Wednesday, February 29, 2012

February 29th. Now there's something that doesn't happen every day!

The last several days have pretty much been spent laying on the couch. I finally made it to the doctor's office today (I traded in my regular doctor for a new doctor) where she prescribed mega-antibiotics and a couple decongestants. Hopefully that will make things better faster. I don't make a very good sick person, lol, too impatient. But as my mother used to say, if you don't take care of your body (and give it what it needs), it will make it so you are forced to slow down and take care of yourself. So I am resting up! I had to cancel my wellness clinic for tomorrow. Imagine what people would say if a sick nurse took care of them at a welness clinic! "She can't even take care of herself, wht is she doing here?". So better off to cancel now.

I saw my orthopedic doctor today. A six month follow up after my Oxford knee replacement. He is very happy, as am I. The visit did, however, get me a cooking job. His office nurse wants red velvet cake truffles for her daughter's birthday. She doesn't know how many, though, so will get back to me. Amazing that people like those little cake truffles so much! But I guess they are small bites, so people don't feel guilty eating them.

I am going to bed early, in an effort to take good care of myself. Hopefully I will notice an improvement sooner rather than later! The people at Apple called to let me know my computer has been fixed and I can pick it up any time. And hopefully this will do the trick! And then I'll be able to add pictures!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

As it turns out, I did not go to my ACLS class Saturday. I was just too tired and felt ill-prepared to take the all day class. It still needs to be done before the end of February so I'll take it online after I study a bit more. Taking ACLS always stresses me out. It's not easy!

Instead of taking the class, I finished my taxes and caught up on bills and mail. I had lunch with Janell, taking her out for her birthday (which was Wednesday). I came back home, studied ACLS for a while then finished my examiner.com article on Nutrisystem and Chef Mark Estee (a local chef).

I made chicken for dinner, roasted, with potatoes and broccoli, all roasted. I am always amazed at how much better vegetables taste when they are roasted.

Sunday I slept late. I think it's official, I have a sinus infection. Even my face hurts! Everyone around me has been sick, so why not me? Hope it goes away quickly!

I downloaded some updates on my computer last night and now this morning it won't start. I took it to the Apple Store and was told there was something wrong with my "logic board". Doesn't sound good! Apple is a good product, I just think I got a lemon. They are sending it out for repair. The computer is still under warrenty so it won't cost me anything. I've had it less than a year! Jordan thinks I should just get a new computer. We'll see.

Before dinner I mixed up a batch of "Compost cookie dough". The recipe is from the Momofuko cookbook I bought in Hawaii. Momofuko Milk Bar is one of several Momofuko restaurants in NYC but their only bakery. Let's just say, all the recipes intrigue me, they are so unusual. The cookies have the usual butter and flour and sugar, eggs and vanilla, but also chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coffee grounds (unused fresh grounds), potato chips, preztels and graham cracker crust. Amazing, right? But kind of weird at the same time! I'll bake them up after dinner.

Dinner was Ratatouille and seared pork tenderloin. Simple but healthy and tasty. I love Ratatouille! After dinner I did bake up the cookies. They spread out more than I thought they would and they are big cookies, but with all the "stuff" there is in the dough, it's hard to make them smaller. Jordan thought they tasted just ok. Maybe I'll try them out on a few other people.

Going to bed now. Can't add any pictures until I get my computer back. Most unfortunate!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

I arrived home safely late Tuesday night, a very tired girl.

I have 320 cake truffles due tomorrow so that's what I have spent most of my time doing since arriving back in Reno. The cake truffles are now all made (I'll come back and add pictures later), but need to be packaged. There will be two Oreo cake truffles and two red velvet cake truffles in a cellophane bag. 80 bags total. They'll be used as party favors as a local AORN seminar on Saturday. I'll also put my logo on the bag. They look pretty cute!

The dark chocolate truffles with red are the red velvet cake truffles. The white chocolate truffles with the dark chocolate decorations are the Oreo cookie truffles.

I also have an interview with Chef Mark Estee tomorrow morning, but that should go quickly. I am writing an examiner article on Nutrisystem and the Culinary Council they started last year. Everything seems to be happening this week!

sunday, February 19, 2012

It didn't rain after all today! I was up a little later again this morning, then made second breakfast, scrambled eggs with sausages.

Since it was sunny, I made one last trip to the pool. Beautiful weather!

Lunch was a Grilled Ham Gruyere and Apple Panini. Turned out very well! Chips on the side. I spent the afternoon making two chicken dishes, Tuscan Chicken and Lemon Chicken, then baked some chocolate chip cookies. All things to leave so there is plenty to eat after I leave.

We went out to dinner at Merriman's tonight. I had Lobster Bisque for a first course and Pasta with Mushrooms and Ricotta for a main dish. Pineapple Upside Down Cake for dessert. Now I'm stuffed, lol!

I will be on travel the next two days so will not be making an entry until Wednesday. Sorry about that! No cooking though, the next two days. It's been a lovely four weeks, thank you my friend!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

I got up a little later than usual this morning, so had to hurry to get ready for the day We went out to breakfast, to the Westin in Ka'anapali. The restaurant is right on the beach. They serve either off the menu or a buffet. Very nice restaurant! And a great place to people watch, as so many people walk by on the trail that winds along the Ka'anapali beach coastline.

We mailed the boxes after breakfast, did a little grocery shopping and stopped by Walgreens. Then it was back to the Ridge. It was cloudy this morning, but one thing I have learned, is that often it comes and goes. So we went off to the pool this morning, and sure enough, we had sunshine. The wind, however, is another story. It has been extremely windy with gusts over 30 miles an hour. As my friend says, it makes the condo sound like a haunted house, lol. Whistling and rattling and howling, oh, my!

This photo was taken while I was looking out the kitchen window. The palm tree outside the window was blowing every which way!

Lunch was Curried Crab Bites, an old recipe I got from Jennifer Bushman years ago when she owned Nothing To It Culinary Center. It's one of my favorite appetizers (although I used it as lunch sandwich bites). I also made a small fruit parfait with blueberries, Greek yogurt and Clementine orange segments as a side/dessert to serve with it.

After lunch I looked in my Small Batch Baking cookbook and found a recipe for Fudgy Mocha Layer Cake. You mix up enough batter for two small cakes, then bake them in 14 oz cans that have been greased and floured (and cleaned!). They turned out SO cute! You cut your little cake in half horizontally, then fill and frost it. I made Mocha Frosting for it. I will serve them for dessert tonight at dinner. I also mixed up more Chickpea Salad and made a pot of French lentils both to serve tonight and as future dinners/lunch. I got the recipe from the book "Lunch in Paris". It was a good read but I also appreciate the recipes she included in the book-all things she learned to cook after moving to Paris when she married her French husband.

It's Harry Potter Weekend on the Family Channel so I watched part of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban". All the Hogwarts students look so young in this film compared to now!

For dinner, I made a first course of Lentils with sliced Seared Tuna. As a second course, I seared Moorish Spiced marinated steak and served it with Potatoes Anna and Vinaigrette marinated zucchini. Unfortunately, the second course looked all the same color! It was all tasty though, so that's good. Dessert was the Fudgy Mocha Cakes. So cute! Kind of like a tall cupcake.

The sunset was absolutely gorgeous tonight. One of the nicest we've seen since coming here. They said it was just for me, in honor of my leaving, lol (nice to have friends that say things like that!). So, of course, I had to take pictures.

Tomorrow there is a higher chance of rain, so guess we might be staying in tomorrow. Time will tell...

Friday, February 17, 2012

I awoke to more lawn upkeep. I guess I had no idea how much upkeep a golf course can be! Six people arrived last night to stay in the condo next door. They seem very athletic and they play golf. And no kids!

After breakfast, one load of laundry and uploading more pictures to my blog, we walked to the beach. When we got there, there wer two surfers, but no one else. For almost the entire time we were there, there were very few people on the beach. Of course, it could have been the strong winds and the fact that with every gust of wind, we got sand- blasted! It wasn't all that bad, though, and I won't have many more opportunities to walk to the beach before it's time to return to the "real" world. We stayed at the beach for about an hour and a half, just talking and watching the waves crash onto the shore.

When we got back, it was time to make lunch. Chickpea Salad with a balsamic vinaigrette. It really is a great salad! It tastes fresh, it's good for you and a great source of fiber. I served Kalamata olives on the side and chocolate chip cookies for a little dessert afterwards.

After lunch I baked a Grape Gratin for our evening dessert. Interesting combination and one I've not made before. I have to say, it's great having clients who let you experiment and try new things and who have a discerning palate for good food. The filling on the Grape Gratin, had green grapes (of course), mixed with apricot jam, flour and one tablespoon of sugar. It was topped with a mixture of old-fashioned oats, flour, brown sugar, dried ginger, cinnamon, sliced almonds and butter. I crumbled the topping over the grape mixture and baked it for 20 minutes. It turned out pretty goo, but did not have any strong flavor. I also made an Orange Cream Cheese Coffeecake (a Paula Deen recipe). We finished off the Blueberry Crumb Cake this morning, so it was time to make something else, lol.

I talked with my sister, Janell. She's been sick the last few days so missed her job interview yesterday. Hope she can reschedule!

I also packed two boxes to take to FedEx after baking. I'm trying to "lighten my load" of stuff to take on the plane as I'll be traveling about 7,000 miles in a 36 hour time period. Whew! On Monday afternoon I fly from Maui to LAX, take the Red Eye to Chicago O'Hare and get in at 5:07am. I have a job interview at 9:30am. My sister, Corie, is going to pick me up and take me to my appointment. The plan is to have lunch together, then she'll drop me back off at O'Hare so I can catch a 5pm flight back to Reno. I'll get into Reno late, but at least I'll be home!

Dinner was Baked Rice Pilaf with Baked Salmon and Garlic Wilted Spinach. It turned out well. The salmon came out just right. Dessert was, of course, the Grape Gratin served with a little ice cream. Not bad, not bad. Don't know if I'd make the grape thing again or not.

I finally got to talk to Jordan for a long time. He made it back to Reno in one piece-that's good! We had another beautiful sunset tonight. It's suppose to rain on and off all weeekend-more of a chance on Sunday, so we'll go grocery shopping tomorrow morning. AND, we're going out to breakfast to a new restaurant. I love going out to breakfast!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

I awoke to hear not only the mega lawnmower they use to cut the copious grassy areas in this complex (plus the golf course) but the kids next door screaming and yelling. They have been here ten days but are leaving today. Good for us, lol, not so good for them. I am the last person to talk about parenting, but there was an article last week in the New York Times reviewing a book coming out on what makes French parents better than American parents. Apparently it is all in the approach and rather than yelling at your child, you speak to him with authority so that there is no question who is in charge. I am sure it is not quite that simple, so I guess we need to read the book. The author makes a good argument as to why the French have better behaved children than Americans. Although I was tempted to show the mom next door the article, she would not have appreciated it (nor would I have in all likelihood if I were her), so resisted. They were, after all, only here ten days.

To escape from all the noise, we went to the beach early today. On the walk down, my friend Neda called (or apparently her phone called me right after she finished talking to her husband) so we talked for a short while to catch up.

It was alternately sunny and cloudy with a few sprinkles but we stayed for two hours. There were three young surfers there and two photographers. One of the photographers sat on shore and took pictures of the surfers, the other photographer had on a wet suit, a helmet and fins and was in the water with the surfers (he also had a really big water proof camera) taking pictures. The surfers were doing all sorts of fancy twists and turns on the waves. One in particular made it look so easy and graceful. It was fun to watch them, but hard for the average person to catch them on film.

We got back in time to make lunch, which today was an Apple Sausage Cris-Cross Pastry. I took pictures of the pastry before I baked it and after I baked it, it was so pretty (ok, maybe you aren't suppose to say that about your own work, but I can't help it!). The taste reminded me of Thanksgiving, with the pork sausage, apples, bread crumbs, sage, cinnamon, dried cherries and onions. Yum!

As soon as I got the pastry in the oven, I put together Chicken Cacciatore. We are eating at the Banyon Tree tonight but I wanted to get a head start on a few meals to leave behind for the week my friends are here without me. So once that was put together and cooked, I froze it for a dinner next week. I'll make a few more meals before I go. It's easy to do.

Tonight, as I said, it's dinner at the Banyon Tree restaurant. I will come back after dinner and let you know more about dinner. It is likely I will not get there again any time soon, so will enjoy the opportunity while I can. I have been a very lucky girl the last month being here on Maui and cooking for friends.

Addendum:

At 5:15pm we drove off to the Ritz Carlton. The hotel and grounds are huge. The Banyon Tree Restaurant sits at the base of the hotel complex but not on the beach (remember the burial grounds and the need to move the hotel construction away from the beach and the burial grounds). Robert (Rrrow-bear') was our waiter-I snapped his picture right before he served us our wine. Our table was in the corner at the back of the restaurant with one windowed wall and one open wall. Beautiful setting! For dinner I had an appetizer of Seafood Sausage served with a remoulade (spicy mayonaisse based sauce) and shallot confit. For an entree, I had Crispy Snapper served with a Rice Croquette (in Italian it would have been called arancini). I was full by the end but had JUST enough room for ice cream (always room for ice cream, lol). Three kinds-mango, coconut lavender and white chocolate served with a tuille cookie. Very, very nice. I take many fond memories home with me...

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

I awoke to another sunny day-good start! We are making our way through Blueberry Crumb Cake at breakfast. It turned out very moist and still tastes the same as the day I made it. Keeps well, that's a good sign!

We walked to the beach about 9am and were out for about an hour or more when it started to rain/sprinkle. It did not look like it was going to clear up soon, so we walked back to the condo. By the time we got home it was sunny again. Whataya gonna do? We drove down to the grocery store for a few supplies then came back. Just in time to make lunch.

Lunch today was Beef Crostini with Port-Sultana Relish. Yum! I used some sliced ribeye steak, quick seared, then put them on top of crostini spread with homemade Dijonaisse. On top of that, the Port Sultana Relish with chopped celery leaf garnish. I never cease to be amazed at the wonderful variety of flavors and flavor combinations there are in this world. Yum, yum, yum!

I talked to my sister, Janell, for a long while in the afternoon. She's going to a job interview tomorrow, just wanted to wish her luck. I watched an episode of NCIS (I like that program, lol), then made dessert for dinner tonight--Brownie Surprise Pudding Cake. This is the second recipe out of the cookbook I brought with me called "Small Batch Baking". It contains recipes for two servings. Pretty cool! And you don't always need special pans. The author recommends alluminum cans of various sizes as well as mini loaf pans and 4 inch tart pans. The recipes I've made so far have been very good.

For dinner tonight I made Duck Breast with Citrus-Cherry Sauce, Potatoes Anna and Asparagus with Orange Vinaigrette. Very tasty! Another hit, lol. And it's always nice to get compliments about my cooking! Dessert also turned out well. Somehow the batter separates so there is a pudding level and a cake level. Cakey but creamy. The chemistry in that always amazes me, lol.

Jordan texted me, he's in Washington, D.C. for two days. Like I said, crazy busy man.

Tomorrow we go out to dinner, woo hoo! At the Banyon Tree in the Ritz Carlton. With Robert, the Frenchman as our waiter. Sure to be a lovely evening.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Went to bed last night and forgot to write, so am making a late entry.

Finally a sunnny day, after three cloudy days (you get used to the weather being nice when you stay in paradise for any length of time, lol). Off to the beach this morning. It is so peaceful sitting there. Saw a few surfers there also. Fascinating to watch them try to get ahead of a wave so they can "ride" it to the end (or until they fall over, whichever comes first). Obviously some are better than others, but they all take a beating from the crashing waves. No whale sightings that I could tell. I took some pictures about half way back to the condo, one looking down, the other picture looking up at the stairs yet to climb. We walk down to the beach, which isn't so bad. It's the coming back that's work!

Since there was no calamari to be found here on Maui, I used langostinos for my "Calamari" Tomato Caper Salad at lunch. Very classic Italian dish, served mainly at the Holidays. The tomatoes are chopped then sauteed with garlic in olive oil. After a few minutes, throw in the calamari (or in my case the langostinos, or little lobster tails from Chile). Sautee a minute or two then pour the ingredients into a colander to get rid of the excess juice from the tomatoes. Put the salad in a bowl, toss with a lemon-caper vinaigrette and serve. I plated it with slices of the Maui star fruit we had from the Juns. Pretty good!

In the afternoon I was entirely unmotivated to do much of anything, so took a nap.

I started dinner a little early as I was making Beef Bourguignon (just imagine a good French accent pronouncing this, lol). It takes 2-3 hours depending on your meat choice and should be done mainly in the oven in a Dutch oven, but there are no pans here that will go in the oven (all the pots and pans have plastic handles), so I did it on top of the stove, which is totally doable. The recipe is from Laura Calder on the Cooking Channel. She is a Canadian who left her corporate job to go to France. There she went to cooking school and worked in French restaurants, then went back to Canada. So I feel a sort of kinship with her as I also left my job to go to cooking school (though I did not travel so far, lol). I'll post the recipe, it is easy and definitely worth making! And because it was Valentine's Day, I insisted we drink the 2007 Chateauneuf de Pape wine with dinner. Yum! We polished off the rest of the choux for Profiteroles for dessert. All gone! I'll need to come up with another dessert for tomorrow night.

Another beautiful sunset here.....

Monday, February 13, 2012

Can you believe it was still cloudy this morning?! With a little rain. Oh, well, most of the weather has been very nice while I've been here. BUT-that didn't stop those boys manicuring the lawns at 5am! I sure won't miss that when I leave.

I did two continuing education classes this morning. I am up to 11.5 CEU hours with only 18.5 to go for a total of 30. At least I have until the beginning of April to finish. With the weather still cloudy, we drove back to Safeway for puff pastry, since we were unable to find it at either Foodland or the Napili market. Usually when we drive down to Ka'anapali, it's sunny, even if it's cloudy in Kapalua (where the condo is). Today, it was cloudy every where! We did find the puff pastry, which I will use to make lunch later in the week.

After we got back to the condo, I made a Blueberry Crumb Cake (Ina Garten's recipe-the Barefoot Contessa). It's gonna be good! The streusel topping is to die for. It came out a little lopsided because the oven is not level. Everything you put in the oven tends to slide forward. Sometimes very frustrating! This experience has been a lesson in doing more with less or none at all as far as equipment and ammenities go. I don't think most people come to Hawaii to cook!

Lunch today was Tuscan White Bean Soup garnished with goat cheese and crispy bacon. Very nice. It's pureed and has a little cream added, which makes it very creamy. I went down to the upper pool (everything is down from where we are staying, lol) for sage, only to find there was no sage. I took a longer hike down to the lower pool, found the sage (but not before I ran into Sandra and Junie Jun and talked for a while). It took so long my friends were going to come looking for me! They had to take the shallots off the heat as they were starting to brown too much. I came back just in time to finish the soup and serve it up.

In the afternoon, I roasted chickpeas (seasoned with cayenne pepper and cumin). Not quite as crispy as potato chips but a great healthy snack. I was a little heavy handed with the cayenne so they definitely have a bit to them! I also made more chocolate sauce (to give to the Juns). Enough to fill a 16 oz jar, so they should be able to enjoy that for a while. I baked up the choux dough (for Profiteroles) I had frozen last week. Some for us and some for Sandra and John.

I talked with Jordan for a while, walked over to the Jun's condo to deliver a bag of goodies, then started dinner. We had Salmon with Wasabi Sauce and Braised Baby Bok Choy. The bok choy was braised in a mirin and soy sauce mixture. I don't have a lot of experience with mirin but OMG was that simple sauce wonderderful! I reduced it a bit once the bok choy was cooked and spooned it over the bok choy. Everyone was in agreement, it was a great meal! Profiteroles for dessert (complete with chocolate sauce) completed the evening.

With the skies clearing by the end of the day, we had another beautiful sunset.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Lots of rain today. What a surprise (after a quickly revised weather forcast by the news and weather people)! We waited for a break in weather then headed out to Foodland to grocery shop for the week. Lots to buy, although this is my last week on Maui, coming up. It's gone very quickly, I am sad to say....

After Foodland, we stopped by Barnes and Noble to buy Starbuck's ground coffee and the NY Times. Believe it or not, Barnes and Noble is easier to get to than the Starbuck's in Lahaina. I also got a Salted Caramel Mocha Frappacino. Hmm, hmm, good! Haven't had a Starbuck's specialty drink in a very long time.

I talked with Jordan when we returned to the condo. He's had a tough week, poor guy! Doesn't sound like this next week will be much better.

Lunch was a pasta salad with marinated artichokes, pepperdew peppers, mozzarella cheese, arugula, beef strips and a lemon vinaigrette. Not too heavy, with a nice mix of flavors. Another yum!

I looked over my ACLS study materials for a while, but with the rain, a nap seemed more appropriate, so that's what I did. Another lazy day...

At 5pm, I started dinner. Chicken Roulade with a Shallot-Sun dried Tomato-Wine Sauce-chicken breast spread with Bousin cheese (chives and herb flavored) which is then rolled around asparagus stalks (2) and baked. I served it with Couscous Pilaf (couscous with roasted eggplant, golden raisins, shallots and a cinnamon-cumin vinaigrette. I made this for a cooking demo when I worked for Standards of Excellence back in November last year. It turned out well, though not quite the same, as I used a Miele steam oven at SOE and an electric stove here. Dessert was bread pudding with Caramel Sauce.

Not much else to report today. And no sunset picture tonight, too many clouds. I'll be doing some baking tomorrow, my favorite thing to do!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

It was really windy last night. I am amazed sometimes at how windy it gets here. I was awakened several times during the night by the noise of not only the wind whistling through the loose spaces of this condo, but also the rattling of wooden slats at the windows. If I didn't know better, I'd think there was a winter snow storm going on!

Seemed like it was cloudy most of the day (although it depended on what window you were looking out of at the time, lol). Kind of a lazy day today. I wrote two articles for examiner.com and lost track of the time. Before I knew it, it was time to make lunch!

Lunch today was a French Ratatouille. Eggplant, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, and bell pepper all sautéed in olive oil and seasoned with basil, parsley, salt and pepper. It comes together quickly. Add some grated Parmesan cheese and you're set. Vegetables never tasted so good!

The afternoon was taken up with making pastry dough for tarts, then an apricot filling. Once the dough had chilled enough, I put them together with sliced almonds, then baked them along with the last of the puff pastry cups. I'm going to put the what remains of the apple-rosemary filling into the pastry cup, then bake it again.

After baking, I watched HGTV for a bit (love decorating), sat out on the lanai, then got ready to make dinner. Got my picture taken making dinner. Where else can you wear shorts to cook (unless of course you are Mario Batali)?

Tonight it was Seared Steak with Bernaise Sauce, Paprika Roasted Potatoes and Maple-Glazed Carrots. My Bernaise was a little thin but very tasty. Dessert was of course, the Apricot-Almond Tart with a little ice cream on the side. I was very full by the time dinner was over, lol!

Another beautiful sunset tonight, athough I look at the pictures I take and realize the small camera does not do justice to the views. Guess I need those big cameras you see the Japanese carrying around, with the huge lens in order to get great pictures, lol. It will be an early night tonight, I think.

Tomorrow-marathon grocery shopping!