Category Archives: Mahalo

More Copycat Zippy’s Macaroni Salad

I’m just over the Moon!

Back in 2013 I posted the first of two installments of my Copycat Zippy’s Macaroni Salad.

https://mykitcheninthemiddleofthedes…acaroni-salad/

If you’re from Hawaii, or you’ve been there and eaten at Zippy’s Restaurant, then you know! That is some of the best Mac Salad you’ll ever have, IMHO anyways.

Having retired and moved away from Hawaii back in 2007  I was on a quest to recreate this dish, along with many others. It has taken me YEARS to get it, but I think it’s there.

So why am I excited you may ask … well, two folks who “follow” me have read my posts and made their own Copycat Zippy’s Macaroni Salad for themselves!!!! 

Back in 2017, Krystle from Pictures & Plane Tickets, one of my original blog followers and fellow blogger, sent me an email with the photo above.

Big Mahalo Krystle!

The second response that I’ve received to let me know that another follower from a different Social Media Group that I am a member of, also tried it!  She made this rendition of my recipe AND is even interested in making it again, with my added twist of the Tuna and chopped Black Olives 

I love to make maybe half of the Mac Salad this way for a quick lunch!

Remember, a recipe is simply someone else’s idea, take it and make it your own.

… and if you could, hit that ‘like’ button, leave a comment below maybe just to say ALOHA; subscribe to my blog if you like what you’re reading and get an email when a new post has been uploaded.

MAHALO!

A Thank You Gift From Back Home

A couple of weeks ago we had our very first house guests; we were so thrilled to have long time friends from Hawaii come to stay with us.  It was for just one night, but we all had a great time.  DH and I showed them around our new town and we even took them house-hunting.  They are considering buying a home here and living in Arizona part time, that would be AWESOME!

A few days ago, this arrived

Oh my gravy all over my two scoop rice (that’s OMG in my world)!!

A goodie box from Hawaii, how’s that?  That was so sweet and considerate of them to remember all of the local kine grindz that we like.  And can you see on the box itself, “Aloha from Hawaii”, perfect!

Mahalo Aki & Leah, come back soon!

Sunday Brunch Shared

You know that we love our Sunday Brunch, well, today’s meal was provided by Mrs. Landlord and Mrs. Dear Friend.

Blue Corn Meal Pancakes

Our new landlord was telling me about these awesome Blue Corn Meal Pancakes that she makes and looky what appeared in the dumb waiter for us this morning!  DH takes a bite and says, “What’s this called again?  That’s pretty good.”

Blue Corn Meal Pancakes, Organic Eggs and some Turkey Sausage

To round out our repast, Mrs. DF had sent over some of her organic Chicken Eggs, always a winner.  Throw in some REAL Maple Syrup, a cuppa Joe, a few Turkey Sausages and a bowl of diced Cantaloupe.  As Mrs. Landlord says, we share with each other our bounty; life is good.

Mahalo, thanks ladies.

A Continuation Of My First Cheesecake

Remember that first Cheesecake that I’d ever made; that made WAY too much batter?  Well… I saved that extra batter and made ANOTHER, YES, that’s two Cheesecakes under my belt now, YAY!  I thought that I’d take this one next door for the NYE party at our neighbors home.

I broke up this gorgeous bar of Dark Chocolate into a bowl and pored in some Heavy Cream that I heated in the microwave; stirred it gently for create a Ganache, MMM!

I spread it out evenly with an offset spatula and stashed it in the `fridge to set up.

Turtle Cheesecake

I melted some Caramels, spread that over the top and sprinkled it with a copious amount of chopped toasted Pecans; back in the chill box.  It’s a Turtle Cheesecake!

Can I blow my own horn here?  That was outrageously over the top, crazy delish, good stuff!  The buzz went around the room at the party that there was this really fabulous Cheesecake over on the buffet table.  This gal comes up to me with her plate in hand and fork in her mouth, “Did you try the Cheesecake yet?  You really need to taste this, it’s fantastic, the best I’ve ever had.”

Thanks

The Bloggers Recognition Award

Thank you once again Evgenia from Living On Annette for nominating my blog for another award.

blogger-recognition-award

The Bloggers Recognition Award is a way for bloggers to promote other bloggers and I am humbled Eve, Mahalo, thank you.

Now, there are rules to follow:

Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog

Write a post and give a brief story of how your blog started

Give a piece of advice or two to new bloggers

Select 15 other blogs you want to give the award to :

What’s To Eat Today?

Penny’s Food Blog

SurfGirlBrit

Recipes From Molly

Carnivore Confidential

Stephysweetbakes

Emerging Adult Eats

Ol’ Miner’s Meanderin’s

Lynz Real Cooking

Adventure And Food

Glimmer Of Happiness

Italian Home Kitchen Blog

Food Scientist Bakery

Simply Made Kitchen And Craft

Pumkinpieandme

(You may have noticed that the blogs that I have nominated are mostly about food)

So, how I started blogging is very short.  Dear friends of ours suggested that I do this as a way to share what I do, which is, cook, bake, shop for those ingredients, travel, eat and basically enjoy my life.

I’d have a hard time giving advice to anyone who blogs, really, they know what they want to say and when they want to say it.  I will say that I do enjoy reading these blogs, so keep it up guys.

ALOHA!

The Liebster Award

DH and I have been on an extended road trip across the United States to visit with family and friends.  Along the way, we have had limited internet access.  I am a little late in responding to Cory from a terrific blog that I follow, Adventure And Food.  Mahalo, thank you Cory for nominating me for this award, I do appreciate the nod.

liebster award

I looked up the meaning of  liebster on Wikipedia, as it seemed so familiar to me.

“Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.”

HMMM, I like that.

There are some rules, so I’ve been told, to this award.  They are as follows:

Link back to the person who nominated you
Answer the questions given to you by the nominator
Nominate up to 11 other bloggers with less than 200 followers
Create 11 questions for the nominees
Notify all nominees via social media/blog

So, here are my questions to answer:

Are you an extrovert or an introvert?  Definitely an introvert, although, I can be very outgoing and bubbly at times.

What’s your favorite desert?  Um, desert or dessert?  Well, my favorite desert is the one my kitchen is in, the Sonoran Desert and my favorite dessert, I like them all!

What’s your life long dream?  To travel the United States, oh wait, we are doing that in retirement.

What would be your favorite holiday destination?  That’s gotta be my hometown, Oahu Hawaii.

If you could meet any one famous person, who would that be?  My Father and Mother-in-law.  They passed away before I could meet them and they are larger than life to me.

Would you do anything different if you could start over?  NO!!  Everything has a purpose in life.

What year would you pick if you could go back in time and why?  Our wedding day, 22 years ago next week.    I didn’t get enough of it, we had such a good time.

What year would you pick if you could go further in time and why?  I wouldn’t.  I don’t feel that I need to see the future, I’m happy right here.

Presume you can travel through space, what other planet would you like to visit, within our solar system?  The Earth’s Moon, I’ve always had a fascination with the Moon.

What makes you most excited about life?  My life.  I have everything that I could want.

Would you class yourself as happy?  YES!  Every day I wake up with a smile on my face.

Now, here are my nominees for The Liebster Award, in no particular order:

Tony Meets Meat

Supper Lovin

Crystal Burns Photography

So here are the questions that I pose to the above bloggers:

1) What dish best describes you?

2) Are you a better person inside or outside?

3) Who do you spend most of your day with and why?

4) Which do you prefer to do, grilling, baking, cooking, cleanup, etc.

5) If you could cook anywhere in the World, where would that be?

6) Who would you most want to cook with and why?

7) Dishwasher or hand washing of your plates and cutlery?

8) Do you own ‘good china’?  What type?

9) Do you collect anything, if so, what?

10) Who is/was the best cook you have ever known?

11) Tell me something that I would never question about you.

Once again, I would like to thank Cory of Adventure And Food for this award.  Please take a moment to check out the blogs that I have nominated, I think they’re pretty cool, but you decide.

One Lovely Blog Award

I was encouraged by a dear friend to start a blog and write about the dishes that I make, shopping for the ingredients; as well as some of places that my husband and I have visited and what we eat there.  It’s been a whirlwind two years and I still love doing it.

Yesterday, I was nominated for the One Lovely Blog Award by Evgenia at her blogsite Living On Annette.

One Lovely Blog Award

So many Mahalos, thanks Eve.

As part of this award, I’m supposed to share with everyone seven things about myself; also nominate other bloggers.

“And the nominees are …”

Pictures And Plane Tickets, Krystle has a great attitude and zest for life.

What’s2EatToday, Mrs. Beans cooks a lot of yummy stuff that is near and dear to my heart; we’re both from the same small island in the middle of The Pacific Ocean.

And lastly, two guy’s guys, Patrons Of The Pit … LOVE their stuff and their sense of humor, they give me a giggle on each and every post.  You guys rock POTP!

 

Oh, and those seven little things about me, yeah that’s right.

I love to cook.

I love to eat.

I hate to clean it all up, thank you William Howard Livens for inventing the modern-day dishwasher.

I’m from Oahu Hawaii.

I’m retired in the Middle Of The Desert  with my darling husband.

I love to travel.

I want to see more of the United States of America.

 

I could go on, but I won’t.

I would like to say how very humbled I am to be nominated for the One Lovely Blog Award.

One Lovely Blog

ALOHA!

Happy Anniversary To Me!

Two years ago today I started this blog and it’s been a blast!

Let's eat CAKE!

This calls for some CAKE!

Mahalo, Thank you all for coming, I appreciate all of the folks who have read my blog, given me ‘likes’ and left me comments.

Please keep on coming back, I’ve got so much more to share.

ALOHA!

My Apron Obsession Is Yet Again Perpetuated

My New Apron!

Yep.  If you’ve been reading my blog you’ll know that I have a thing for aprons.  My chefy gal pal in Colorado sent me a new one!  Can you see where this one is from?  The Fetzer Vineyards, she knows me so well.  She and her loving hubby and gorgeous puppy-girl Greta have been spending their winters in California for the past couple of years and she thought of me.  Mahalo, thank you my sistah!

It’s Friday, Have A Great Weekend!

… that is it say, Happy Aloha Friday, No work til Monday… get out there and ENJOY!

Kewalo Basin Harbor, Honolulu Hawaii

Kewalo Basin Harbor, Honolulu Hawaii

ALOHA!