Butter Pecan Bar

My dear friend Christine not only rocks in the cooking department but also in the baking arena. Everything she makes is delicious. A crunchy crust and chewy inside with a taste reminiscent of mochi made these bars an instant hit!

Sunny Side Bakery Banana Pie

My work neighbor Todd was kind enough to share a Wahiawa's Sunny Side Bakery banana pie for the party and I was blown away by the light yet filling quality of this pie. This dessert is all crust and banana with none of that pudding and cream. Yummy!

Summer Rolls Party

What do you do when your herb garden is busting at the seams? You invite some friends, harvest all the herbs, and have a summer roll party! What an excellent opportunity to catch up with colleagues who you rarely see and talk to on the 40 acre campus. After my demonstration, everyone was assigned to make a roll of their own. Laureen was determined and successful after perfecting a tight tuck and roll.

Banana Chocolate Muffin

Scott is already planning his third surfing trip to New Zealand this summer and can't wait to visit the Sugar Juice Bar in Opunake for their chocolate banana muffins. Can I make one just as good? Katie Lee's recipe for banana bread was NOT chocolate banana but banana with chocolate chips. Oh well..I tried.

Cream Cheese Chocolate Cupcake

If I ever opened my own bakery, I would definitely have these little cakes on my menu. The smooth cream cheese inside makes these cupcakes so rich that my husband asks me to make them again and again. The only change I made was switching butterscotch for peanut butter chips and the results were a hit.

Chocolate Dipped Oreo

A trek to town involves a stop at the Honolulu Chocolate Company for the Chocolate Dipped Oreos. At $1 a cookie, this indulgence does not come cheap. How hard could it be? To make it as good as Honolulu's, I needed to use good chocolate and the Executive Chef had Guittard available. Instead of the double boiler method, I tempered the chocolate and the hard shell was achieved. It tastes as good as it looks!

Science Fair

A fun Saturday morning at Leilehua High School's Science Fair with my friend Kayla where we did fun activities such as fish printing, learning about robots and making them! Kayla won a spectacular prize called a hex bug.
I saw a bunch of other kids from my school. My favorite activity was the race'um brushbots where I got to make a robot made out of a toothbrush!

Red Pineapple

Nalani greets you in her colorful, energetic, and gorgeous store at the Ward Centre which features delicious scented perfumes like lychee, Dean and Deluca goodies, and just the cutest stuff featured in Oprah and InStyle magazines.

Honolulu Chocolate Company

A pretty store with over the top decorations and their chocolate dipped Oreo cookies are to die for!

Mochi

1/2 c sugar, 1 1/2 c mochiko flour, and 1 3/4 c water mixed and then zapped in the microwave for 7 minutes creates a Japanese sweet-mochi! Working fast is the key as you cut the hot dough and quickly enclose your choice of filling. My sisters and I started to get the hang of it with azuki beans and went so far as to try peanut butter and raspberry with chocolate fillings. You'd be surprised how fast and simple this is!

Superbowl

A day of overindulgence and a Thanksgiving of junk food. I could care less for the football but what keeps me entertained are the pupus (appetizers), over the top commercials, and anything can happen halftime performances.

Punahou Carnival

We may not be able to afford the tuition but we sure can afford the malasadas (Portuguese donuts) at 50 cents each. A well organized, family friendly, crowded and expensive carnival. Anna had a blast on the Swingers, Scott enjoyed his burger, and I relished every bite of my malasadas that I look forward to eating every year.

Acapulco Mexican Restaurant

Fancy furniture and decor not necessary when the food is this good! Service got off to a slow start (no water, no utensils, unfriendly waiter) but once the food arrived, I forgot about all it! Fresh ingredients, generously filled burritos and delicious Spanish rice!

Anne Burrell's Lasagna

A lot of work, ingredients (mushrooms, zucchini, ricotta, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, and Italian sausage), and steps( cooking sausage, mushrooms, and zucchini all separately before layering the lasagna noodles) to create this show stopper!