Peonies

I'm not into jewelry nor purses but what makes me go weak in the knees are peonies!  I thought I would never find these fragile, luxurious flowers in Hawaii and what a pleasant surprise to find them at Watanabe Florist.  Aren't they gorgeous?!

Miette Chocolate Chip Cookie

A trip to the Bay Area means a visit to the most beautiful shop in the world-Miette!  French for crumb, the shop in Hayes Valley takes its design cues from the beautiful pastry shop windows of Paris.  Equally beautiful is owner Meg Ray's cookbook and even more delectable is this cookie.

Wilton Cake Decorating Course 3

Something I've always wanted to do-learn how to create a fondant cake.  Devoting 3 Sundays for 2 hours each, including extra practice time was one of the most productive months of my life.

Pretty Cake

What a pretty sight!  A total of 10 hours to create my first fondant covered cake.

Jeremy

My adorable, talented nephew Jeremy!

Cake Decorating Course

First a bow, today flowers, and next week covering a cake with fondant.  So fun, challenging, and a new appreciation of cake decoration.

Mokuleia Beach

My new favorite beach-clean and desserted.

Mother's Day at the Wailana Coffee House

Reasonable prices, good food, and 24 hour breaksfasts

are what makes the Gruzinskys return time and time again to this popular coffee shop in Waikiki.

Happy Mother's Day

What better way to celebrate my day than with my family at the beach. I can't wait for summer!

Bruce Paltrow's World Famous Pancakes

Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook my father's daughter features nutritious, not quite vegetarian or vegan recipes. These pancakes contains buttermilk which I found interesting and odd at the same time. A little sour for my taste. Thin batter produced crispy on the edges pancakes.

Chicken Milanese

Simple and satisfying for a Friday night dinner. Topped with cherry tomatoes and spinach that were mixed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar took it to the top.

Happy 85th Birthday Dad!

Birthday wishes to my hero! Busy schedules and traffic couldn't stop us from convening at our favorite Chinese restaurant in Kalihi to celebrate Dad's 85th birthday. Steamed ginger fish, kau yuk, shrimp vegetable chow mein, beef chop suey, and ong choi are some our favorite dishes.

Cinco de Mayo

Did you know that Scott and I have a love of Mexican food? We were placed in the same teacher's group because of this food and even went to Mexico for our honeymoon and ate MORE Mexican food. Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Night Out with the Ladies

The stack of papers to be graded and meetings galore have pushed us to the edge.  It's the end of the school year.  Dinner at Auntie Pasto's and dessert from 3rd Cup Cafe are what we needed to end the week and to prepare for the stamina essential for

finals week.

Peanut Butter Cookie

Crunchy on the edges and chewy on the inside with the right amount of peanut butter taste.   Anna couldn't help herself and snatched a few as I prepared her lunch.  It's that good!

Pico de Gallo

It wouldn't be a Cinco de Mayo celebration without the pico de gallo.  My former student  Javier prepared it for the 7th grade class and I demanded the recipe that hails all the way back to Mexico.  Muy bueno!

Vegan Brownie

Not bad for a vegan brownie.  Very rich and fudgy!