Kitchen Sink Slushies
Tis the time of year for slushies, slushies, slushies! We’ve already had some near 100 degree days here, and more are certain to come. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know how we love slushies here, especially Ice Cream Slushies. But what if you upgrade the scoop of vanilla ice cream...
Coconut Cream Cameo Cookies
British influence flourished in Hawaii during the reign of the Hawaiian Monarchy– from the British Union Jack in the Hawaiian flag, to formal holoku dresses, to even British Tea. In the mid 1800’s, Queen Emma of Hawaii shared a particularly close friendship with Queen Victoria of England, undertaking the long ocean voyage to visit her...
Strawberries and Cream Cups
I wanted some pretty strawberry parfait cups for my daughter’s tea party, and kept trying to think of what kinds of cake, cream, and sauces I wanted to layer in the glasses. As there were already going to be quite a few cakes, cookies, and treats for the tea, I didn’t want to make these...
A Girls’ Day Makeover and Tea
We recently celebrated Laurel’s birthday with a Girls’ Day Makeover and Tea Party. I was feeling sentimental and teary just thinking about how she would be gone to college in a couple of years. She hasn’t wanted a birthday party since she was 9 years old, and this would probably be my one and last...
Quick Hummus and Vegetable Toasts
I recently needed to come up with an easy open faced, vegetarian sandwich to include in a tea tray I was preparing for my daughter’s birthday tea. The other finger sandwiches I made were smoked salmon, chicken salad, and egg salad. Wouldn’t you know it? This one turned out to be the most popular, and...
Camellias
It’s been a bit quiet here on the blog lately. I’ve been stepping back a bit– trying to enjoy life without frenzy, and really appreciating the last few years with my children before they go off to new adventures. The camellias are in full bloom. Their blossoms, so beautiful on the bushes. But when I...
Chocolate Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip
Ever since Valentine’s day, the stores seem to be filled with strawberries. Seems a bit early, but I’ve been seeing them at the farmer’s market too. Here’s a quick little dip that my kids have no problem digging into. Very quickly melt some chocolate chips, peanut butter, and a bit of honey. I used the...
Chinese New Year: How to Make Year of the Horse Tags
Some Li See (Red/Lucky Money) envelopes are so beautiful, it always seems such a shame to throw them away once they tear or get crumpled. One way to make them last longer is to make them into little laminated tags, which can be tied onto gifts. Carefully cut out the portion of the design you...
Chinese New Year of the Horse: Shortbread Oatcakes
Gung Hee Fat Choy! Today marks the beginnning of two weeks of celebrating the Year of the Horse. I whipped up some tasty oatcakes, in line with the horse theme. They are a little richer than a regular oatmeal cookie, but this is a celebration time! Just oats, flour, butter, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix...
More Pa’i’ai: Green Onion Chili Oil Biscuits and Pa’i’ai Crackers
Fresh Pa’i’ai on Ti Leaves Before the holidays, I wrote about the traditional pounded taro called Pa’i’ai, from Mana Ai. We enjoyed mini pa’i’ai pizzas, and some wonderfully chewy, satisfying pa’i’ai tortillas. The pa’i’ai also made some very tasty biscuits and crackers which I’m sharing today. Although pa’i’ai can last for months at room temperature,...
Happy New Year!
The first day of 2014 was a gorgeous sunny day here. Too bad a long, lingering cold bug has been making its way through our household. A good bone broth with vegetables, and toasted mochi to the rescue! Not quite ozoni soup, but very, very good! Can’t forget a little drizzle of shoyu-sugar sauce over...
Probiotic Punch with Coconut Milk Snowflakes
‘Tis the season to think about making Holiday Sherbet Punch for our New Year’s celebration. This year, the standard punch formula of (juice + soda + sherbet) will be slightly different, but still very delicious. Unfortunately, as the years add up, my digestion just isn’t what it used to be. One thing I’ve found that has...
