The Hale Koa Hotel, Waikiki
UNDER CONSTRUCTION …

UNDER CONSTRUCTION







————————————————————————————————-
An Oldie But A Goodie

Click Here For: Whann Way Hawaiian Luau
——————————————————————————————

Buying The Luau Leis In Chinatown








——————————————————————————————————–






———————————————————————————————






—————————————————————————————–











































This is an account of our travels from Tampa to Las Vegas, to Honolulu, for the Wedding of our Son, and Future Daughter-In-Law, and Back Again… —————————————————————————————— We Do Start With: Mother of the Groom The Save The Date, and The Wedding Invitations …

On February 13th., 2026 I Turned 65

Gordon and I ‘Out and About’ on My Birthday

65 Feels Pretty Good
——————————————————————————————
When I Turned 60 I Started this Website Page:
Sixty’s, (Sensational or Surviving?), We’ll See, Right?

(If you would like to read, just click on the link above.)
I didn’t know what 60 would be like? Which is why I started the above website page.
I assumed that I would be blogging about any changes in my body or lifestyle. Perhaps the ‘ups and downs’ of ageing? My intention was that we would explore it together.
I am a very open person. Sometimes to my detriment. But, that is who I am, and I am not going to fight against that.
Now that I am 65, I have been in my 60’s for 5 years now. I have been getting to know the ageing me and I am fine with it.
Yes, I have put on some weight in the middle. That is where my pounds accumulate anyway. They always have.
However, there is just something empowering that comes with ageing that I didn’t know in my 50’s, or 40’s, or 30’s, etc.
—————————————————————————————–

Turning 65

As I like to say, Uglier on the outside, Happier on the inside.
I would not go back if I were given the chance. I feel as if I have reached milestones that are important. As in evolving into the person I am destined to be. I have earned the right to be 65! Ageing is a privilege.
If I could give my younger self a heads up, I would not!
I needed to go through all that I did to get to here. I would not have made it if I did warn my younger self. I have learned that the damage that was done to me by certain people in my life never had anything to do with me. It was their damage they were inflicting on me. I used to regret being nice or kind to certain people. I have however learned that I should never be upset about doing the right thing. They are the ones that should be upset that they took advantage of my kindness, and loyalty.
I don’t know how much time I have left? Oh, as far as I know I am fine where my health is concerned. I am just referring to life in general.
None of us really know the answers to that? I always figured that I would die young. No idea why? I just always thought so. But, before I am gone, I still have many things left that I want to do. I’ll go when I’m ready. I’m stubborn that way. 🙂 But for now, my granddaughter needs me. My daughter and son-in-law need me, my husband needs me, and I need me! 🙂
So, Here Is 65 and Beyond, Finger’s Crossed!
Julie
——————————————————————————————
BLOG ENTRIES START HERE
————————————————————————–
UNDER CONSTRUCTION

A Fresh Coconut Filled With Delicious Coconut Jam, Topped With Flaked Coconut And Dipped With Coconut Rolls A Perfect Little Sweet Snack ————————————————————————— Banana Poi for Isabelle A great way to use up Ripe Bananas, perfect for the little ones. The babies …
A co-worker of Gordon’s sent these to us right before we left for Hawaii. He made them. We thought they were funny and wanted to include them in our write up’s of our trip. 🙂 ————————————————————————————— Gordon and Julie, Honolulu, Hawaii, …

A Delicious Bite
——————————————————————————-

Crackers with Dried Edible Flowers
My Asian Inspired Spring Wagashi
Wagashi refers more towards Japanese Sweet Treats, that is what I have here.
I tried to find a tablecloth that would accent what I had featured here, I couldn’t, but I did find some wrapping paper that I thought looked great! It did! And that is what you see here, wrapping paper as my tablecloth.

I wanted to put together a table full of Sweet Asian Inspired Treats. That was actually easy to do.
I love my usual Asian Inspired Treats and I wanted to showcase them here.
I am a huge fan of the softly dried Mango in the shape of a flower. It is so delicious! It comes with an excellent spicy chili salt. I can very easily unravel one while eating a few layers at a time. I also thought they would be great placing something nice onto each ‘petal.’
Here, I added some plain Hummus to some of the Mango Petals. I have two different Hummus here. One plain, and one a carrot. I also sprinkled some Butterfly Pea Flower onto each bowl of Hummus. It is an excellent edible flower.

Pineberry’s, Dried Apricots, Softly Dried Mango, Shallot Crackers, Edible Flower Crackers, Candy Coated Asian Nuts, Pink Coated Cakes…


Jazzed Up Cream Cheese Spread, Asian Cranberry Bread Sticks….
———————————————————————————–
Making The Cream Cheese Spread

3, 8 oz. blocks of Cream Cheese, softened
Pinch Pink Asian Sea Salt
Dash of Japanese Wasabi Salt
1/2 t. Chinese Five Spice
1/4 t. Asian Chili Powder
1/4 t. Ground Black Pepper
Dash of Ground Ginger
1/2 t. Sesame Oil
———————————————————————————–


Just Combine All Ingredients Into A Medium Sized Mixing Bowl

Mix Together Into A Ball, Refrigerate Overnight
——————————————————————————-


Matcha Tea Cake…

Hoping to bring more Asian Inspired Wagashi soon!
Julie
Preparing The Luau Invitations 100% Hula Girl Coffee, The Big Island (I had sent a few bags to the future Bride and Groom, and the Parents of the Bride, along with a few bags for us. Just to get us into the …
I Created A New Website:
Click Here For: VintageJulieBarefootArchives
I gave my Web Designers in India instructions on what I wanted, and they did the most remarkable job of bringing my vision to life.
I could not be happier with it!

My current website: (This one.)
..Was no longer working accurately.
Therefore, I decided to instruct my Web Designers in India, to create a “New” Website in order for me to house some of my “Old” content.
Initially, I didn’t figure in that it would be my Florida Website Pages, but it did evolve into just that.

My First Blog Posting On The New/Old Website

I Debuted This New Site On Brodie’s Birthday, November 29, 2025
————————————————————————————
Welcome To VintageJulieBarefootArchives.com
(As Taken From Blog Posting from the new site.)

Brodie Keith Kanakaleo Whann
I decided to create this new website because our live site, www.BarefootInFloridaWithJulie.com, was getting a bit too big.
(Admittedly, I was hoping to get a place in The Guinness Book of World Records as the largest amateur website on the internet known to man. But alas, another dream squashed by reality, or human intervention.)
I thought that if I were to create a new website and move a lot of our old content over, that it would lighten the load to our current live site, and I could make this new website about our Florida Life. So, I specifically chose website pages that were of a Florida nature. We love Florida! My ties to Florida go back to when I was a baby in the 60’s, living in Rome, Georgia with my mother, grand-parents, and great-grandparents. Every summer was spent vacationing in Florida. Also, prior to me being born, it was where my mother and her friends, and their families vacationed as well. I have some really great old photos of my grand-parents, great-grandparents, and great-aunts and uncles wearing their old fashioned swimsuits with their old timey cars parked on the beach. Once upon a time you could do that. Drive onto the beach and park your car. Mostly on the East Coast of Florida, they had the longest stretches of beaches.

I’m the tall one with my cute petite friends. St. Pete left, Daytona right.
I can remember the Florida vacations very well. We would leave Rome in the evening, and drive all night down to Florida. I would be asleep in the backseat, wearing pajamas.. My grand-father would do the driving. If I had to use the bathroom on the way down my grandfather would pull over to the side of the highway, they would open both doors, the front door and the backdoor, and I would take my winky-tink between the two doors. Sometimes, cars would honk as they would drive by. I was always in a panic that someone could see me. My grandmother always assured me that no one can. (She was probably lying.)
St. Petersburg was usually our destination. My grand-father would look for Motels with a VACANCY sign flashing towards the street. He would just drive down what is now Gulf Blvd. looking for a Motel that he thought looked nice. He would then pull into those Motels and inquire within for something suitable for all of us. I can remember that we were always on the ocean side, most of the time there was a pool. I can even remember one place we stayed at where we walked out of our motel room door directly onto the beach. There was so much beach sand outside our door.
I have beautiful memories of many Florida vacations with my grand-parents. My grand-father was one to lay on his back in the ocean, floating, and falling asleep. He was a big man, very tall, with lots of cushion. He floated very easily. I can remember one time he fell asleep and was drifting out to sea, a lifeguard was blowing his whistle trying to wake him up to get him to swim back towards shore.
Most every night we would eat at a seafood restaurant. The restaurant was always located on an ocean front, or a canal front. I have so many great memories of finding little fishies trapped between the rocks by the ocean or canals. I would use a paper cup to capture them and take them back to the motel room with me. I loved having them with me in the motel room. I loved watching them. Sometimes I would set them loose the next day, if they even made it through the night. Upon reflection I wish I had known more about helping them. But I didn’t. I was just a child.
—————————————————————————————
Hello Rosy Cheeks
I remember this very well. It was at one restaurant that was busy that evening for dinner. There were many people waiting to get seated. My grand-parents and I were sitting at a table in the entryway when suddenly this cute boy sat down right beside my grandmother, he sat across from me, he then looked at me and said with all the confidence in the world, “Hello rosy cheeks.” I was in my early teens. My grandmother instantly adored him! I guess charmers must recognize each other because my grand-mother was a charmer. She then burst out laughing.
This cute, charming boy sat there flirting with me. I knew I could fall for him in a minute! But, I was just too shy to do anything about it. But, I have always remembered that cute boy that made this awkward girl feel special.
Oh, and the rosy cheeks were from my being sunburned that day from staying out too long in the sun, on the beach.
———————————————————————————
Florida is not just a great state to vacation in, it holds so many happy memories for me and my family growing up. It makes sense that Gordon and I would settle here and live out our days until we are gone. Hopefully that won’t be for a very long time. But, until then we have a grand-daughter to help raise and make many happy Florida memories for her to take with her in life.
An old timey Motel, a Shuffleboard Court, Sun, Sand, Shells, Beach, Oranges, Orange Juice, Drawbridges, Souvenir Shops, Boat Rides, Seafood Restaurants, Summer Friendships with other Tourists, Salt Water Taffy, Vintage Beach Buckets, Sand Shovels, Flamingoes… and being Barefoot!
This is what I carry with me every day.
Happy Vintage Julie Barefoot Memories,
Julie Barefoot
(Julie Lancaster-Whann)
—————————————————————————————————

————————————————————————————————————-

Florida is Beautiful and Unique,

Located in the South, yet not Really Southern.

Although Florida is the East Coast, and Canada’s Destination

My Florida Favorites

————————————————————————————————-

———————————————————————————————-

————————————————————————————-

Some of Veronica’s Artwork
I asked her if she had some of her art that I could display on the new website. She sent over these. This was all she had in her possession. People do hire her to draw and paint for them. I would love to had seen those paintings, but she did contribute some nice things.

Busch Gardens

I told my guys in India that I wanted an Alligator on the bottom left, and Flamingoes on the bottom right.
I do think the landscaping you see in the graphic above looks like Africa, but then again we do have Busch Gardens here in Florida that is theme based on Africa.
So, I guess it all goes together nicely.
Web Design is a lot of fun but it isn’t really something tangible. I mean, the moment I quit paying the monthly fees, it can all just disappear. Or an experienced hacker can just come along and delete the whole thing forever. As much as I love my website’s they aren’t anything that I can hold in my hand, or place onto a shelf for display, or even own forever. My experience with having websites is that they are very vulnerable to those that know how to penetrate them, and abuse them without any conscious or authority whatsoever.
I guess what I am trying to say is that they are very temporary, so enjoy them while you can.
See You At The Beach!
Julie Barefoot
Currently Under Construction ———————————————————————————— Also Check Out My: Click Here For: Julie’s Jezebel Sauce AND, Aloha Wahine Jezebel Sauce AND, An Oriental Jezebel AND, An Old Florida Jezebel (Sauce) AND, One HOT Jezebel for …
Julie’s Lunchbox Take Out
My theory is to always take food with you.
You never know what you may encounter, and you shouldn’t be at the mercy of having to settle for something you don’t want, or need to eat, just because it is available and you are hungry. Or worse, you may not have access to food at all when you need it.
Packing a lunch, based on your likes and tastes to me, is the best lunch you can eat.
Also, when you prepare your own food you know exactly what you put in it. I view eating out as a treat, not a daily occurrence.
Here are a few examples of my fun lunches that I take with me. I didn’t intend for them to be of an Asian theme, that’s just how it has turned out.
Julie

A Candle and Fortunes
P.S. I hope to add to this page as time goes by.
—————————————————————————————-

Coffee, Before I Hit The Road…
——————————————————————————————


Let’s See:
I have to go into Tampa,
Drive into the (Military) Base,
Pick up my Prescriptions,
Fill the Car with Gas,
Shop at the Exchange,
Run into Class 6 (Base Liquor Store),
Shop at the Commissary,
And, Shop at the Commissary AGAIN.
(I run in the first time for toiletries, household items, etc.
and I run into the Commissary the second time, for Food.)
———————————————————————————————–
Seeing as how this is going to be one of my big days,
I need to bring a nice lunch, and a snack or two with me, as I head out the door for the day.

There is always a Purse, and a Lunch Tote, and Plenty of WATER!
————————————————————————————
If I Don’t Take Food With Me,

Then I End Up Picking At A Chicken From The Deli While Driving Home,

Which We All Know Is Kinda Gross.
————————————————————————————-

SNACKS!

—————————————————————————–

I Think Leftover Asian Food Makes Great Take Out Lunch
————————————————————————————————–

Asian Soup To Go
W/ Mushrooms, Chives, Black Meatballs, and Kimchi!
(If you are wondering how Soup can be ‘Take Out,’ that is because it is generally quite hot before you leave the house, or you are able to keep it hot with good insulation, or you are able to heat it up while you are out and about. Either way, it is possible. Also, lukewarm is also acceptable sometimes.)

Don’t forget the Sanbai-Zu, (Sweet Vinegar Sauce)
———————————————————————————————-

A Taste of my Easy Asian Soup
Chicken Stock, Asian Noodles, Fresh Chives, Sauteed Mushrooms, and Sanbai-Zu

Cooking the Noodles in the Chicken Broth…
then adding the Mushrooms, Chives, and the Black Meatballs.
————————————————————————————


The Black Meatball Recipe will be coming this way eventually.
Or at least the link to click on for the recipe. Check back later on.

This will be where the above recipes will be posted.
—————————————————————————————–

Dry Top Ramen Snack
The keiki’s (Kids) in Hawaii always keep a pack of Top Ramen in their pockets to snack on while they play outside.
Sometimes I will grab one to snack on while I’m driving and on the go.
——————————————————————————————-

Another Fun Lunch For Me
Egg Rolls, Bao Buns, Spring Onions, and Chili Sauce
(I save the portable Chili Sauces from various Take Out foods that I have eaten over time.)
Again, you can keep your food warm with good insulation.
———————————————————————————————–
My Tasty Asian Seaweed Dip/Spread

If You Would Like The Recipe…
Click Here For: A Tasty Asian Summer
———————————————————————————

I love these Asian Crackers:
Seaweed and Onion, and Shallot
They are large, and very sturdy. I also like that they are packed in a plastic container, and wrapped with about 4 to a pack.
They don’t come all broken as our crackers do here in America.

Here I have placed my Seaweed Dip/Spread into a small Bento Box with the Crackers, for a Take Away Snack
—————————————————————————————–
Once Again, Out For The Day

This Time, I Just Needed A Snack

Taking My Aloha Snack Mix

The reason I named this my Aloha Snack Mix is that I had geared it more towards Hawaii than I did any Asian creation I might have come up with.
Hawaii does have a large Asian influence. But, it is a tropical Polynesian/Asian influence here.

(Recipe Down Below)
—————————————————————————————————–

My Monochromatic Fortune Cookies
I Love Fortune Cookies!
I love that they are a nice crunchy cookie treat that isn’t very sweet. I love the cute little message inside every cookie. I also love that we can easily dress them up, and enhance them to make them even better. Here is what I did to these Fortune Cookies…

You can find Fortune Cookies in the Ethnic Isle of your local supermarkets, usually.
But if not, you can always shop the Asian Supermarkets near you.

Ingredients:
Plain Fortune Cookies
Dark Chocolate, and White Chocolate Melting Wafers

Sesame Seeds:
Black, White, and Tan Sesame Seeds
—————————————————————————————
This is very simple to make:
You just want to melt some of the Chocolate Wafers in Microwave Safe Bows…

..and then dip one side of the Fortune Cookie into the melted Chocolates….

..and then, dip that chocolaty side of the Fortune Cookie into the Sesame Seeds.

Quite Beautiful and Tasty Too!

Just Allow Them To Cool and then Store in an Airtight Container
————————————————————————————-
Just a Sidebar Here….

Fortune Cookies, and Green Tea Ice Cream go very well Together 🙂
—————————————————————————————

Fortune Cookies, and Crumbs
———————————————————————————–

Made in Japan, Purchased in Vietnam…
..by my cousin Susan Keith when her husband Joe was injured during the Vietnam War, and Aunt Margie and Uncle Ray paid to fly Susan over to see Joe while he was in the hospital. She bought two sets. One red, and one black. She gave Aunt Margie the red one. I then asked for it when Aunt Margie died, and Susan let me have it. I love it!
——————————————————————————————————


My Asian Salad, with a Ginger Dressing

I am one who enjoys taking a Salad for Lunch

I Love The Leftovers!

Especially With Chopsticks!
(Recipe Down Below)
————————————————————————————

My Asian Salad (from above) To Go!
With Dressing And All The Crunchies!

Sometimes a Snack of Scorpion Pepper Pistachio’s is a nice ‘out the door’ Treat!
—————————————————————————————-
The Take Out Line Starts Here
———————————————————————-

Asian Soup To Go
(I have that recipe above, and the link to click on for the Black Meatballs.)
——————————————————————————————————-


My Asian Salad, with a Ginger Dressing
————————————————————————————————–
While a lot of people may not think of taking a salad with them to eat in the car for lunch, I do.
It’s not only healthy for you, but delicious. I especially love that crunch, and the tanginess of the Ginger Dressing.

My Salad Ingredients:
1 Bag of Chopped Asian Salad, Readymade
Chopped Red Cabbage
Shredded Butter Lettuce
Stick Carrots
Sliced Crinkled Radish
Snow Peas
Crinkled Cut Multi-Colored Carrots
Jicama, Cut into Chunks
Mushrooms, of Your Choice
Ginger Dressing
————————————————————————————————-

Everything Washed, and Drying

My Mushrooms, I purchased them from the Asian Supermarket

Everything Thrown Together in a Bowl For Dinner
————————————————————————————————–
Readying The Salad Leftovers For a Lunch Treat on the Road

I LOVE the Crunchy Things!
Crunchy Beets
La Choy Chow Mein Noodles
Sesame Sticks
Crunchy Fried Won Ton
—————————————————————————————–

Throw Everything Together in a Lunch Tote, Add a few Fortune Cookies for Good Luck!
Don’t forget the Ginger Dressing!
——————————————————————————————
My Aloha Snack Mix

I wanted to create a snack mix which reminds me of Hawaii. After all, we lived in Hawaii for 13 years. Hawaii is still with us, we carry that Aloha Spirit every day. It may look Asian to you. Hawaii is made up of many different cultures, some Asian as well as Polynesian. I based this on what I think the average local Hawaiian resident would like to snack on.
————————————————————————————————–
The Ingredients:
The ingredients are more of an Idea, and a Suggestion, but nothing is written in stone here. You can change things up a bit if you like.
I wanted to make this mix in the same style that I do when I would make my beloved homemade Chex Party Mix.
So, I am giving you the ideas, and you can go forward with the experiment.

La Choy Chow Mein Noodles (I used a bag and a half. I believe the bags were about 16 oz. each.)
2, Top Ramen Dry Noodle Soups (I am using a Chicken Flavor, but not using the seasoning packet. I am only using the dry noodles.)
Plain Almonds
Sesame Sticks
Dry Roasted Peanuts
Sunflower Seeds
Black Sesame Seeds
(The amounts of the above ingredients are up to you.)
——————————————————————————
1, 1/2 Cups Tahini (Tahini is 100% Ground Sesame Seeds)
8 T. Fish Sauce
1/2 Cup, Aloha Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce
Water, To Help Thin Out The Wet Ingredients
(Wasabi Peas ended up being a Side, and not in the Mix)
———————————————————————————

————————————————————————————-

You will need a large baking pan, and a wooden spoon.

Adding Our Dry Ingredients First
Chow Mein Noodles, Sesame Sticks, Almonds, Dry Roasted Peanuts, Sunflower Seeds, and Black Sesame Seeds

Break up your Top Ramen Noodles, and add to the Baking Pan

Black Sesame Seeds
The Amounts For All of the Above are up to You
—————————————————————————————————–

In a Medium Sized Bowl….

Adding 1 1/2 Cups of the Tahini

Adding 1/2 Cup of Aloha Soy Sauce, 8 T. of Fish Sauce, and 1/4 Cup of Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce

Stirring All The Wet Ingredients Together

(I wish that I had thinned it out more than I did.)

The Sauce is Still a bit Thick
It was good though!

I was experimenting and adding more of this, and more of that.
However, I do give you the totals that I used in the recipe ingredients listed above.

——————————————————————————————

I Stirred Everything Together
Turn Your Oven on 250F
I decided to bake these along the same lines as I do when I make Chex Party Mix.

Into The Oven
Remove after 15 minutes and then stir together.
Then place the mix back into the oven for another 15 minutes.
Remove and stir together.
Then put it back into the oven for a last 10 – 15 minutes.
Remove and stir together.

Allow To Cool

I’m Cooling The Mix On Parchment Paper

Aloha Snack Mix w/ Wasabi Peas on the Side
————————————————————————————-
If you would like to view our other Asian pages:
Click Here For: Whann Way Asian

AND,
Click Here For: Whann Way Asian, E Ho ‘Omau (Continues)

AND,
Click Here For: Julie Loves Asian

AND,
Click Here For: Asian Edible Gifts

AND,
Edible Gifts of the Asian Variety

(Note: Edible Gifts of the Asian Variety is the same post as Asian Edible Gifts. I have both listed here for accuracy, but one is a Page and the other is considered a Post. Confusing, I know.)
AND,
Click Here For: Our Asian Easter

AND,
Click Here For: Whann Way Sushi

AND,
Click Here For: My Love Affair With All Things Asian

AND,
Click Here For: Asian Steamed Buns: Bao and Manapua

AND,
Click Here For: Our Purple Sweet Potato and Taro Stuffed Steamed Buns and Asian-Pacific Sliders

AND,
Click Here For: Our Asian Inspired 4th. of July

AND,
Click Here For: Gordon’s ‘Year of the Tiger’ Sauce and Nam Jim Jaew

AND,

AND,

AND,
Chisana Atsukau (Small Treats in Japanese

AND,

AND,
Japanese Girl’s Day (Hawaii Tradition)

AND,
Asian Eats (More Great Recipes to Enjoy)

AND,

AND,

AND,

AND,

———————————————————-
“Izzy, Breakfast! Izzy, Snack! Izzy, Juice! Izzy, Lunch!” Tutu Sometimes breakfast is as quick as fresh Blueberries, String Cheese, Banana Muffin, Celery with Peanut Butter, and Crinkle Cut Carrots ——————————————————— When Isabelle was born and I started becoming her main …
Welcome to Strawberry’s and All Things PINK! Dried Hibiscus Flowers ———————————————————————————– Pink Fudge with Dried Hibiscus Flowers The Hibiscus Flowers are Sweet and Tangy, Almost like Gummy’s ———————————————————————————————— I have been eating lots of Strawberry’s this year, and loving all …
(See Down Below For New Content)

Hello
Happy Barefoot Spring, and Summer in my Backyard
And Fall and Winter, but not so much. 🙂

Our Backyard Peach Tree
We spend a lot of time outside in our backyard. Gardening, Landscaping, Grilling, Picnicing, Playing….
The Dogs love it in the Backyard, so does our Grand-Daughter Isabelle.
There have been some changes this year.
With Gordon working overseas I have decided to downgrade my massive Herb Garden, (situated on the side of our house) and to move it inside the Lanai Extension.
A smaller version of it, anyway. Oh, all the pots and planters are still on the side of the house for when we decide to make it all grand again. But for now, I don’t need all that.
I really don’t need the massive amount of herbs that I once did. I am cooking for 1 now. ME! And, sometimes I do create large meals that I will share with my daughter, son-in-law and grand-daughter. But most of the time I am just cooking for me. So, I created an area where I can harvest my most favorite and used Herbs for my meals. It’s just more convenient for me.

The New Planters
The larger one is for me and my specific Herbs, and the smaller one for Isabelle and her new found love of gardening. (Or so I hope!)
In her Planter are Mint and Flowers
I wanted Isabelle to have an Herb as well as something beautiful.

Me, with Spooky and Sparky
—————————————————————————————————
My Favorite Section of the Backyard

I Like Having a Gardening Center
Something Just For Me
My Personality, My Tastes, My Style

————————————————————————————–

Gordon Created This Landscaping Area Years Ago..

We’ve Had Many Different Themes Here
This one, is one that I am greatly enjoying.
It represents my backyard evolution.

Mate
Pronounced Mah -Tae
This is a beverage we learned from Meghan Markle and her show from Netflix.
We saw the beverage at Sprouts and decided to try it. It is very good!
———————————————————————————————
Be Sure To Check Out:

—————————————————————————————————
For Tutu on Mother’s Day, 2025

This is something that Veronica and Isabelle made for me.
I love it!
Isabelle’s feet turned into a butterfly. 🙂
————————————————————————————————————
Mother’s Day, 2025

I wanted to be photographed in my favorite spot in the backyard.

Italian Wine and Roses

————————————————————————————

Plenty of Beautiful Green Basil…

…In My Favorite Yellow Pots

————————————————————————————–

My Mother’s Day Dinner of Baked Valentine Jezebel Ham, and Arabic Potatoes

(Recipe Down Below)
——————————————————————————————-

My Lemon and Herb Garden Treats

———————————————————————————————

Delicious Mother’s Day Garden Treats

Isabelle’s Mint

(Recipe Down Below)
———————————————————————————————————
Why, Hello There!

A Beautiful Backyard Visitor
——————————————————————————–

This Majestic Beauty is Eating the Backyard Lizards!
NO! The Lizard’s Live Here, YOU Don’t!

——————————————————————————————

When The Ducks Come To Visit, Feed Them! 🙂
————————————————————————

A Bird Splashing Around In The Birdbath
———————————————————————————

An Ibis Looking For Bugs
————————————————————————————————
2024, Backyard with Julie and Isabelle


The Lanai Extension

Gordon and Julie, 2025

—————————————————————————————————
Isabelle’s Garden Planter

The Doggie Planter I Found While Shopping and got it for her Because she Loves Doggies.
(Doggie Project Down Below)

I Am Not The Artist Of The Family, Obviously 🙂

Backyard Lilly’s In My Hair

——————————————————————————–

Bluey Garden Set

Mini Garden Station for Isabelle
(I found it online and ordered it. Gordon put it together.
I’m hoping she will understand the concept of it as time goes by. She does like playing with it.)
—————————————————————————————-

My hope is that Isabelle will grow up with an interest in planting something, nurturing it, and watching it grow into something useful and beautiful. It always starts at a very young age. Children grow up watching their parents and grandparents, and develop their interests. My intention isn’t to teach her to become a gardener. But, my intention is to teach her to be able to grow a few things on her own to help substantiate her future life. If she chooses to expand on that knowledge, then wonderful! But, it does start somewhere.

She Does Love To Play Here

———————————————————————————————-

————————————————————————————————-

Isabelle and I will Eventually be Planting Seeds Together
———————————————————————————————————-

Uh, Oh… Texting and Driving is never good!
——————————————————————————————————-
Backyard Blogging Starts Right Here

The Orchid’s Perfect Spot
—————————————————————————
July 29, 2025

Humid, and Hazy Morning on our Lanai
My Vanda Orchid is thriving in this humidity.

The name of my plant escapes me right now. But, what I love the most about it is the main resident.

This lovely lizard is living here. I see it on various leaves every day, and night.
I’m happy the lizard likes it here. I consider it my neighbor. I always look to say “hello’ every day.
—————————————————————————————–
March/April, 2025

Every Spring we clean up our backyard that usually gets a bit overgrown during the Winter months here in Florida.
Lots of clearing, pulling up weeds, thinning Bamboo, and Pressure Washing.
This year was no different. We did all of that above, and even created a nice garden area inside the Lanai Extension.
The New Planters Project

The Planters I purchased online. One for me, one for Isabelle.
It’s just a matter of assembling them, purchasing all the potting soil to go in them, followed by the plants and flowers that you choose.
The Planters came with a cloth bottom that goes in the bottom before you place your dirt in it.
You do want to purchase Potting Soil. Potting Soil goes in pots, other dirt goes on the ground. Even though these are planters they are still considered pots.

The Dirt Has Been Placed In The Planters
I’ve Also Purchased The Plants and Herbs
——————————————————————————————-
Starting To Plant…

While Isabelle Plays…

Isabelle May Be Playing In Her Garden Center, But She Does See Her Tutu Working
That is Important
——————————————————————————————–

——————————————————————————————

As Isabelle Grows I Will Include Her More Into My Projects


But For Now, She Plays

——————————————————————————

Isabelle Does Love Rocks!

This is My Bleeding Heart
————————————————————————————————
Cute Doggie Planter Project

I found this cute doggie planter, and knew that it would be great for Isabelle and her garden planter.

If you can, place some sort of Tarp down to collect the dirt so the project doesn’t become a huge mess you have to clean up.

I chose these yellow flowers for the doggie because they would look nice, and be great in this medium light part of the Lanai Extension.

Use Potting Soil, and Plant the Beautiful Flowers
————————————————————————————-
This is the Last of This Backyard Grand Palm

It Recently Died, and we Removed It
(I just wanted to place it here as it has existed since we bought our house in 2006. And now, it has died in 2025. I think Hurricane Milton speeded up it’s demise. That area will be revamped, but no time soon.)
————————————————————————————

Our Planters Are Completed

This is a great area for the sun to shine down on our Garden Planter’s.

——————————————————————————————–

Isabelle Taking Notice of Her Flowers and Herbs

—————————————————————————————————–

I Love All My Backyard PINK!

————————————————————————————————————-
Isabelle and Her Bluey Sidewalk Chalk



————————————————————————————–

——————————————————————————————————
My Special Project, Thanks to Brodie
This area of the house was vacant of anything. We did have a lovely wooden potting bench at one time, but the Florida sun and humidity will ruin all woods eventually.
It did last about 5 years before we got rid of it.
I got the idea that I wanted to place a large cabinet here. Something with shelves and drawers. Where I could place pots out of sight that I didn’t use, and to even make it very attractive with nice pots and plants. Even serving up some foods for when we entertain or eat outside.

I would like to say that I have a great idea for a future project for this area. See that long window? That is our Den window, that used to be Brodie’s bedroom. I think that it would be nice to turn that window into a doorway to allow another backyard exit. Kind of like a Mother-In-Law Suite. The rectangular window in the top right of the photo above is the Guest Bathroom. Also, on the other side of the den is a spare bedroom. It might be kind of nice to create what would be an entire different wing of our house where someone else could live in that part of the house. Not that I want to do that. But, it would add value to our home and would be great for when guests visit. And, imagine how nice it would be to create an outdoor ‘porch’ of sort there as well? Kind of like a Mother-In-Law Suite.

Brodie is Assembling My Cabinet Above

This was a Mother’s Day gift to myself in 2024.
Having Brodie put it together for me is a gift in itself. 🙂
————————————————————————————-

Brodie Did A Really Great Job Of Putting This Together

The Finished Results 🙂
I have since added a few things here and there.
I love it!
——————————————————————————–
Recipes Start Here

Dubai Chocolate, My Special Treats From Gordon 🙂

——————————————————————–

My Lemon and Herb Garden Treats

I based these on my love of Dirt Cups.
You know, the dessert made from Chocolate Pudding and Kool-Whip, with Oreo’s and Gummy Worms? A lot of people would place the delicious dessert in Garden Pots. I always loved them.
Except mine are based on Lemons and Herbs from my Garden.
—————————————————————————-

The first thing that I did was to make my Lemon Pudding to set overnight.
You can use as many Lemon Pudding’s as you like. I used 4! Just follow the package instructions.

———————————————————————————–

I Put Them All In One Bowl And Covered With Saran Wrap, Place In The Refrigerator
—————————————————————————————–

Isabelle’s Mint
(I cut some to wash for our Lemon and Herb Cups.)
——————————————————————————————-

Next Day: Time to Make the Lemon/Herb Cups

Ingredients:
The Ready Made Lemon Pudding that has been Refrigerated overnight
Tub/Tubs Kool-Whip, Thawed
Some Clear Plastic Cups
Lemon Snap Cookies, Crushed
Isabelle’s Fresh Mint (Garnish)
Micro-Greens
Fresh Lemon Peel, or Grated Lemon Zest (Or Both) Garnish
Lemon Cookie Thins (Garnish)
Mint Malted Milk Balls (Garnish)
Sunflower Seeds, Garnish
———————————————————–

Lemon Pancake Cookies, and Sunflower Seeds

My Lemon Pudding I Made the Day Before….

Me, Ready to Get Started

This food project is to be as big or as small as you like it to be.
I spooned about half of the Lemon Pudding into a separate bowl, and then added some Kool-Whip.

You eye-ball this for your own tastes. Then mix together.
———————————————————————————–
Lemon Snap Cookies…..

CRUSHED!!!

Just Place Into A Plastic Bag and Bash With A Wooden Mallet Until Chunky Crumbs
—————————————————————————————-

Toppings Ready To Top 🙂
————————————————————————

The Assembly
Into each of the plastic cups you want to cover the bottom with the Lemon Snap Cookie Chunky Crumbs.

I Did Add a Few of the Micro-Greens to a Few of the Cups.
I tried to kind of swirl them around inside the cup.

I Then Shaved Some of the Lemon Peel

I Then Placed the Lemon Pudding into Each Cup

Bashing My Mint Malted Milk Balls
These were so good!

Continuing To Build On The Cups

Adding Some Sunflower Seeds

Fresh Mint

Placing a Few of the Lemon Pancake Cookies….

I made some plain, some for a medium taste, and the rest for a more garden greens taste.
It is all really up to you on how you make them.
———————————————————————————-

Outside, and Ready to Eat

Cool and Refreshing
—————————————————————————————————-
My Mother’s Day Dinner
I wanted to add the recipes here because this page is all about my 2025 Mother’s Day so I wanted to keep everything together.
Even though the recipes really don’t have anything to do with my outdoor projects.

Baked Valentine Jezebel Ham, and Arabic Potatoes

————————————————————————————————–
My Arabic Potatoes
With Gordon working overseas he brings back the most exotic of spices and even a few interesting cookbooks. It was while I was flipping through one of them that I found a great potato dish. I loved the presentation, not that I copied it here, and I also loved the flavors. They just seemed so delicious together. Although I ignored the presentation, and even changed up the tastes a bit, I am very happy with my rendition of this creation. I hope you like it too!

Ingredients:
Potatoes: I used a Combination of Red and Yukon (About 5 Pounds)

Other Ingredients:
Onion (I used a Vidalia Onion, and a few large Shallots.)
1-2 Cups Vegetable Oil, For Frying
10-15 Garlic Cloves, Minced or Crushed
1 t. Cayenne Pepper
1 t. Paprika
Black Garlic Salt, Sprinkled Over as Desired
1/2 t. Turmeric Powder
2 t. Ground Coriander
Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
Garnish with Fresh Coriander and Micro-Greens
————————————————————————————–

The first thing that you want to do is to have your Potatoes already washed and prepared.

The Cast Iron Skillet is for my Ham, the Wok is for my Potatoes.

Here I am Slicing My Potatoes into Small Bite Sized Chunks….

and then Placing them into a Large Bowl of Water.
(This will help to remove some of the starch.)
————————————————————————————————

My Vidalia Onion, and Two Large Shallots

Cutting Up the Vidalia Onion and Shallots….
Garlic to be Crushed
———————————————————————————————–

Having chopped up my Potatoes, and Having them sit into the large bowl full of water, I have now Drained them into 2 separate Colander’s.
———————————————————————————————-
Time To Place Some Vegetable Oil Into The Wok, To Sautee The Onion and Shallot
(About a 2-3 T. of the Vegetable Oil, for now)

Sauteing The Shallots and Vidalia Onion in Vegetable Oil
Do this for about 5-7 minutes until it softens a bit…..

Now, Start To Crush Your Garlic Cloves Into the Onion/Shallot Mixture.
You can either mince them or crush them.

Time To Add More Of The Vegetable Oil Into The Wok, About a 1/4 Cup.

Add All of Your Potatoes To The Wok, Stir Everything Around
——————————————————————————————-

It’s Time To Add The Spices As The Potatoes Cook

This is entirely up to your personal tastes.
To start I did add 1 t. of Cayenne, 1 t. of Paprika, 1/2 t. of Turmeric Powder….

Also, about 2 t. of Coriander and some Freshly Ground Black Pepper to Taste.
Also, I did a Sprinkling of Black Garlic Salt over Top. Just a Pinch or Two.

Blend Together and Keep Stirring in a Medium-Low Heat

If you need to add more Vegetable Oil, do so. You don’t want your potatoes sticking to the bottom of the Wok. If you would like to add a few more of the Spices, do so. This is all up to your personal tastes.
Season and Taste as you go!
When the Potatoes are Tender then you know they are done. Set them aside until ready to eat!
————————————————————————————————-
Time For The Ham
Baked in my Valentine Jezebel Sauce
Click Here For: A Valentine Jezebel (Sauce)

—————————————————————————————-

This is so easy!
I simply placed a pre-baked Ham into my Cast Iron Skillet and then turned the oven on 350F.

I did add a little bit of water to the skillet, and then started spooning my Jezebel over the Ham.

I placed the Ham into the oven for about 10 minutes to start, and then removed it to spoon over a few more tablespoons of my Jezebel, and then placed it back into the oven for an additional 10 minutes.

I wanted a caramelization over the Ham.
Potatoes have been done and are on a very low heat.

Ham is Ready!
It was a very nice dinner for me!

Placed on Micro-Greens 🙂
——————————————————————————————
View My Other Herb Garden and Project Pages:

AND,

AND,

AND,

AND,

AND,
Julie’s Backyard Wildlife and Gardening Blogging

AND,

AND,

AND,
Julie’s Backyard Wildlife and Gardening Blogging Continues

AND,
Julie Barefoot In The Backyard

Be Sure To Get Your Toes Dirty!
Julie
——————————————————————————–
“I don’t promise to forget the mystery, but I know I’ll have a marvelous time“ Nancy Drew ————————————————————————————– CURRENTLY ON A STAKE OUT, CHECK BACK LATER …
Meet Brodie and Mackenzie December 2024 The Proposal Bok Tower Gardens, Lake Wales, Florida Champagne and My (Julie) Former Engagement Ring My Ring Has Never Looked More Beautiful 🙂 Mackenzie and her Twin Sister Susannah ——————————————————— When I first met Mackenzie …
Coming The Year of the Snake ——————————————————————————- Kung Hei Fat Choy (Happy New Year) Channeling Mulan For Breakfast ———————————————————————————– ————————————————————————————————– If you would like to view our …
Dear Dairy… Olive Films (I just liked the logo.) Today I rearranged the cans in the pantry and dusted them off while wearing my new full skirt I sewed last week for the church picnic, and the pearls that my husband …

Julie In The Kitchen
Aloha In Florida (As Always)
You can take the family out of Hawaii, but you can’t take the Hawaii out of the family. 🙂


Gordon Making Our Macadamia Nut Mahi-Mahi on Asian Sesame Hash Brown Patties,
with a Drizzling of White Wine Coconut Sauce
We are still in love with the foods that we ate in Hawaii for those 13 years we were there.
Which explains our many Hawaii Website Pages.
I started this one because our others were already too full of ONO recipes. We hope you will enjoy this additional ‘More Hawaiian Eats.’
Aloha and Mahalo,
Julie and Gordon
If you would like to check out our other Hawaiian Website Pages, then just scroll down the page, the links are at the bottom.
———————————————————————-

Julie’s Oriental Jezebel Sauce
We used my Jezebel as a dipping sauce for our Egg Rolls.
If you would like the recipe….
Click Here For: An Oriental Jezebel

———————————————————————————————-
To Start:

(Gordon and Brodie)
Gordon Making Our Macadamia Nut Mahi-Mahi on Asian Sesame Hash Brown Patties,
with a Drizzling of White Wine Coconut Sauce

Dipping Sauces…

Egg Rolls…

ONO!
———————————————————————————————

Our Store-Bought Chocolate Kiwi Cake, With Fresh Kiwi, Matcha Mac-Nut Chocolates, and Cool-Whip

————————————————————————————–

Very Rich and Delicious
———————————————————————————
RECIPES START HERE
———————————————————————–
Our Meal
Mahi Mahi fillets encrusted with Macadamia Nuts, Panko Breadcrumbs and Grated Ginger. Then we fried up some store-bought Vegetable Spring Rolls. Lastly, I made some Asian Sesame Hash Browns incorporating some of the Macadamia Nut mixture used to make the Mahi Mahi crust. These will be topped with some Chili Coconut Sauce.

Macadamia Nut Mahi-Mahi on Hash Brown Patties,
with a Drizzling of White Wine Coconut Sauce
——————————————————————–
Ingredients:

Seen are the Mahi Mahi fillets we used to make this recipe. They come vacuum sealed and will last a long time in the freezer. I have always found this brand to be good. Use one fillet per person.

Here you can see the vacuum seal.
——————————————————————–

Panko or Japanese Breadcrumbs are great to use as they add some nice crunch to the crust on the fish.

Start by adding 1 Cup of Panko to your blender, then add ½ cup Macadamia Nuts.

For your Ginger, use a spoon to peel off the outer skin, trust me it works great.
Then slice the Ginger thinly.

Now, chop the Ginger finely as shown. I used a few tablespoons in this recipe, but you can use as much or as little as you like.

Add the chopped Ginger to the blender.

Blend the ingredients together for no more than 10 seconds.

Pour the mixture out onto a bowl or plate large enough to fit your fillets.

Here, I am adding a few tablespoons of Macadamia Nut Oil to my cast iron skillet.
Turn the temperature up to Medium High.
——————————————————————————-

Remove the Mahi Mahi fillets from their vacuum sealed packages.

Place the fillet meat side down into the bread crumb mixture.

Here you can see the fillets weren’t moist enough to hold onto the breadcrumbs. In this case, you can simply run some water over the fillet to help it hold onto the breadcrumbs.

Here you can see on my second try, the breadcrumbs stuck to the fish with a little help from me to pack them on.

By now, your oil should be hot, so gently place your fillet, breadcrumb side down into the oil.

Coat your other fillets with the breadcrumb mixture and add the second fillet to the pan.

Fry the fillets for about 6 min. on each side. If you look closely as the side of the fish, you can also gage your time by the fish turning white. When the fish changes color halfway up the fillet, it is time to turn the fillet over to the skin side.

Here you can see the other fillets encrusted and ready for the pan.

When I turned the fillets over, you will see they are a little burnt as this is due to the Macadamia Nuts and their inability to take heat. You can also see the one fillet isn’t cooked all the way as it didn’t sit flat in the pan. No worries, this is an easy fix. Simply place the encrusted side back in the oil and hold the fish up so that only that uncooked portion is hitting the oil. As far as the slightly burnt parts of the crust, I like it as it is almost like blackened fish and the burnt tastes really didn’t come through.

Cook all the filets, then when done, add some Hawaiian Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
———————————————————————————————-
Now for the Vegetable Spring Rolls

If you are looking for a more authentic Spring Roll, then check out your local Asian Supermarket.

Heat your vegetable oil to medium high heat and fry the spring rolls until golden brown.
Place the cooked spring rolls on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.

Cook all the spring rolls and place them on a aluminum foil lined sheet pan.
Place them and your Fish Filets in your oven on low until ready to serve.

————————————————————————————–
The Asian Sesame Hash Brown Potatoes

Ingredients:

Place a few cups of Shredded Hash Browns into a large bowl. Then add about 1 Cup chopped Red Onions and some Sesame Seeds. I like using the Black on White mix.

I also had the idea to incorporate some of the Macadamia Nut crust mix to this tying both recipes together.

Now add some freshly ground Black Pepper and Sea Salt to taste.

Mix all the ingredients together using your very clean hands.
Add some vegetable oil to your cast iron skillet and turn the heat to medium high. Using your hands, make patties out of the potato mixture. When the oil is hot, place your formed potato patties into the oil as shown.

Waiting for the patties to get golden brown… which only takes a few minutes.

—————————————————————————-

Here you can see the potato patties are a nice golden brown so time to flip them and cook them on the other side until done. Place the cooked patties on a plate lined with paper towels.

Do this for all the patties.
Hey, Brodie and Mackenzie arrived! I love our family! 🙂
———————————————————————-
White Wine Coconut Sauce

Brodie can finish the potato cakes while I make the sauce for the fish. Pictured are the ingredients.

Start by adding ½ Cup Heavy Whipping Cream to a saucepan and turn the pan’s heat to low.

Then add ½ Cup White Wine to the pan.

Now add ½ Cup Vegetable Broth to the pan.

Here I am adding about 1 Tbsp. minced Ginger to the mixture. Stir the mixture.

In goes 3/4 Cup Unsweetened Coconut Milk

Peel and slice your Shallots, then chop them finely. Add about 2 Tbsp. of your Shallots to the pan and again stir the mixture. You want the sauce to reduce some to thicken which will take about 10-15 min.

————————————————————————

Check on your Spring Rolls and Fish Filets

They are looking great!
————————————————————————–

Brodie, Mackenzie, and Hank are waiting patiently in the Living Room.
Sparks seen on the back of the couch loves his time with Hank.

I am getting the serving platters ready for all the food. Arugula is a nice peppery base for this. I placed the Asian Sesame Hash Browns down first, then placed a filet on top.

——————————————————————————

Now that the sauce has reduced some, add about 1 Tbsp. Sweet Thai Chili Sauce to the pan and stir. Lastly, add a few Tbsp. of butter whisking it into the sauce until melted and incorporated. This will give the sauce a nice rich taste.
————————————————————————–

This is a great picture of how I finished plating this dish. You can also see we placed out other sauces for the spring rolls.
————————————————————————–

The sauce for the fish is nice and thick. You can tell this by how it coats the spatula.


Pour your Chili Coconut Sauce over the Sesame Hash Browns topped with the fish.

Great pictures Julie… catching those delicious drips.

Here is my finished platter of food. I think it looks great!

Have your family members grab a tray and a plate and serve themselves.

We love to eat on the couch!

Little Spooks looks so cute!

Picture time!


—————————————————————————-

Mackenzie and Brodie… an action shot!

Somebody made a nice plate! Great picture Julie!

Brodie and Hank… two peas in a pod!
————————————————————————–
Check Out Our Other Hawaiian Pages:
Click Here For: Whann Way Aloha

AND,
Click Here For: Whann Way Aloha, Hapa Elua (Part 2)

AND,
Click Here For: Blue Hawaiians and Huli Huli Chicken

AND,

AND,

AND,
Click Here For: Weekend Spamin’ Spam Musubi

AND,
Click Here For: Julie’s Lunchbox

AND,
Click Here For: Gordon’s Hawaiian Potatoes and Huli Huli Pork Chops

AND,
Click Here For: Whann’s In Not Always Paradise

AND,
Click Here For: Julie Barefoot Cookies and Beachy Edible Gifts

AND,
Click Here For: Grillin’ With Aloha

AND,
Click Here For: Julie’s Vintage Hawaiian Mango-Mac Nut Bread Cake w/ Pasta Flowers

AND,
Click Here For: Gordon’s Dole Pineapple Outrigger Canoe and Cocktail

AND,
Click Here For: Hawaiian Hum Lum Sun Prunes

AND,

AND,

AND,
Click Here For: A Mother’s Day Aloha

AND,
Click Here For: Aloha Wahine Jezebel Sauce

AND,
Click Here For: Whann Way Hawaiian Luau

AND,
Click Here For: Hawaiian Popcorn and Moana Maika I’ Loa

AND,
Click Here For: Beachy Hawaiian Thanksgiving Pu Pu’s

AND,
Click Here For: Barefoot Beach Teas

AND,

AND,
Click Here For: Hawaiian Kalikimaka

AND,
Click Here For: Christmas/Kalikimaka Oysters on the Grill

AND,
Click Here For: Tropical Hawaiian Cranberries and our Mele Kalikimaka Me Ka Hauoli Makahiki Hou

——————————

Aloha, Hawaii

The Haku Lei I Bought For Veronica From Hawaii
(Haku Means Head Lei)

The Beautiful Blossoms of Plumeria and Hibiscus I Purchased Online

The Reed Like Thing You See Above, I Found on Our Ewa Beach and Painted it, It Houses My Lei Needles

1988
Although you can’t see her, Veronica is on my back! 🙂

Macadamia Nut Goodies are Always Loved Here
—————————————————————————–
My Skulpy Ornaments/Tie On’s

I did a lot of craft projects while we were living in Hawaii and working with Skulpy was a favorite of mine. I loved the clay that you could create and mold into anything, then bake into an oven to set. Here are some tie on’s/ornaments that I made. I used rubber stamps on many of them to create the indentations. Then, once baked I would color them in with colorful pens or markers. Always remember to create a hole at the top before baking for a hook or a ribbon to thread through.
———————————————————————————–

The Kodak Hula Show
Waikiki, Hawaii

The Aunties With Their Ukulele’s

This is Tahitian, not Hawaiian
The very fast dancing that you see here is not native to Hawaii. It is from Tahiti. But, because there are many Polynesians on the islands of Hawaii, you will always see this dancing at Luau’s and other events.
————————————————————-

The Hula Tells a Story
The dancers use their arms and legs to tell a story in a dance. The grass skirts are traditional, but when the missionaries came over to Hawaii they encouraged the people to wear clothing. And, the only clothing they could get the Hawaiian women to wear were big and roomy with very loud prints. Hence, the Muu-muu is born. (My Grammaw’s favorite attire while in Hawaii.) 🙂

——————————————————————————-
I wanted us to make some special foods for Lei Day, but I wanted to keep the foods with Lei’s in mind.

Macadamia Nut Hummus with Taro Fries

Topped with Toasted Macadamia Nuts

Macadamia Nut Hummus with Chips

Our Hawaiian Haku Lei Muffuletta Sandwich

Looks a Bit Like a Haku Lei, Doesn’t It?

Bok Choy Works Great Here

Sliced and Ready to Eat

Doesn’t It Look Great?
(Recipes Down Below)
————————————————————————————

Click Here For: Aloha Wahine Jezebel Sauce

My Aloha Wahine Jezebel Sauce Plays an Important Roll in our Sandwich
For the recipe, click on the above link.
—————————————————————————-

Black Lava Salt
————————————————————————–

These are Actually, Pretty Good!
(These pickled items are really delicious and added to our meal.)
——————————————————————————–

Julie and Veronica, our Backyard in Honolulu, Hawaii, 1988
———————————————————————-
February 13, 2024
My 63rd. Birthday


Peanuku and Myself Wearing Our Lilly Pulitzer’s
(The closest thing to Hawaiian attire I can find in Florida.)

Our Hawaii Living Room

Isabelle’s First Taste of Sugar, My Birthday Cake, 2024

Back Home and Enjoying some Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts
——————————————————————-
When we were living in Hawaii from 1986-1999, Lei Day was always a fun day. You would see people wearing lei’s all over the islands whether they were at work, school, or just going about their daily lives.
One year, my friend Kathy bought me a lei and presented it to me. We were running errands for our Girl Scout Troop. I was so proud of it. No one had ever given me anything like it before and I loved the gesture! I did have a really hard time with Tuberose. It is extremely pungent and perfumy. It was actually making me a bit sick to have that around my neck but I kept it on all day long. I was not about to hurt the feelings of my friend. Kathy was born and grew up on the Big Island in Kona. She was what the locals called, Hapa-Haole. That meant that she was half Japanese and half Caucasian. Going around the island with her was a different kind of experience. My interaction with the local people was always a bit guarded on their part. But, when I was with Kathy, their guards were dropped and they were so much more accepting of me because I was with her.
I miss Hawaii, I miss Kathy, and I miss Lei Day,
Julie (Kulii)
————————————————————————

Haupia
(Eaten at Most Every Luau)

Usually White in Color Except I Used Coconut Sugar, and not Granulated Sugar
(Recipe Down Below)
————————————————————————–
Giving The Gift of Hawaii For My Birthday
(Gifts for my Children and their Partners from Me.)

Bags of Hawaiian Sea Salt

Plenty of Candied Macadamia Nuts, Various Short Bread Cookies, Many Pancake Mixes, Sea Life Crackers, Hawaiian Mugs, Tropical Stuffed Fish, Macadamia Nut Brittle, Spice Mixes, Hawaiian Coffees, Hawaiian Coffee Candies, and plenty of Hawaiian Tea Towels.

Toffee Macadamia, Chocolate Macadamia, and Sea Life Crackers

More Close Up Pictures of the Goodies

Various Pancake Mixes

Gordon Cooked Ours and They Were Delicious!
(Had we eaten them with a Coconut or Pineapple Syrup, they would have been perfect!)

My Favorite Were The Taro Pancakes

Da Kine! Spice Mix Seasoning
(The purple box behind these spices was a Taro Shortbread Cookie. The best I have ever eaten!)

Love The Tea Towels!
So, exactly why am I giving gifts to others on my birthday? Because I want to!
——————————————————————————
Putting Together the Gift Leis

Veronica and I were Assembling These While Isabelle was in the Chair, above right.

Although what you see above is a jumbled mess, the mess does become more organized as we work on these lei’s.
Gift Lei’s are given in Hawaii at various celebrations. They are perfect for Children’s Birthday’s, or even Graduations, etc.
——————————————————————————–
Gift Lei’s

This is a Macadamia Nut Gift Lei

This is a Candied Chocolate Macadamia Nut Gift Lei

These Gift Lei’s are for Veronica, Brian, Brodie and Mackenzie, to get them into the mood for a trip to HAWAII!!!! 🙂
Snacks, Toys, Masks for the Airplane, Sunscreens, Key Chains, Candy, etc.

The ZERO Bars are for Brian and Gordon. It’s their favorite candy bar.
You can see the Blue/Green colorful face masks for us to wear on the airplane.

You Always Add a Flower to any Gift Lei
———————————————————————

Me, With Baby Veronica at the Waikiki Aquarium
——————————————————————–
Items For Gift Leis, And How To Make Them

Gift Lei’s are fun to assemble. You just need to decide on a theme, or an array of items you wish to use. Here, what I wanted to do was assemble some fun things for a trip to Hawaii! 🙂
The first thing you need is the nylon netting used to create a nice gift lei. You can see the colors in the photo above. Green, Orange, and Red. and Blue. Whether for a child or an adult, you do need to make sure you have enough of the nylon cut to allow for the size of the person, and the items you will be using in the lei’s.

Here I chose Honu’s (Sea Turtles), Candy, Sunscreen, Macadamia Nuts, and various little trinkets.

Here Are The Sunscreens

Here are Some Heart Pins to Add

You Also Need Some Thin Ribbon to Use to Tie Between Each Gift

When you have your lei just as you like it, you will need to tie the nylon together into some sort of square knot. This is difficult because the nylon will then sort of unravel. I use hot glue to make sure it doesn’t unravel, BUT, the hot glue can melt the nylon so I just use enough of it to seal it, and not melt it. I then adhere a nice artificial flower to “hide” the knot.

The Nylon that I used above on these leis was recently purchased by me from online. But, what you see above is the nylon from the lei’s I saved from our time in Hawaii. Ah, memories. 🙂
——————————————————————–
A Honu Lei For Peanuku

I put this gift lei together for my Grand-Daughter.
Veronica has it hanging in her bedroom. It is a lei of many colorful Honu’s, (Sea Turtles).

Peanuku With Her Honu Lei

————————————————————————————-
RECIPES START HERE
———————————————————————
Macadamia Nut Hummus

w/ Roasted Macadamia Nuts and….

Veggie Hawaiian Chips
————————————————————————-

Mauna Loa Macadamia Nuts
————————————————————————-
Ingredients:
2 – 6 oz. Jars of Mauna Loa Macadamia Nuts – Roast a little more in the oven
4 – 10.5 oz. Cans Chick Peas/Garbanzo Beans – drained and rinsed
~3 Tbsp. Tahini
2 – Garlic Cloves
~2 Tbsp. Pineapple Juice
1 tsp. Hawaiian Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper to taste
1 Pineapple Ring
~1/2 to 3/4 Cup Olive Oil
~1/4 Cup Water
The Juice of 1 Lemon
—————————————————————-
Into The Oven

Here I placed the Macadamia Nuts onto a sheet pan and in a 300’F oven for about 10
min. or until they got a little color to them, and/ or I could smell them. Doing this will bring
out their oils and make them just taste a little better.

Here you can see the roasted Macadamia Nuts.
————————————————————————————-

The Chick Peas

I drained them in a colander first…

Then rinse them with cold water to remove that canned taste to them.

Here are the Tahini, and Garlic Cloves

Now, place your Macadamia Nuts into the blender and blend them until most of the
large pieces are gone.

Put some of the Macadamia Nuts aside for the Hummus Topping

Add your rinsed Chick Peas to the blender along with the Tahini.

————————————————————————————-

Now add your Garlic Cloves, Hawaiian Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to
the other ingredients in the blender.

I then added some Pineapple Juice to give it that extra Hawaiian taste.

Here is a great picture of all the ingredients so far.

Now add a Pineapple ring from the can.

Here I am pouring in some nice Olive Oil.

Use a rubber spatula to move the ingredients around and up off the bottom.
I also poured in a little bit of water to make the Hummus creamy.

Blend the ingredients well…

Then blend them some more. It looks good, but how does it taste? Here I felt it needed
the acid of lemon, which is in the original hummus recipe.

Blend in the Lemon Juice well then taste again… I thought it was perfect!
Hope you enjoy this amazing Hawaiian inspired Hummus!

Be Sure to Decant into a Nice Bowl

———————————————————————————

Our Hawaiian Hummus and Taro Fries

Topped With Black Sesame Seeds on the Hummus,
and Black Lava Sea Salt on the Taro Fries
——————————————————————————

Served With Our Hawaiian Muffuletta

Taro Fries

If you go to your local Asian Supermarket, they do sell Taro.
It usually comes in a block which you then cut into, creating the French Fries.

Fill a Cast Iron Pot with Peanut Oil, and when it comes to temperature, add your Taro Fries.

Cook them as you would French Fried Potatoes,

then place onto paper towels to drain, with a sprinkling of Black Lava Sea Salt
————————————————————————————-
Our Hawaiian Haku Lei Muffuletta

Here is the Round Hawaiian Sweet Bread we used to make this great sandwich.

In preparation to make the sandwich, slice the bread by taking off the main part of the
cap as shown. This will allow the sandwich to be thick.

Now remove the inside of the bread leaving about 1 inch around the sides as shown.
This bread is very good so keep it to use for a cheesy dip or quick snack.
——————————————————————————-

Prep your Bok Choy and lettuce by washing them under cold water and setting them on
paper towels to dry.
——————————————————————

Pineapple Rings

Using a large non-stick sauté pan, cook them over medium high heat until slightly browned
on both sides.

We thought a nice Hot Asian styled mustard would go well with this sandwich. Mix the
dry mustard as directed. Taste it so you understand just how hot this mustard is.

We would have loved to have had some sweet Maui Onions, but these Vidalia Onions
will be just as good. Slice them into ¼ inch slices then saute them in a large saute pan
over medium heat.

Add some Olive Oil

Macadamia Nut Oil
Macadamia Nut Oil to keep with the Hawaiian theme.
(We used two different Olive Oil’s here to saute the onions.)

Use a lid to help keep the heat in…

Then to brown them, take the lid off which will evaporate the moisture.
Continue to cook them until they are softened and browned.
—————————————————————————–
Now It’s Time To Build The Sandwich

We also decided to use some of Julie’s Aloha Wahine Jezebel Sauce as well as some
Eckrich Spicy Pineapple Ham, and Provolone Cheese.

Here you can see all the ingredients are prepped and ready to be made into this great
sandwich. This is called mis en place in culinary terms.

In the front you can see our previously made Macadamia Nut Hummus, which works
great with this sandwich.

————————————————————————-

Start by placing some Hawaiian Jezebel Sauce on the bottom and sides of the bread as
shown.

Then add your Romain Lettuce leaves to the sandwich. These will provide a nice
crunch.

Now lets add some of the Spicy Pineapple Ham slices.

On top of the Ham, add some of the Hot Asian Mustard, then some Provolone Cheese
slices.

Then fill the cavity with your sauteed Pineapple slices…

And top that off with your sauteed Sweet Onions.


Then place some of your Bok Choy leaves around the sandwich basically giving each
slice one Bok Choy.

Looks nice, and we are almost done.

I felt the sandwich needed a little acid, so we found some Enoki Mushroom Pickles.

Add a few dollops of them around the top of the sandwich ensuring each slice will have
some.

Lastly, I spread some on the Macadamia Nut Hummus on the underside of the bread
cap.


Our Hawaiian Muffuletta Sandwich

Looks a Bit Like a Haku Lei, Doesn’t It?

Place the cap on top of the sandwich as shown and slice it into equal portions.
We hope you enjoy this Hawaiian take on the classic Muffuletta sandwich.

Our Hawaiian Muffuletta Sandwich

ONO!!!!

Brok’ Da Mouth!
—————————————————————————-

Haupia
Haupia is a standard at every Luau. It is a classic Hawaiian dessert. It is a coconut pudding.
Most Haupia is White, because of the White Granulated Sugar used to make this dessert.
However, mine is a lovely tan, because I used Coconut Sugar in place of White Granulated Sugar.
I, Julie, am using a classic recipe. The only area where I differed was in using the Coconut Sugar, and topping it with a Chocolate Coconut Candy. I also used a Hawaiian Sea Salt in place of Kosher Salt.
———————————————————————–

Ingredients:
2/3 Cup Sugar (I used Coconut Sugar)
1/4 t. Hawaiian Sea Salt
1/2 Cup Corn Starch
3 Cups Coconut Milk
1 1/3 Cups Whole Milk
——————————————————————-

Golden Coconut Sugar, Hawaiian Sea Salt, and Corn Starch
(Just a few of the ingredients.)

In a Medium Sauce Pan combine the Coconut Sugar, Hawaiian Sea Salt, and Corn Starch.

Next, add the Coconut Milk to the Sauce Pan…

Whisking It In..

On Medium High Heat

You need to continuously whisk the ingredients in the Sauce Pan until they start to simmer.
Once everything starts to simmer you want to turn the heat down to Medium-Low, but continue to whisk, as the mixture starts to thicken, 4-6 minutes.
The mixture will go from liquid to very liquid, before it starts to thicken.
——————————————————————

Pour in the Whole Milk while continuing to whisk. Bring the heat back to Medium and continue to whisk. You want the mixture to the consistency of Glue, and can coat the back of a spoon. Yet another 4-6 minutes.

When thickened, remove from the heat and pour into an 8 or 9 inch Baking Pan.

Let Cool for About 10 – 15 Minutes

Once Cooled, Cover with Saran Wrap and Place into the Refrigerator for About 2 Hours to Set

Veronica With Isabelle

After the Haupia has set, cut into squares and serve.

Here I placed each serving into a cupcake cup, topped with half of a Chocolate Coconut Bar.

This was Isabelle’s first taste of Coconut, and she loved it! 🙂
——————————————————————————————–
UNDER CONSTRUCTION










———————————————————————–
Check Out Our Other Hawaiian Pages:
Click Here For: Whann Way Aloha

AND,
Click Here For: Whann Way Aloha, Hapa Elua (Part 2)

AND,
Click Here For: Blue Hawaiians and Huli Huli Chicken

AND,

AND,

AND,
Click Here For: Weekend Spamin’ Spam Musubi

AND,
Click Here For: Julie’s Lunchbox

AND,
Click Here For: Gordon’s Hawaiian Potatoes and Huli Huli Pork Chops

AND,
Click Here For: Whann’s In Not Always Paradise

AND,
Click Here For: Julie Barefoot Cookies and Beachy Edible Gifts

AND,
Click Here For: Grillin’ With Aloha

AND,
Click Here For: Julie’s Vintage Hawaiian Mango-Mac Nut Bread Cake w/ Pasta Flowers

AND,
Click Here For: Gordon’s Dole Pineapple Outrigger Canoe and Cocktail

AND,
Click Here For: Hawaiian Hum Lum Sun Prunes

AND,

AND,

AND,
Click Here For: A Mother’s Day Aloha

AND,
Click Here For: Aloha Wahine Jezebel Sauce

AND,
Click Here For: Whann Way Hawaiian Luau

AND,
Click Here For: Hawaiian Popcorn and Moana Maika I’ Loa

AND,
Click Here For: Beachy Hawaiian Thanksgiving Pu Pu’s

AND,
Click Here For: Barefoot Beach Teas

AND,

AND,
Click Here For: Hawaiian Kalikimaka

AND,
Click Here For: Christmas/Kalikimaka Oysters on the Grill

AND,
Click Here For: Tropical Hawaiian Cranberries and our Mele Kalikimaka Me Ka Hauoli Makahiki Hou

—————————————————————————-
The Taco Bell Dogs (They were once gifts with purchase from Taco Bell many years ago. Did I mention I am a hoarder and don’t throw things away?) 🙂 Sometimes Delicious Salsa Comes in Ready Made Sauce Packets. Just Provide the Fresh Tomatoes and …
Kon’nichiwa (Hello) Yokoso Chisana Atsukau (Welcome to Small Treats.) Watashitachi Wa Anata Ni Motarashimasu Oishi Shokumotsu Atsukau (We will bring to you delicious food treats.) To Do Yatte Ni Tsukuru Karera (And, how to make them.) I’m sure that a lot …
(I love to garden in swim dresses and flip flops.) ————————————————————- So Excited For This Redo ————————————————————— I LOVE MY Herb Garden Previous Version of My Herb Garden (Notice the Air Plants on the Trellis? When I decided to redo …
Acapulco, Mexico 2001 This hand painted plate was recently given to Gordon from his parents on one of their many trips down to Mexico. —————————————————— Tomatillos ————————————————————— 2021 Happy Father’s Day Gordon! Feliz Dia del Padre! For this Father’s …

Good Morning, and Happy Mother’s Day
This Mother’s Day took place in 2021 on our backyard lanai.
I wanted my big day to focus on our time of living in Hawaii. We lived in Waikiki, Pearl City, Honolulu, and Ewa Beach during our 13 years of residency. Because both of our children were born in Hawaii, I was able to celebrate 12 memorable Mother’s Day’s while there.
The word for ‘mother’ in the Hawaiian language is Makuahine.
How to say ‘Mother’s Day’ in Hawaiian is:
La Makuahine,
and how to say ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ is:
Hau’oli La Makuahine
——————————————————
I would like to extend a Flower Lei Day Aloha to you!

(Me, with my mother-in-law, Sarajane Whann 1988, in Hawaii with our wrist lei’s.)

Just giving birth doesn’t make us mother’s. A mother is so much more than that. For those that know that, I wish you a wonderful and happy day, everyday!
Aloha,
Julie (Kulii)
Aloha means: Hello, Goodbye, and I Love You.
————————————————————

The little charm on the napkin I made out of clay and baked in the oven, using a rubber stamp to make the impression.

This year I wanted foods that looked like something you would eat at a Vintage Luau.
Pineapples, a MUST!
Coconut, Da Kine!
Macaroni Salad, wouldn’t be Hawaii without it!
——————————————————

My Beautiful Aloha Table

The tablecloth and napkins are Vintage Hawaiian.
————————————————————-

The Humuhumunukunukuapuaa Cocktail

The Humuhumunukunukuapuaa is the former state fish of Hawaii.
There isn’t anything “fishy” about this cocktail. It just has the same name.

The Humuhumu…
There are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet.
A, E, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, U, and W
The missionary’s that came to Hawaii did their best to write down their language as it was spoken by the native people of the islands. The Hawaiian people pronounce each of their vowels, unlike the English language where we don’t always.
—————————————————————-

We actually enjoyed this cocktail through Mother’s Day weekend.

—————————————————————————-

My Vintage Hawaiian Coconut/Papaya Pound Cake
——————————————————–

The Whann Women
Sarajane, Beryl, Veronica and Julie

Sarajane and Milton Whann
(Milton Bernard Whann died February 11, 2022.)

Sarajane and Milton with little Veronica
(The reason I am not including photos of Brodie here is because he wasn’t born yet. I really wanted to feature photos of Gordon’s parents and grandmother, and their visit to Hawaii.)
—————————————————————
On The Menu:

Polyn-Asian Turkey Loaf with Pineapple and Cherries

Actually, two Turkey Loaves Here

Spinach and Kale Salad with Coconut and Macadamia Nuts

Asian Macaroni Salad

King’s Hawaiian Dinner Rolls
————————————————–

My Delicious Dinner Plate
—————————————————————-
My Mother’s Day Dessert


Vintage Coconut/Papaya Pound Cake

I made it myself.

It was delicious, but a challenge to make. You’ll see why. 🙂

Hawaii isn’t just about the Polynesian Cultures, they also have a very large Asian influence.

I wanted to incorporate the many influences of Hawaii in my day.

Orchids and Hibiscus

That is Spooky

Me, Enjoying MY Cake
(All Recipes Are Down Below)
—————————————————————-
Some Souvenir Memories

A few plastic cups we picked up at The Aloha Stadium Flea Market, two cups that my children made for me for Mother’s Day when they were little, and a beautiful pottery heart keepsake that Veronica made for me to house my trinkets.

I love to find various statuary odds and ends and create my own fountains with them.
——————————————————————-
Hank Came For a Visit

How I do Adore our Dogs

Grand-Dog Hank with Spooky and Sparky

Brodie With The Dogs

Sparky and Hank Get along GREAT!

Hank is a Cutie

The End 🙂
(Not Quite Yet.)
——————————————————————
The Following Day
Coconut Papaya Pound Cake with Mint…

My Beautiful Hawaiian Jewelry Bracelet Gift…

Cake with Toasted Coconut, and Coconut Ice Cream, with Dried Fruits and Nuts

It is ONO!
(That means delicious.)
—————————————————————
The Humuhumunukuapuaa Cocktail

This Special One is Just for ME!
——————————————————————
Recipes Start Here:

Hawaiian Cookbook
by Roana and Gene Schindler
This is an excellent cookbook for those of us that have a vintage foot in old Hawaii.

The Hum Hum…
Although, we didn’t go by this recipe exclusive.

Ingredients:
1 Ounce Orange Juice
1 Ounce Honey Cream
1/2 Ounce Heavy Cream
1 Ounce Dry Gin
1 Ounce White Rum
1/2 Ounce Coconut Milk
The above is the original recipe.
—————————————————————
OUR Recipe is as follows:
~ 2 Cups Ice
2 oz White Rum
2 oz. Gin
1/2 Cup Orange Juice
1/4 Cup Coconut Juice
1/2 Cup Guava Nectar
1/4 Cup Coconut Milk
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
1/2 Cup Pineapple Juice
3 Tbsp. Grenadine Syrup
—————————————————-

Pictured are the ingredients we used which is a slight variation to the original drink.

In a large pitcher, add about 2 Cups Ice…

Then add your Rum, Gin, and Orange Juice..

Coconut juice…

Guava Nectar, Coconut Milk, and Heavy Cream…

Pineapple Juice…

and lastly your Grenadine Syrup.
Taste the mixture and add ingredients accordingly.

Pour into a tropical glass and enjoy.
You could blend the mixture if you liked as well. Either way this is a great tropical drink.

————————————————————-

I love old vintage cakes and I came across a recipe that just reminded me of an old Coconut Pound Cake. With the exception that I then made it into a Coconut/Papaya Pound Cake.

In my Aloha Kitchen

This Cake Truly was ONO!
——————————————————————-
BUT…. Let’s get past this! Shall we?

That is Gordon trying to remove my STUCK cake.

There we go! Not too bad looking. We can fix that though. 🙂

I can just add a bit of dried papaya and some frosting….

Yes! This is working!
But, before we get here, let’s start at the beginning….
Julie’s Coconut/Papaya Pound Cake
w/ Frosting and Dried Fruits

The Ingredients:
It wouldn’t be vintage without my using the vintage mixer my grandmother gave me many years ago that she purchased from a yard sale for $20.00. That still works wonderfully, I might add!
That is the cake stand that my mother bought me many years ago for a birthday present.

We Need:
1/2 Cup of Butter or Margarine
1 Cup Crisco Shortening
3 Cups Granulated Sugar
3 Cups Swan’s Down Cake Flour
1 Cup of Coconut Milk
6 Eggs
1/2 t. Almond Extract
1/2 t. Coconut Extract
1-2 Cups Shredded Coconut
1/2 Cup Each of Dried Pineapple and Papaya Fruits
————————————————–
Royal Icing
Confectioner’s Sugar
Coconut Milk
Meringue Powder
———————————————————-
Cake Toppings
Dried Fruits
————————————————————–
Pre-Heat the Oven to 300F

Here I greased the Bundt Pan with Crisco and then used regular Flour to dust it.
——————————————————–

Separating The Eggs, Set The White’s Aside

Butter, Crisco, and Egg Yolks

You want to beat the Egg Yolks with the Crisco and Butter on a high speed.

Once blended, gradually add the granulated sugar.

You want to beat until light and fluffy.

Time to add the Almond Extract and the Coconut Extract flavoring.
Continue to beat until they are blended.

Ready to Sift the Cake Flour

————————————————————–

Now we want to start to add our Cake Flour. We want the mixer on a low speed and alternate between Cake Flour and the Coconut Milk. (If you don’t have Coconut Milk you can use regular milk.)

You want to start with the Cake Flour, and end with the Cake Flour.
So, just add a little bit of Cake Flour and mix it all together, then add a little bit of Coconut Milk, and mix it all together, then add a little bit of Cake Flour….
Mix on low until everything is thoroughly blended.

Beautiful Batter
——————————————————–

In my small bowl I added the Egg Whites and I am mixing them on a high speed until they form still peaks.

———————————————————-

Like So….
——————————————————————–

Now I am adding the 1-2 Cups of Shredded Coconut to my original batter and mixing well.

You can see my two bowls of batter.
Here I am gently folding in the Egg Whites to the original batter.

My Bundt Pan and My Batter

Before I decant into my Bundt Pan I wanted to add some Dried Papaya and Dried Coconut to the batter. I just eyeballed it and used as much as I wanted. Probably about 1/2 a Cup each. Just stir in by hand.

Now It’s time to pour into my greased and floured Bundt Pan.
The Oven is Pre-Heated to 300F.

You want to bake for about 2 hours. I did check the cake at 60 minutes, and then at 90 minutes just to make sure it wasn’t burning. Each oven is a little different and cooking times can vary. I also wanted to make sure the cake wasn’t burning. If it is getting too brown for you, cover with Aluminum Foil and continue the cooking process.

When done, remove from the oven and set on a cooling rack until thoroughly cooled.
The mistake that I made was that I left it in the Bundt Pan overnight because we weren’t going to eat it until the following day. What I should have done was to remove it once cooled. Then, it wouldn’t have gotten so stuck.

So, next day! Managed to wrangle it out of the pan.
Those big chunks you see are collateral damage. Delicious, collateral damage btw.

(Never throw something delicious away. It can always be eaten with ice cream!)
———————————————————–
With the cake salvaged as much as possible, it’s time for the frosting. 🙂

I wanted to make a Royal Icing.
The instructions are actually on the container of Meringue Powder.
But, instead of water I used Coconut Milk.
Just follow the Meringue Powder instructions and you can make it for yourself.

Making Royal Icing in my Vintage Mixer
—————————————————————-

My original intention was to just drizzle the Royal Icing on top of my cake. However, seeing as how I had gaps and holes in it, I wanted to hide them, so, I added some Papaya Dried Fruits to fill in some of the gaps.

I also added some small dried fruits of Coconut and Papaya around the cake bottom.
In order to fill in those gaps as well.
————————————————————

Toasting Shredded Coconut

It’s actually quite simple. You just spread the shredded coconut on a baking sheet lined with Aluminum Foil. Place into a 350F oven and remove after about 10 minutes and stir around. Place back into the oven for an additional 5 minutes or so. Then remove and stir around. You want it to be a toasted color and taste.

Right Out of the Oven

These are Coconut Strips that we toasted for our Cake as well as our Spinach and Kale Salad.

I am so enjoying my CAKE!
——————————————————————–
King’s Hawaiian Dinner rolls

I would like to say that before Obama became President no one on Mainland America even knew of them. They were exclusively Hawaiian. Happy to have them here!

—————————————————————————-

Asian/Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
(Write up by Gordon)
—————————————–

The Ingredients:
1 Box Elbow Macaroni
1 tsp. Sea Salt – we used Hawaiian Sea Salt
~3/4 Cup Chopped Celery
~3/4 Cup Chopped Bell Pepper – Orange and Red
~3/4 Cup Miracle Whip
~2 Tbsp. Honey Mustard
~1 Heaping Tbsp. Sweet Relish
~1 Cup Stick Carrots – chopped slightly
~1/2 tsp. Ground Pepper
~2 Tbsp. Aji Mirin Sweet Cooking Rice Seasoning
~3 Tbsp. Sesame Oil
~1 Tbsp. Roasted Sesame Seeds
~1 Tbsp. Black Sesame Seeds
———————————————————————

Place about 3 quarts of water into a large pot and set it on high heat.

Add your salt to the water to flavor the macaroni.

Clean and rinse your celery as it is grown in sandy soil. Chopping off the root about an inch from the base will get rid of a good deal of this dirt. It will also release all the stalks from the base. Then cut off the top of the celery to get rid of the dried and brown ends.

Slice the celery stalks in three sections then chop them into small pieces as shown.

Slice your Bell Peppers into lengths then into small pieces.

When your water has come to a boil, add your macaroni.
Stir the macaroni occasionally to insure it doesn’t stick.

After the macaroni has cooked as directed and is slightly al dente or is cooked in a way that it still retains some texture, pour the macaroni into a colander and rinse it well with cold water to stop the cooking process.
————————————————————

Pictured are some of the ingredients I used to give this macaroni salad an Asian taste.

Once the macaroni has been cooled and is well drained, place the it into a large bowl.

Add your Miracle Whip to the salad…

————————————————————–

Then add your Honey Mustard.
You could easily substitute this for an Asian hot mustard in keeping more with the theme.

Now add your Sweet Relish to the bowl…

along with your Bell Pepper.

We purchase these stick carrots and we felt they were slightly too big for the salad.

I gave them a rough chop as shown to work better in the salad and placed them into the bowl.

———————————————————-

Add your fresh ground Black Pepper and Mirin to the bowl.
I like to use Mirin as it provides a slightly sweet Asian flavor.

Add your sesame oil as well. This ingredients will provide a slightly nutty flavor, but can be overpowering to the entire dish if you use too much. We love it, so that would be hard to do for us. 🙂

Give all the ingredients a good stir and add any previous ingredients to make it your own.

Lastly add your Sesame Seeds to the pasta.

See how the contrasting Black Sesame Seeds give the pasta a nice look! Stir well again and taste the salad and adjust the seasonings as need be.

We hope you enjoy my take on this American Classic!
————————————————————————

Cute Sparky Break 🙂
——————————————————————-

Our Polyn-Asian Turkey Loaf with Pineapple and Cherries
(Write-up by Gordon)

Ingredients:
1 Vidalia Onion – Coarsely Chopped
4 Garlic Cloves – Finely Chopped
1 1/2 Cups Bell Peppers – various colors coarsely chopped
Plus 1/4 Cup more to top the loafs before cooking
1/2 Cup Plain Bread Crumbs
1 tsp. Hawaiian-Style Sea Salt
1 Tbsp. Sweet Paprika
1 Tbsp. Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/2 Cup Splenda Brown Sugar
4 Tbsp. Oyster Sauce
4 Tbsp. Sweet Soy Sauce
4 Tbsp. Hoisin Sauce
1/2 Cup Soy Sauce – Aloha Brand
3 Eggs
3 Lbs. Ground Turkey
16 Pineapple Rings
20 Maraschino Cherries
1 Cup Hawaiian-Style Bar-B-Que Sauce – (Halm’s)
———————————————————

Vidalia Onions and Ground Turkey

Ready to Get Started

Hoisin, Oyster, and Sweet Soy Sauce

Hawaiian Shirt Gordon 🙂
——————————————————————

Chop your Vidalia Onion coarsely as shown…

and add it to a large bowl.

Now finely chop your Garlic Cloves as shown…

and add it to the bowl.
—————————————————————


Chop 1 1/2 Cups of Bell Peppers…

and add them to the bowl.

Add your Plain Bread Crumbs to the bowl.

Here is the Sea Salt and Sweet Paprika brands we used.

Adding the Hawaiian-Style Sea Salt …(if you don’t have this you can add any sea salt.)

Then, the Sweet Paprika and freshly ground Black Pepper.

Add your Splenda Brown Sugar to the bowl.

——————————————————————–

Here are the sauces we used with the eggs in the next few slides. I really like this combination of sauces and I fully recommend you experiment with your own combinations. The Sweet Soy Sauce tastes so much like Karo Syrup you could eat it with your pancakes… amazing!

Mix the ingredients in the bowl as shown.

Now add your Oyster Sauce…

then your Sweet Soy Sauce…

and Hoisin Sauce to the bowl.

———————————————————————–

In a smaller bowl, add your Soy Sauce (Aloha Brand is one of the best we have used)…

then add your eggs…

and using a whisk or fork, whisk the eggs and Soy together.

This is the Ground Turkey that we used.

Here you can see the various levels of fatty Ground Turkey where the one with more fat is whiter. I did this so the meat would stay juicy.


Add your Ground Turkey to the bowl and mix together …

then add your eggs and soy mixture and mix them together.

—————————————————————–

Here is a great picture of the end result.
———————————————————————-


Line your bread pans with foil to help you to remove the meat loaf when fully cooked.

Preheat your oven to 375’F.

Add the mixed ingredients to the bread pans as shown. Here I am topping the loafs with some chopped Bell Peppers to just give the top some color.

Place the loafs onto a sheet pan and place them in your oven baking them for 1 hour.

When the loafs are at an internal temperature of 160’F, remove them from the oven and let them rest for about 15 min. Letting them rest will allow the super heated juices near the outside of the meat to return to the center of the meat, cooking the center of the loaf. This is why you can remove the loafs when they reach 160’F. They will reach their optimum temperature of 165’F after they rest. Once rested, remove the loaves and place onto a large cutting board.
—————————————————————–
(It was Julie’s idea to not slice entirely through the turkey loaves, in order for the loaves to fan outward for a nice presentation.)

Make a slice about one inch wide and about an inch from the edge of the loaf as shown.

Bend the loaf on the cut side and insert a Pineapple Ring into each slice.

Here you can see how I made this decorative look to the loaf. You can also grill the pineapple slices separately to give them a boost of flavor.

Place the loaves on a large platter.

Add your Maraschino Cherries to the loaves as shown.

As a garnish, I used a ripe Pineapple and sliced it in half.

————————————————————-

Here are the packets of Hawaiian-Style Bar-B-Que Sauce we used.

Drizzle the Bar-B-Que Sauce over the Meatloaf and Pineapple garnish as shown.
We could have also grilled the pineapples to give them those great grill marks but we were short on time.

We hope you will try this recipe as it is a great Hawaiian replacement for the same old Meatloaf.
———————————————————————
Spinach and Kale, Coconut, Mandarin Orange Salad
w/ Vinaigrette

(Recipe Write-Up by Gordon)
———————————————–

—————————————————————-

Ingredients:
8 Radishes – quartered
1 Cucumber – Sliced into 1 inch thick pieces and quartered
3 Clementines – peeled
1/2 Red Onion – sliced thinly
2 Cups Baby Kale
2 Cups Baby Spinach
Garnish with Macadamia Nuts and Roasted Sweet Coconut
———————————————————–


Slice your Radishes and Cucumber as shown and place them into a large bowl.

Now add your thinly sliced Red Onion

and your Clementines.

Then add your Baby Kale and Baby Spinach…

and mix all the ingredients together.

—————————————————————-
The Vinaigrette

This is a picture of some other ingredients that went into our other recipes, except the Roasted Coconut and the Macadamia Nuts.

To make the vinaigrette I used a variety of flavors.


To start, I used 1/4 Cup Pineapple Juice…

then added a few Tbsp’s. of Rice Vinegar, White Balsamic Reduction…

then about a Tbsp. Aji Mirin Sweet Cooking Rice Seasoning…

then a Tbsp or so of Ginger and Honey Apple Cider Vinegar….

and then about a Tbsp. or so of Turmeric and Honey Apple Cider Vinegar.

Lastly add about 1/4 Cup Olive Oil.


Add some Hawaiian Sea Salt then Fresh Ground Pepper.

Use a whisk to mix all the ingredients well. Now, take a Spinach leaf and dip it into the Vinaigrette to taste it. The Vinaigrette should leave an acid bite at the back of your throat. If it does that and you like the taste … you are done. If not, add some more of the ingredients and taste it again.

Here is the plate we placed the salad on.

Add your Macadamia Nuts to the salad…

Then some Roasted Sweet Coconut.

Pour the Vinaigrette into a bowl to let the guests serve themselves.

Have an Aloha Mother’s Day!
————————————————————————
The Leftovers 🙂


We Do So Love The Leftovers!
————————————————————-
Check Out Our Other Hawaiian Pages:
Click Here For: Whann Way Aloha

AND,
Click Here For: Whann Way Aloha, Hapa Elua (Part 2)

AND,
Click Here For: Blue Hawaiians and Huli Huli Chicken

AND,

AND,

AND,
Click Here For: Weekend Spamin’ Spam Musubi

AND,
Click Here For: Julie’s Lunchbox

AND,
Click Here For: Gordon’s Hawaiian Potatoes and Huli Huli Pork Chops

AND,
Click Here For: Whann’s In Not Always Paradise

AND,
Click Here For: Julie Barefoot Cookies and Beachy Edible Gifts

AND,
Click Here For: Grillin’ With Aloha

AND,
Click Here For: Julie’s Vintage Hawaiian Mango-Mac Nut Bread Cake w/ Pasta Flowers

AND,
Click Here For: Gordon’s Dole Pineapple Outrigger Canoe and Cocktail

AND,
Click Here For: Hawaiian Hum Lum Sun Prunes

AND,

AND,

AND,
Click Here For: A Mother’s Day Aloha

AND,
Click Here For: Aloha Wahine Jezebel Sauce

AND,
Click Here For: Whann Way Hawaiian Luau

AND,
Click Here For: Hawaiian Popcorn and Moana Maika I’ Loa

AND,
Click Here For: Beachy Hawaiian Thanksgiving Pu Pu’s

AND,
Click Here For: Barefoot Beach Teas

AND,

AND,
Click Here For: Hawaiian Kalikimaka

AND,
Click Here For: Christmas/Kalikimaka Oysters on the Grill

AND,
Click Here For: Tropical Hawaiian Cranberries and our Mele Kalikimaka Me Ka Hauoli Makahiki Hou

Hello Welcome to our Backyard Lanai This is where we spend a lot of our time in the spring, summer, and autumn. It is a nice big area where we can spread out and entertain, even if it is just for …
Good Morning!

Rise and Shine!

Our Sunny Kitchen Table
—————————————————————–

Is Everybody Hungry? Juice? Coffee?
Oh, I know, how about our:
Whole Wheat Heaven and Heat Breakfast Muffins?

Don’t they smell absolutely delicious?
If you’d like the recipe scroll down the post.
—————————————————–
Our Rise and Shine Kayaker’s Breakfast

We also have this breakfast treat for any morning occasion. We just happened to have made these one morning before a kayaking expedition to Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida.

Quick, Easy, and Delicious!

(See Recipe Down Below)
—————————————————————–
Also try our:

Sausage and Quiche Egglet’s

—————————————————————

(Recipe Down Below)
———————————————————–
AND,

Our Breakfast Knots with Eggs, Pancetta, and Cheese

(Recipe Down Below)
——————————————————————–

Our Broccoli Ham and Egg Cups

(Recipe Down Below)

—————————————————————–
Our Cream Cheese English Muffin Veggie Spread

Topped with our Mad Hatter Peppers and Herbs

(Recipe Down Below)
———————————————–
First Up:

Whole Wheat Heaven and Heat Breakfast Muffins
——————————————————-

(We did double this recipe because we wanted to freeze several of them for future breakfast’s. We do have a single batch listed here in the ingredients.)
The Ingredients:
2 3/4 Cups Whole Wheat Flour (You can use White All Purpose Flour.)
2 Tbsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. ground Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp. ground Sweet Paprika
1 tsp. Homemade Hungarian Paprika (optional)
1 tsp. Fine Ground Himalayan Pink Salt
1 tsp. Fresh Ground Black Pepper
1 Tbsp. Ground Turmeric
3/4 Cup Whole Milk
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
3 Eggs
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Medium Red Onion – Diced
3/4 Bell Peppers – Red, Orange, Green – Diced
3/4 Cup Feta Cheese
2 Cups Spinach – Chopped
Pancetta, Italian Bacon – Medium Sliced

Preheat your oven to 375′ F.
Again, we doubled the recipe, which is why some of the portions look larger than they should be.
———————————————–
In a large bowl, combine your dry ingredients.

Add your flour…

—————————————————-
….then your baking soda, cayenne pepper, and Himalayan Pink Salt.

—————————————————-
Then add your Turmeric

————————————————-
In another bowl, combine your wet ingredients starting with the milk.

Now add your vegetable oil.

And now your eggs.
(I hope we don’t confuse you but we did end up adding an additional egg to the batter later on in the recipe. Keep reading down below and we will show you where. But for now just use 2 eggs here for a single batch of this recipe. OR, you could just go ahead and add all 3 eggs NOW.)
This was an experimental recipe for us which is why we decided to add more later on instead of now.


Whisk the wet ingredients together well and set aside.

—————————————————-
Time for the Vegetables
Slice your red onion.

Also your bell peppers into small dice sized pieces.

————————————————

Nice picture Julie!
(Thank you Gordon!)


Using a large saute pan, add your olive oil and turn to med. heat.

———————————————————–
Here is a great picture of all the colorful vegetables we will use.

————————————————–
I vacuum sealed the pancetta shortly after I bought it.

When your olive oil is heated, add your red onions and bell peppers to the saute pan.

Toss the ingredients in the oil.

Add your salt and pepper to taste.

————————————————–
Use a spatula to turn the cooking vegetables when needed. The picture on the bottom right is the finished product as they still retain much of their color. Set aside to cool.

———————————————–
Use a whisk to evenly distribute the dry ingredients. I am adding sweet paprika I received from my Hungarian friend… amazing home-made ingredient. This was an after thought to the original recipe.


Stir all the dry ingredients well.

Stir the wet ingredients one more time before pouring them into the dry ingredients.

—————————————————–
Now, add your sauteed vegetable into the dry ingredient bowl.

—————————————————–

Mix all the ingredients well using a spatula, being careful not to over mix the dough.

———————————————-
(HERE is where the extra EGGS come in to play.)
As the batter looks dry, we decided to add more eggs. Remember, we doubled the recipe which is why you see two in the bowl below. All these extra ingredients have been correctly added to the original ingredients at the top of this recipe. We are simply depicting our thought process as we were making the recipe.

—————————————————
The dough looks great with the small bits of color.

—————————————————–
Now, add your feta cheese
Just crumble it in.

Now fold in your chopped spinach to the dough batter.

——————————————————-

Place one slice of pancetta into each muffin slot as shown.
(Gordon came up with this idea.)

Now, add a heaping spoonful of the dough into each muffin slot.


Bake the muffins in your preheated 375’F oven for 20-25 min.

Depicted below, are the extra muffins we made as we did double the recipe.
But we only used the pancetta in 12 of them.

—————————————————

————————————————

In order to crisp up the pancetta, Gordon flipped them over and placed them back into the muffin tin.

We could have pre-baked the pancetta slices for about 5 min. or so in the muffin tin before we added the batter. Perhaps we’ll try that next time.
———————————————–

Time to turn the oven on broil and place the pancetta side up back into the oven.
——————————————————
Here is a great shot of them broiling…

They really turned out great!

This crisps the pancetta up so nicely!
————————————————
They make a great portable breakfast for those on the go, without having to stop on the way to work. This lessens your human contact in these times of the Coronavirus.

The pancetta here is like biting through butter. There was no toughness to it whatsoever.

And we added just the right amount of heat that gave you that great after taste.

Yummy!
——————————————————————————
Rise and Shine Kayaker’s Breakfast
We needed a good breakfast before our day of kayaking Weeki Wachee Springs one day.
It is a 6 mile trip by kayak and we wanted to start our day off with something easy, healthy, and tasty.

Start by slicing green, red, and yellow bell peppers into rings.

Add some olive oil to a sauce pan on a medium-high heat and then place a few of the rings to soften.

Once they have softened a little bit, crack an egg into each ring.

Place a lid onto the pan for just a few minutes so that the steam cooks the eggs and they don’t run when you try and flip them.

Gordon Flipping Our Bell Pepper Eggs

Just Top With Some Salt and Pepper 🙂
Great Grab and Go Breakfast!
————————————————————–
Sausage and Quiche Egglets

This recipe idea was born out of a worry that eggs would be scarce in the beginning of this Covid 19 Pandemic, March 2020. We started shopping online and grocery stores were limiting the amount of eggs that we could purchase. Seeing how this was early on in the pandemic, none of us knew what to expect or where it would lead us? So, I thought that if we at least got breakfast situated that it would be one less meal to worry about daily. Having these delicious little quiche’s in the freezer would make things a bit easier on us just in case there did become an egg shortage.
At this writing, July 2020, eggs were never a problem and we have always been able to purchase as many as we need. But, it’s still nice to plan ahead and have a freezer full. Just in case.

This Recipe Will Make 24 Combined Quiche Egglets, and Sausage Egglets
The Ingredients:
2 tsp. ground Sweet Paprika
2 tsp. Fine Ground Himalayan Pink Salt
1 tsp. Fresh Ground Black Pepper
3/4 Cups Whole Milk
12 Eggs
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
3/4 Cup Onion – Diced
1/4 Cup Green Bell Pepper, Diced
4 Mini Sweet Peppers – Red, Orange, Yellow, Green – Diced
3/4 Cups Feta Cheese, Crumbled
2 Cups Spinach – Chopped
Pancetta, Italian Bacon – Medium Sliced
A Few Salami Slices (We turned to Salami when we ran out of Pancetta.)
1 Package Turkey Sausage Links
——————————————————
It’s always a good idea to read a recipe through before you start to make it.
————————————————————
Pre-Heat Oven to 350F

The first thing we did was to place some Pancetta into our muffin pan. When we didn’t have enough to fill all of the spaces, Gordon got some Salami out of the refrigerator to fill the remaining holes.

This is a non-stick muffin pan.
There was no need to add any cooking oil spray because the Pancetta and Salami would produce enough grease preventing them from sticking.

The Salami turned out to be a very nice alternative and made cute little cups to hold our quiche’s.
You will see further on down the post.

Time to place into a 350F oven for about 15 minutes to crisp the Pancetta and the Salami.
————————————————————–

Chopping the Onions

Gordon Chopped About 3/4 Cup

Here He Added About 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
..to a saute pan and softened the onions for about 7 minutes on a medium-high heat.

So, while the onion is sauteing It’s time to chop the Green Bell Pepper.

Gordon Chopped About 1/4 Cup
—————————————————————-

Meanwhile, our Pancetta and Salami is ready to remove from the oven.

It looks like our Onions have softened. See photo left top.

Now it’s time to remove our crispy Pancetta and Salami from the muffin pan and place onto paper towels for the oil to drain.
—————————————————————-

Here Gordon is chopping the rest of our peppers into diced sized pieces.
Approximately 1 cup total.

Time to add them to the onions and continue to saute until they become a bit soft.
About 5 minutes on medium-high heat.

——————————————————————–

Now it’s time to add 1 teaspoon Salt, and 1 teaspoon Paprika.
(NOTE: I have listed in the ingredients above that this recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of both Salt and Paprika. But here is where you only add 1 teaspoon each. The rest is added later on to the eggs in the recipe below.)
We do love this very fine Himalayan salt as it adds a nice flavor.

Now it’s time to place back into our muffin pan, the crispy Pancetta and Salami cups.
But before you do, make sure that you have drained the grease out of it.
————————————————————–
Now it’s time to make our egg mixture.

In a medium bowl crack about 12 eggs.

—————————————————————–

Add your milk, about 3/4 cup.

Whisk Together

Now it’s time to add the remaining 1 teaspoon of Paprika.

Also, time to add the remaining 1 teaspoon of Salt and now add about a teaspoon of Freshly Ground Black Pepper.

Whisk Together

Now It’s Time To Chop Your Fresh Spinach

Add Your Chopped Spinach to the Egg Mixture

Here Gordon is adding the sauteed Onions and Colorful Peppers to the egg mixture.

Now crumble in your Feta Cheese’s.
Stir Together

Preheat Your Oven to 350F
Use a ladle to scoop some of the egg mixture into each muffin cup over the crispy Pancetta and Salami.

Now it’s time to bake in the oven for about 25 minutes.
Each oven is different so keep and eye on them. You want them to cook thoroughly but not burn.

When done remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack while still in the pan.

———————————————————————–
Now It’s Time for our Sausage Egglets

I’ve got this great pan with the spikes that I am going to use to hold the Turkey Sausage Links.

We wanted to brown these in a sauce pan first. These are Turkey Sausages.

—————————————————————

This was my idea (Julie), to place these sausages on these spikes and then have a quiche around them.
So, here Gordon is placing them on the spikes.

Now It’s time to add the leftover egg mixture.
If you find you may need more then add a few more eggs, salt, pepper, paprika, cheese……

Again, use a ladle to pour the egg mixture over the sausages and into each muffin cup.

Now it’s time to place them into a 350F oven for about 25 minutes.
Again, your oven may cook faster, or slower, so keep an eye on them.

——————————————————————-

————————————————————–

When done remove from the oven and place onto a cooling rack until cool.

Delicious! They freeze well.
We placed about 1 or 2 into plastic freezer bags and then placed into the freezer for future breakfast eating.
——————————————————-

The Leftover Mixture…
Gordon did not want to waste the last of this mixture so he added a few more eggs to it….

Placed some Olive Oil into the saute pan and added some Turmeric, and then poured the remaining mixture over top.

He then cooked the egg mixture in a small oven proof saute pan over medium high heat on the stove top for a few minutes.

Now, turn the oven to 350’F and place the pan in it for 20 to 25 minutes or until the eggs are firm and reach an internal temperature of 165’F.
Hey, you just made a Quiche!
And REAL MEN DO Eat Quiche 🙂
———————————————————-
Muffins to Freeze

When the Covid 19 Pandemic hit I also set out buying several packages of muffin mixes of various flavors and using the eggs that I already had in my refrigerator, I made muffins all day to freeze for a later date.
So, whether we are in a pandemic or not, it’s still a good idea to make ahead some easy breakfast muffins that are ready made and waiting for you in the freezer. There is something reassuring in these uncertain times where planning ahead gives us a little bit of peace of mind.
——————————————————–

Our Breakfast Knots with Eggs, Pancetta, and Cheese

————————————————————–

This is Such a Nice Simple Recipe for Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner

These are called Hot Mama Knots and they are found in the frozen section of the supermarket. Just follow the directions on the package and bake accordingly. When done just let them cool a bit before you start the assembly. (You can use any bread you like for this.)
Bake the Pancetta slices above. Bake in the oven on a lined sheet pan for about 12- 15 minutes until nice and crispy and then place them onto paper towels for the oil to drain.
—————————————————–
Microwave Eggs

Ingredients:
6 Eggs
Pam Olive Oil Spray
3 Tbsp. Milk (1 Tbsp. per mug)
Turmeric (Pinch per mug)
Salt and Pepper to taste
—————————————————-
Hot Mama Knots
6 Slices Pancetta or Bacon
6 Slices Sharp Cheddar Cheese
(We ended up making 6 of these but I am only photographing the ingredients and instructions for 4 of these sandwiches. Hopefully not confusing you too much.)
———————————————————-

Spray your Olive Oil into two microwave safe mugs and then crack two eggs into each mug.

Here you see the two eggs in each mug.

Add your milk to each mug.

Now add your Turmeric, fresh ground pepper and salt to each mug.

Using a fork, whisk all the ingredients together well. Note: You could omit the milk if you wanted, but you still need to break the eggs yellow yolk as it could explode in the microwave during the cooking process if not pierced. This is the same for when you microwave a potato.

Microwave the two mugs for 40 seconds on high.

Remove the mugs and using your fork, stir the eggs slightly to assist in the cooking process.

Microwave the two mugs again this time for 30 seconds on high.

Remove the mugs and again stir the eggs. Here you can see the eggs are beginning to firm.

Place the eggs back into the microwave again for another 20 seconds on high. You will see the eggs rise during the cooking process and may even get higher than the mug. If this happens, stop the microwave, wait about 10 seconds then continue to microwave the eggs.


Here you can see both mugs of light and fluffy eggs. They become fluffy from the stirring between cooking instances and the rising of the eggs almost out of the mugs while being microwaved.

Pour out your eggs onto a plate. There shouldn’t be any runny eggs. If there are, place the eggs back into the mug and microwave them for another 10 seconds or so.

When your eggs are properly cooked, slice them in half.

Now it’s Time to Assemble

Put together your breakfast knots! Slice your knots in half ash shown, then add a slice of your Sharp Cheddar Cheese folding in the four edges so it all stays on the bread knot. Then add your eggs and a slice of Pancetta. Finally, place the top on the knot on the Pancetta and you are done!
If you like you can add some mustard as we did.
Enjoy!
——————————————————————

Our Broccoli Ham and Egg Cups

Perfect for that long, lazy weekend. 🙂

——————————————————————-

The Ingredients:

———————————————————–

~1 1/2 Cups Broccoli – boiled
~7 Green Onions – sliced thinly
Pam Cooking Spray
2- 3 Slices Cracker Barrel Sweet Smoked Ham
2-3 Slices Smithfield Honey Cured Ham
3 Slices Swiss Cheese – sliced thinly
1/2 Cup Gruyere Cheese – shredded
9 Eggs – beaten
~1/2 to 3/4 Cup Milk
1 tsp. Rubbed Sage
1 tsp. Roasted Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
Sprigs of Parsley for garnish
——————————————————————–

The Ham We Used
(Although you can use whatever that you like.)

Slice your broccoli to bite sized pieces.

Place your broccoli into a pot of boiling water and cook for about 5 min. or until just tender.

Drain the broccoli into a colander and gently rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
This will keep the broccoli bright green as shown.

Slice off the root ends of the green onions…

and slice them thinly as shown. Put them aside for later use.

Spray your ramekins with cooking spray as shown.

Slice your ham in half or fold them in half and either line the ramekins or center the meat as shown.

Slice your Swiss Cheese into thin slices about 1/4 inch in width then slice them to 2 inch lengths.

Place some broccoli and sliced Swiss cheese into the ramekins as shown.

Crack your eggs into a large bowl.

Then add your milk…

——————————————————————-

Using a whisk, beat the eggs and milk together.
Here I added a touch more milk to the eggs as I felt they were still too yellow in color.

Our Cheese and Herbs Ready
———————————————————————-

Now add the Rubbed Sage, and Roasted Garlic Powder to the eggs.

Then add your freshly ground Pepper and Salt (Hawaiian) to taste.

———————————————————–

With any of the cheese or meats used, you can substitute your own favorites to suit your taste.

Add about 1 Cup of the sliced Green Onions to the egg mixture and whisk all the ingredients together well.

————————————————————–

Arrange your ramekins on a sheet tray.

Ladle your egg mixture into each ramekin leaving about 1/4 of an inch of space at the top.

Like so….

These Are Ready For The Oven
—————————————————————
While We Are Waiting For The 350F Oven To Come To Temperature…

Shred your Gruyere cheese and save for later.

Place your ramekins into the preheated 350’F oven…

—————————————————————–

and cook the egg mixture for about 20 min. or until the eggs are firm.

Add some of your Gruyere cheese and sliced Green Onions to the top of each ramekin.

Garnish with a sprig of Parsley.
—————————————————————————-
Our Cream Cheese English Muffin Veggie Spread

Topped with our Mad Hatter Peppers and Herbs (Basil)

—————————————————————————-

Ingredients:
2, 8 oz. blocks of Cream Cheese, Softened
Chopped Colorful Bell Peppers, as many as you like.
Chopped Onion, as much as you like.
2 Long Stalks of Celery, Chopped
Bunch of Chives, Chopped
————————————————————-
Optional Additions:
Roasted Red Peppers, Chopped
Sweet Bell Peppers, Chopped
3/4 Cup of Roasted Walnuts, Chopped
Tabasco Spicy Salt, Add to Tastes
Mad Hatter Peppers
————————————————————–
English Muffins or Bagels
—————————————————————–

This is a recipe about personal tastes.
I am giving you the ingredients but it really is up to you to decide the amounts.

The funny looking red peppers above are my Mad Hatter Peppers that I will use to top my creation when I am finished.

You do want to soften the Cream Cheese, and then add your chopped ingredients to your liking.

The peppers that you see at photo right, I picked from our garden that morning.
I did use one of them in this Veggie Spread.

The jarred Roasted Red Peppers in the photo right, added a great taste to the fresh Peppers I originally added.

Time To Mix Together
—————————————————————————–

For some added taste and crunch I roasted about a cup or so of Walnuts and Pieces for about 10 minutes in a 350F oven.

I added about a half a cup or so to the Cream Cheese Mixture.

Tabasco Spicy Salt
I probably added about a teaspoon or so to this.

Mix Everything Together and Spread Generously onto an English Muffin 🙂
———————————————————–
What a nice way to start your morning!
Julie and Gordon