Saturday, December 17, 2011

Another day in paradise (I know, no one feels sorry for me, rain or no rain, lol). I decided to do a real breakfast this morning so made a variation of Eggs Benedict. Only difference was, I used regular bacon instead of Canadian bacon. It came together quickly. I guess all those months doing breakfast at Bolongo made a difference! I got everything going pretty much all at once. I made the Hollandaise in the blender with eggs, butter, lemon juice, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. It ended up a light sauce but I could have used more egg yolks as well as a little more butter but you don't need that much sauce for only a few people. And Hollandaise sauce doesn't keep. I toasted the English muffins whirl I fried the bacon and boiled water to poach the eggs. Like I said, it all came together pretty quickly. It was cloudy the better part of the day and the sun did come out, so I went to the pool in the afternoon instead of the morning. I read, watched a little TV and did some laundry. Dinner was Tangerine Thyme Tuna, Couscous with Roasted Eggplant and Steamed Asparagus. I made Carrot Bran muffins after dinner to have over the next few days. We watched the Wizard of Oz-haven't seen that in years! During a commercial break I made the Coffee Cup Chocolate Cake you bake in the microwave. I added extra chocolate this time so it was quite rich. I must admit, though, that I recently watched an episode of a show that showcases "Pastry Geniuses" and there was a contestant that microwaved a cake and got blasted for doing so. The pastry expert did not consider baking in a microwave a good use of baking talent. So is baking a moist, tasty cake in the microwave in a coffee cup genius or cop-out? I don't know. Good cake though! Tomorrow morning we go out for Sunday brunch. How exciting!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Another sunny day in paradise! Went to the store early, then off to the pool for an hour. Breakfast was easy, coffee and Mandarin Orange cake. Lunch was a little more work: Chickpea salad (chickpeas, celery, red peppers and onions in a balsamic vinaigrette). There were also last Nita's leftovers of tuna and roasted root vegetables. A more substantial lunch than usual but just as good the second day as they were the first day. In the afternoon, we lost water pressure but never did find out why. Just as suddenly, things started working! Good thing with the weekend coming up. The problem did prompt a visit with the next door neighbors and we spent some time talking. Apparently they are both from NYC but love Maui so live here now. He's a math teachers and does private tutoring and his wife is a stay at home mom. They have one little girl, about three years old. You definitely know when she is happy and when she is sad (she is quite verbal, lol). The wife asked for help making cookies for a cookie exchange, so I told her I would help her. We'll see what happens. For dinner, we had a Curry Chicken Salad with rice served on a bed of lettuce. I added a few La Panzanella crackers and we were set. For dessert we had the mini apple pies I had made (apple with a Strusel top) topped with whipped cream. We bought some disposable muffin tins so I made four pies in those and baked the leftover apples by themselves in the extra slot. Early to bed (even if I am not early to rise, lol). A little reading first, though.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Today dawned bright and sunny for a change! Hallelujah! I was awakened, however, by the birds chattering this morning. As soon as it gets light, it sounds like a jungle! Such noise! Amazing.... And then of course, Thursday is lawn mowing day, so there were machines going for quite some time. In order to keep all these ground so "well-manicured", they need constant attention. The only "mar" on the days, the constant machinery running to upkeep this complex. Coffee and Mandarin Orange cake for breakfast. The cake is still moist and not too sweet. Makes for a nice breakfast sweet. After breakfast, I went to the pool for about an hour. Need to take advantage of the sun while I can! I was the only one there. We found out from the next door neighbors the other day that the complex keeps herbs in large planters by the pool. Sure enough, there they were. Quite a large variety too. Who'd have thought? Lunch today was sliced Bosc pears wrapped in prosciutto and served with slices of Manchego cheese as well as some crackers. It made for a filling but light lunch. I'll have to remember that one! I read some in the afternoon as well as fussed with recipes. I am trying to figure put how much to charge for the appetizers I am providing for a cocktail party the day I get back from Maui. Now the numbers are 30-40 people! There are six different appetizers. I went for festive and elegant. Should turn out well. For dinner we had Teriyaki Tuna, Roasted Root Vegetables and a mixed green salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette. Just chocolate ice cream for dessert. My boss says it's just like having room service, lol. Always happy to hear someone say they like my food! We watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" after dinner. Haven't seen that in a good long while! It's interesting to see how simple things were back in 1965 when this program was just made, especially as compared to now, when special effects are what entertain most people. I did get a little pink from my time in the sun today. Nice to have a little color, lol. I am definitely a white girl! It's early to bed for me. Life here is definitely slower than back in Reno. The joys and perils of paradise, I guess.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

The day started out sunny! What a surprise, lol! I was up early, had coffee, then wrote an article on Holiday entertaining for Examiner.com. I made Oatmeal Creme Brûlée for breakfast topped with walnuts. A trick I learned from Carl at Capitol Hill B&B. We went for a walk after breakfast to take advantage of the sun. It was beautiful! So much grows here with little effort. Lunch was Pasta with glazed vegetables in a butter-sour cream sauce. After lunch the weather turned cloudy so I decided it was time for a nap, lol. What better way to spend a rainy afternoon? Tonight we went to the Ritz-Carlton for dinner at the Banyon Tree. The Ritz was beautifully decorated for Christmas. I wanted to take one of the Christmas trees home. Oh my gosh! Our waiter was Robert ("Ro-ber", very French, from Lyon) who took great care of us. We split a bottle of 1994 Chaval Blanc and ate the tasting menu the chef was offering. Saffron poached shrimp with bulgur salad (there was a dipping sauce that had a "christmas flower" decoration on top, just beautiful, very clever), Halibut on a bed of purée, Pot Au Fue (beef), and Ginger Napolean. What a fantastic meal! Thank you, thank you! It is back to reality though and back to cooking tomorrow, lol. Night, all....

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Well....the sun did not come out on Tuesday, lol. Rained a lot with flash flood warnings for the island. Bummer.... Toast in the morning with coffee (Pumpkin Cranberry Walnut bread). Then a trip to the post office to send out Christmas cards I wrote last night. I had Christmas cards in Reno but did not get them sent out before I left and forgot to bring them with me. So I sent out Hawaiian Christmas cards. Pretty funny, lol. So maybe you'll get a Merry Christmas from Maui card! We walked around a couple of the stores near the post office in the Napali shopping center-not much of interest. Then back home for a Papaya-Banana smoothie. Since it's raining off and on, more time on the computer. Not a day to be outside, although that does not seem to stop the grounds keepers! Lots of noise from leaf blowers and lawnmowers. The price, I suppose, of well-manicured grounds. Lunch is leftover Corn Crab Chowder. Don't want to waste food! And it was darned tasty. The afternoon was spent online again, although I did read a little. I am getting into a routine. A small meal at 8am, again about 10-10:30am, lunch about 12:30-1pm, then start dinner about 5pm. At first, it was easy to get distracted, so I had to remind myself (or be reminded, lol), that it was time for a meal. And just when I think I have it all down, it will be time to leave! Dinner was Oriental Beef Wraps (using lettuce for wrapping). It turned out well. Dessert was Mandarin Orange Cake. It had a brown sugar-milk glaze you pour over the cake when it first comes out of the oven. I'll have to remember that glaze. It has kind of a caramel taste. Pretty good, actually. The sun did come out some this afternoon, which is nice. Hope tomorrow is nicer still!

Monday, December 12, 2011

More rain today!! Living in Nevada for so many years I've forgotten what it's like when it rains day in and day out. It is warm rain, however, and I am not here on vacation, so I guess I can't complain too much.

We went to Starbucks this morning for coffee and a Danish, and then to the grocery store for a couple of things. I now have pretty much everything I need for the rest of the week (mostly just more chicken). We also stopped off at another grocery store we didn't know was there. It's a lot like Whole Foods, but has a wine and gourmet food section that is fantastic! And it's a LOT closer to the condo than Whole Foods. I guess this will be the new favorite gourmet/organic grocery store for this household! A quick stop at the Barnes and Noble Book store (same shopping center) and it was home again. I was finally able to get an article done for Examiner.com on gingerbread houses. I wrote it twice yesterday but ended up losing it because of Internet problems! Brother! Guess I felt I had to write it and get it off my plate, so to speak.

We polished off more of the Pumpkin Walnut Cranberry bread by toasting it. The bread really does grow on you! It makes great toast. For lunch I made a Cherry Tomato Tart Tartan. It is interesting what you take for granted when cooking at home! I have lots of equipment to use which makes life easy. Not so here-you work with what you have. So instead of making the Tart Tartan in an 8 inch frying pan, I ended up making it Ina bread pan, lol. It still came out well, although I wonder if the cherry tomatoes would have caramelized more if the dish had been baked in a heavy frying pan. Oh, well.... I also put a small square of puff pastry over yesterday's Ham-Emmenthaler "quiche" and served that along side the Cherry Tomato Tart Tartan. Very good!

There was a cheese snack in the afternoon and for dinner, there was Cardamom-Dusted Chicken Thighs with a Rich Vanilla Sauce and Moroccan Couscous.

I served a green salad on the side with a Balsamic vinaigrette. All yummy stuff (one would hope I could put all that training to good use, lol!). Dessert was sauteed strawberries with whipped cream. That turned out a little too "saucy" but had good flavor. Something else to work on!

We found out what all our Internet problems were yesterday. Something knocked out cell phone and Internet serves all over Maui. So I guess we weren't the only ones having problems! Everything worked this morning, so it must have gotten fixed last night.

I spent more time on the computer looking at special Christmas appetizers. I feel better having an "arsenal" of recipes ready, than to have to scramble at the last minute looking for that "special recipe". All it takes is time and since I have the time, I did some recipe gathering. I was also able to talk with Jordan and catch up, see how he's doing without me! (Just fine.).

More of the same tomorrow! And who knows, maybe the sun will come out tomorrow.....

Sunday, December 11, 2011

It rained quite a bit Saturday night and most of Sunday. It's interesting to watch the rain come and go, sheets of rain coming down much heavier than we see in Nevada. I guess I am not bothered by all this rain because this is not a vacation, but a "working vacation". Or work in an exotic setting, if you will.

The Pumpkin Walnut Cranberry bread from yesterday came out a little flatter than I expected, but in all fairness, I think I let it over rise the second time. The flavor, however, was still good and it makes for good toast. It is not a sweet bread, but definitely a yeasty tasting bread flavored mainly by the pumpkin. The recipe for this bread can be found at www.thekitchn.com should anyone want to give it a try.

First breakfast was coffee and the Pumpkin Walnut

Crannberry bread toasted (I had a little jam on mine-Lavender Passion Fruit). Then more online work for me, trying to decide on appetizers for a cocktail party that would be elegant and festive. I did come up with two appetizer menus, one eclectic, the other Italian based appetizers. I emailed them off to Dr. Lynch and will wait to hear from him. I did call my sister to see if she would go shopping for me before I get back. She said she will. That will make my job easier and she is also willing to help me out the day of the cocktail party. That will also help tremendously!

Second breakfast or brunch, actually, was mini Ham Emmenthaler Tarts baked in the oven. We bought some puff pastry shells at Safeway and I pre-baked them and was going to fill them with the royal I had mixed up (classic royale is three eggs and 1 cup of milk, cream or half 'n' half, flavored with either a savory profile or a sweet profile-very versatile). I spooned ham and cheese in first, then added the royale and what to my wondering eyes did appear, but tasty Royale leaking out the bottom of the puff pastry!! Oh, no! So back into the bowl went what was left of the royale. I decided to partially cook the royale aster that so see if it would stay put. It did, so I scooped the partially cooked Royale back into the shells and finished baking them. Definitely a learning experience, lol! They were quite tasty. I used thyme, salt and pepper to flavor the royale.

We had Internet issues Sunday. The wireless router stopped working and there seemed to be no fixing it. I even had trouble getting my iPad and iPhone to get on the Internet. Don't know what that was all about!

There was time spent reading in the afternoon, then it was time to start dinner. I made Walu (a type of whitefish) with Lime Butter Sauce, rice, and zucchini sautéed in butter and garlic. Food does not have to be fancy to be good! The fish was from the local market and not bad. From what I understand, expensive cuts of fish are often imitated with lesser types of fish so this fish wasn't great but was flaky and moist and had a mild flavor. I made microwave chocolate cake for dessert. Impressive that you can bake a moist flavorful cake in a coffee mug, in the microwave, making just enough for one serving each! We decided it could have used some ice cream or frosting of some sort or Creme Anglaise on top, but it was tasty all the same, lol.