07:00

Two is oh-so-much better

for cleaning up.

If you had told me ten years ago that cleaning up, and just the general business of living together was, almost, as important as sex, I would have really laughed at you.

It’s important that both of those things happen in a good marriage, even if it involves some work. Plus the value of it increases with time.

And when one person leaves, let’s say, for a two week trip to American Samoa (and leaves you alone with two kids)---

you’re pretty happy to have that person back.

For at least two reasons.

P.S.

How awesome is my ten-years-ago teenage brother?

The angst-icon for a new generation.

Vegan Pesto Pizza is Real

2011-07-15T23:50:00.001-07:00

One too many people I know consider vegan food

weird,

or something only skinny people eat.

I’ll tell you, I could get downright plump on vegan food. Especially this pizza. I go through phases where I feel the need to balance out my proteins with vegan foods, like when I’m on this ridiculous South Beach diet (currently on hold, indefinitely) and I just hate eggs and meat of all kinds, passionately (but just right now, promise).

I’m a fan of this girl’s recipes. I have never once been disappointed by her ability to make vegan food real. As in, Real tasty.

I made her pesto pizza (click to print) and I have some suggestions to make it the number one pizza on the planet, against all other kinds. I know this because I’ve made this pizza three times in the last two weeks.

Use This crust recipe.

Throw a diced eggplant into the roasting pan for the topping if you like. Roasting these veggies before actually making the pizza was a genius move. I’ve always been a purist in the pizza making—I always just thinly slice raw vegetables and make a very scant topping in favor of cheese. This recipe proved that whole idea wrong. Load those roasted veggies on there, please.

Variations for the pesto: add a roasted jalapeno for spicy pesto, or a handful of sundried tomatoes for a sweeter one.

A slice is delicious for breakfast too. Yes, I did. Three times.

The pizza tastes fresh, sweet with roasted tomato and onion, and crispy crackly garlic oil crust under a savory pesto. I was sure that the pesto wouldn’t live up to my standards, but I can honestly say I like this vegan version better than the original parmesan standard. That is saying a lot.

I had been craving pizza like crazy, since I wasn’t supposed to eat any, which is completely torturous. I was totally convincing myself that I was starving. Riiiiight, you’re saying. My hunger was eating up my soul, or so I told myself when I started making this pizza.

Being hungry is really, really distracting. It's hard to concentrate on anything. And please. I was just on a diet. I am one of the luckiest people ever to consider myself deprived while on a diet. The fact of it doesn’t escape me. I try to count my blessings, even when I’m being an angry witch and hating everyone who is allowed to eat carbs.

I want to tell you, before you go out for your weekend, that Foodbuzz is partnering up with Yahoo! to support Share our Strength, an organization I really care about. They create food programs for hungry children in smart and effective ways. Yahoo! will donate $20,000 to Share our Strength on behalf of Foodbuzz and their community of readers and bloggers.

Here are two things you can do raise awareness about this important cause:
1. Make Yahoo! your homepage now to let them know you like what they’re doing to help Share Our Strength.
2. Share the campaign with your Facebook friends and Twitter followers.

I’ll be talking about Share Our Strength during the campaign, and in return for my participation, Foodbuzz is going to donate some $ on my behalf to Share Our Strength, too.

Win-Win in my book.

Reborn as a 5-year-old

2011-07-13T11:16:00.001-07:00

My 5-year-old woke up and said, “Now that I’m 5, I can skateboard.” So off she went, outside, and jumped on the skateboard. Really.

Next she wanted me to take the training wheels off her bike, but I said, “Wait until Daddy gets home.”

Truthfully, I was just freaked out that she might be able to ride a bike without training wheels, just because she was 5.

Kindergarten is upon us at the beginning of August.

Sometimes she reminds me that she is still very young.

Like when she came home from the neighbor’s house yesterday, crying, that the kids told her she was “littler than them.”

“But I’m big, Mama. I’m big. I had my birthday.”

Or just how much she enjoys a treat. She considers it her right, as a citizen, to eat a cupcake for breakfast, or a Magnum ice cream bar in the afternoon. (Promise, I have never let her eat cupcakes for breakfast, but it doesn’t stop her from asking. Every. Single. Day.) I think only kids think this, and only adults eat cupcakes for breakfast.

Here she is, not sharing with Mozely. He can tell that he’s missing out on something.

(As you can see, a 5-year-old also still does not let me brush her hair without screaming like a banshee. We have cut off dreadlocks that gather in the wilds at the nape of her neck.)

I got a coupon from Foodbuzz through their Tastemaker Program for a free box of Magnum bars. The cashier at the grocery store couldn’t believe my luck.

I have a pretty high standard for ice cream bars, because in general, I don’t like ‘em. I think they’re covered in wax and the ice cream is bad quality. The chocolate did melt, quickly, which is important to me. And it was thick enough, instead of a waxy candy shell. The main thing that won me over?

A ribbon of velvety, soft caramel between two chocolate layers. Yes, you can come over for an afternoon snack at my house, Magnum.

She savors better than anyone. I hope she won’t lose her 5-year-old self in a year. Let’s hold on to that a little longer, please.

Cookies and Cream Popsicle

2011-07-06T02:07:00.001-07:00

When I was growing up I thought grape jelly was a secret everyone kept from me. We only spoke Adam’s peanut butter and I had no idea that Dijon wasn’t the only kind of mustard on our street.

We weren’t rich, but there was a certain food language in my house. We did have boxed Mac and Cheese now and again (c’mon, my parents weren’t animals), but when friends slept over at my house they spoke in whispers to me at the breakfast table—“your syrup tastes weird”—and I looked back at them, blankly, like we were strangers meeting for the first time, while I munched the maple sugar that had crystallized at the top of the bottle.

I clearly remember the first time I ate Oreo cookies like a rumspringa. My mom had arranged for a friend to pick me up from school and the kids were sitting in the back of the car eating Oreos on the way home. The others were eating the cream out of the middle and giving fancy speeches about their technique, while I ate each one in simple, complete bites. I couldn’t believe the dancing syllables of cream and crunchy chocolate against my teeth, my tongue. Crunch melted into softness in the dips of my molars and a sweet stayed in my throat as I reached for another. Everything felt completely surreal as I realized no adult was going to stop me from eating as many as I wanted.We laughed about how good Oreos could be, giddy and talking fast, and in the distance I could hear Chips Ahoy talking with the Keebler Elves about those seductive Girl Scout Thin Mints.

I had no idea that my parents just hate Oreos until a couple of months ago.

I guess I’m a wayward daughter.

P.S. However, Peanut Butter Newman O’s rock the Oreo world. And I really love to eat Oreos frozen, and then dipped in milk.

Cookies and Cream Popsicles (makes 2-3, depending on your mold)

These are a bit tricky. Unmolding the popsicle without breaking it is more difficult because of the whole Oreo or Newman O’s cookie. But, you will be rewarded if you put the Oreo in the middle of the popsicle stick. If it’s at the tip, the icy milk doesn’t have enough to hold onto and you’ll lose half of the popsicle in the mold. Think of the popsicle as milk with a creamy Oreo center.

These melt FAST. Eat them faster.

2/3 Cup whole milk
1 Tbsp sugar (or to taste—it needs to be slightly sweeter than you think, because freezing makes everything taste slightly less sweet)
4 Oreo or Newman O cookies, divided

Whisk the sugar into the milk. Crumble 2 of the Oreo cookies into the milk and then pour a Tablespoon or so of the milk into the bottom of the mold.
Quickly open an Oreo and use the filling to help stick the two halves back together with the popsicle stick, toward the middle. Put the stick into the mold and then fill the rest of the mold up with the milk. Repeat for the other popsicle.
Let freeze according to popsicle mold directions.

The Little Foodie

The Humans are Alive, the Computer is Dead

All I Want for Christmas

In with the New

Halloween is about Yes.

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

Chobani Greek Yogurt and Granola Popsicles

Red Curry Noodles

Crepes are Especially for You

Eat the Street Kakaako

Food Writing for Food Lovers: A Workshop with Dianne Jacob

Foodbuzz 24x24: This ain’t your mama’s pizza.

Ted’s Bakery

Feeding Kids Real Food

A Little Perspective

Fiji Market

Fiji Market

Tita’s Grill

Ono Yo

Ono Yo frozen yogurt

Waialua Bakery

Waialua Bakery

Google Maps

66-200 Kamehameha Highway, Haleiwa, HI

On the right corner of the Malama Market parking lot, tucked behind Spaghettini

Open 9am-4pm Monday-Saturday

Good for: breakfast, lunch, snack

Favorite Eats: passion pleasure smoothie, Wonder bar, roasted veggie sandwich

Little Foodie? Baby, toddler, kid, teenager, and adult friendly.

FYI: Some vegan options, easy to take out, beach casual, outdoor seating. Even though it’s called a bakery, there are no doughnuts here. Mostly cookies, fresh breads for sandwiches, and a few breakfast baked goods.

The Dawn of a New Era

Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies and Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies

Sunrise Layer Cake

What I’ve Learned in Ten Years of Marriage

Vegan Pesto Pizza is Real

Reborn as a 5-year-old

Cookies and Cream Popsicle