Tuesday, February 7, 2012

It's rainy in paradise today! It did clear enough to walk to the beach and sit for a while. Lots of surfers out-good waves. It's very peaceful looking out over the ocean....

Lunch was a Chickpea Salad. our neighbors brought over some star fruit, which I sliced up and served with the salad along with some grapes. We bought 8 cans of chickpeas at Costco and now we need to use them up, lol! Roasted chickpeas, chickpea salad...what next? Guess I'll have to think about that.

I spent the afternoon reading a little and watching the rain fall. Had a kind of a headache. It's cooled off, if you can say that about Hawaii. It got down to 67 during today! It cools down here at night, surprisingly enough. 80's during the day, high 60's at night. Works for me!

Dinner was Grilled Shrimp with Sesame Dressed Rice and Sugar Snap Peas. Pretty good! And the rest of the Profiteroles for dessert (with the obligatory vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce). Yum!

A very quiet day today, inside while it rained. But tomorrow is another day, with new possibilities!

Monday, February 6, 2012

"There ain't a body, be it mouse or man, that ain't made better by a little soup."--Kate DiCamillo

7am wake up call (power mowers, lots and lots of singing birds and daylight). After a breakfast of coffee and a yogurt sundae (Vanilla Greek yogurt, strawberries, blueberries and a sprinkle of crushed granola bar), it was off to the store for groceries for the week. We stopped by Safeway to look for a rolling pin, in the off chance they had one. And they did!! I wanted to make Apple Rosemary Turnovers using dough from scratch, but you need a rolling pin for that. Thought I might have to buy pre-made pie dough, but there it was! We headed over to Foodland for the rest of the groceries, then headed back home.

It's rained off and on today, but for a couple of hours this morning, it was sunny and warm, so off to the pool it was. I have a nice tan-although I am sure a myriad of dermatologists would argue against this behavior. I don't often get the chance to tan, so I am taking advantage of it now. Besides, what fun is a tan when everyone else has one too? LOL. Better to be the only one of your friends with a tan in the winter, don't ya think?

Lunch was the wonderful Italian soup, Ribolita. Mostly vegetables with some cannellini beans and pancetta for flavor. Top with grated Parmesan Cheese and serve. It comes together pretty quickly.

After lunch, I worked on the computer, read a little, watched Ina Garten on Food Network, and read. But before all that, I made Apple Rosemary turnovers, a breakfast treat (the rolling pin worked!) AND made choux dough for tonight's dessert of Profiteroles with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Dinner was Eggplant Gratin. Sliced eggplant, a cheese sauce of ricotta cheese, one egg, half and half, Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper, with a little marinara thrown in there for taste. It turned out quite well. Dessert was a hit and oh, so yummy!

It's raining out as I write this and is suppose to be rainy until Thursday. Oh, well, not too worried about it. There is plenty to do.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

We were up with the sun and there were already people not only sitting on the beach in their beach chairs, but people surfing, using boogie boards and paddle boards. Amazing! But I suppose if you have a finite amount of time for vacation, you want to use every minute. Lots of people in Waikiki with lots of babies!

Did I mention my other favorite thing about the Royal Hawaiian? The bed! Wonderful, soft, fluffy pillows! And the bed was so comfortable. I don't want to stay forever at the Royal Hawaiian, but I would pack up the bedfans take it with me if I could, lol! No such luck. Ah, well...

We had breakfast on the beach, then walked over to get my iPad looked at at the Apple Store. Turns out I was running out of memory because my apps didn't close when I thought they did! At least I now know what to do and how to clean things up.

A relaxing rest of the day, then back to Maui. Our plane was late (again). I don't have much faith that Island Air runs very efficiently! There is somewhat the same "island brain" here as there was in the Caribbean--people not really worried about when or if something gets done. It would make me crazy to live here year round!

I roasted chickpeas as we watched the rest of the Super Bowl. I took one can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained them, then rinsed them, then patted them dry and put them in a bowl. I then sprinkled them with 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and 1/2 Tbsp of cumin powder. Toss to mix. I put a foil lined cookie sheet spread with a couple Tbsp of olive oil and heated the cookie sheet in a 450 degree oven for a couple of minutes, then put the chickpeas on the cookie sheet and baked them for about 12-14 minutes. Put them in a bowl to cool slightly, then serve warm. Yum!!

Dinner was Salmon with Sliced Zucchini wrapped in parchment paper and baked for 12 minutes. The salmon was flavored with lemon slices, a little butter, salt, pepper, shallot slices and fresh dill (from the pool area). I also roasted some potatoes to go with it. Dessert? Chocolate cake! We still have some left.

It's an early night tonight. Nice to be back on Maui safe and sound.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

I have been having a few issues with my iPad, so decided to have it looked at. Nearest Apple store is Honolulu so we booked a road trip to Oahu. We went to the small Kapalua Airport, which actually looks more like a bus station than an airport! Not too many seats to sit in and security does not open until a few minutes before an Island Air flight is suppose to take off. Very interesting.....

Our flight from Maui to Oahu was delayed almost three hours but we finally made it. We had lunch on the beach at a wonderful hotel in Waikiki. Hawaii is such a beautiful place! I'll have to add pictures later, no computer right now. After lunch, we wondered over to our hotel, the Royal Hawaiian. It's totally pink! Right down to the cash register tape!! Beautiful old hotel, back in the day when staying on Hawaii was courtly and leisurely. Our room was upgraded so we ended up on the top floor and got a suite. They leave some freshly baked Banana Macademia Nut muffins for you on a tray on the bed as a greeting (as well as the recipe for said muffins, lol). I am impressed by the view, first of all, but most impressed with the toilet, lol. The toilet seat is heated!! And it washes your bum and dries it for you!! All with the push of a bottom. Wonder who thought of THAT?

We had dinner at the Azure restaurant (it sits right on the beach) in the Royal Hawaiian, starting with a Mai Tai in the bar. I ordered the tasting menu with wine pairing. The first course was Azure Sashimi Ahi with avocado and watermelon radish salad. The second course was "Ocean Cappucino", Dungeness crab and shrimp Bouillabaisse. The third course was Kona Lobster Tail Risotto. Fourth course: Butter Poached Fillet of Beef with Madiera and Black Truffle Sauce. For dessert, there was Kula Strawberries and ice cream with a Balsamic and Cinnamon Fadrizzle. The food was great! The service was great! We had a great time! We walked around a while, then went up to our room.

You can see the ocean from our balcony during daylight hours and hear it the rest of the time. Pretty amazing. I am truly blessed to be able to do all these things!

Friday, February 3, 2012

Up about 7am, a cup of coffee, check emails. I elected to have an egg with toast this morning. Sometimes change is good, lol.

Went to the beach about 9:30am. The walk is all down hill. It's not until it's time to go back that you remember the climb to get back to the condo. Didn't see any whales this morning but a lot of surfers and guys with boogie boards. It's fascinating to watch these guys, especially if they are any good at surfing (I certainly couldn't do it!).

I wrote two articles today for examiner.com. Did you know today was National Carrot Ckae Day? Me neither. But it is, so I wrote about it. Carrot pudding and carrot cake became popular during WWII when luxury items like sugar were scarce and rationed. Apparently carrot cake is still served at Christmas time in England. I also wrote an article about romantic places to have dinner on Valentine's Day.

By that time, it was lunch time. We had a Mediterranean Salad: arugula, fennel, prosciutto, green onions and cherries (it aw suppose to have pomegranates but there were none to be found on Maui). Pretty good. Arugula has a very peppery taste but the peppery flavor is tempered by the vinaigrette.

I did nursing CEUs in the afternoon and watched some TV for an hour. At 5pm, it was time to start dinner. Cornish Game Hen with Mushroom Sauce, Baked Rice and Green Beans with Creme Fraiche. Very filling, very tasty! Nice sauce on the game hen, I would definitely make this again. The original French recipe calls for quail, but since that is not readily available, Cornish hen is a good alternative, just serve half a hen. We were too full from dinner so I did not make the Profiteroles. We had Rum Raisin ice cream instead. Coats the stomach, as my father used to say!

I talked with Jordan for a short while. He's had a hard week and Ah Choo is getting him up in the middle of the night. "I saw a ghost, really, I did", the cat says as Jordan jokes about Ah Choo's 2am wake ups. Hope the cat settles down.

For now, bedtime. Good night from paradise.....

Thursday, February 2, 2012

One thing about "retirement" is that it can be somewhat predictable. Just kidding, lol. Can't retire yet. I couldn't ask for a more beautiful setting, however!

After a breakfast of coffee, toast and a granola bar, I did one CEU unit. After that, my reward was a trip to the pool. There are still trade winds and the day was partly cloudy, so it wasn't too hot sitting out. We discovered a new flower at the pool. It almost looks like a bird of paradise but it's not. The flowers here are absolutely gorgeous. They are still trimming trees, so it continues to be noisy during the day.

Lunch was a Ban Bagnat, a French sandwich. You take a baguette, cut it in half lengthwise and remove much of the bread inside. Rub the cut sides with a clove of garlic, also cut in half. Drizzle with olive oil. Mix tomato slices (in my case, I was using up our supply of cherry tomatoes, so cut those in half) with red wine vinegar and basil, salt and pepper and set aside for 5-10 minutes to let the flavors blend. Slice black olives-enough to make it a layer on the sandwich. Hard boil one egg per sandwich, then slice it. Layer the tomatoes, olives and egg on the baguette (I used a mini-baguette), wrap it, then let it sit so the juices soak into the bread. I served it with the leftover Crab and Corn Chowder to rave reviews. My friend snapped my picture but it took so long, I apparently stopped smiling, lol.

I read in the afternoon and took a nap (one of the benefits of being "retired", lol).

Dinner was Salad Nicoise ala Julia Child. Boiled potatoes (dressed with white wine vinegar and parsley), blanched green beans, hard boiled eggs topped with a round of anchovy, tomatoes and fresh seared tuna, all dressed with a Dijon-Lemon Viniagrette. A very nice meal, indeed! Dessert was diced strawberries over vanilla ice cream which was then drizzled with a balsamic vinegar reduction. Yum! There was a "Napolean" in a glass with orange mascarpone and blueberries (an extra one from the other night), which we could have had, but I had to admit I ate it this afternoon, lol. Just wanted something sweet, ;-). What can I say?

Another beautiful sunset.....I think you'll agree....

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

We went out to breakfast this morning at 8am. Not too many people out and about then, lol. We ate in the Whaler's Village Shopping Center in Ka'anapoli near the Westin. I had stuffed French toast made with Hawaiian bread (no surprise ther!) coated with crushed Macadamia nuts, then deep dried. It was not something I would normally order but I was intrigued. It is served with maple syrup and coconut syrup. Not bad, not bad.

After breakfast, it was time to get a few groceries. After a trip to Safeway, Walgreens and Foodland Farms, it was back to the Ridge (that's the name of this condo complex). Put the groceries away, then on to the pool. Sat out for about an hour, until it got too warm. A beautiful clear day today! They are pruning trees in this complex, so it's been a little noisy. Keeping paradise properly "coiffed" has it's price, apparently. They also took down a large tree near our condo-amazing to watch. It must have had something wrong with it, at least I hope so.

Lunch was a Roasted Chicken Salad with apples, spinach and walnuts and an orange vinaigrette. It was very nice, very refreshing.

After lunch, I answered emails, did an hour's worth of CEU's toward my nursing license, read, then watched a little TV. Nothing very exciting by some standards, lol.

I reheated the leftover Flatbread with Bacon and Scallion Pesto for an appetizer. It reheated well, which is nice to know. Dinner was an Herb Crusted Salmon served with a Spinach Salad. The breaded herb crust kept the salmon moist, but I could have baked it a little less. A nice healthy meal! Dessert was a piece of chocolate cake. It has kept well (made on Sunday) and is still moist and tastes good. Also nice to know!

The sunsets here are beautiful. Although sunsets usually are, no matter where you are, don't you think? I talked with Jordan, watched a little TV while blogging, but now it's time for bed. Tomorrow is another day....