Roasted Sweet Potato Jack-o-Lantern Faces and Ghosts
I was so excited to think up of making these jack-o-lantern faces and ghosts with roasted sweet potato slices– something healthy and festive. I didn’t find out until after I had made them, and did a little surfing online, that someone had already done the sweet potato jack-o-lantern faces last year. Oh well, it’s still...
Sweet Potato Gingerbread Girls with Vanilla Bean Linen Aprons
Sugar and spice and all things nice include sweet potatoes too, and rows and rows of these sweet girls. I used mashed sweet potatoes to take place of part of the fat in these gingerbread cookies, and to give them some added nutrition. Both the orange fleshed and the yellow fleshed sweet potatoes may be...
Roasted Vegetable Lasagna (Great for a Family Dinner of Mixed Diets)
Eggplant, zucchini, crookneck squash, summer squash, bell peppers, onion slices, mushrooms, and fennel are vegetables which work well. Cut open the bell peppers, remove the insides and slice them into large rectangles. Slice other vegetables 3/8″ thick, and place similarly sized vegetables together in the same pan so you can remove vegetables which cook faster...
Avocado Cilantro Chile Dip
Now that school is back in session, I made a tasty little dip to have on hand for some afterschool snacks. It’s a quick “dump and blend” of cashews, pumpkin seeds, avocado, cilantro, diced green chilies, Cotija cheese, garlic, lemon juice, water and sea salt. Soaking the cashews and pumpkin seeds for a few hours...
Spicy Baked Buttermilk Chicken Strips
These baked chicken strips are easy to make when you’re craving something like fried chicken, but don’t actually want to deep fry anything. The marinade is made with two simple ingredients: buttermilk and hot wing sauce. I like this hot wing sauce because it only contains cayenne peppers, vinegar, salt, garlic and a little oil....
Ala Moana Farmers’ Market
Earlier this summer we went back home to Hawaii and I had a chance to visit the Ala Moana Farmers’ Market. It’s one of those farmers’ markets that has plenty of parking, because it’s in the parking lot of Ala Moana Shopping Center. Warm breezes from the ocean right across the street, pleasant sounds of...
Fresh Strawberry Manju (Hawaiian Crispy Style)
The farmers markets are brimming with berries this time of summer. The other day, I picked up some blackberries and strawberries that were so sweet and juicy. On my way home, I was thinking about what I could make with them, when I was struck by the greatest idea– A whole fresh strawberry tucked...
Sacramento Midtown Farmers Market
There’s a new Saturday farmer’s market in town, the Midtown Farmer’s Market. They even have a free valet bike area with someone to watch over all the bikes. First up, I couldn’t resist the offer of a free strawberry sample. They were organic, and very sweet! Gorgeous carrots and zucchini…. Stunning colored heads of cauliflower,...
Drinks to Cool Down and Celebrate With
With the heat wave of 100+ degree days, I thought I’d re-share some of my other favorite slushie drinks to cool down with, other than our recent favorite, Haupia Slushie. It’s about time to make those haupia stars to celebrate the fourth of July with this Strawberry Watermelon Smoothie with Blueberries and Haupia Stars. Honey-Lemon,...
Haupia Slushie
If you like coconut and haupia, you will love this slushie. Nothing will make you think more being in the warm Hawaiian sunshine than a tall glass of haupia slush. Price comparison: Thai Kitchen (12 oz canned) $2-3; Tropics (16 oz frozen, from Asian market) $1.50; Hawaiian Sun (12 oz frozen, from Oto’s) close...
Sacramento Library Vintage Cooking Challenge
The Sacramento Public Library has a Vintage Cooking Challenge going on this summer. Here’s a glimpse on the info on their Facebook page. They’ve chosen a dozen recipes from vintage Sacramento cookbooks from the years 1890 to 1970. If you make a recipe, take a picture, write a little review and send it in to...
Mini Donut Cookies & The Coffee and Donut Lei
We’ve been a little fixated on donuts around here lately. Because I bake pretty frequently, I usually only get the family donuts once a year. For some reason, I’ve gotten donuts twice in the past few weeks, just recently from Doughbot Donuts. I’ve been thinking about a tiny donut cookie. I’d never seen one before,...
