Lilikoi anyone?

For those of you who do not know, Lilikoi is passion fruit. It is a delicious fruit that grows on vines here in Hawaii and many other places in the world. There are different varieties of passion fruit, although the most popular is the yellow one. Thick "shell" holding in a tangy and sweet flesh flecked with small black seeds. The seeds are edible and lend a slight crunch which enhances the entire experience. Walking through the rain forest here in Maui you'll see hundreds of these small yellow jewels scattered about the lush green foliage. Crack one open right there and enjoy! I love love love this fruit!!! You can get the frozen fruit puree in many super markets and for sure in Asian and Latin markets, but it is not the same as the fresh fruit. Are you wondering what the point of this post is????
WELL! I have a terrible green thumb. I'm thinking it's due to my lack of "patience is a virtue," virtue. Maybe it's because I live in a small unit across from the beach and although that may sound like paradise for many . . . sitting in a small garden of Eden sounds a lot better to me! I'd love to see vines of lilikoi crawling up huge trees providing lots of shade and showering the ground with beautiful flowers.
Anyway . . . I've never been much of a poet! I cut a fruit open and planted a few starters today and hopefully within two weeks I'll have something to plant in the ground! Since my bf is allergic to bees . . . you should see the picture I have of him when he got stung on the lip! No words can describe it! I may have to get his permission to post it!!!! It's that gnarly! Whoa! Like I was saying . . . the passion fruit need to be pollinated by bees, I cannot plant them here.
Anywho. I poured the fruit of one passion fruit in my wine glass and it's delicious! Can't wait to share with you how I do with the new seedlings!!!

Fondant!

Have you ever seen those beautiful cakes draped with colorful, smooth fondant and thought "I wish I could do that?" Guess what? You can! Yes, you! All it takes is a few ingredients, a couple tools and time. The possibilities are endless. The colors, shapes, designs are infinite!

I've made two cakes so far and am aching to make another one! My friend chose a Las Vegas Casino Night theme for her birthday, which was hosted at a property I manage. It was great fun! I was pressed for time so the cake wasn't as detailed as I would have liked, but it went over well and put that fire in me to take another stab at it!



It took me this long to realize I didn't put a six at the other side of the card! I used the numbers two and six because it was her 26th birthday and on the side of the cake I had the letter "R" and some additional poker chips and cards. It was a lot of fun!

The next birthday party I went to was a Jungle Theme and the birthday girl was dressing in zebra print so I went to work making a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling. Check it out!



The technique is really quite simple. Microwave 16 oz. of mini marshmallows with 2 tablespoons of water for no more than 2 minutes, just until they become soft and start to melt. Pour them out onto the 2 lb.s of powdered sugar. A great tip is to SIFT the powdered sugar first which will help eliminate little balls of unmixed sugar in the end product.



I used one hand for kneading and kept the other hand clean and used a bench scraper to help it along. The mixture is VERY sticky at first, but don't worry, it WILL come together! Try to keep a little powdered sugar on top so your hand hits that first.



You can see that the more you knead the more incorporated it becomes and the stickiness goes away.



Knead it just a little more and your finished fondant will look like this!!



Wrap the fondant in plastic wrap securely and in a sealed ziploc! It will keep for months. Do NOT freeze the fondant. I've read mixed things when it comes to refrigerating the fondant. Some recipes call for a mix of two tablespoons of water and one tablespoon of clear extract. I didn't have clear extract so I omitted that and used water only.

This is a great Fondant tutorial to follow!

Enjoy!

CSN Product Review in the making!!

I can't tell you how excited I am to have the opportunity to review a product from CSN Stores! If you haven't checked them out . . . well . . . what are you waiting for! One click and you will be hooked. Get comfortable and start browsing. They offer a great selection of dining room tables, modern home furnishings, and of course cookware!

The prices are affordable and the selections are unlimited. There are more than 200 CSN stores to browse! Grab a cup of coffee and get to clickin! You will find all the top brands you love and without a doubt you'll leave with new favorites! I'm going to make dinner for some great people this weekend, the family I nannied for when I moved to Maui. The childrens mother is from Belgium and she LOVES LOVES LOVES Alessi products. She'll be ecstatic when she sees their selection! The selection of products we can find here in Maui is limited, so it's great to have this online avenue!

I know you'll love CSN stores! Check back soon for my product review!

Fresh, ready to use, garlic from your fridge!

I do not like using the jarred garlic you can purchase in the grocery store. I don't like the flavor and I really dont think it takes much extra time to prepare fresh, especially if you have a hand held grater. That may be the only thing I've ever taken away from Rachel Ray! I know, I know you love her! Sorry, I just can't handle her! Ick!

Anyway, it is very difficult at times, well, more often than not, to find fresh garlic at the grocery store. It is usually black on some parts, not tight together, but has cloves hanging off. Ew! So, when the grocery store has great looking garlic I buy a ton of it. I bring it home and if my bf's kids are around they LOVE LOVE LOVE to peel the garlic in the little contraptions I have, so I let them do it! If not, I go for it. It's fast and easy to do and ensures I always have fresh garlic in the fridge ready to use.

Take your desired amount of garlic cloves. Place in a food processor or blender and pulse until chopped in tiny pieces. Transfer to a tupperware OR glass jar. Add just enough olive oil to make it moist and store in the fridge.

Viola!

Couscous salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

My camera is broken so I am taking pictures with my phone! I guess it could be worse! My phone actually has a 5.0 mega autofocus . . .I may be the problem, look at the blur! I took 3 years of photograph in high school and absolutely loved it. Now, with a broken camera, I am feelin it could be time to get a new one! With a nice big lense! Lots of megapixels and zoom! Of course my budget isn't going to allow me to go toooo crazy right now, but hmm... birthday's coming soon!
On to the salad! This couscous salad was delicious! I wanted to make it for quit a while and went to my cabinet to get a brand new box out. . . and it was not pretty. Something got at it and I was furious! Couscous isn't cheap here in Maui, not sure about anywhere else? And I was really in the mood for this! It's fast and easy to make, full of vegetables and a yummy lemony vinaigrette to give lots of flavor! I used broccoli the first time, but think crisp blanched green beans would be a better choice. The vegetables still had a little crunch, tang of the feta cheese, sweetness from the cranberries and crunch from the almonds. Soooo yummy! I think I'll go make some more!

Couscous Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

1 cup plain couscous
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 zucchini, diced
1 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
about 1 cup fresh diced tomatoes
1/2 lb. blanched green beans, cut in half or thirds
feta cheese, as desired
1/4 c sliced almonds
1/4 c dried cranberries
fresh parsley

Vinaigrette

1/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
pinch cayenne
green onion, optional
2 T lemon juice
1 T olive oil
1/2 clove garlic or garlic powder

Bring the stock of choice to a boil. Turn off the heat, add the couscous and cover. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add shallot and cook until soft. Add garlic. Cook 30 seconds. Add zucchini and cook until tender-crisp, about 5 minutes. Add green beans. Toss to coat with shallot and garlic.
Once couscous has absorbed all the liquid fluff with a fork. Add the vegetables. Combine all the ingredients for the vinaigrette. Pour over the couscous. Toss with a fork so all the couscous and vegetables absorb the vinaigrette. Add the almonds, cheese, cranberries, and parsley. Toss once more. Serve at room temperature or cold!

YUM!!!

Zucchini Appetizer from Spryte's Place

I came across the recipe for this Zucchini Appetizer quite some time ago and made it soon after. This is the perfect time to pull it out and share it with all of you! It tastes good, its a great way to use up some of the zucchini you'll have tons of in the months to come, and it's super easy to make!

Head on over the Spryte's Place for the full recipe. I'm sure you'll find something else to try too!!

Cranberry macadamia nut brie wontons w/ Chocolate wine sauce

I've had my fare share of computer problems lately. Once I finally got my laptop restored . . . my camera decided to take a hit. HOPEFULLY I'll get my electronics working soon so I can become a regular poster! For now, I'll post from the pictures I have on my computer.

These wontons are yummy! If you love baked brie . . . you will love these! I got the idea after I made the Jalapeno Popper Wontons w/ POM sauce and wanted to play around with ideas. I made these for a challenge with The Daring Baker's a while back.

Once you cut the brie into cubes, you MUST freeze it in order for this to work, otherwise the cheese basically disinigrates into the wonton before they come out of the oil. I love the combination of tart cranberries and the sweet macadamia nuts.

The Chocolate Red Wine sauce is yummy and super quick and easy! ENJOY!

Cran-Mac nut brie wontons

wonton skins
dried cranberries (about 3 per wonton)
Chopped macadamia nuts
brie cut into cubes
Oil for frying
small bowl of water to seal wontons
Maple syrup and brown sugar (optional)

To cut the brie into cubes, you will want to pop it into the freezer for about 5-10 minutes to firm up. Cut the brie into cubes. You could either press the cranberries and nuts into the cheese before you freeze it OR wait until you are assembling.
Let the brie freeze until firm.
Lay out your wontons, have your water ready and your oil hot. About 350-375 degrees.
Place the brie, cranberries, and mac nuts in the wonton like so . . .

Dip your fingers into water and trace the outside of the wonton. Fold over and seal. Make sure the wonton is sealed completely otherwise you'll have a terrible mess!
Fry until golden, drain on paper towels. Drizzle with maple syrup and sprinkle with brown sugar if desired. Serve with Chocolate and red wine sauce

Chocolate Red Wine Sauce
8 oz. red wine
4 T bittersweet chocolate

Reduce red wine by half. Take off the heat and cool slightly. Stir in chocolate. Serve warm.

I've also varied this by adding some raspberry vinegar. Add a tab of butter at the end. Sweeten with brown sugar. The add ins are endless!