Mini Coconut Pineapple Macaroons
Coconut and pineapple are two of my favorites flavors. Put together in sweet little bites, and I am in heaven. They’re simply made with unsweetened coconut, coconut oil or butter, evaporated cane juice, dried pineapple, an egg, and a little flour. Earlier this week you saw some of them nestled in my Chinese New Year...
Sesame Ginger Puffed Rice Crunch
This so quick to throw together. Sweet and crunchy, almost like caramel popcorn, but with a little zing from the ginger. Only 5 ingredients: Puffed Brown Rice or Crispy Brown Rice cereal, toasted sesame seeds, candied ginger, butter, and brown rice syrup. I prefer using brown rice syrup rather than corn syrup because it is...
Oh, Hilo Hattie (Part 2)
Early in December, I was distressed to receive these in the mail. You can read about it in part one here. So after I finished my chauffeuring duties, this message was waiting for me. Within 2 hours, I had a response from the Chief Operating Officer: “We are so sorry to hear that our Hilo...
Quick Spicy Chicken and Tofu
Just got back from a quick trip up to the Pacific Northwest to spend New Year’s with the Blue Dinosaur’s family. We enjoyed visiting with extended family, and the kids especially loved spending lots of time with their cousins. After a few days of rain though, I especially appreciated the bright sunshine back here in...
Grapefruit Cranberry Sparkler
Fresh grapefruit and champagne…I’ve been meaning to experiment making some sort of sorbet for the past several years. Especially since we have this white grapefruit tree that seems to produce hundreds and hundreds of fruit year round– hundreds and hundreds of really sour fruits. I always feel bad letting them fall to the ground and...
A Flurry of Christmas Treat Making
Snapshots in my kitchen… Chunks of white chocolate… melting in a bowl over hot water. Dipping brownie pops… and candy canes… Topping brownie flowers with white chocolate and Christmas sprinkles. Dipping Horlick’s Malt Cookie Tablets in Christmas sprinkles…. and baking them…. along with chocolate ones too… Cute little jars of little cookies getting ready to...
Creamy Mushroom Barley Soup
This version of a creamy soup uses no cream or milk at all. Remember our mushroom barley pilaf? The one pictured above was made using white button mushrooms and pearl barley. Just blend up a half cup of pilaf with a cup of strong bouillon for the simplest, lowfat creamy soup. Normally when I cook,...
Mushroom Barley Pilaf
Mushrooms + Barley = simple, hearty winter food. Eat it steaming hot on a cold day to warm you up. Any kind of fresh mushrooms will do. Here we have a frilly oyster mushroom relaxing atop some shiitakes. Slice up the mushrooms. Pluck the leaves off a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Heat some oil...
Sauteed Garlic Spaghetti Squash
A huge bowl of warm pasta is one of the ultimate comfort foods, especially on a chilly, hectic day. Should I be eating so many carbs? Definitely not. Enter Spaghetti Squash. There are so many recipes and articles telling us to use it as a substitute for spaghetti noodles and cover it with a marinara...
Blueberry Taro Lava Rock Muffins
Lovely to behold– the lava rock muffin. “Scrapbook of Memories: Pu’uhonu o Honaunau, Place of Refuge, Big Island of Hawaii” In old times, if you broke any laws, your only hope was to make it to here and be absolved by the kahuna (high priest) of your wrongdoing. Only problem was that you had to...
Maple Vanilla Sweet Potatoes in Mini Pumpkins
This idea has been swirling inside my head for a while. Pumpkin and sweet potatoes whipped together and piped into mini pumpkin shells. Piped high to look like soft serve ice cream, but packed with nutrients and just a touch a sweetness. This time of year, the markets are filled with all sorts of...
Waffle Dogs!
During the last couple of weeks, the weather remained pleasantly warm in the low to mid 80’s. It’s the exact kind of weather to make me think of home. Warm sunshine, light breezes…make me feel like having… a waffle dog! KC drive-in, now closed, was the place to go for a classic KC waffle dog...
