Infinity's 4th Birthday

The trumpets blare and herald the celebration of Infinity's 4th birthday. The lovely castle and crown sugar cookies are royal enough for this cute little diva.

Mililani Golf Course Restaurant

It was a Friday afternoon and locals (golfers and non-golfers) were packed into this spacious, casual, and lively (it was the end of happy hour) restaurant that overlooked the golf course. People rave about the pork adobo but I thought it too expensive at $11.99 with no side vegetables nor salad. My parents would kill me if they found out I paid that much for something they'll make me for free. So, I settled for the grilled mahi mahi with teriyaki beef and cleaned my whole plate. It was delicious!

Big City Cupcakes, Vancouver

Check out this cupcake bakery when you're in Vancouver. Super friendly service, larger than normal cupcakes sizes, and moist cakes. Voted most popular is the New York Chocolate Cheesecake.

Cakey Chocolate Chip cookie

I prefer these to Martha's soft and chewy version. There was less butter (1 3/4 sticks) and brown sugar (1/4 C) which yielded a thicker and fluffier chocolate chip cookie but with just as much appeal with 2 C semisweet chocolate chips. Delectable with a glass of milk!

Salmon Cakes with Lemon Thyme Orzo

This inexpensive meal was worth the time it took to pluck every bone out of the canned salmon which cost only $3. Mixed in a baked potato fluffed with a fork, diced onion, mayo, Dijon mustard, a little bit of sugar, and half a lemon zested.
I'm convinced it was the 2 strips of bacon fried and crumbled that added depth. Formed 12 patties coated with a bread crumb and Parmesan cheese mixture and fried.
The lemon zest and fresh chopped thyme leaves helped to make the orzo light, refreshing and delicious which complemented the salmon cakes well.

Lanikea Beach, North Shore, Oahu

A 15 minute drive to the North Shore puts us in the company of a family of sea turtles. It's hard to believe tourists spend thousands of dollars for a once in a lifetime opportunity and this is in our own backyard.

Italian Almond Biscotti

This recipe makes a considerable amount of biscotti and sharing my baked goods give me as much pleasure as eating them. I found it odd that almond extract was not an ingredient because most Italian cookies are accented with this bold flavor. A year ago I would have never deviated from a recipe. I said, "The hell with it!" and added 1/4 t almond extract with the 3 T vanilla extract. I was not disappointed and neither were the friends who received the goodies.
If you're crazy for nuts like I am, you will love this cookie because there was an almond embedded in every crevice of the biscotti. But something was missing and I thought what makes everything better-chocolate. As they cooled, I melted semi-sweet chocolate over a double boiler and each cookie was then plunged into it.