The Wedding of Brodie and Mackenzie, North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Julie's Jabberwock
The Hale Koa Hotel, Waikiki
The Hale Koa Hotel 2055 Kalia Road Honolulu, Hawaii 96815 1-800-367-6027 1-800-955-0555 https://www.halekoa.com/ ———————————————————————————– March, 2026 The Drive Up To The Entrance The Unloading Entrance Hale Koa’s 50 Year Anniversary The Lobby The Hotel’s Year Round Tennants ———————————————————————————— Inside The Lobby …
Our Take On The Local Flavors Of Hawaii
Aloha!
E Komo Mai Our Take On The Local Flavors Of Hawai’i
There are just certain foods that the people of Hawai’i eat that we wanted to feature here, with our added spin on them. Or as I like to say, “We Whann It Up.”
Sometimes we will come across a recipe that I know is going to be good, but I can just tell that it needs our creative touch. Our last name is Whann, pronounced Wan, which is why we tend to “Whann Things Up!”
We lived in Hawai’i for 13 years so we do know a bit about the locals, and their foods. Because of our last name, the local people accepted us more on the island. I think they assumed we had local family roots. Sometimes I would get asked if ‘I was married to a local boy?’ 🙂
As I told Mackenzie’s mother during the Hawai’i wedding planning, “Utilize Brodie. Have Brodie make any reservations for you. Hawaii is probably the only state in America where the name Whann will get you a better table than the name Parish.”
We hope you like what we’re doing here. There will be more additions as time goes on. But for now we hope you enjoy what we have to offer.
Mahalo,
Julie and Gordon
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Chop Chop Duck Salad w/ Kimchi and Kimchi Peanuku Brittle
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Kimchi Peanuku’s (Peanuts)
(Recipes Down Below)
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Asian Salad
This is more of an idea than a recipe. It is easy to put a twist on a salad and make it Asian simply by adding some Asian ingredients to your Lettuce or Cabbage base, such as Snow Peas, Exotic Mushrooms, Bok Choy, Carrots, Water Chestnuts, Cashews, Edamame, etc. And, perhaps a topping of Won Ton Strips, Sesame Seeds, along with a nice Asian Dressing. I also enjoyed a nice Asian Salad with some Asian Shallot Crackers.
Julie
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GRAB A BOWL, RECIPES START HERE
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Kimchi Peanuku Brittle
(Peanuku is the Hawaiian word for Peanut)
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Ingredients:
8 Cups Cashews
8 Tbsp. Sugar
4 tsp. Water
4 Tbsp. Peanut Oil
4 Tbsp. Sesame Oil
2 Tbsp. Garlic Salt
2 Tbsp. Mother in Law’s Gochugaru Korean Chile Flakes
4 Tbsp. Mother in Law’s Gochujang Fermented Chile Paste Concentrate
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Begin by placing your Cashews into a large bowl then set aside.
Add your Sugar and Water to a large pot and turn the heat up to medium.
Now, add your Peanut Oil and Sesame Oil to the pot. This brand (Kadoya) of Sesame Oil from Japan is one of my favorites.
Mix the ingredients together.
Here are two of the next ingredients. These are some really great products we found and thought they would add some great flavors to the recipe. Taste them first to decide how much or little you want to add.
Add your Garlic Salt then the Mother in Law’s Gochugaru Korean Chile Flakes to the pot.
Add your Mother in Law’s Gochujang Fermented Chile Paste Concentrate to the pot. Again, taste the ingredients before you add it. We both really loved the flavor and we can take the heat. It really wasn’t as hot as it looks. There was a great deal of flavor to these ingredients.
Just look at the beautiful color of the ingredients together. Taste this and adjust the ingredients to suit your needs. We both really liked it.
Add your wet seasoning mix to the bowl of cashews. At this point, preheat your oven to 325’F.
Mix them well to evenly coat the cashews with the flavorful wet mix.
Cover your large sheet pan with some parchment paper. Then add your Cashews to the baking sheet.
Evenly spread your Cashew mixture over the sheet pan.
Great picture Julie of the flavorful Cashews!
Place the sheet pan into the oven for 15 min.
After the 15 min. remove the sheet pan and stir the nuts around breaking them up. Smooth them back down…
Bake them for another 10 to 15 min.
Here you can see the mixture turned very Brittle Like. Break them up into medium pieces then enjoy!
Julie placed them on a decorative Hawaiian themed tray! These were very addictive and we love the heat and flavor.
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Chop Chop Duck Salad w/ Kimchi and Kimchi Peanuku Brittle
This is a great way to utilize your Kimchi Peanuku Brittle.
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Salad Ingredients:
1 Radiccio – sliced
1 Red Bell Pepper – sliced into rings
2 Shitaki Mushrooms
6 Baby Portabella Mushrooms
1 Bunch – Flowered Chives
~20 Snow Peas
3 Green Onions – sliced
1/2 Sweet Onion – sliced thinly
1 Large Carrot – peeled and shredded
1 Mango – thinly sliced
~5 Sage Leaves – sliced thinly
7 Romaine Lettuce Leaves
~15 Tiki Cherry Tomatoes – sliced in half
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These are all really fresh ingredients, which is important for a great salad. I also love the variety we chose.
Slice the Radiccio in half then remove the triangular shaped core. Add to a large bowl.
Slice your Red Bell Pepper’s top off and remove the seeds. Then slice it into rings as shown.
Now, slice those rings in half or smaller depending on your taste.
Here I have both the Shitaki and Baby Portabella Mushrooms. I like to quickly wash these then let them dry a bit. This will remove the dirt usually on the mushrooms. Slice the Mushrooms thinly as shown.
Now remove the lower part of the Flowering Chives. We find these at our local Asian Market. They are very good and have great flavor.
For the Snow Peas, remove the end point that was attached to the vine as it can be hard to eat.
For the Spring or Green Onions, slice off the root ends then remove the dried green part of the onion.
Slice the Green Onion into medium sized rings.
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Remove the root end and top of the onion then remove the outer brown skins. Now, slice the onion thinly as shown then half the rings.
Slice off the ends of the Carrot then peel it.
Now, grate the Carrot.
Slice around the seed of your Papaya. You can leave the skin on then slice it off later.
Wash your Sage leaves then roll them together and slice them thinly as shown.
Place all the ingredients into the bowl. Here we have washed the Romaine Lettuce leaves and set them aside to dry. When done, rip them into small bite sized pieces.
We found these unique Tiki Cherry Tomatoes. We both really loved their color and flavor, which were a must for this salad.
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Salad Dressing Vinaigrette Ingredients
2 Tbsp. Aloha Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp. Mirin
2 Tbsp. Sesame Oil
3 Tbsp. Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce
Pinch of Himalayan Pink Salt
1 Tbsp. White and Black Sesame Seeds
3 Tbsp. Jordanian Honey
1 Tbsp. Mother in Law’s Gochujang Fermented Chile Paste Concentrate
3 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
6 Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
Garnish with:
Kimchi
1 Roasted Chop Chop Duck – bought from our Asian Market
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This is one of the most elaborate Vinaigrettes I have ever made. All the ingredients really worked well together and surprisingly I just winged it. Sometimes you just have to go with your sense of taste and theme of the recipe.
(Notice Gordon’s fingers in the photo left, above? He is giving me the measurements of the sauces he’s using. We don’t ever write down much, I photograph the information needed for each recipe. I was going to remove the photos of his fingers giving measurements now that he has finished the write up, but I think they look good included, so I will leave them as they are.) 🙂
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Start by using some great Soy Sauce… which for me is Aloha…. and it is Hawaiian, so perfect. I don’t like the taste of Kikkoman’s as it has a winy taste to it. There are hundreds of types of Soy Sauce so get out and try some of the more not so common ones. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Place it into a large jar as shown. Be sure you have the lid for it!
Now add your Mirin. This gave the vinaigrette and nice sweet flavor.
Again, this is a really good tasting Sesame Oil. It then goes into the jar.
This is another great product of Hawaii, and it is an exceptional Teriyaki Sauce. So of course, it has to go into the vinaigrette.
I know we have a good amount of salt already in this, so just add a touch… or leave it out, your call. I love these black and white Sesame Seeds so they had to go in. Julie’s idea.
This Mother in Law’s Gochujang Fermented Chile Paste Concentrate had a great taste and I thought it too would go well with the other ingredients.
The vinaigrette needed some type of sweetener, so I used this Jordanian Honey. You can use any Honey you like.
Pick out a good tasting Olive Oil as well. The greener the better and don’t trust the color of the bottle. This one just happens to be in a green bottle.
Now, for the last ingredient, the Apple Cider Vinegar. There should be more of it than the Olive Oil.
Shake it well.
Use a small Romaine Lettuce leaf to taste the vinaigrette and adjust the seasonings as needed. One of my class Chefs said the vinegar should be just enough that the taste touches the back of your throat. I use that advise whenever I make a vinaigrette, and it has always worked well for me. The taste was really good, but needed a touch more Honey and Vinegar. I shook it up again then tasted again and it was perfect. Here you can see the Chopped Duck!
The salad needed a final tossing.
We plated the salad and then had the idea of adding some Kimchi. Now, liberally pour your vinaigrette over the entire salad.
We hope you enjoy this amazing salad.
Doesn’t Julie look beautiful!
(I guess I must be senior citizen eye candy? Oh well, I’ll take it!) 🙂
Julie
Sparky is so content watching us work in the kitchen.
Gordon
(Which is why he looks so bored.)
Julie
Morimoto’s Asia, Waikiki, Oahu, Hawai’i
こんばんは Konbanwa (Good Evening) Morimoto Asia Waikiki & Momosan Waikiki @Alohilani Resort 2490 Kalakaua Ave. Honolulu, HI. 96815 ————————————————————————— Kurisumasu, 2025 (Christmas, 2025) I knew that we would be visiting Morimoto’s Restaurant in Waikiki while we were there in …
The Wedding Rehearsal Dinner Luau
My Mother of the Groom Luau Muu-Muu —————————————————————————————– Brodie and Mackenzie Request The Pleasure Of Your Company At Their Luau Rehearsal Dinner in Waikiki Thursday, March 5, 2026 Starting at 5:00 p.m. and Ending at 8:00 p.m. (I’m Ready To …
E Komo Mai, Welcome to Hawai’i
March, 2026
Oahu, Hawai’i
Shopping, Eating, and some Sight Seeing
We had the pleasure of going back to Hawai’i for a few weeks and had a wonderful time. We stayed on Oahu, the island where we lived for 13 years. It was a lot of fun visiting some of our old haunts, along with some new experiences. Although I admit that nothing here really stands out as exciting, it was very nostalgic for us. We weren’t looking for excitement, we were looking to recreate old memories, while creating new ones. We left the island in 1999. A lot had changed. Some things for the better, and other’s for the worse, but we will always be in love with Hawai’i until the day we die.
Aloha,
Julie (Kulii)
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Our Nostalgic Hawaiian Sun Bacardi Cocktail
Gordon Created This
Just 2 Ingredients
Hawaiian Sun Canned Juices, and Pineapple Bacardi Rum
One of the first items we purchased in Hawaii were our old favorite Hawaiian Sun juices in the cans. We lived off these things during our time there. They come in different flavors. Pineapple Orange, Passion Orange, Guava Nectar, Lilikoi Passion… just to name a few.
1 Shot Of Bacardi Pineapple Rum To About 8 Ounces Juice
Something Easy And Tropical To Enjoy In Our Hotel Room
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Navy Exchange, and the Pearl Harbor Commissary
Bougainville Drive, Honolulu
What you see above is the new Exchange and Commissary. It didn’t look like this when we lived there. And, we actually lived right down the street on Valkenburgh. Valkenburgh Street was named after the Captain of the U.S.S. Arizona. We drove by where we used to live, but all that old condemned housing had been torn down and much nicer housing was built in it’s place. But, we did see the spot where our little townhouse used to be.
This new Exchange and Commissary and all the other businesses within it were wonderful! So much nicer from when we would shop there. But, the old ones were nice too, just not as big.
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Shopping At The Exchange
Grabbed A Cart And Loaded It Up!
We hit up the base shopping on March 3rd. We needed to buy some things for the Wedding Rehearsal Dinner Luau, as well as some personal shopping we wanted to do. The Exchange was loaded with everything we wanted! But the prices were pretty high. I was really surprised. We noticed that our hotel gift shops items were cheaper than the Base Exchange. The thing is, we were staying in the military hotel in Waikiki. Normally, the prices here would have been cheaper than Waikiki. I couldn’t imagine the average military family being able to afford much in that Exchange. I know that back in the day when we lived there, we would not have been able to afford much on a military salary.
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Hina Matsuri (Girl’s Day)
March 3rd. is Japanese Girl’s Day in Hawai’i
I was excited to see this Girl’s Day display. We always celebrated Girl’s Day in Hawai’i. Our daughter Veronica loved that day because it was all about her being a girl. Something nice to celebrate. I did buy Isabelle a Girl’s Day t-shirt.
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Grabbing Lunch In The Exchange Food Court
Wow! An Elevator, A Giant Rock Fountain, And At The Bottom Floor…. Beautiful Local Vendors
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Grabbing Plate Lunch Take Out For Dinner
With our shopping, banking, and errands out of the way, we wanted a traditional Plate Lunch for dinner.
As luck would have it, there was a business right at the base.
Gordon Grabbing Us 2 Huli Huli Chicken Plate Lunch for Dinner At Our Hotel
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Cooking The Huli Huli Chicken
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At the end of the day, out on our Lanai, eating our Plate Lunch and listening to the drums and the music of the Luau going on below us. 🙂
Life just doesn’t get any better than this.
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Ala Moana Shopping Center
March 4th.
Two days to our son’s wedding, and I just did find a dress to wear from Macy’s. I’m holding it in the photo above.
(Here I thought I was cutting it close until I talked to a woman at the wedding that bought her dress and shoes the morning of the wedding. I then felt so much better.) 🙂
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Ala Moana Center is located on Ala Moana Blvd. in Honolulu
It was always THE PLACE to shop and eat at the Food Court and some restaurants located in the mall.
Ala Moana is huge! With tons of parking!
It was different from when we were there last, in 1999, but it was still magnificent and impressive. I was able to find a dress for the wedding that I was happy with.
I Always Loved All The Fountains With The Japanese Carp
Beautiful and Colorful
Always Tranquil
I Think I See Some Tadpoles In The Ponds
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THE Food Court at Ala Moana Center
This is probably the best Food Court you will ever come across in your life.
We First Made Our Rounds Before Deciding
The Fake Foods Were Beautiful!
I wish I had a huge kitchen, I would display these fake foods all around.
I think they are just lovely.
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Now For The REAL Food!
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Pineapple Fried Rice, Left 🙂
(We do wish that we had bought this at the time.)
Kalua Pork and Cabbage
Local Boy Special
Lau Lau is Always Good!
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I love that they have these ready made containers of food to purchase and take home with you.
All the ready made local fast foods that are very popular.
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Prime Rib, Truffle Roasted Chicken
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Kalua Pig, Chicken Long Rice, Tripe Stew, Squid Luau, Pipikaula
Kalua Pig Cabbage, Pork Adobo
I Think We Are Zeroing In On What We Want For Lunch
We’ll Take The Chicken
2 Sets of Chopsticks, Please
(We did share this. I just wanted a few bites for lunch, and we were picking up something bigger for dinner, so I held back.) 🙂
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Just Look At This Buffet!
It Is Beautiful And Everything That I Love
We did end up grabbing Italian to take back to our Hotel Room for Dinner that night.
A Chicken Pesto Italian Pasta Dinner. My god it was good!
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What I have always loved about Ala Moana is that they book such great entertainment.
The music was amazing! I even recognized some of the old songs, but I couldn’t place them.
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I don’t know who these people were, but I thoroughly enjoyed hearing them, and I appreciate that they took the time out to bring us their music.
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March 7th.
Aloha Stadium, Aloha Flea Market
99-500 Salt Lake Blvd, Aiea, HI 96701
Wednesdays from 8:00am – 3:00pm
Saturdays from 8:00am – 3:00pm
Sundays from 6:30am – 3:00pm
(Interestingly enough, right after we left the island they tore down Aloha Stadium in order to build it back up with more seats added. I don’t know if they are still holding the Flea Market during the construction, but I hope so for the vendors and buyers sake.)
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This has been a Hawai’i stable for years! It is where we would go to buy our children’s school clothes when they were little. Our t-shirts, board shorts, slippers, pareo’s, Kalikimaka gifts to send to the mainland, silk flowers, food items, and as always a SPAM Musubi to snack on while browsing the booths.
Parking At The Aloha Stadium
Gordon, Ready To Browse
This was a favorite of ours. We actually bought from this family back in 1999 and have some of their wooden carvings.
It was nice to see the Le Family again.
Something that has always been extremely desirable are the Hawaiian quilts.
These are not the ones that range in the thousands of dollars, but they were very nice and lovely and we did buy a few items from this booth.
We Especially Love The Honu’s (Sea Turtles)
(Gordon took Veronica and Brian to this booth and because we had bought so much, the vendors gave them a great deal on what they wanted.)
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Time For Lunch
Sugarcane Juice
and some sort of Pork Taco’s
(They were delicious!)
I don’t remember exactly what we had for lunch to eat, but I do remember that our entire order was around $50.00.
Unheard of back in 1999! Gone are those days!
Happy We Brought Along Some Shopping Bags
(Apparently that is a thing around Hawai’i. They expect you to bring your own bags, or they charge you for the ones they have to give you.)
We Found A Spot To Sit Down To Eat In This Busy Flea Market
Veronica, Brian and Isabelle Arriving
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The Shave Ice Truck
Love the cute local couple left, enjoying their Shave Ice
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It was at this business that Gordon bought about 3 Hawaiian shirts.
I wasn’t interested in buying anything for myself, so I stayed outside the booth with all of our bags, sipping my Sugarcane Juice.
Gordon Shopping
I placed our bags right here while Gordon was inside shopping. I stood beside them the whole time. After Gordon purchased his shirts, the woman who helped him walked out of the booth with him and then immediately started to go through our bags trying to ‘find a place to put the shirts Gordon had just bought.’ I’m not used to that kind of behavior so I just sort of stood there in surprise. She then placed the shirts Gordon bought into our bags and as we gathered them up to leave I told Gordon that I think she thought I was shop lifting while he was inside and she was going through our bags looking for their merchandise. I wanted to go back and tell her that ‘if we were shop lifting from you, YOU would know it! Because we aren’t very good at it.’ 🙂
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I Hit Up The Local ‘Yard Sale’ Booths Looking For My Treasures
The Flea Market looked different from when we lived in Hawaii in 1999. In our day they had rows and rows that went into circles with the most expensive and popular booths all around the outside circle, while the more local family’s selling their ‘yard sale’ items were in the very center of the circles. So in those days we would have to walk around all the circles until we came to the inside booths, with each circle getting smaller and smaller.
That isn’t how it is today. You enter into the Aloha Flea Market through an entrance and they do have straight rows that are horizontal. You can either turn left, or right.
The food trucks are in the middle along with covered tent seating on picnic tables. We however sat on some stage to eat our lunch. The place was so busy and crowded at that time. Seeing the stage there must mean that they have entertainment sometimes. That’s new.
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My Treasures
I did find some books I wanted, however I am also taking into account either packing heavy books in our luggage, or mailing them back home.
I love old books! Going to old used bookstores was my childhood. I did find some great ones, which I will talk about in a minute, but I just wanted to point out some of the other great things that we saw that these very local ‘yard sale’ people were selling. Some of them were selling live tropical plants for your backyard or that were cut for table decorations. As in Heliconia, Bird of Paradise, Torch Ginger, etc. Beautiful!
We also saw what looked like a Tiffany Lamp of the ocean. When Gordon and I saw that we just groaned and kept walking. We knew that it would just be a lot of trouble to get it back home.
We found a vintage Hawaiian Coffee Company large burlap bag. 🙂
We saw some vendors that did crafts of rosettes out of palm leaves. I wanted to head over there but then I remembered that I already have a ton of that kind of stuff in the garage with all my Hawaiian crafts.
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Now For The Books
One thing that I love the most about old books are the graphics and photographs capturing that era.
For someone that loves the past, it is my heaven!
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THIS Is My TREASURE!!!!!
I was so excited when I found this book that I ran back to the car to start reading it while Gordon continued to shop for Hawaiian t-shirts.
I told him to take his time! I’m good! I’ve got A/C, Water, Snacks, and THIS BOOK!
(I bought the book from a man that was sharing a booth with another man selling car parts and junk. He charged me about $5.00 per book. I knew that this book wasn’t originally his. If it was I would have picked his brain about it. But, I just knew he had come across it at some point. He didn’t look Japanese to me.)
The Legacy Of The Japanese In Hawaii:
Cuisine
Published By: The Japanese Cultural Center Of Hawaii
First Printing – September, 1989
Dedicated to the many who were pioneers in Hawaii…
a new land… and all those whose efforts and contributions continue to inspire the preservation of
The Legacy of the Japanese in Hawaii.
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One reason this book means something to me is that when we first moved to Hawaii in 1986 we met a Japanese American family that were Interned during WWII. At that time they had just received compensation for their Internment. They were very nice people. Not resentful at all. Just sort of ‘matter of fact’ kind of people. I cannot imagine what all they went through, but I was very happy to have known them.
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Check Out That Little Pink Stamp
That little stamp appears throughout this cookbook. Obviously this cookbook has been used quite frequently by this woman. You know it was owned by a woman because of the cute little pink stamp. This woman cooked many a meal from this book. She would even place the stamp by the ‘other methods’ of preparing a dish. She marked her favorites. Without ever knowing who this woman was, I would love to meet her, if she is still alive, and talk to her about her cooking. Perhaps even sitting in her kitchen talking to her, and taking lots of photos, of course. 🙂
I Don’t Know What Happened Here!?
Photo Left:
The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii logo incorporates the official Hawaii State Flower, Hibiscus, in the pattern of a traditional Mon (family crest.) Its floral design incorporates the attributes of beauty and delicacy as well as strength in the nature of perpetuity. Its petals come together to make a whole, as the various elements of the Japanese culture must join together to become one with the intent of survival. The pistil or five seeds of the flower represents the qualities we hope to pass on: pride, honor, strength, commitment and appreciation. Flowers are most beautiful surrounded by many others: Hawaiian’s garden remains intact with the perpetuation of the Japanese culture.
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I carried this book on the plane with me home. While everyone else was clutching their laptops, or tablets, or phones, I was holding this book close as if it were treasure, because to me it was! This ratty old book meant the world to me.
I even had a few flight attendants to walk by and ask me, “What are you reading?” 🙂
Honestly, I could write so much more on this book but I will wind this up now. I’m sure that I will on another website page in the near future or future. Needless to say, I am just so happy I found it. Or perhaps it found me? 🙂 I do think that we end up with what we are supposed to end up with.
(I’m still studying this book when I have time. I am so enjoying it.)
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
March 8, 2026
Maui Brewing Company
Boys Night Out for some great locally brewed beer! Many thanks to my amazing wife for finding the add in a pamphlet from the hotel. When she found it, I knew Brian and I had to go. They had an amazing display case.
The brewing company was about 5 blocks down from the Hale Koa Hotel. The walk made us thirsty for the craft beer that was waiting for us.
The bottom floor had a small gift shop with the main seating area two floor up.
As you can see there was plenty of seating all the way around the bar while it had many tables to also choose from.
Another gift shop was on this floor as well along with this massive display case. I really like bariphanllia… not a real word, but one that I made up which combines the words bar and parraphanalia. I bought some really nice beer call looking glasses with the beer printed on it and a nice T-shirt. Brian got a few things as well.
See how we hadn’t tasted any of these beers before, we got a few flights for the full experience.
You can see the great names of the beers which had pineapple and coconut in them … really unique and good. Every beer was good. I don’t think there was a single one we didn’t like. Here in Florida they feature grapefruit.
Here is one side of the menu.
I think this is Brian’s flight of beer. We paired the beers with a heaping of Hawaiian inspired Nacho’s. What a great day and time to spend with my amazing son-in-law. I hope to have more times like this!
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March 9, 2026
Headed Toward The North Shore For The Day
Me, In The Hallway Lobby At The Hale Koa Hotel
Our original plan was for us to prepare a picnic lunch to take out to Waimea Falls out in the North Shore for the day. We left the Hale Koa that morning with our picnic lunch. I always bring along books to read, and my cameras to take lots of photos. We were going to meet Veronica, Brian and Isabelle there and spend the day.
A Selfie
We were just turned away from Waimea Falls because they were filming the new Jumanji. We were sad about it, but I also believe that when something bad happens it just might lead to something good happening. And it did!
We Found This Great Picnic Spot Along The North Shore
Look At The Beautiful Tree Roots
The North Shore is a very popular spot for the locals and tourists. The parking spots fill up very quickly along the beaches.
When we found this spot we knew that we had found something special.
Look At All The LAVA Rock!
It Is Beautiful!
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All The Potholes In The Beach Lava
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The Duke Kahanamoku Shirt
(I Bought Gordon This Shirt For His Birthday In January, 2026. We love Duke, along with all the locals of the islands. Duke Kahanamoku is famous for riding a 16 foot wooden long board on a wave for 1 mile. One of Hawaii’s great surfing legends.)
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Pineapple With Li Hing Powder
Li Hing Powder is apparently something new.
I don’t ever remember hearing about it when we lived in Hawaii.
It might have been around, but it wasn’t well known and featured in so many island foods as it is now. It is Ono though!
Most Beaches Don’t Look Like This
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The Sand, The Lava Rocks, The Trees, The Roots, The Coconuts…
Apparently some locals had already husked these beauties.
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Our Lava Beach Picnic
We did some shopping at the Base Commissary and bought some prepared foods for our picnic.
The Hawaiian Sun juices in the can are a nice MUST!
We also brought along some Pasta Salad, Hawaiian Potato Chips, and Sandwich Rolls.
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I remember reading about this surfer who dies from a shark attack.
I love that the locals remember him and keep his legacy alive.
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65 and Beyond, (Finger’s Crossed)
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 …
Back To Aloha, Where It All Started
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, …
Julie Barefoot 2026, (‘Puke Punaewele, (Blog)
2026
A Morning Aloha
(Hawaiian Kona Coffee)
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Brodie In Our Backyard Plumeria Tree in Ewa Beach, 1996
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E Komo Mai
Welcome to My Aloha Julie Barefoot 2026 ‘Puke Punaewele (Blog)
Ready for 2026
This year will be a more eventful one from in the past few years. Traditionally we are home bodies as it is, but with Gordon working overseas for the past few years, and with me keeping the home fires burning, I am also my Grand-Daughter’s main caregiver. I don’t really have a lot of free time anymore. Especially when it comes to working on my websites.
You will find out as I take you along with me, and my Ohana throughout the year, what we have in store.
We lived in Hawai’i for 13 glorious years. Hawai’i means a lot to us. Both of our children were born there.
My Grand-Daughter Isabelle calls me Tutu, the Hawaiian word for Grandmother.
I sometimes call her Peanuku, (Peanut) because when we first saw the scan of her before she was born she looked exactly like a Peanut.
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This year our son Brodie Keith Kanakaleo Whann will be getting married in Hawai’i on the North Shore to his betrothed Mackenzie Meers Parish.
Click Here For: Mother of the Groom
We are all looking forward to it! Going back to Hawai’i, visiting our old stomping grounds. Brushing up on my Hawaiian Pidgeon, Da Kine! Eating our old Plate Lunches, and Shave Ice. Eating at Duke’s. Visiting The Aloha Flea Market at The Aloha Stadium. Visiting the Arizona Memorial Museum, and the site of the U.S.S. Arizona, perhaps if Gordon’s former ship is docked we can get a tour and show Veronica, Brian and Isabelle the ship itself.
We have a huge Luau planed in Waikiki before the wedding, hosted by us. I’ve been buying gifts for the occasion.
Click Here For: Whann Way Hawaiian Luau
I will blog more about that as it approaches. But for now, I am reliving the memories we created in Hawaii, and brushing up on my Hawaiian phrases that we will use while there. Especially when it comes to Wedding Toasts and Speeches.
A Hui Hou Kakou (Until We Meet Again),
Julie Barefoot
(Julie Lancaster-Whann)
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Click Here For: E Komo Mai To The Wedding Rehearsal Dinner Luau
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Favorite Snacks
We Take Hawaii With Us Everyday, Sometimes Even Out The Door 🙂
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The Original Blogging Key Board
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Time To Watch Blue Hawaii
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Also, Check Out A Few Of Our Hawaiian Website Pages:
Click Here For: Blue Hawaiians and Huli Huli Chicken
AND,
Click Here For: Huli Huli Julie Caesar
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A Flower In My Hair
I’ve written about this before on my website, but I would also like to write it here again:
When my family moved to Rockingham, North Carolina, 1978, the summer before my senior year in high school, I wore a flower in my hair every day. I was laughed at. Made fun of. And made to feel as if there was something wrong with me. But when I became an adult, got married, Gordon and I moved to Hawaii for his military career. I noticed that all the women in Hawaii would wear a flower in their hair every day. I knew then that there was never anything wrong with me, I was just living in the wrong place. 🙂
Aloha,
Kulii (Julie)
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I Also Created A Few New Recipes With Hawaii In Mind, To debut Here:
Kulii’s Teriyaki Spam and Pineapple ‘Ai Pu Ana
(Julie’s Teriyaki Spam and Pineapple Casserole)
AND,
My Tropical Naan’s
If I were to create a Christmas Pizza, this would be it. 🙂
(Recipes Down Below)
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Hawai’i has always meant a great deal to us. I cannot explain our connection to the state.
I have a closer connection to Hawai’i than I do Georgia, the state I was born into.
With an open mind, you will see the Garden of Eden, Beautiful Brown Angels Singing, Dancing, Ceremony, Spirituality, Music, Drums, History, Cultures Living Together, Working Together, Farming Together, Cooking Together, Celebrating Together, and Sharing With Each Other.
I look forward to bringing to you all that we will encounter on our trip back to paradise.
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Blog Posts Start Here
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May, 2026
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May 1, 2026
May Day Is Lei Day
Happy Lei Day!
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April, 2026
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April 20, 2026
Renovation Aloha
https://www.hgtv.com/shows/renovation-aloha
Meet The Kalama’s, Kamohai and Tristyn
Renovation Aloha debuted on HGTV on February 20, 2024. Although Gordon and I haven’t seen every episode, we’ve seen enough to know that we love this show! We’ve been watching for over a year now. Whenever there is a Renovation Aloha marathon on HGTV we always get excited!! 🙂
We love the show because they take usually old run down homes in Hawaii and make them beautiful. They always incorporate something original from the home into their design. We love the reveals! They are stunning! We can usually recognize some of the Hawaiian artists they use in their staging. This talented couple is inspirational! I cannot use enough exclamation marks as I write this. !!!! 🙂
There are a lot of homes in Hawaii that look as if they are unique ‘shacks.’ When we left the island in 1999 the average home cost about 450 thousand. And their version of average, is our version of below average. It is extremely expensive to live there which is why you will see families living together. As in ageing parents, children and their spouses with their own children, and in some cases aunties and uncles. Only then could they all afford a descent home to live in. Also, no one owns the land. You may buy a house on land, but you won’t own the land. At least that is how it was on Oahu when we left. I do think The Big Island is different. We did know a local woman that owned land on The Big Island but it was covered in lava from the volcano oozing.
Watching the talent that is revealed through these two remarkable people is sometimes awe inspiring. In many cases they will take a ‘treasure’ they find from the home and alter it in a very unique and special way, and then regift it back to the owner that sold them the house. Also, Kamohai’s father is a spiritual leader who blesses the house once it is finished and ready to be placed on the market. It’s just that added Hawaiian Spirituality that just makes you feel good.
Well, I have probably bragged enough on this family. They brought us back to HGTV. I hadn’t watched HGTV in years prior to discovering the Kalama’s. Oh, and Kalama means Torch, or Flaming Torch in Hawaiian. And they are certainly lights that we love to follow.
Aloha and Mahalo,
Julie
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April 19, 2026
Still Unpacking, Still Putting Things Away, Still Eating Off Paper Plates,
And Drinking Out Of Disposable Cups, and Coffee Cups
Just An Average Day With Isabelle
Stickers All Over My Legs
(I usually leave them on even after she has left for the day.
I collect the mail from the street while wearing them too.) 🙂
Ever since we got back from Hawaii we have been very “chill.” Taking our sweet time with getting back into the swing of things. Oh, we do what we have to when we have to do it, but everything else has taken a backseat. What with major events going on at the moment, Gordon is now home for good as it is no longer safe to work overseas. We had planned on him perhaps coming back here later on this year, and perhaps going back the following year for another two years, but now things are so up in the air that plans have had to be altered. It looks like he is home for the foreseeable future. He did just get another job here doing what he does. He’ll just do it here and not over there. But now gone is all that hazard pay. 🙁 But, we would much rather have Gordon home safe and sound now.
Both Gordon and myself have at least one suitcase each that we haven’t unpacked from Hawaii yet. We’ve just been doing other things. I think we took “Hawaiian Time” too serious. There is EST, MT, PST, HST, and Hawaiian Time, or Island Time. The locals of Hawaii are on their own time and they get to things when they get to things. 🙂 I know that it frustrated Mackenzie’s mother when it came to the wedding planning. It actually wasn’t until the Sunday before the wedding that was scheduled for that Friday, did the Wedding Planner get back to her. Yeah, they cut things very close but that is just who they are. I will say that I did warn her. 🙂 But, as far as anyone could tell the wedding went off without a hitch. It was beautiful! I did thank the wedding planner when I met her and told her that she did a great job.
I’m still working on the other Hawaiian website pages of our trip there. It has been a lot of fun to recount it all.
At this writing I am still working on them. Although I have gotten a few done.
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Happy Birthday Mackenzie
Today is Mackenzie’s Birthday, April 19th.
Here Are A Few Gifts I Sent Her
I Purchased Them From CocoNene
The Royal Hawaiian Hotel Wooden Puzzle
Brodie and Mackenzie stayed at The Royal Hawaiian for about a week when they first arrived on the island. I saw that CocoNene had a wooden puzzle of the hotel and thought I would include it with the other gifts.
The U.S. Mail at The Royal Hawaiian Hotel
(Brodie Enjoyed This)
Spam Musubi, and Eating at their Hotel
Royal Hawaiian View, Diamond Head
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Brodie and Mackenzie, Diamond Head in the Background
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COASTERS! GET YOUR COASTERS!!!
I also mailed Brodie and Mackenzie the extra coasters that I had made as party favors at the Rehearsal Dinner Luau to pass out to all. We couldn’t take all of the coasters as they would be too heavy in our luggage.
I am embarrassed to say that I bought too many. I honestly didn’t know how to order them and wrote in the wrong amounts. But, as I see it, Brodie and Mackenzie either have ‘coasters for life,’ or excellent ornaments for their 2026 Kalikimaka Tree. 🙂
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CocoNene For US!
It was while we were shopping at Ala Moana Shopping Center for a dress for me to wear to the wedding, that we discovered CocoNene. We were instantly smitten! The wooden art, the artists, the beauty of all of the creations! We loved it all! That is when we did do some shopping. We also did some shopping once we got back home and visited their website.
I Am Redoing The Guest Bathroom Here
Ever since my nasty neighbors started harassing me, I do all my bathing and skin care in the guest bathroom.
I was very happy to recreate it into this lovely Hawaiian sanctuary.
Here are some of my CocoNene Trivets! Love them!
Kulii
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March, 2026
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March 28, 2026
Back From Aloha, Banyan Tree, Hale Koa Hotel, Waikiki
It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged. We have had a lot going on in our lives. Gordon came home from working overseas in February. He got home before my birthday. Because he came in late at night our son-in-law Brian picked him up from the airport. Interestingly enough he flew over the country everyone is talking about right now.
It was less than a week after he got home that where he works overseas was evacuated. Gordon was on the phone trying to find his stuff. It was all sent to another state’s base here on the mainland. It wasn’t until we got to Hawaii on the 28th. of February and saw the news that I knew why they were evacuated to begin with. Gordon took leave to come home before all hell broke loose. Happy he was here already.
Yes, we were in Hawaii and had just checked into our room and turned on the news. That’s when we saw what was going on. It just seemed so bizarre to be on vacation while all hell is breaking loose. I do write about our vacation in other website pages on our website. The vacation was much needed by both of us! We did have a nice time in spite of everything going on in the world.
You see, our son Brodie married his long-time girlfriend Mackenzie on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii on March 6th.. 🙂
We were in Hawaii almost 2 weeks. We put our dogs into a kennel during that time. I just knew they would be mad at us when we came back for them once we got home. I was right, they were.
You know on videos online you’ll see these dogs running happily into their owner’s arms after having not seen them for awhile? I kind of thought that would happen. Nope! They just looked at us like, ‘You left us.’ Me, ‘I know, but we came back for you.’ Dogs, ‘You left us.’ Me, Yes, but Brodie got married to Mackenzie in Hawaii and we couldn’t take you with us, so we put you in a fun camp for Spring Break. Yeah!!!’
Dogs, ‘You left us.’ And they then proceeded to urine on the living room carpet. So, yeah, there was that. 🙁
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We got back home a few weeks ago. So many things had changed on the island. In a way I hate that we went back. I liked remembering it the way that we left it in 1999. There were some negative changes on the island, as well as some positive. It does look like we made it out from the island just in time. Our last full day there was spent with it raining, and having dumped a good 33 inches of rain overnight on us! Our hotel lost power for 8 hours until it was restored. We weren’t planning on doing very much that last full day because we did a lot of laundry and packing. We also put together 3 boxes to mail to our house of goodies we bought over there. Gordon ran those to the post office while I kept Isabelle in our room. Veronica and Brian had gone to the North Shore to tour the Jurassic Park tourist area. Luckily I had brought coloring books and crayons for Isabelle, along with some Bluey story books. Plus, Veronica had left behind her tablet with some movies for Isabelle. And as always, I had some great local snacks. (Guava, Ube, and Coconut Shortbread Cookies.)
Luckily for us our flight was scheduled to depart in a window between storms the following day. Also, we got out of there and back home without the back log of flight departures due to not funding our TSA Agents. We did really feel for them. Having to work those long and hard hours with no pay. The ones that we encountered were very professional and working so hard.
And let’s not forget the additional amounts of rain that fell on the islands after we left. I do appreciate that we got out just in time. But, we also can’t help but feel for the local’s left to deal with that devastation.
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Since we’ve been back home, and at this writing, I still have 2 suitcases to unpack and put away, I also have the 3 boxes we mailed home to really deal with. Not to mention we still have some Christmas to put away. That’s right. Some Christmas is still up. AND, I am even leaving up other Christmas things in our dining room, just because. I’m doing that because we really don’t know Gordon’s schedule or where he will be working in the near future? This week he attended a school to help with his job, and he is going into the base, but they really don’t have anything permanent for him, or others in his situation right now, so things are kind of iffy. Will he be here? Will he be sent back overseas somewhere? We just don’t know?
We are also down to only 1 car. We weren’t expecting him here now so therefore he needs it. And because things are so iffy, we don’t know if we need to buy another car now, or wait until later on? We do still have the Santa Fe that is dead, and sits in our driveway. We will need to have that one towed away and traded for whatever Jeep Gordon wants to buy either now, or in the future.
Living with so much uncertainty seems to be The American Way right now.
But, right now all we can do is to deal with things as they come. It’s spring here and that means we need to get on the ball and hire our yard guys to deal with the massive amount of leaves in our yard. Pull up all those dead things that died during our many frosts we had back in February. Taxes are due April 15th. While Gordon is here he needs to take care of all those doctor appointments that he needs to catch up, (bone spurs.) And, we just need to get things organized and packed away in the attic here in the house.
I am dying to create so many things from all the inspiration of Hawaii and the Islands. I am also very happy to catch up with my website. I’ve enjoyed finishing up old website pages from the past, along with new one’s I’m creating. We’re eating off paper plates and cups because I really don’t want to deal with dishes right now. I even lost about 6-10 pounds in Hawaii that I am afraid I will put back on just because we are grabbing a lot of take out at this time. 🙁
Oh, well, Doing the best I can,
Julie
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February, 2026
February, 2026 has 4 Mondays, 4 Tuesdays, 4 Wednesdays, 4 Thursdays, 4 Fridays, 4 Saturdays, and 4 Sundays.
Also, my birthday this year will be on Friday the 13th. 🙂
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February 13, 2026
Turning 65
It’s so hard to believe that I am now 65, but yet it also isn’t.
I can remember the lyrics to songs that I sang when I was 6, 7, 8, years old, etc. I was even singing some of them the other day.
So far 65 feels pretty good!
We tried signing me up for Medicare but because Gordon is younger than me, and still working, I don’t quality yet.
I wish that I knew when I was younger what I know today. Because I never would have cared what others thought of me. Ageing comes with this badass shield that protects you from the arrows others throw at you. They just deflect off of it. It’s really nice actually. Sometimes I feel like Wonder Woman with her Bracelets that reflect bullets. I think that I learned who to care about and who not to.
We are currently living in very hard times and it breaks my heart the amount of indifference that some people have about it all.
I can’t change anyone’s feelings and I no longer care to try. I just want to enjoy my life right now and the people that I love the most. I’m not out to save anyone, they are on their own. I’m done trying. I do feel for those vulnerable people who are suffering.
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My Haupia Birthday Cake with Haupia Frosting
The Hawaiian Royal Crown was an old stencil that I bought back in the early 90’s when I was stenciling coconuts to sell at Craft Fair’s.
The older that I get the more proud of myself that I am. I am letting go of what I cannot control and protecting all that I can, while I can. I think it’s what we leave behind that says a lot about who we are. I want to leave behind great children, and a wonderful granddaughter.
I don’t know what 66 will be like, but I do think that 65 will be pretty terrific!
Aloha, and Mahalo Nui Loa,
Julie Barefoot
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January, 2026
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January 31, 2026
Before, On My Way
After, On My Way Home
I realize that I do tend to post photos of myself in the car going somewhere, but if I didn’t there wouldn’t be many photos to post.
I wanted to write something today, January 31st., before February arrived.
I am looking forward to February, there will be a lot going on. All good! I just kind of wanted to get January out of the way.
In the photos above you can definitely see my white hair. It’s not really grey, it’s white. I colored it about a month ago and you would never know it to look at me. My hair grows very fast, annoyingly so. Also, I’m wondering if my white hair just isn’t taking the color anymore? When I have make-up on and my hair styled nicely then the white hair looks good on me. However, when I don’t have make-up on and I have it back in a pony tail, I just look old, sad, and tired. I’m just not ready to look like I belong on some revamped version of The Golden Girls. I also want my face to reflect how I feel. I don’t like looking tired when I’m not. I also don’t like looking sad when I’m not.
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The photos above I took on Thursday. I drove into the Air Force Base to do some much needed shopping. I hadn’t been in a long time. I was low on all my supplies. I spent so much money at the Commissary, but brought home barely anything to eat. 🙂
I wanted to tell you what I observed while on the base:
I tend to only buy gas when I am on the base. I feel much safer buying it there. I always hear about how people who buy their gas around here are always getting their cards scanned by criminals while at these large gas station business’s. So I do tend to fill up when I am on the base.
I then went to the Exchange hoping to find some things for Isabelle, and to just look around and see if there was anything else I wanted to buy? The children’s section, which is normally packed full of a large assortment of so many things, just looked very ‘thin.’ I bought her some crocks to wear here at my house, they cost $25.00. They normally would have cost under $5.00. There were no Bluey clothes, which in the past there were racks of them. I did find a few clothes for her, but nothing along the line of what I am used to finding and buying for her. In the toy and book sections, they were very thin as well. Hardly anything Bluey or really anything at all. Not many toys at all, not many books at all. I was very disappointed.
The women’s clothing section which is usually packed full, as in an entire length of the store area, but was very thinned out. I did come across some black pants that were ‘Made In Jordon.’ I have never seen anything ‘Made In Jordon’ in the Exchange in my life! And I look at those kinds of things. They were priced normally for $97.00 and I got them for the Exchange price of $72.00, but just a month ago those pants would have been around $38.00, in line with how the other items would be priced. This is a big indication of how things are going for the military families who depend on the Exchange and Commissary for affordable prices because most military families live from paycheck to paycheck as it is.
The Commissary items were also priced higher than normal. I can only assume that these are the Trump Tarif’s taking effect.
The funny thing is that most of your white military are republican’s.
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Life In America Now
Hillary Clinton did say about getting our reproductive rights back would take generations. It will. Also, what we are all going through now will take decades to undo and restore. It took 10 years to recover from the George W. Bush Recession. It will take longer to recover from what we are going through now. And there is nothing we can do about it. Oh, we can protest, and we should, but when this disastrous regime is gone, it will take a long time to rebuild, as in decades or even generations.
I don’t know how bad things will get, I just know it will be bad. But in the meantime, I want to enjoy life when I can, eat, drink and be merry when it is important to do so. If I can’t buy anything new for myself for years then I will b o.k. I am only worried about Isabelle as she is a growing little girl that will need things as she grows.
We have a lot to look forward to in the next few months. For all I know this will be the only life I get and I want to spend what time I have left having some joy and not so much sorrow as we see right now in our country. Sometimes we just cannot ignore the sorrow, but we can deal with it our own unique way. I like how the artists out there are dealing with the current tragedy’s. They paint pictures of the fallen, whether on canvas or on sand at the beach. They sing, they write songs, like Bruce Springsteen. Things may be bad but I feel as if I am in good company. No matter what happens next. I really don’t feel alone. In a weird way I kind of feel like someone I don’t even know has my back. 🙂
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My Log Blog Documenting Stalking and Harassment From My Neighbor
I Did An Update
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There are always good things in bad times. You just need to look for them. I think my upbringing of being the new kid in school as often as I was, and enduring the abuse from my parents for decades, has actually helped me in these times to deal with everything that is going on. I learned to survive it all. It wasn’t easy, but I did it!
If I can do it anybody can! But for now, we all do have each other. 🙂
Thank you for being my Cyber Spirit Friends,
Julie
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January 24, 2026
Doing The Best I Can
(Having some Cold, COLD, weather here in Florida.)
I want to blog but in some ways I don’t know what to say, yet I know I want to say something.
We are all going through so many trying times right now. I see the ending, I just don’t know when the ending will be? Or how horrific it will all be in the end? Everything runs it’s course. The more evil, the sooner the ending. Evil will always eventually burn itself out, or will be snuffed out, but not before it has done terrible damage to those that don’t deserve it. And there will be many damaged human beings from all of this.
It’s difficult to keep this blog all positive and happy when I am surrounded by so much unhappiness in my country right now. It also seems a bit insensitive to try and ignore it all. Trust me, I may not write about it, but I cry about it every single day.
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However, it was last February 12, 2025 that Brodie and Mackenzie took me into Sarasota, Florida for the day to be at their ‘Save The Date’ photo shoot. They then treated me to a great lunch at The Columbia Restaurant. It was in the car ride to Sarasota that I told them about a scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, where Harry and Ginny were discussing Bill and Fleur’s upcoming nuptials.
Ginny said something to the effect of, ‘It seems ridiculous to be having a wedding at this time.’ And Harry said something to the effect, ‘If you think about it, it is a perfect time for a wedding.’
I immediately knew what he meant by that. And it reminded me of something gay activist Dan Savage once said about the AIDS Epidemic:
‘We would bury our loved ones in the morning, grieve in the afternoon, and dance at night. It was the dance that got us through.’
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We all need something wonderful to celebrate. That is what Brodie and Mackenzie’s upcoming wedding will mean to a lot of us. I told them about what I write above because I didn’t want them at any time to regret getting married in such harsh times. Sometimes that special celebration during harsh times is exactly what we all need.
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On a Personal Note:
Gordon will be coming home from working overseas in less than 3 weeks. 🙂
I am doing my best to get the house back in order for when he comes home. Not that it is in terrible condition, it’s just that because I keep Isabelle a few days a week, and have 2 dirty dogs in the house, this is more of a daycare/dog kennel than it is an organized house.
I now have many irons in the fire and I am just trying to do the best I can.
I no longer have the energy that I once had when it comes to dealing with people. Sometimes I feel like a failure. That emotion comes from all the years my mother would chastise me for not being perfect. For not having a lot of energy to do what she thought I should be doing. I’ve come to realize that I need to give myself some slack. I did the best that I could given the abuse that I had to endure. I’ve grown tremendously from those early years. I enjoy my own company, pursuing my own interests. Yes, I am looking forward to Gordon coming home. We are a team, and I will be delegating many responsibilities his way. 🙂 Luckily, he doesn’t mind those kinds of things. Also, we have many fun things planned for both of us to enjoy. 🙂
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However, we do live in times where the people that surround us are not that great. I read today about a senior citizen male here in Florida was arrested for a DUI. He insisted that he didn’t drink and drive because he only drank at the stop lights. How do any of us reason with someone who thinks that way? That is the MAGA mind. There is no reasoning with them. All that you can do, is to stay away from them because they are just too dangerous to know. As much as I want to help people at this time, there will come a time when it will be every man for themselves. A person can only do so much.
Sorry to be so dark but we are living in dark times.
Trying to shine a little bit of light!
Julie
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January 8, 2026
Happy Birthday Gordon
Because we have a Hawaiian Wedding to plan, and all that comes with that, I started buying Gordon some Hawaiian shirts for the occasions where he will need to wear them. I didn’t want to send them to him overseas, that was pointless, so I started photographing them in our bedroom, sent them to him one in each email, and he “opened” his Christmas gifts on Christmas Day that way.
But, I did save the Duke shirt for his birthday!
He will be opening this today!
Duke Kahanamoku
Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku
He is THE famous Hawai’i surfer, famous for riding a wave 1 mile on a 16 foot wooden board with no fins. He is legend in Hawaii.
This shirt is THE BOMB for Gordon!
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I also bought him some Asian themed shirts because Hawaii does have a large Asian population and we will be going into China Town, and hopefully eating at Masaharu Morimoto’s restaurant in Waikiki.
The Aloha Shirt on the left looks a bit Christmassy, and the shirt on the right is perfect for everyday.
I have had a lot of fun shopping and planning for our big trip. Hawaii is a Democrat state and we are looking forward to just being around all the diversity and like minded people. There are no billboards in Hawaii, they are outlawed. Not so when traveling to my home state of Georgia. I always know I’m home when I see all The Jesus, Lawyers, and Porn Billboards. Yeah, that’s Christian Georgia for ya. Home, Sweet, Home! 🙂
Aloha for now,
Julie
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The Recipes Start Here
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Kulii’s Teriyaki Spam and Pineapple ‘Ai Pu Ana
(Julie’s Teriyaki Spam and Pineapple Casserole)
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Tiki Tomatoes
This entire recipe was born out of my finding these beauties at the grocery store.
I was actually excited and giddy when placing them into my shopping cart!
Look How Beautiful They Are!
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Ingredients:
Squid Ink Pasta
Tiki Tomatoes
1 Can Teriyaki SPAM, Fried in Chunks
1 Medium Onion, Chopped
1 Green Bell Pepper, Chopped
1 Yellow Bell Pepper, Chopped
1 Can Crushed Pineapple, Drained
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Hawaiian Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce, To Taste
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In a Casserole Dish I placed my chopped Green and Yellow Bell Peppers, as much as I liked.
I then chopped Medium Onion into Chunks, as much as I liked.
I Then Added The Entire Can of Crushed Pineapple, Drained.
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I Then Added My Tomatoes To The Dish, Drizzled Some EVOO Overtop, and Added a Sprinkling of Hawaiian Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper.
Mix Together and Then Place Into a 350F Oven…
You Will Bake For About 20-30 Minutes Depending On Your Oven.
Have a Watchful Eye!
You just want all of the ingredients to have softened. And not be so crunchy.
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Meanwhile….
Teriyaki SPAM and Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce
In a Medium Pan on a Medium Heat, Place Your SPAM that you have Cut into Chunks
Now Place Some of the Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce Into The Pan
Cook on that Medium to Low Heat, Stirring Continuously, Until Caramelized.
While the SPAM is cooking, Boil some Water in a Saucepan and Cook the Pasta Until Al Dente, Then Drain.
Add As Much Pasta As You Like To The SPAM, Stir Together.
Add the Pasta and SPAM to the Casserole, Stir Together, and then Enjoy!
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My Tropical Naan’s
Pineapple Left, Mango Right
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I knew that I wanted to make a Pineapple Pizza with my beautiful Tiki Tomatoes.
I already had the Naan, the Tomatoes, Pomegranate Seeds, and some canned Dole Pineapple Rings.
So, I went shopping trying to find some sort of Pineapple Hummus. Well, I couldn’t find any. However, they did have a Mango Jalapeno Hummus.
BOOM KANANI! That’s it!
So, I bought some Fresh Jalapeno’s and Mango as well.
Ingredients:
Naan
Hummus, I used Plain and Mango/Jalapeno
Tiki Tomatoes
Pineapple Rings, Drained of Liquid
Mango Slices
Jalapeno’s Sliced and Deseeded
Mozzarella Cheese
Pomegranate Seeds
AND,
My Oriental Jezebel Sauce (optional)
Fresh Cilantro (optional)
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I wanted to use the Plain Hummus with the Pineapple Naan
I did Place My Naans Into a 350F Oven for About 5 Minutes
I Then Removed The Naan, and Spread The Hummus onto Each One
Plain Hummus for the Pineapple, and Mango/Jalapeno Hummus for the Mango Naan
Because Pineapple holds so much water, and you don’t want all that water on top of your pizza, I pressed down on the Pineapple Rings with some paper towels to get rid of some of the liquid. It worked, and the pizza tasted better because it wasn’t all soggy on top.
The Best Ingredients 🙂
Once I had placed all of the ingredients onto each Naan, I then drizzled some of my Oriental Jezebel Sauce over top and it was perfect!
They tasted wonderful!
When they came out of the oven I added the Pomegranate Seeds and some Fresh Cilantro.
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If You Would Like The Recipe For My Oriental Jezebel, Click On The Link Below:
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Aloha,
Julie Barefoot
(Aloha means, hello, goodbye, and I love you.)
www.VintageJulieBarefootArchives.com
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 …
This Jezebel is NUTS!
Currently Under Construction
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Also Check Out My:
Click Here For: Julie’s Jezebel Sauce
AND,
AND,
AND,
An Old Florida Jezebel (Sauce)
AND,
One HOT Jezebel for Breakfast (Sauce, That is.)
AND,
Click Here For: More of Julie’s Jezebel Recipes to Enjoy
AND,
AND,
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Isabelle and the Roma’s
UNDER CONSTRUCTION ———————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————– —————————————————————————————————— ———————————————————————– ——————————————————————————– Recipes Start Here ———————————————————————————— ———————————————————————————————————— ——————————————————————————————— Small Batch (Different Cut) …
Summer Italian
Welcome to my Summer Italian I created this fun Italian dinner based on the Palms in my backyard. I also knew that I wanted to showcase this fun and delicious dinner on my Palm Leaf Platter. It just looked so Summer to …
A Tasty Asian Summer
Welcome To A Tasty Asian Summer
I want to make this page about fun, and tasty foods that have an Asian flair to them.
Nothing complicated, but the kinds of foods you would expect to eat in the summer.
I hope to add on to this as time goes by.
Koko Ni Kitekurete Arigato
(Thank you for being here.)
Julie
Our Backyard Shiso Leaves Plant
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Cindy and Panda
by Benson Shum
I was shopping at the base exchange in Tampa and I found this book, and many other great books, in the sale bin. I recognized it’s importance immediately and fished it out. (I’ve discovered that the best children’s books are always overlooked and in the sale bin.)
Cindy and Panda’s Blueberry Pie
This is just a cute book for any toddler about friendship, and cooking. The book even ends with a nice recipe for making a Blueberry Pie.
I placed this here because Isabelle and I just might have a go at making this recipe someday.
The author and illustrator, Benson Shum, has also written books of Little Seed, Anzu the Great Kaiju, Anzu the Great Listener, and Alex’s Good Fortune, and he is the illustrator of Sloth Went by Adam Lehrhaupt. He is also an animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios and has worked on such films as Frozen, Big Hero 6, Moana, Raya and the Last Dragon, and Encanto.
He is originally from Vancouver, British Columbia.
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Wasabi Salt
My Seaweed Dip/Spread, with Shiso Leaves
(Shiso Leaves are the original leaves that were placed in the containers of Sushi that you would buy in restaurants, and stores that would sell sushi products. They eventually replaced the real leaves with the plastic ones. Which is what you are familiar with now. These are those real leaves. We have them growing in our backyard. They are very healthy for you. They aid in digestion. They were also used to wrap around meats and other foods that had gone a bit bad, and they helped to prevent you from getting sick when eating such meats.)
Served with Seaweed and Onion Crackers
(I purchased the crackers at the Asian Supermarket.
They are some of the best crackers I’ve ever eaten!)
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Also, Served With Seaweed and Snap Peas
Over Every Cracker Sprinkle Some Tuxedo Sesame Seeds and Some Wasabi Salt
I made some extra for my daughter and her family. But, I never told her what it was because I figured that she would reject it if I told her it was made out of seaweed. So, when she came over the following day to pick up Isabelle, I asked her if she liked it? She said, “Yes, it was really good. But, what was it?” 🙂
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This also makes a nice little on-the-go snack as you run out the door!
The Seaweed and Onion Crackers are individually wrapped in the gold wrapping, above.
(Recipe Down Below)
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Soft Dried Mango with Chili Salt
(Formed into a Flower, purchased at the Asian Supermarket)
This is a favorite of ours. I buy this a lot. It is not only beautiful, but it is so delicious! It has this excellent Chili Salt on it. I would love to find that salt sold separately. I can think of so many things that it would taste so good on.
I just unravel it, and eat it that way.
As the flower gets smaller, and smaller.
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Taro Bun
This is another favorite of mine from the Asian Supermarket.
I love their ready made treats!
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Recipes Start Here
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My Seaweed Dip/Spread, with Shiso Leaves
I Snipped These From The Backyard, and Washed Them
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Ingredients:
Prepared Seaweed, 1-2 Containers, Drained, Squeezed of Liquid, and Chopped
(You can buy this at any grocery store or Asian Supermarket, already prepared for you.)
1 Medium Onion, Chopped
3/4 Cup Stick Carrots, Chopped
3, 8 oz. Blocks Cream Cheese, Softened
2 T. Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce ( or less if you desire)
1 – 2 T. Toasted Sesame Oil
Tuxedo Sesame Seeds (Black and White) As a Garnish
Wasabi Salt To Taste
Garnish with Shiso Leaves, or any Edible Leaf, if possible.
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This is the tasty Seaweed that I purchased from our Sushi guys at the Commissary on base.
It is actually quite tasty! For those that are a bit put off by it, at least try it. You just might find that you will like it.
The first thing that I did was to soften all of my Cream Cheese, and then place it into a mixing bowl.
I chopped up a medium sized Onion….
…and then chopped some Carrot Sticks, even smaller.
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The Seaweed
I drained the Seaweed into a small colander….
then I squeezed it dry into some paper towels.
The then placed it onto a cutting board and chopped it finely.
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In the Meantime….
My Cream Cheese had softened, I had added the Onion, Carrots, and the Seaweed…
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With Everything Mixed Together, It’s Time To Add My Flavors
Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce and Toasted Sesame Oil
I added as much as I wanted to. This is a ‘per-your-personal-tastes’, by the way.
I Then Molded Everything Into 2 Balls.
(One for me, and one to give away.)
It was at this point that I did refrigerate the Cheese Balls for at least a few hours.
Allowing the flavors to meld together. You can also do this the night before.
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Time To Plate the Cheese Ball
The container that you see above that is housing my cheeseball, is actually two small bowls that I hot glued together.
I loved the bowls when I saw them at the Asian Supermarket. I would have loved them to have a larger bowl in that set, they didn’t, so I improvised.
I did add my Shiso Leaves around the Cheeseball, and sprinkled some Tuxedo Sesame Seeds on top.
Adding a Few Spring Onions, and Some Snap Peas, Along with my Seaweed and Onion Crackers.
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Whenever I think of the Asian cultures, I always think of birds.
It was while I was making the dip/spread above, that this beauty paid a visit to the backyard.
It even ate a few lizards before flying off.
I love it when I get backyard visitors. Just leave the lizards alone.
They live here, you don’t!
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Julie
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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,
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Julie’s Lunchbox Take Out
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 …
Fun Izzy Foods
“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 …
Strawberry’s and All Things PINK!
Welcome to Strawberry’s and All Things PINK!
Dried Hibiscus Flowers
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Pink Fudge with Dried Hibiscus Flowers
The Hibiscus Flowers are Sweet and Tangy, Almost like Gummy’s
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I have been eating lots of Strawberry’s this year, and loving all things PINK so I thought I would start a website page depicting those very things. Perhaps this is my hangover from the Barbie movie that came out a few years ago? I still haven’t seen it at this writing, May, 2025. I’m sure I’ll get to it eventually, but you don’t have to love Barbie to appreciate all things PINK!
Each season seems to have it’s favorite food colors. Pink seems to represent Spring and Summer to me.
Pink also tends to taste good! I hope you will think so too. 🙂
Welcome to the Pink Kitchen,
Julie
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Simple Pink Fudge Topped with the Hibiscus Flowers
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Hibiscus Flower Impressions
(Recipe Down Below)
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My Pink Pajama Cocktail
Garnished with Strawberry’s and Enjoyed with some Dried Hibiscus Flowers
(Recipe Down Below)
I LOVE My Pink Pajamas!
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Strawberry, Jalapeno and Tomato Salsa
Eaten and Enjoyed with a Cream Cheese and Jalapeno Salt Spread onto a Toasted Baguette
(Recipe Down Below)
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Recipes Start Here
My craft foam flowers, some special things, along with my vintage Hawaiian Hibiscus plate.
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Pink Fudge with Dried Hibiscus Flowers
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I found these Dried Pink Hibiscus Flowers at Sprouts and knew that I had to try them.
Turns out they are quite good. Almost tastes like a Gummy.
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It was last Christmas, 2024, that I made some really great and easy Fudge.
I came across the recipe in one of my cookbooks. It was so easy! Delicious too!
I grew up in the south and when we would go to the mountains we would always come across these old timey fudge shops. Whether we were in Dahlonega, Georgia, Cherokee, North Carolina, or Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We always bought the sugar-free Peanut Butter Fudge. We would keep in in our rooms in our lodge and snack on it most every night. It was a treat! That is how I view sweets. They are treats.
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Ready to Make My Pink Fudge
Ingredients:
4 Cups White Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/3 Cup La Lechera Dulce de Leche Milk Based Caramel
(I wanted to add this to this recipe. If you can’t find any then just use 1 and 1/3 Cup Sweetened Condensed Milk)
2 t. Vanilla Extract
1/2 t. Salt
Drops of Pink Food Coloring
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All of our Ingredients
You will need a casserole dish. I will be doubling the recipe and placing it into this larger casserole dish.
You will need to place a piece of Parchment Paper down into the bottom of the casserole dish.
I used a pen to draw the dimensions and then cut with some scissors. You can see in the photo above that it is in place and ready.
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La Cechera, Dulce de Leche Milk Based Caramel
This is my addition to the recipe. I wanted to add a Caramel flavor to my Fudge.
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Into a Microwave safe dish you want to place the White Chocolate Chips and the Sweetened Condensed Milk, and the Dulce de Leche Caramel.
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Now place into the Microwave for 1 minute, 30 seconds at 70 percent power. (That is important.)
When done remove and stir well.
Now quickly stir in the Vanilla and Salt, along with a few drops of Pink Food Coloring.
Because I doubled the recipe, you can see the first batch in the very top of the photo above, while I repeat the process with this new batch in these photos.
Microwaving the Second Batch
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Both Batches of Fudge Have Been Placed Into This Large Casserole Dish to Cool
Ready To Add My Hibiscus Flowers
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The Fudge Sets Very Quickly
If you want to embed the Hibiscus Flowers into the Fudge you must do so fast.
Beautiful and Delicious!
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My Pink Pajama Cocktail
Garnished with Strawberry’s and Enjoyed with some Dried Hibiscus Flowers
Fresh, Clean Strawberry’s
Ingredients:
1 lb. Frozen Strawberry’s
8 Cups Pink Lemonade
2 Cups Vodka
4-5 Cups Lemon-Lime Soda
Fresh Strawberry’s as a Garnish
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Pretty Glasses, Strawberry’s and Hibiscus Flowers
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Ingredients Ready for the Blender
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The Frozen Strawberry’s
Adding The Frozen Strawberry’s to the Blender
I placed the Frozen Strawberry’s into the Blender, then added the Pink Lemonade, followed by the Vodka, and the Lemon-Lime Soda.
I did slit the Fresh Strawberry’s down the middle to place on each cocktail glass.
Time to Turn on the Blander Until Mixed
Blending Away…..
Pour Into Prepared Glasses
My Pink Pajama Cocktails
My Love of Pajamas
When I am around the house I tend to wear Pajamas even during a week day afternoon, and especially a weekend when I am staying home and not leaving the house. I have never been one to wear “sweats.” To me sweats are sloppy, unattractive and cumbersome. I like something that looks nice, fits my personality, feels comfortable, and looks pretty. I very happily incorporate Pajamas into my daily life whenever I can.
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Strawberry, Jalapeno and Tomato Salsa
Eaten and Enjoyed with a Cream Cheese and Jalapeno Salt Spread onto a Toasted Baguette
Strawberry’s, Grape Tomatoes, Red Onion, Lime Zest and Juice, Jalapeno’s, and Fresh Cilantro
Amounts are up to you!
You first want to wash everything…
On a cutting board you want to start chopping your Strawberry’s into diced sized bites.
Set aside.
As I was slicing the top off of each Strawberry I noticed that they looked like pretty flowers.
I decided to save a few to use as a garnish.
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Now chop the Grape Tomatoes, leaving behind a lot of the Juice and Seeds.
See photo top right. Set them aside.
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Chop the Red Onion into a small dice.
I didn’t use the entire Onion. I did weigh and gage how much I wanted to add to finished mixture.
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Time to chop the Jalapeno’s into a small dice as well. I know that I have a hard time with Jalapeno’s. The fumes really bother me, and whatever I touch on my body after touching the peppers, will make that area hot and uncomfortable. Therefore, it’s a good idea to wear cooking gloves. They help a lot!
Everything is Beautiful and Nicely Chopped
I LOVE all the Colors!
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Time To Combine Everything
You can see in the above photo how the tops of the Strawberry’s look like Flowers…
which is why I wanted to keep some of them as a Garnish.
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Place your chopped items into a medium sized bowl.
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Zest your Limes into the Salsa, then add the Lime Juice. Don’t make it too soggy.
You don’t have to use the Juice of both Limes if you don’t want to.
Mix Together…
Add a Pinch or Two of the Jalapeno Sea Salt
(This stuff is sooooo good! So glad I found it online!)
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Now For The Bread and Cheese
I wanted to have a few options to see which one would be best, the Italian Toasts or the Baguette.
Turns out they were both great and I used both of them.
In one bowl I placed some softened Cream Cheese, and in the other I placed Crumbled Goat Cheese.
I then sprinkled a pinch or two of the Jalapeno Sea Salt. That was all that was needed! So delicious on it’s own.
Set Those Aside
Now It’s Time To Slice and Toast the Baguette
Place onto a Baking Sheet and put into the Oven on Broil. You just want to brown your bread slices.
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This is my new FAVORITE Thing!
Spread some Cream Cheese onto a Toasted Baguette, and then sprinkle some Jalapeno Sea Salt over top.
God is it good!
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With the sliced Baguette toasted, time to add the Crumbled Goat Cheese overtop, sprinkled with some Jalapeno Sea Salt.
Place back into the Oven, 300F just for a few minutes to melt the Cheese a bit.
Ready for the Salsa!
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I think my little Strawberry “Flowers” look nice. 🙂
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I hope your day is filled with Strawberry’s.
Have a very PINK Day!
Julie
Julie Barefoot In The Backyard
(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, …
Here’s a CLUE for Nancy Drew
“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 …
My Log/Blog Documenting Stalking and Harassment From My Neighbor
(Note Update April 10, 2025: If this harassment continues, or more damage is done to our property, then I will reveal their names here, and getting the police involved.)
“The pen is mightier than the sword.”
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
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Write it all down, it’s what they fear the most.
Julie Lancaster-Whann
Where Do I Even Begin?
2025
For those of you that know me and have read me, then you know of my account of my Cyber-Stalker of 30 years, P. I did start a webpage of his stalking back in 2015 on this website. Wow, 10 years ago I started writing about him. I’ve also mentioned throughout my personal blogs the stalking that I have had to put up with and endure. Well, he’s still in the picture. Gordon and I were able to bring in (a 3-letter agency) to look into him. I hadn’t really admitted much to any of that until now. This has been about a year and a half ago that we did that. I know these things take time, but with all that’s going on right now with that ( 3-letter agency), I’m not so sure if we are a priority anymore.
I also started a website about him that I have not worked on yet at all. I simply sent a few photos to my guys in India and had them to create something for me. They did, and I paid quite a bit of money for it. I hadn’t started working on it yet for a few reasons. First of all, I would much rather be doing other things than talking about P. And number two, I didn’t want to hinder any investigation into him.
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This is the Original Webpage Where I Introduce you to P.:
What It’s Like To Be Cyber-Stalked
Julie Lancaster-Whann
If you do check out this webpage I started on him, you will most likely see some sabotage. That is from P. When I had web hosting companies in America to host and look after my site, P. had the run of it. It wasn’t until I contacted a company in the U.K., and they recommended theses guys in India, did I finally have a more secure website.
Sad isn’t it? I had to go outside my own country for help from my American Cyber-Stalker.
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One thing that I have learned throughout my life when I was being abused by anyone is to start a log. Write down everything that that person does to you. Keep a diary of it. That’s why I started the Cyber-Stalker blog page that I write about above. It is also why I am starting this webpage about the abuse that I am having to endure from my neighbors next door to me.
I will work on this as I feel like it. Oh trust me, they aren’t going anywhere. Their kind never does.
I know their type very well. Arrogant, self-righteous, white, no respect for people or their property, or opinions that differ from their own. They only value ‘Freedom of Speech’ when it is their own. They easily fall in line with the herd. A Shepherd to herd them this way, and then herd then that way. I’ll get into more of that later on.
You know, no where in the world do they have people like a certain segment of our population. Nowhere!
The world does have it’s poor and ignorant. But nowhere does any country have these kinds of people that think the way they do. They are definitely home grown.
There is something very toxic in our country’s environment that creates these people. I know what it is, but I don’t dare say it. I’ve touched on it though. I even tried warning our former Canadian friends about it, who seemed to adore the republican friends they knew in Kentucky. And I will speak of it in the future. But talking about it now is only going to get me clubbed over the head by a caveman. I also warned our Canadian friends that don’t be surprised if America comes after Canada someday. If you have something they want, they will come and get it. Funny, but she thought I was being ridiculous. Wonder how she feels now? I told her these things over a decade ago.
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My Camera on My Tripod Took These Photos
(The Thing Is, My Neighbors Are Probably Watching Me Right Now)
I wanted to take some photos for this blog, and seeing as how I am the only one here, I had my camera on my tripod to do it. My husband Gordon is working overseas. Oh, we talk most everyday. He is in a hazard zone overseas. He is quite valuable in his job, and we are benefiting from that. We were thinking about him coming home permanently at the end of this year, but what with all that is going on in our country, it might be wise for him to stay over there for the next few years. He does come home twice a year to see us all though. He has even suggested that I come over there to live out in town near where he is stationed. If I were to do that, I would only see him on the weekends from my very exotic location. My answer: I’m not leaving Isabelle. Done!
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What has kept me going all these years is that I want to outlive P. I want to know what life is like without him in it. That is what has kept me going. Will I ever know that? I don’t know? But now, I have a new stalker. I never saw this coming at all. I am an Empath, yet I never once sensed this neighbor’s hatred of me at all. Which means that he is either a Psychopath or a Sociopath, or a Narcissist.
I have probably only spoken 20 words to him from the time they moved in years ago. He is probably in his early 40’s. He is married and they have 2 children. They have a very nice home. Nice automobiles. Basketball goal in their driveway, pool in their backyard. On the surface all looks great. I have noticed that all their cars are there all the time. I’m wondering if he is still employed or if he is working from home, or he’s been fired? Don’t know?
I knew they were Republican’s, but I didn’t have any ill will towards them, until now.
I’ll get to that.
Where do I begin to document the Harassment and Abuse?
Once again, I’ll get to that in a little bit.
I want you to understand something. Just to give you an example, why have I had a Cyber-Stalker for 30 years now? Why?
P. was Gordon’s Best Friend From Childhood
P. started out in life with parents that had money and means. They put him in Private School growing up. Once he graduated, he was able to go on to college, and graduate. I’m pretty sure his parents paid for that as well.
I can even remember something about P. working as some DJ for a radio station while he was in college, or afterwards. I mean, how cool is that? He would send us these tapes of Chicago singing love songs. I loved it! I would play them and listen to them in my headphones when I would go for my walks when we lived in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. It was the best of both worlds. Great music while I would go on my walks, with views of Diamond Head in the background while I walked down the beach.
It wasn’t until the early 90’s that P. started stalking me. I really don’t want to go into that now. I do have it documented in other areas. But what I wanted you to understand is the amount of time and energy that goes into stalking anyone.
P. has stalked me for 30 years and counting. 30 years!
P. gave up having a life to stalk me. He gave up dating, falling in love, getting married, having children….
To him I was more important than all of that. He has spent his life glued to a computer screen stalking me.
P. started out with Microsoft. He was on the cutting edge of technology. In the midst of history being made. He could have snagged a lovely intelligent woman to love and have children with. He could have had a lovely home and even a vacation home, or two. He could have had children and perhaps by now, grand-children. But NO! He gave up all of that, he sacrificed his youth to stalk ME!
Believe me when I tell you, I AM NOT WORTH THAT!
He gave up his youth to stare at a computer screen stalking me!
That is the mind of an obsessed person.
Obsession is not love, it is obsession. Love is healthy, love is beautiful.
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All My Flowers
Looks Like I’m In Mourning
Although I am not in mourning, I am angry. Angry because I live in a neighborhood where there are pathetic people that feel the need to do harm to me. Harm to someone that does nothing to them. I don’t bother them. I never see them. Why is my neighbor so obsessed with me? Well, I do have my theories. But first you need to understand Obsession.
Obsession isn’t love. But I dominate his thoughts each and every day. Why would any woman want her husband or boyfriend to be obsessed with anyone? Yet alone, another woman?
Does he love me? Hate me? The emotions are really the same. Love and Hate are very strong emotions to have towards anyone. but whether they be love or hate, he is still obsessed with me. He gets up every morning at 4:00 a.m. and looks to see if my bathroom light is on. If it is, he throws a ball at my house, around the bathroom windows where I am. He does this to alarm me. To scare me. To upset me.
If I get up at 4:30 a.m., he’s still there. Here comes the ball being hurled at my bathroom window to alarm me, scare me, etc.
I want you to understand what this means:
He is going to the trouble of setting his alarm clock for 4:00 a.m., probably waking up his wife in the process, while he leaves his bed, to go outside and throw a ball against the side of my house, around my bathroom, where I am. And, perhaps even peeking in.
Sometimes I get up at 4:30 a.m., which means that he is laying in wait for me at that time. Which I will hear the loud thump against the wall of our house while I am in the toilet room.
This is STALKING!
The fact that he does this to me means that his wife is o.k. with it.
Otherwise, I would think she would intervene and try and stop him from harassing me.
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This is Vandalism, This is Property Damage
I Noticed This September 6, 2024:
The Damage Our Neighbor Has Done to Our Meters
I don’t come over to this side of our house that often. But one day I did and I was really alarmed to see this. This is obviously damage done through someone tampering with it. So, prior to September 6, when I discovered it, how long has it been this way?
Can a Ball Do This Damage? Or Did he use Something Else to do This?
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I Used Some String To Tie Them Back Together
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The Bathroom Window Facing Our Street
This is not the bathroom window he throws the ball at, but this window faces the street from our bathroom. You can see the Plantation Shutters…
I placed a tablecloth over it because I always felt like there was someone peeking in at me early in the mornings through those slats. Throughout the night and morning hours I have them closed but if you were to stand right outside you could probably see through the slats into the bathroom.
Well, it turns out I was right, there WAS someone out there!
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Saturday Afternoon, Early February
I had gone shopping on this day. I did hear the THUMP of the ball against the house early that morning. I then climbed up on our bed and looked out the window between our houses and saw that orange and blue ball.
I’m taking the photo from our bedroom window of the space between our houses.
That is where he lies in wait for me in the mornings.
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I wish that I had taken a photo of the ball when it was between our two houses.
When I got back from shopping I was telling Gordon about it while I was talking to him on the phone and I went over to that side of the house, picked up the ball, and threw it toward their front yard. I’m not a great thrower, but here is where I threw it:
If you look closely you can see the orange and blue ball.
See the Ball Now?
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So, Why Does My Neighbor Hate Me So Much?
Well, I can only guess?
When I first realized what he was doing to me, I wondered if it was because I got up so early and perhaps my lights were shining into their bedroom disturbing them? Or perhaps it was the fact that when Veronica or Brian would drop off Isabelle early in the morning that my dogs would bark, perhaps waking them up? But then I quickly erased that because he is setting his alarm clock to get up early to harass me. He isn’t harassing me in response to anything I am doing to him, he is harassing me for the sheer sake of it. Not in response to anything.
So, If It’s Not My Lights, And it’s Not My Dogs, Then It Must Be…
MY POLITICS!
Although I have never talked politics with anyone in my neighborhood, I do wonder if perhaps my politics has been passed around the neighborhood as news? It was back in 2008 when I placed my Obama yard sign on our lawn that the sabotage from my neighborhood began! The day after I placed that sign in our yard, every neighbor around us suddenly set out their McCain/Palin signs. Interesting. The day I placed our sign in our front yard I was driving out of the neighborhood to do some shopping when I noticed Judy, who used to live across the street, walking on the sidewalk with her dog. Instead of the nice happy smile and wave that I usually got, I just got this LOOK. OH, I know that look very well! It’s one that a hater gives you for not being like them. I’m pretty sure Judy is the one that organized everyone placing McCain/Palin signs in their yards in their attempt to drown us out.
So Where Am I Going With This?
Judy and Michael sold their house, I believe in 2011 to a family that went to their church, our current neighbors across the street from us. I like them. I think they are nice neighborhood family. But, I’m pretty sure the gossip got around that we were the “Evil Libruls” of the neighborhood. Which the neighbors across the street might have mentioned to their fellow republican’s that live next door to us in the neighborhood. Thus, making me a big target for the neighbor’s hate. I’m not seen as a 64 year old woman that minds her own business, that keeps her granddaughter a few days a week, respects the neighbors privacy in the neighborhood, who doesn’t play loud music, who doesn’t have tons of people over thus blocking the street causing headaches, Oh NO! I’m only seen as the “Evil Librul.” (Even though they are the ones that wear the SIGN on their foreheads, if you know what I mean?) Just sayin.’
The thing is that republican’s are very organized. Oh, believe me when I say that my next door neighbors truly lack the intellectual curiosity to look me up and read my website or my social media accounts on their own. Oh no, they are on some list that is distributed by their leaders telling them who in their neighborhood is an “Evil Librul,” and who to hate and harass . That makes more sense to me.
We do still have the Rule of Law in our country. That hasn’t yet been eliminated. And, I am a Paralegal by profession. We’ll leave it there for now. I’ll update as things happen. It’s important to always document abuse. You know, future lawsuits…. 🙂
Julie
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New Entries Will Be Listed Here
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February, 2025
I would just like to add here that I am hearing the thump of the ball against the side of our house early in the morning many times this February 2025 month.
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March 11, 2025
I had a big day today. Just lots of shopping in Tampa at the Air Force Base. I had left the house around 11:00 a.m. this morning, exiting my street through the back way so that I didn’t have to drive in front of my neighbor’s house. I am trying to do my best to not let him know when I come and go. Anyway, at the end of the day when I was returning home at around 5:30 p.m., I debated driving in the back way where I wouldn’t have to drive in front of his house, but I then decided not to do that. I had lots of food in the car and I needed to get home as quickly as possible, and not go out of my way to come in the back way just to try and avoid him. As it was, it took me an hour and a half to get home due to all the traffic.
Well, he and his wife were outside in their front yard. He was blowing leaves from the street with his blower. She was sitting in a chair out front. She did turn her head to look at me as I drove by. She had no reaction. He did use his left arm that was laying by his side to use his hand to ‘wave at me.’ It was a very sheepish wave. He had his head down and was reluctantly acknowledging me. I could see his embarrassment. I had no reaction. I just looked at them, and then pulled into my driveway and started to unload my car that was full of shopping.
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Bully’s
Joe Kee… from Sevierville, Tennessee taught me the psychology of Bully’s many years ago when I moved from Roanoke, Virginia to Sevierville, Tennessee in the 70’s. I have even written about him in my past blog posts. Joe Kee… sat next to me in homeroom for 3 years from 9th. – 11th. grade at Sevier County High School. Joe was a bully. But interestingly enough, whenever his entourage wasn’t around, he was quite nice to me. I know that I would brace myself for the usual insults that I would receive most every morning from him. But on those days where his friends weren’t around, nothing. He taught me that bully’s are truly cowards. Joe was nothing without his backup. Just like my neighbor next door. He is nothing without the cover of darkness. I stared him down. I’m not afraid of a chickenshit. And that chickenshit, waved at me when I drove by. Why? Because he was exposed out in the sunlight where he couldn’t hide. I’ve never seen such a sheepish wave in my life. He’s scared of me. Good! 🙂
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March 22, 2025
Buying Fence Material to Extend our Fence
Gordon came home from abroad and was here for a few weeks. But months prior, we had decided that we wanted to extend our fence to the end of our house so as to protect me from our hot heated neighbor. We were coming up with ways to protect me and our property from him. By extending our fence, that would prevent him from throwing things against our house. It would also prevent him from tampering with our property.
Gordon created a nice power point of how we wanted to extend our fence, and sent it along with the photographic evidence of the damage of our outside boxes, and a document of the abuse I was having to endure from our neighbors, to our HOA, (Home Owner’s Association.) They then granted us the permission we needed to extend our fence.
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This is one of the presentations Gordon created for our HOA.
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Gordon Buying The Materials For Our Fence
Gordon had put up our existing fence on our property so this was no big deal for him to do the extension.
Gordon purchased our fence material from Home Depot and rented a truck from them as well in order to get the materials here to our home.
The Truck, and our Fence Material
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Bringing Everything Around To Our Backyard
(I wanted to add that Gordon can only come home for a certain amount of time each year from his working overseas. It was quite sad that he had to spend a part of our time together extending our fence, because of our hot-headed neighbor’s abuse towards me.)
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Erecting Our Fence Extension
Gordon, along with our son-in-law Brian put up the fence extension. We waited until Brian had a day off. I kept Isabelle inside, while the guys erected the fence outside. They did it all in one day! And it is professional as hell! As always!
This is the Space Between our House and our Neighbor’s
Most of the Property is Ours
Gordon and Brian Erecting the Fence
(With Isabelle visiting her Daddy.) 🙂
Above left, you can see that large bush that is our neighbor’s. With our fence up, they only have about 1 foot of space between that bush and our fence. 🙂
Coming Together Nicely!
Me, Entering This Extra Privacy Space We Never Had Before
(I could sunbathe out here!) 🙂
The fence extension is up. Gates locked. Area contained.
I will be posting a photo of the finished results soon.
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April 3, 2025
What This Abuse From Our Neighbor Has Done To Me
Abuse always has a way of affecting us negatively. There are many kinds of abuse. I am only here to dictate what this abuse has done to me, and how it has affected me.
I get up very early in the morning on those days that I keep my Granddaughter Isabelle. On the days my daughter drops her off, I get up at 4:00 a.m.. On the days my son-in-law drops her off, I get up at 4:30 a.m..
Because of the abuse that I was having to endure from my neighbor I had moved most of my toiletries into our guest bathroom in the middle of the house so that I didn’t have to have that ball thrown at me when I was in mine and Gordon’s bathroom. Also, I just didn’t feel safe and secure using our bathroom. I didn’t feel safe in my own home. The guest bathroom offered me more of a private sanctuary than I had using our own bathroom. But, the thing is, I would shower at 4:00 or 4:30 a.m., with the lights off in the bathroom. I didn’t feel comfortable turning the lights on and letting him know that I was in there. So, I would get up, turn on the bathroom lights in our bathroom, and then shower in the guest bathroom with the lights off, hoping that he would then turn his attention towards the main bathroom, so that I could shower in peace in the guest bathroom.
Seems like a lot of trouble to go through in your own home just to have some peace. Yet, that is my story.
Showering in another bathroom, in the dark… Wow. You would think you should be safe from abuse in your own home, wouldn’t you?
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I have more to tell you but it will have to wait.
Julie
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April 4, 2025
Our New Fence
For Every Action, There Is A Reaction
Here is a photo of our extended fence. I took the photo today. The fence is there to protect me and our house from anything our neighbor may decide to do. The gates are locked. If he does decide to throw something at the house, it just might get trapped inside the fence. He would then have to hop over it to retrieve the item.
That is when……
he Would Be Recorded on Camera… and the police would be called in. 🙂
That’s Right! We have updated our security on our property.
(I should do something with that area. Perhaps turn it into some sort of private garden, or a Julie Sanctuary.)
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His Action, Our Reaction
It was a few years ago when I was outside in our backyard, and our neighbors were outside in theirs, when I heard her say to her husband, ‘You know what C_____, sometimes you can be a real bastard.’
See, she knows who she is married to.
You know, we never would have even thought to extend our fence, or even go to the trouble of installing some high tech security system. This is our Reaction, to his Actions.
When you look at the space between our homes most of it is ours. Our property. Now all they have to look at is our fence on that side of their house. It’s not our fault. It’s his. He is actually his own worst enemy. Do they know that we extended our fence because of what he was doing to me? I don’t know if they are capable of realizing that? And if they are, does he regret what all he did to me? Probably not. His kind only regrets getting caught. They never regret what they do.
Feeling Better,
Julie
p.s. Is this now over? That depends on our neighbors. But, things are more secure here than they were. 🙂
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(Update: October, 2025)
The Money We Have Spent To Protect Us and Our Property
(Always save your receipts. You not only document the abuse, but you also document the cost you are spending to protect yourself from the abuser/s.)
I decided not to publicly post all of the costs we have spent so far. You have to have some surprises in store. 🙂
I will say that you not only document the costs of things spent, you also document the milage on your car used in buying the materials you need. Also include ‘Wear and Tear’ of the vehicle. And don’t forget to include gas money. Also, your time is worth something. An example, back in March, 2025 Gordon had to take time out from his vacation here to erect that fence, etc.
And lastly, always include your ‘Pain and Suffering.’
(I’ve recently come to find out that there were other neighbors that knew what was happening to me. They even supported it. I’ll write more about them below.)
KEEP THIS INFORMATION FOR YEARS TO COME!
Keep it in a very safe place.
The abuse may end for awhile, but when you are dealing with a Hot-Headed Narcissist, they don’t change. They always come back at some point. Remember that.
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April 5, 2025
Update on P. G. My Cyber-Stalker
Recently, Gordon and I came across a person who used to work for Microsoft. We then mentioned our cyber-stalker who started out with Microsoft and all that he has done to us since. This person then asked us what his name was? We then told this person. This person then looked downward in surprise, but then looked up at us and said, ‘I know him.’
This person left Microsoft in 2015, but said P. still worked there. We figured as much. When we would try and look P. up online we were always given bogus info on him. Places of employment that he never worked at. P. has been erasing himself from the web for years now. But, he can’t erase former co-workers. This former co-worker now knows all that P. has done to us. This person also added that if P. is doing all that to us, he is most likely doing it to other people as well, and even stealing money.
I’ll leave it all right there.
Julie
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April 6, 2025
Adding A Little More Privacy
Gordon Putting Up More Bamboo Blinds on our Lanai
This side of our lanai is next to our neighbors and I wanted just a bit more security and privacy so Gordon hung these up along with one section. I had him do both sides of this section to make it a bit more private. We already had the blinds in our garage so the only cost here were on the hardware and some line to secure them in place.
In these photos everything is still covered up from winter. Now it’s all been cleaned and spruced up for Spring. I also like that I have a bit more privacy.
One More Privacy Project Coming….
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April 11, 2025
Still Not Comfortable Using My Own Bathroom
Even though we have done things to try and protect me from my neighbors I still don’t feel comfortable using my own master bathroom. This is what abuse does to you. It changes you. It limits you. It prohibits you from being the person you should be. And sometimes it is very hard to overcome. I’m sure that I will eventually get back into my own master bathroom. But, until then, I am using the guest bathroom because it offers me more safety and security and peace of mind.
Julie
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May 29, 2025
An Update Of My Nasty Neighbors
Through my cameras I can see my neighborhood, and my neighbors. I’m really not one to spy. Honestly! I never really cared about those kinds of things. Those were the kinds of things my friends cared about. ‘Hey Julie, come look at this!’ My friends always thought I was weird because I wasn’t as nosy as they were.
At first it was kind of fun and interesting to see my neighbors on the camera to come and go, walking their dogs in front of our house, etc. I love seeing when a package arrives! I have this big T.V. monitor that Gordon bought me so that I could keep track of everything. It is to the left of me. He is worried about me and wanted me to have some protection while he is away. Our own home security system. Sometimes it can be distracting with lots of activity that will catch my attention while I am online and cause me to look at the monitor. Most of the time it’s pretty boring. People setting out their trash cans, driving in and out of their driveways, etc. . I’ve even caught my neighbors across the street from me placing their trash bags into my can most every week under the cover of darkness because their can is full. I find that funny. If I were a man I doubt they would. But, seeing as how I am a woman living alone they take advantage of that.
However, it’s whenever I see my next door neighbors on the monitor, you know, the ones that have harassed me for so long, to have the audacity to walk by my house with their Labrador, that it just makes me sick to my stomach. How dare they walk by my house as if they haven’t a care in the world after all that they have done to me? That is the kind of people that they are. The self-righteousness, the white privilege, the republicanism. (It’s quite glaring actually.)
I still don’t use my bedroom and bathroom because of their harassment. While Gordon is gone I sleep on the couch and use the guest bathroom. They have literally chased me from an entire wing of our house. I need my sleep. I need my peace. I am my Grand-Daughter’s main caregiver. She needs a rested Tutu. She needs a Tutu that is at peace in order to care for her. I do my best. But, I do long for the day my next door neighbors move away.
Julie
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October, 2025
Gordon Home For A Few Weeks
Installing More Blinds
We ordered these custom blinds earlier in the year when Gordon was here, but they didn’t arrive in time before he left to go back overseas.
So he is just now able to install them.
I wanted more privacy and security here because I do want to spend more time outside, especially now that our granddaughter is getting older, and the weather is becoming more cool, but I really don’t want to see their house, they make me very uncomfortable. But now, I feel better.
I’d Like To Fix This Area Up Nicely, Make It A Bit Cozy
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Installing More Outside Cameras
Gordon, Ready to Crawl Through The Attic To Install The Cameras
We thought it would be a good idea to install more cameras. Gordon and our son-in-law Brian recently installed them. Our system has the capacity to house even more than we have so far. Not just because of our neighbors, but because of what is to come in our country. With our current political climate more people are loosing their jobs and being made to be poor. Programs that used to assist them are being terminated. They will be hungry. Their children will be hungry. No parent wants to see their children starve. Crime will go up. Why do you think so many of our current administrations cabinet have all moved onto military bases? They know what’s coming. And, they will be protected, but it will be up to us to protect ourselves. I’ll leave it there for now.
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As For Our Hot-Headed Narcissist Neighbor, and His Codependent Supply Spouse….
..at Casa Del Labrador
There is no cure for a hot-headed narcissist, so therefore he will always be a hot-headed narcissist. Men like him tend to go through life with run-in’s with the law. And, it is usually ‘Life or the Law’ that brings them down in the end. He will always need his ‘supply’ to support him and enable him. Yet, Narcissists don’t seek validation from them. (He sought it from other neighbors, I’ll get to them soon.)
Let Me Tell You What We Could Have Done, And Still Can, If Necessary
We could have called in the Police, Pressed Charges, taken out a Restraining Order against him, and he would have had to move out of his own house while we fight this out in court.
It is still an option. We have what we need to do so. However, I don’t believe in separating families. Although if this continues I think I can get used to the idea pretty quickly.
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As for the Other Neighbors in our Hood that knew what the Narcissist was doing…
(Be Our Guest)
Supporting him, enabling him, encouraging him, and even having a good laugh at my expense, well,
I’m really not surprised that this particular family was involved, both families are from the same kind of ilk, but it is disappointing. I mean, at some point you either grow up, or you don’t.
Who thinks it’s funny to harass and abuse an old woman who most of the time throughout the year is alone, and who has never done anything to either family? Only warped minds do.
No one I would ever want to know.
The narcissist next door has showed me exactly what kind of person he is. But, he didn’t just show me, he showed the other neighbors that knew what he was doing, and they are o.k. with it. One particular trait they both have in common is that they are sneaky people. You can’t trust sneaky people. They are sneaky for a reason.
When you align yourself with someone that can do terrible things to people you don’t like, they can also do terrible things to you. And that is exactly where we are right now in our own country. Again, I’ll just leave it there.
I guess the BALL is in the Narcissist’s Court right now. We’ll see what he does with it?
Julie
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January 30, 2026
Intimidation Tactics
You know, I wasn’t going to write anymore on any of this, unless it turned out to be really relevant, (I do have things documented elsewhere in more detail just in case), but I do believe that I should be writing about this and getting this all down on “paper,” so to speak for my readers.
Intimidation Tactics are a Form of Abuse
I not only do this for me and my records, I also do this for you so that you will understand and I hope that this will help my reader’s that are having to undergo forms of abuse from their neighbors on exactly why they do the things they do? And know this, it is never about you. It is always about them. After all, we do what we do because it is in us to do it. Period!
Even When You Don’t Bother People, It Bothers People
I do write about neighbors above that knew of the abuse from my nasty next door neighbors. They were in on it actually. I really hadn’t planned on talking about them anymore, but I believe that I should, you see he is a psychologist. Funny, huh? A “professional” who should know better. I do wonder what kind of advice he must give his patients? (If he even has any.)
I can only imagine…. ‘Oh, if that person annoys you, then you should use your automobile to shine your bright lights into their house to annoy them. Or better yet, throw things against their house at 4:00 in the morning just to scare the old woman, maybe you’ll get lucky and she’ll have a heart attack. Yes! Intimidation tactics work well on women who live alone. Or better yet, park your vehicles so that they face her house, using a ‘show of force’ to let that bitch know who’s boss!’ Yeah.
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It was Tuesday morning when I was placing my mail into my mailbox that the neighbor I write about above, was taking his children to school. I avoided looking at him. I have nothing to say, or any reason to acknowledge that family. When he returned home he backed his big red truck into his driveway, literally taking up the entire space. No other car could have parked on either side of him. I thought that was funny seeing as how he had nothing to unload in the back. Instead of seeing a big bad red truck with a big man driving it, I saw a Puffer Fish.
(Oh, and know this, people that drive red vehicles are more likely to get traffic tickets. He should know. I looked him up, and he had to pay big traffic court costs in his past. Yeah. Actually, I discovered in my research that white men in his income bracket and political affiliation tend to rack up big court costs from traffic violations. It makes sense really, they don’t like to follow rules and laws, but they expect everyone else to. In other words Freud was right, it really does all boil down to THAT.)
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Inflating One’s Self
The Puffer Fish are small, and they puff themselves up to appear larger than they really are in order to scare others. This is generally something that men tend to do more so than women.
My response: ‘Look at the cute little puffer fish! Aren’t you so cute! Yes, you are a big, bad, boy! Oh, I’m so scared!’ 🙂
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Yeah…
He may be a psychologist, but I know psychology.
I’m sure there had to be a class on ‘The Smartest Person In The Room?’ The Axel Foley Affect? No?
Well… that explains a lot.
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To Continue…
On Thursday I drove into the Air Force Base to do some much needed shopping. I hadn’t been there in awhile. I was getting low on all my supplies. When I do go into Tampa I tend to stock up on everything. Especially bulky items. Shopping on the base is much cheaper than the local grocery stores.
Thursday’s Shopping
I left the house around 10:00 a.m. and I got home around 3:30 p.m. As I was unloading my full car, (as you can see), my neighbor was leaving to go and pick up his children from school. When he got back, I was still unloading my full car. As he was pulling into his driveway I was placing a few bags inside my garage. When I walked out of the garage to unload some more, all I saw was a FLASH! A blur!! I saw what looked like a flowered blouse dash into his garage. It wasn’t a cool Aloha Hawaiian Shirt, it looked more like he had raided his mother’s closet and chose an old Laura Ashely blouse to go with his baggy shorts and flip flops. He was in his garage before his children even exited the truck. What I saw was a chickenshit running inside his house to get away, to hide. I did learn something that day. They haven’t told their children about any of this because otherwise his children would have been a bit awkward. They weren’t. They were just being normal teens.
I do know that when we were being harassed by Leisa, John and Ed, the Gray Haired Bullies in our neighborhood, because we were Obama supporters, that I did tell our children about it so that they would be aware and alert, as in looking out for nails in the driveway, etc. (I wrote about The Gray Haired Bullies years ago. They are all dead now. But my blog exposed their harassment of us, just like this blog is exposing this harassment from these people.)
The more they give me something to write about, the more I will!
Julie
P.S. I would wait for them to grow up but I don’t have that kind of time!
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One thing I have learned from all of this is that I need to be more aware of what goes on in my neighborhood. Prior to this abuse and harassment, and before we put up cameras, I never really cared about what went on outside my front door. Oh, there were times when I saw a car parked out front that I would look out the window to see who it was? Especially if it was at night. After all, I have had a cyber-stalker for over 30 years. He has hired people in the past to photograph me, our cars, and our house. Also, seeing as how I do live alone I feel more of a need to be aware of my surroundings. Gordon is still working overseas, he will be home soon and we have a lot planned while he will be here. He is looking into coming back permanently. He is living and working in a danger zone after all. And I do fill him in on the neighbors, and the neighborhood so that he is aware of it all.
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Just Some More Observations….
I have noticed throughout my community that I live in that there are ‘For Sale’ signs that have been up for quite a while. I can remember when houses like that were snatched up quickly.
My nasty neighbors next door to me have had what looks like a giant panty shield wrapped around their chimney for about 5-6 months now. I got a letter in the mail from their “roofers” dated October 24, 2025, informing me that their roof would be going up in a few weeks. That was months ago. Looks to me like they don’t have the money to get it fixed. You know, I could complain to the HOA who could then force them into getting it fixed, or fine them until they do? After all, I asked for a backyard studio and they nixed that because they said the neighbors may not like looking at it from their homes. Well, do you think I enjoy looking at a giant panty shield wrapped around their chimney? See, I can actually do more to these people then just write about them… 🙂
I have also noticed that a particular woman in the neighborhood has gone back to work full time. Guess they must need the money? That is why you go back to work, isn’t it? What? Is the current Administration’s economy not working for them anymore? Well, you deserve and get what you vote for. But sadly, so do the rest of us that knew better, voted better, etc. we also will be getting exactly what they deserve.
When you vote for the political party that does for the lowest in our society, then everyone above that line will be o.k. However, when you vote for the party that does only for the wealthy? Then no one below that line will be o.k. Hence, where we are today.
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You know, I really do hope that this will be my last blog entry on this page.
But it really isn’t up to me, now is it?
Julie
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February 10, 2026
Just An Update:
Looks like the nasty neighbors next door are finally getting a new roof.
Good, because I’m tired of staring at that Panty Shield from our bedroom window.
Guess they finally came up with the money.
Julie
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February 14, 2026
P.S. It’s a Cheap Roof
The nasty neighbors new roof is up. Cheap materials were used, (paper, not laminate.) Which is originally why they have had a bad roof all along.
It was back in 2011 when this couple who used to live across the street from us, but now reside in Texas, got several neighbors in our neighborhood to all go into getting new roofs together. It was going to make it much cheaper for all, with Michael and Judy’s roof being either free or at a huge discount. (Right wingers are very good at networking. This is yet another example of that.)
We were asked if we wanted to go into it, but we said no. It just didn’t feel right. Good thing that we didn’t because every single family in our neighborhood that did that, got really shoddy, cheap roofs. Of course Judy and Michael quickly sold their house and moved away before the true damage was revealed. Every single neighbor that went in on that con have always had problems with their roofs, even shortly after they were installed, either to have them redone, or patched here and there.
The nasty neighbors new, ugly roof will probably last a good 7 years if they are lucky? Perhaps they went the cheap root because they will be selling their house and moving soon? 🙂
One can hope!
However, realistically, worse can always move in. But there is just something about that house that attracts the worst kind of human beings. We have been here for 3 families that have lived in it. None of them were ever worth knowing.
Julie
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
May 13, 2026
Julie Whann’s Asian
Coming The Year of the Snake ——————————————————————————- Kung Hei Fat Choy (Happy New Year) Channeling Mulan For Breakfast ———————————————————————————– ————————————————————————————————– If you would like to view our …
Typing with Julie in 1965, (I mean Blogging with Julie in 2025) Dear Diary…
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 …
My PINK Flamingo Summers
Let’s Flamingle!
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Busy Standing on one leg…. Currently
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Ambrosia, Pink Grapefruit Sake, and Toasted Coconut 🙂
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Julie’s Pink Flamingo Pasta Salad
(A Rough Draft)
Our Pink Backyard Bromeliad in Bloom
I got the idea that I wanted to make something very Florida, and very Palm Beach. A light lunch kind of thing. Flamingos kept popping into my head. But, not just the Flamingos themselves, but what kinds of foods that Flamingos eat. I knew they ate Shrimp, that is what keeps them nice and PINK. I wanted to know what else they ate so I did my research online and I’ve added some of those Flamingo tasty treats to my Pink Flamingo Pasta Salad.
I hope you will enjoy it, along with some other nice Florida Flamingo Summer Foods as I hope to update this as time goes by.
Barbie Isn’t The Only Thing That’s PINK!
Julie Barefoot
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Our Herb Garden Flamingo
Backyard PINK!
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My Pink Flamingo Pasta Salad
(Recipe Down Below)
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Ready for Delivery to my Loved Ones
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Waving My Magic Whisk 🙂
These Are The Best Crackers From The Asian Supermarket
I Like To Eat Some Sort Of Cracker With a Pasta Salad
It Tastes Better on a Flamingo Plate 🙂 (With Grapes)
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The Flamingo Photo’s I Took at Busch Gardens
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I’ve Always Been One To Stand On One Leg Myself,
Guess I’m Part Flamingo.
Flamingo Habitat at Busch Gardens, Florida
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PINK Hot Chili Pasta
Something HOT For The Florida HEAT
You Can Also Rearrange It Into A Nice Pasta Sandwich
(Recipe Down Below)
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Recipes Start Here
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Julie’s Pink Flamingo Pasta Salad
As with any kind of Pasta Salad, or Salad in general, you can always add as much or as little as you like. It’s all up to personal tastes. You can also omit ingredients that you don’t like, or want in your salads. What I am giving you is a guide in creating something nice for yourself and your family, or any nice Summer Gathering you may host, or be invited to.
I based this on my love of Flamingos and their diet. They eat Shrimp, Seeded Grass, Algae, Fly Larvae, Tiny Briny Crustaceans, and other Plants and Animals that live in shallow waters.
I didn’t add all of the Flamingo diet to my salad, obviously, but I did base it on the foods they do eat.
I Hope That You Will Be Inspired!
Gathering All of My Ingredients
I Did Double My Recipe To Give To Family
Ingredients:
Flamingo Pasta (Kind of a must.)
Red Onion, Chopped
Yellow Chives, Chopped
Flowering Chives, as Garnish
Celery, Chopped
Radishes, Sliced
Daikon Radish, Sliced
Fresh, or Frozen Peas, (Thawed, if frozen.)
Mayonnaise, To Taste
Hot Sauce, To Taste
Wasabi, To Taste
Cocktail Onions
Aji-Miren, To Taste
Shrimp, Already Cooked
Arugula
Pumpkin Seeds
Pink Pickled Ginger
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The Shrimp you see above right, I bought already cooked and ready to eat from the grocery store. It came frozen.
I just needed to thaw them out for my Salad.
The Enoki Mushrooms I didn’t use in this salad.
I did place some around my luncheon bowl to eat with my Pasta Salad though.
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Flowering Chives, Yellow Chives, Daikon Radish, and Radishes
As with any Salad you do need to clean the ingredients. In the photo top left, I have my Flowering Chives and Yellow Chives I purchased from The Asian Supermarket. They have some of the most exotic ingredients you will ever find. The green chives has a flower at the end, I’ll show you how I use those when I put the Salad together. The Yellow Chives add a nice pale color with a slight oniony taste to the Salad.
Vegetables Drying
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With my Vegetables drying, it’s time to boil my Pasta.
Just follow whatever the package directions say on your Pasta you will be using.
When done, drain into a Colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and to cool the Pasta down.
Place the Pasta into a large Mixing Bowl.
Now we start to add the ingredients to the Pasta.
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Eyeball and Taste
(This is what we do from now on.)
I purchased already chopped Red Onion from the grocery store to save a little time.
I’m adding as much as I like, no measurements.
Chopping Celery
Pasta, Red Onion, and Celery
Slicing the Radishes
They add a pepper taste and I love the texture and the pretty pink rings.
A Daikon Radish is ugly on the outside and beautiful on the inside.
Just use a Potato Peeler to remove the outside.
You can see the pretty flower when sliced. I’m saving these to be used as more of a Garnish.
The Peas were already washed and ready so I just added as many as I wanted.
Mixing Together To Judge the Ratios
At some point I also added the Yellow Chives by simply snipping them with a pair of scissors.
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Now Comes The Wet Stuff
I just want to use the Mayonnaise to combine the Salad.
I really don’t like that much as it is usually very rich.
It’s Coming Together Nicely
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This is something of an experiment in deciding which one I liked better.
I did add a few dashes of both.
The Cocktail Onions are to add that Briny Bite that I wanted.
The Wasabi Paste is also to Add Some great HEAT!
Add a Tablespoon or Two of Miren. It adds a Wonderful Sweetness.
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Thawing The Shrimp
This was another shortcut that I took in making this Salad. I bought the Shrimp already prepared, and frozen to be eaten as a Shrimp Cocktail. All I had to do was to thaw them out and drain any excess water. I did have to pat them dry as they were a bit wet from the thawing, and I didn’t want any extra water in my Salad. I did remove their Tails.
Adding The Shrimp
(Be sure to place into the refrigerator to chill before serving, at least a few hours.)
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Ready to Plate My Pasta Salad
A Bed of Arugula
Chilled Overnight
The Pumpkin Seeds are to be Scattered About,
and a Dollop of the Pink Pickled Ginger on Top
I do admit that my Pasta Salad presentation is a bit ‘over the top.’ In my defense, I was feeling very creative and having lots of fun. I guess I’d rather have it be that way, than have it be more presentable to a sophisticated crowd. 🙂
You Can See The Flowering Chives in my Bowl Above,
Kind of Looks Like a Plant
I Hope You Have As Much Fun As I Did!
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PINK Hot Chili Pasta
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It was when I was shopping for my Flamingo Pasta that I came across this online.
Tagliatelle Peperoncino.
It is some Pasta with some HEAT! And I love it!
Also, that little jar of Spicy Chili Onion Crisp is wonderful drizzled on top!
I do admit that I kind of threw this together using what I already had in the Pantry, and the Refrigerator.
I combined the sauces that you see above. I used about a jar, and a half a jar of the other.
I place the sauces into a pot on the stove top and put it on a medium-heat.
That black blob on my sauce is Freshly Ground Black Pepper, I also snipped some Yellow Chives into the sauce as well.
I had some Roasted Garlic in the fridge as well and smooshed about 6 -8 Cloves into my sauce. I want it to simmer away for awhile, until it thickens up. When it starts to boil then I turn the heat down a notch or two. When that setting starts to boil, then I turn it down another notch or two, until finally it is all nice and thick on a low setting. Sometimes this can take up to an hour or longer. Be sure to keep an eye on it, stirring periodically so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.
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Boiling My Pasta
Just Cook According to Package Directions
Then Drain Pasta into a Colander
Eat Immediately!
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The Tagliatelle is Perfect with the Sauce and….
a Drizzle or Two of the Hot Chili Onion Crisp.
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I also wanted to use the leftovers to make a Pasta Sandwich the next day.
I also had some leftover Bread for this.
I simply sliced it in half and placed it on a baking sheet in the oven to broil until a nice brown….
Like So…
I Heated Up Some of the Pasta in the Sauce until Warm
I Then Started to Assemble My Sandwich
Layering Bread, Arugula, Pasta, Yellow Chives, Green Chives, Basil, and some Leftover Sauce from the Remaining Jar.
It’s O.K. if Some Spills Out! Yum!!!
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Be A Flamingo In A Flock of Pigeon’s 🙂
Have a PINK Day!
Julie Barefoot
Oranges Sm’Oranges, And Other Citrus
(Because Nothing Rhymes With Oranges) 🙂 Orange is the New Muffin ——————————————————————————- (I added a few Banana Chips as an accent, above.) I Have Discovered Indian River Citrus, and There is NO Going Back! My Florida Orange Muffins w/ Lemon Citrus Glaze (Recipe …
More of Julie’s Jezebel Recipes to Enjoy
I Heart Jezebel (Sauce) —————————————————— Julie’s Southern Jeze-Bells Pizza Made With My: Julie’s Georgia Peach Jeze-Bells Sauce Click Here For: Julie’s Jezebel Sauce I have 4 Jezebel’s on the webpage link above. We also have many recipes that you can …
Let the SUMMER In!
I Love Simple Flowers,
Nothing Stunningly Beautiful, Just Very Pretty and Charming, With Personality
Welcome Summer,
Come On In!
I’ve Missed You, Just Try Not To Be So HOT This Year 🙂
But, If You Do Insist Upon It….
I Have a Few Suggestions For Us All
I have created a nice area here in our backyard. The Shelving Cabinet is anchored to the wall, and has some protection underneath the house eaves. Our son Brodie put it together for us.
I purchased the white shelving unit to use for my gardening as well as an area of the backyard to entertain. I thought it could also make a great Buffet for food.
In Florida, any kind of wooden furniture only has a shelf life here of about 3 – 5 years. Wood always eventually rots here and there is nothing we can do about it. Even Teak will only last so long. What with our heat, humidity, mold, and storms, there is constant cleaning, bleaching and pressure washing. So, we do try and make the best of it while we have it looking good.
I have however, enjoyed the different ideas that we have had for this area over the years. And, I’m sure that in a few years we will be doing something totally different. For example, I think removing that window you see behind me, and replacing it with a door, would be really nice. Then, we could turn the area you see into some sort of nice patio. Well, perhaps someday. But for now, let’s just enjoy what we have.
So, for now, Let The Summer In,
Julie
(I do hope to update as time goes by with new summer entries.)
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Julie’s Fruit Cocktails
I had this idea in my head that I wanted to fill our cooler with ice to the very top, and place a few bottles of Bubbly along side a platter of Fruit surrounded by Colorful Flavored Ice Cubes with tongs to fill pretty Pink Wine Glasses with the Ice, Fruit, and Mint Leaves.
The Bubbly is Mango, Peach and Strawberry Moscato
I also have a few other juices, along with some nice round plump juicy grapes.
My idea was to pour the Moscato of your choice into a glass, then add the flavored Ice Cubes, along with some Fruit and Mint. To me, they are now “Fruit Cocktails.”
The Umbrella Offers Some Shade and Cool
I also had a fan blowing on me, which you cannot see.
I have my special plants and flowers around me.
I also wanted some of my pretty flowers in the cooler as well with my Fruit Cocktails.
A Toast To Summer
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My Strawberry Moscato,
..with My Tea Sandwiches
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I wanted just a few goodies to eat with the Fruit Cocktails.
A favorite tea sandwich of mine is Pimiento Cheese, and I did use a Carrot Hummus to create another tea sandwich topped with Pimientos.
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My Fruits:
Raspberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, and Pomegranate Seeds
Although not pictured above, I do have slices of Limes and Lemons
I Love Adding Flowers to Food in the Summer
I Also Added Some Parsley to my Carrot Hummus Sandwiches
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I LOVE This Lighting…
It’s just what the camera picked up.
I didn’t do anything but point and shoot.
My Simple Flowers With My Simple Sandwiches
Now You Can See The Lemons and Lime Slices Around The Colorful Ice
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Just a Few of the Cooling Cocktail with Fruit
I Do So Love My Beautiful Orchids Here
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This is How I Want it to Look Year Round
Pretty Plants and Flowers
Strawberry Moscato Shelfie
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Chinese On The Outside Buffet
Our Pickled Thai Eggplant
I Opened a Jar of My Oriental Jezebel Sauce to Eat With My Egg Rolls, and Potstickers
Also, With My Tea with Limes
Thai Rice With Lime and Herbs
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I was actually quite proud of my Potstickers.
Usually Gordon is the one that makes them to perfection but I thought mine were pretty good!
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Making My Colorful Flavored Ice Cubes
These Flavored Waters are so Delicious! Gordon used to drink them all the time to take with him to work with his lunches, or even when he would be running errands he would grab one from the fridge in the garage to take with him. Which is why I thought of these when I wanted to create some nice flavorful and colorful ice cubes for my drinks, above.
I just poured the many flavorful drinks into the ice cube trays you see above…
I then placed them into the freezer to freeze…
And then I placed them into this refrigerator tray when they were ready.
I kept making them as long as I had the flavored water to add to the ice cube trays.
When Done, I Added Them To The Platter On My Cooler For The Fruit Cocktails.
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Luckily, this is a Florida Summer, which means we will be around for awhile. 🙂
Julie
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Be Sure To Check Out:
Julie Barefoot In The Backyard
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More Hawaiian Eats
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 …
Lilly Pulitzer (The Barefoot Queen of Pink and Green)
Lilly Beautiful Lillian Lee McKim Pulitzer Rousseau (1931 – 2013) —————————————————————————- Me, Mother’s Day 2023 with Sparky, Wearing a Lilly ——————————————————————————- PINK, and Shades Thereof ———————————————————————————— My Lilly Pulitzer Bread Box Doll House Lilly Fabrics Create a Window Curtains, A Chair, …
May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii
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
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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.
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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.
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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.) 🙂
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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)
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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.
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Black Lava Salt
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These are Actually, Pretty Good!
(These pickled items are really delicious and added to our meal.)
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Julie and Veronica, our Backyard in Honolulu, Hawaii, 1988
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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
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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)
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Haupia
(Eaten at Most Every Luau)
Usually White in Color Except I Used Coconut Sugar, and not Granulated Sugar
(Recipe Down Below)
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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!
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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.
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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
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Me, With Baby Veronica at the Waikiki Aquarium
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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. 🙂
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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
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RECIPES START HERE
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Macadamia Nut Hummus
w/ Roasted Macadamia Nuts and….
Veggie Hawaiian Chips
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Mauna Loa Macadamia Nuts
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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Our Hawaiian Hummus and Taro Fries
Topped With Black Sesame Seeds on the Hummus,
and Black Lava Sea Salt on the Taro Fries
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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
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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.
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Prep your Bok Choy and lettuce by washing them under cold water and setting them on
paper towels to dry.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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
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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.
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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! 🙂
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Mini Quickie Hawaiian Sliders
This was just a quick sandwich that I, Julie, put together.
The Hawaiian Bread, The Hawaiian Habanero Chips, Salsa, Meat, Mustard, and Cheese…
Simple But Tasty Ingredients, And Just A Nice Lunch
On a Baking Sheet I placed the Hawaiian Bread sliced in Half
I Then Spread Some Mustard Over Both Halves
Next Comes The Meat and Cheese
Bake in a 350F Oven Until Cheese Is Melted and Meat is Warmed
Add Some Pickles and Lettuce…
Enclose and Enjoy!
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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
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Uno, Dos, Tres, Cuatro, Mexicana CINCO!
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 …
Chisana Atsukau (Small Treats in Japanese)
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 …
An Old Florida Jezebel (Sauce)
(The picture above not only showcases my Old Florida Jezebel Sauce, I also depict our daughter Veronica’s art from when she was a Fine Arts student in college. Any chance I get to do that, I do!)
Let The Sunshine In
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WELCOME TO FLORIDA
Picture This:
It’s 1966 and you are a young girl of 5. You are on your way to Florida with your Grand-Parents and Great-Grandparents for a nice stay at a motel on the beach in St. Petersburg. The car you are riding in is full. 2 adults in the front, and me and 2 adults in the back. My Grand-Parents vintage blue and silver water cooler is sitting on the floorboard in the backseat at my Grandmother’s feet, along with about 5 or 6 tin cups of different colors. If we were thirsty, my Grandmother would fill one of the cups with water and pass it to whomever made the request. It was always the coldest water. Each cup had a different color, which is how we kept up with who’s was who’s…..
Just a Few Florida Souvenir’s to Take Home
…As we cross the Florida State Line, and see the Florida Welcome Center, we stop to take a bathroom break, drink a lovely cup of complimentary Orange Juice, and browse the many brochures of things to do while in Florida. I was the one that collected the most. I loved looking at them while we were in the car still on our way to St. Petersburg. Granddaddy, who did all the driving, would stretch his legs walking around the Welcome Center. When it was time to leave we would all pile back into the car, with me sitting in the middle, in the backseat.
I would look at all of the brochures that I had collected and I would ask my Grand-Parents if we could go here…. or there….?
I can’t remember what they would say to me? But, we always did do a lot while we were in Florida. So, I don’t think that I lacked in anything at all.
Once we crossed the Florida State Line, there were always gas stations that Granddaddy would pull in to in order to get gas. There were always Souvenir Stands at these gas stations. There were always gross things like Alligator feet, or even the occasional Alligator head with teeth. There were also plenty of Alligator teeth for sale. There were these wooden birds that would dip their beaks into a small bird bath as if getting a drink of water. There were plenty of bags and cases of Oranges to buy! There were souvenir mugs, or tea cups, plates, serving trays, and foods like Peanut Brittle, (my favorite), and Salt Water Taffy, (my second favorite). Lots of nuts, Florida honey, and homemade jams and jelly’s. Even a nice homemade Orange Jam. This is what I am basing my Old Florida Jezebel on. These memories, and the old Florida Souvenir Stands that we would frequent and sometimes purchase something delicious to eat while we were in Florida, or to take back home to Georgia with us to enjoy.
My husband Gordon helped me to put these recipes together. I created the Florida Jezebel Sauce, but I could not have done some of the recipes without Gordon’s help. We hope that you will enjoy them, along with this Old Florida Jezebel. 🙂
We Hope You Enjoy,
Julie and Gordon
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Orange Queen Flowers, to put me in the Mood 🙂
(I saw these and knew that I had to have them for this project.)
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An Old Needlepoint Design Made by my Great-Aunt Margie
(I wanted to include it here as she was a big part of my childhood upbringing.)
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I would now love to introduce you to an Old Florida Jezebel. 🙂
Not ME! 🙁 My Sauce!
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My Florida Jezebel as a Dipping Sauce for my Egg Rolls
(I had just made it, and wanted to enjoy it immediately with my Egg Rolls and Veggie Tots.)
My Old Florida Jezebel is a Marinade, a Glaze, and a Dipping Sauce
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Orange Jezebel Chicken with Grilled Oranges and Pineapple, with Caribbean Rice
Grillin’ an Old Florida Jezebel Breasts (Chicken) 🙂
This meal looks amazing and it isn’t that difficult to prepare for your family.
Grilled With Orange and Pineapple Slices
Stepping ahead, here are some great pics of me grilling the Chicken, Pineapple and Orange slices.
Mouth Watering Deliciousness
I am letting the Grilled Chicken rest.
This will allow the super-heated juices to flow back into the center of the chicken, thus finishing the cooking process while also making the chicken very juicy.
Don’t slice into the chicken for at least 10 min.
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Here you can see the meal on one plate.
Eaten With Caribbean Coconut Rice
This is a great picture of the platter with all the components of the meal.
Again, the finished meal. Let’s get started!!!
(Recipe Down Below)
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An Old Florida Orange Jezebel Strata
I definitely wanted us to make this with my Florida Jezebel Sauce.
I wanted to create a nice Orange Jezebel Breakfast, and I knew this would make a great one!
What with Orange Zest, and Orange Slices as a Garnish
The Delicious Zest
(Recipe Down Below)
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Orange Jezebel Cocktail Sausages
(Recipe Down Below)
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How About a Screwdriver?
A Screwdriver is just Orange Juice and Vodka
Here we used a Key West Spyglass Vodka
A Perfect Weekend Breakfast
(And, Don’t Forget The Bacon.) 🙂
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If you are not into a Screwdriver, then you can always add some Miami Cuban Coffee Rum Liquor to your Cuban Coffee. 🙂
That’s What I Wanted!
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You Can Always add an Extra Dollop or Two of the Jezebel to the Strata if You Like
And, Now Enjoy!
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Making an Old Florida Jezebel Sandwich, or Two
Whether we fry the Bread in the Orange Jezebel, or use it as a Condiment,
it is still delicious!
Orange Wedges, with Orange Juice
Our Delicious Sandwiches
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(Our Sandwich Recipes are Down Below)
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Here are our Panini’s with My Orange Jezebel Sauce
(We made these with our leftover Thanksgiving Turkey.)
(Recipe Down Below)
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Gathering All of my Ingredients for this Orange Jezebel Sauce
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Just Wanted to Share the View Outside my Nook Window
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Canning Equipment and Ingredients
(Along with some tasty Orange Juice to put us in the mood.) 🙂
Before you begin any canning project you not only need to have all of your ingredients that you will need on hand and ready, but you also need to understand what equipment you will need for the project. In addition to the food ingredients, and all of the jars, lids, and rings, you also need to have many large pots on hand for the job.
Whenever we can anything we always make a lot of it. Therefore, we use two large pots to cook everything in, along with good spoons for all the stirring that will go on. You will also need a smaller tall pot to place the lids in so as to sterilize them. A magnetic ‘lid grabber’ is also essential for that so that your fingers don’t touch the lids and contaminate them.
You will need some kind of large sturdy pot to use once the jars have been filled and need to go through the process of canning. Some kind of funnel is also important for when you ladle the Jezebel into the jars. And, also a good ladle. 🙂
You will also need canning tongs in order to place, and remove the jars once they have finished the canning process.
Above, a few of the lids and rings, and the large Pressure Cooker Pot that we use when canning.
The Fresh Florida Oranges will add something nice to our Jezebel as well.
NOTE: Gordon will explain the Canning Process down in the body where we do the canning of the Orange Jezebel recipe.
Rings and Lids Washed and Drying
Although it really isn’t necessary to wash the rings, I do anyway. I’m just that way. But, the rings do get sterilized during the canning process.
You can place your jars into the dishwasher to sterilize them for canning.
The Plotters….
I wonder what they’re up to? 🙂
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Jumping Ahead…
How I Wanted to Decorate My Jars
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I specifically chose these jars because they were short and a bit rounded, kind of like an Orange.
I purchased some yellow paint and painted a smiley face on each jar. I wanted it simple yet perfect!
I wanted my Orange Jezebel jars to be easily recognized for when I needed to find one for a recipe. After all, I have many different Jezebel’s in the pantry that I have created.
I would love to say that I purposely made some of them a bit sloppy, but no, I’m just not very good at painting. 🙂
But, I do like the fact that they look like something a child would have done, making them look even more homemade and charming.
Here The Paint Is Drying
All Ready For Their Close Up!
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Ready to Make My Florida Jezebel Sauce (Orange)
Julie’s Jezebel Kitchen
The Ingredients:
(The amount of ingredients that you see in these photos, I never use all of them. I just like to be prepared. I did use most of them though. I detail the precise amounts that I used for this recipe for you though.)
THIS RECIPE IS TO BE GEARED TOWARD YOUR VERY OWN TASTES, SO EXPERIMENT!
(If you like you can halve this recipe if you don’t want to make as much as we did.)
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8, 12 oz. Jars of Pineapple Preserves
8-10 Jars, 17 oz. of Apple Jelly (Actually, I used different brands with different ounce amounts. But, 8-10 jars will work for you regardless. You can’t screw up this recipe. You just need to taste it as you go so that it is to your liking.)
(You can substitute a few jars of the Apple Jelly with some Orange Marmalade, I did!)
4, 11 oz. Plochman’s Cuban Style Mustard
3, 9.75 oz. bottles of BookBinders Prepared Horseradish
4 t. of Fine Hawaiian Sea Salt (Or, any that you prefer.)
Florida Sunshine Spice Blend (Several grindings into each pot.)
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I also threw in the rest of this Florida Crab and Shrimp Boil that I had, just for good measure. I had a few ounces of it left. It worked great too!
And, about 8-10 Oranges, Peeled and De-seeded
The Juice of 6 Key Limes
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Always a Microwave Selfie
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Turn the Stove Top Burners to a Medium Heat
My 2 Big Pots to Make My Orange Jezebel In
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This is going to take a while so let’s get started!
I start be dividing everything between 2 large pots.
Here are all of my Pineapple Preserves.
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I also keep double paper bags in the kitchen to house all of the bottles and things to be recycled.
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I like to add the ingredients and allow them to simmer together, allowing everything to meld together.
You Can See The Oranges Added Here
I like to keep everything on a nice simmer, not boiling, just heating up together.
Keep stirring though, to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot.
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Now, It’s Time to Add the Mustard and the Horseradish
You don’t have to add as much as we did if you don’t want to.
Taste, to make sure it is to your liking.
I’m showing you the stages of the Jezebel.
I like to take my time with it and enjoy the cooking ritual.
I’m not one of these that rushes in the kitchen when I make something special.
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Time to add the Crab and Shrimp Boil, and the Salts
I pretty much did about 7-8 shakes of the Florida Sunshine Salt Blend in each pot.
And, I added about 3 ounces to each pot of the Fine Hawaiian Sea Salt Blend.
I just distributed the Crab and Shrimp Boil evenly as well.
Simmering Away
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Time To Add Some Juice
(Key Limes From Our Backyard Tree)
I also added some Juice and Pulp from 2 leftover Oranges.
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Juicing the Key Limes into Each Pot
Now It’s Time to Bring it All to a Boil
Like So…
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While This is Boiling Away, Time to Bring out our Canning Equipment
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Here you see the Jezebel ingredients boiling away in the pot. This is done to get the sauce thick. I had added Oranges and Orange Juice that was very juicy and the extra water needed to be boiled out so as to thicken up.
Take a spoonful after some time to see if it is as thin or thick as you like.
When it is to your liking remove the pots from the heat.
Mats, Ladle, and Funnel
You will need to place the jars onto something such as this because the jars will be hot once the Jezebel goes into the jars. You could use towels if you like.
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The pots will take time to cool, you can remove them from the burners and place onto cooling racks if you like. Or, just allow them to cool down on the stove top with the burners off.
Pictured are all the jars we are going to use.
I never know how many exactly that we will need, so I always buy extra.
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It’s at this point that Gordon comes into my Jezebel process.
He is our expert house canner.
Take It Away Gordon….
Here I have a pot of Jezebel Sauce on one burner, and a large pot of almost boiling water next to it on another burner. This is actually a steam pot. Whatever you use must be deep enough to when you place your jars in, they need to be submerged by at least an inch of water.
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I am placing the lids with the rubber seal in water that is barely boiling.
This will loosen up the rubber seal.
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Time to Ladle
Using a wide mouth funnel and large ladle, ladle in your Jezebel Sauce into the jar leaving 1 inch of space at the top. This is called the ‘Head Space’ which is the area needed to make a vacuum, sealing your lid to your jar.
Repeat this process for a number of your jars.
Here you can see I filled them all evenly, leaving that 1 inch of head space.
Don’t they look beautiful?
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Using a slightly wet paper towel, wipe any excess or residue of the Jezebel Sauce that may have dripped on top of the glass. If not removed, it could cause your jar to not seal and could let contaminants into the sauce causing it to spoil. Only wiping the top and outside of the jar.
When one jar’s surface is clean, remove a lid from your almost boiling water using your magnet stick. Only touch the sides of the lid to prevent contamination, creating a sterile environment.
Repeat the step for all the jars.
Here you can see how to remove the jar lid with the magnetic stick, and then place onto the top of an already wiped and cleaned jar.
Now, place a ring onto the jar and tighten slightly. You don’t want to tighten it too tight because the air in the head space needs to be able to escape during the boiling or canning process.
I am using the Jar Tongs to place the sealed jars into the almost boiling water. You should start to see bubbles coming out of the jars which in the head space, are leaving … that means the rings aren’t on too tight!
Continue to load the jars into the pot until no more will fit.
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Boil the jars for 10-15 min. on a Medium-High heat. Most things that are canned need 15 min. such as pickles, stewed tomatoes, or corn relish. Jezebel sauce is mostly sugar and not easily contaminated so 10 min. is fine. With this much water in the pot, it will take it a while to eventually boil.
I am removing the jars after 10 min. of boiling time. You may hear the jar lids start to pop which is a great sound and means the jars have sealed. Some jar lids have a raised button on the top which when sealed will go down, another indication the jar has sealed.
After no more than 10 min. all the jars should be sealed. Check this by looking at the button seal or if you can press the lid down, they have not sealed. If this happens, simply remove the ring and lid. Throw the lid away. Remove some of the sauce in the jar as you may have not had enough head space to create a seal, then clean the top of the jar again. Place another lid on top of the jar and gently tighten on another ring. Now, place it back in the water using your jar tongs, boil for 10 min. then remove! Repeat if necessary.
Here you see all our hard work that will bring us, family and friends some great homemade joy!
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RECIPES START HERE
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Orange Jezebel Chicken with Grilled Oranges and Pineapple,
with Caribbean Rice
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Here I am rinsing the chicken to remove any of the bone fragments and blood residue.
I am using my knife to remove any excess fat, then place the Chicken Breasts into a zip lock bag. Now, add enough of your Orange Jezebel Sauce to coat all the chicken.
Mix the Chicken with the Jezebel Sauce well, then fold the bag over to remove the air, then seal the bag.
Place the Orange Jezebel marinating chicken into a large bowl and place into the refrigerator overnight, or for a few days if desired.
Here you see the Caribbean Rice and the other ingredients for our dinner.
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Our Marinated Chicken Still in the Bag, but Resting
I am going to use Coconut Milk instead of water to give the rice more of a Caribbean flavor.
You could also add some of the Pineapple juice if you wanted.
The rice takes an exact amount of liquid.
Place the Coconut Milk into a medium sized pot.
Then add your Rice to the pot and turn your heat to medium high using your gill’s side burner…
if you have one. (I started this rice on our stove top, but moved it to our grill once it got started.)
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I am adding some butter as per the Rice directions.
Give the rice a good stir…
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Place your Jezebel marinated chicken into a colander to remove any excess juices.
Like So….
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Now open your can of sliced Pineapple, and slice your Naval Orange into ½ inch thick slices.
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Prepare your grill by heating it on high for about 5 min. then clean off any residue with your grill brush. Make sure all your brush bristles are gone from the grill. I like to keep my grill looking good and ready to use.
Turn your gill down to Medium Heat and add your Chicken to the grill. Place it down and leave it still to get those great grill marks. Then, add more of the Jezebel sauce.
Since I am touching the chicken with the brush, I have to use all the Jezebel sauce from this jar… easy to do as it tastes so good!
After about 8 min. or so, flip the chicken over onto a new hot spot on the grill. Add your Orange slices as well. When they are done, you can place them on the grill shelf. See the nice grill marks… that is from not moving them around on your grill.
Now it is time to add the Pineapple Slices to the grill and move any chicken that is mostly done on the shelf if needed.
Here I am cooking the rice on my side burner while finishing up the grilling.
Place your chicken on a large platter as shown to let it rest for at least 10 min. before slicing into it, as you don’t want those flowing juices to run out.
Now, I have added my grilled fruit to the platter. This looks great this way as well.
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On another platter, I am adding the Caribbean Rice, then spreading it all around.
Layer your ingredients, being sure they are all seen as they all look great!
What an amazing meal and another great use of Julie’s Homemade Orange Jezebel Sauce!
EnJoY!
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An Old Florida Orange Jezebel Strata
We Have Two Florida Jezebel Strata’s
(We Will Explain As We Go)
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Ingredients:
~1/2 Cup Caramel Sauce
Or
~1/2 Cup Splenda Brown Sugar with 4 Tbsp. Butter
The Main Ingredients in both:
2 Packages Cream Cheese – softened
~1/2 Cup Florida Jezebel Sauce to be mixed with the Cream Cheese
And
~1/4 Cup Florida Jezebel Sauce to top the Strata – See Recipe Above
2 Loafs of Good Bread – Italian Ciabatta works great!
10 Eggs (This is for 2 Casseroles, one large, one small.)
1/2 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract
1 Tbsp. Ground Cinnamon
~4 Cups Milk
1 Tbsp. Orange Dried Peel
For the Garnish:
Naval Orange Zest – Fresh
1 Naval Orange – Peeled and Segmented
A few cooked Bacon Strips for each person as a breakfast side
Powdered Sugar – this would also go nice lightly sprinkled on after the Strata is baked.
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For this recipe we had two thoughts… one Strata would be made with a Caramel base (Ice Cream Topping) and the other would have a Brown Sugar and Butter base. Both were amazing!
Our Two Casserole Dishes, and our Mixing Bowl and Whisk
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For the Caramel based recipe, simply spread a good amount of Caramel Sauce onto the base of your casserole dish as shown. You just want to coat the bottom.
For the Brown Sugar version, simply add your butter then the Brown Sugar to the casserole dish and place it in a 350’F oven for about 5 min. just long enough to melt the butter.
Like So….
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While that is happening, add your Cream Cheese to a medium sized bowl.
Then add your Orange Jezebel Sauce… you can add a little or a lot!
It’s up to you!
Mix the ingredients well using a rubber spatula.
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Now that the Brown Sugar and Butter have melted nicely, remove it from the oven and set it aside.
Turn off your oven for now.
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Here are both casserole dishes ready to be filled.
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Slice your crusty bread into ¾ to 1-inch slices as shown.
Using your spatula, spread some of your Cream Cheese and Orange Jezebel mixture between the two slices of bread, basically making a sandwich as shown.
Continue to do this with all the bread slices.
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Gordon Goofing Off! 🙂
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Making the Jezebel Sandwiches…
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Then slice the sandwiches on the diagonal as shown.
Doing this will spread the sandwiches out so they reach the sides of the casserole dish.
Place your cut Cream Cheese sandwiches into the casserole dish as shown..
You want to place them cut size down.
Fill the casserole dish with as many slices as you can.
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For The Next One…
Here is a great picture of the bread we used!
Slice it the same way you did the first one.
Here you can see the Caramel based Strata.
Make your Cream Cheese sandwiches as you did previously…
Placing them cut sized down onto the Caramel, as shown.
Be sure to fill in all the spaces and gaps.
Both are Resting and Ready for the Oven
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The Egg Mixture
Here is a great picture of the next set of ingredients you will need.
Add your eggs to a medium sized bowl.
Tip: Crack your eggs on a flat surface, this will prevent eggshells from being forced into your egg if you use the pointed side of a bowl.
Whisk the eggs until combined.
Now, add your Vanilla Extract…
Then your Ground Cinnamon.
Whisk the ingredients again.
Now add your Milk and whisk once more.
Here you have basically made a common base for making French Toast!
I thought some Dried Orange Peel would be nice as it has a concentrated flavor.
Whisk the ingredients one last time.
Pour your wet mixture evenly into both casserole dishes.
Let them sit for about 10 minutes or until the bread absorbs all the milk and other ingredients.
Turn your oven to 350’F and bake your Strata’s for about 30 min. or until the milk and egg mixture are solid. Meaning, there is little to no liquid in the bottom of the casserole dish.
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When fully baked, brush on more of your amazing Orange Jezebel Sauce to the top of the Strata’s.
A Beautiful Close-Up!
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Here we will segment a Naval Orange.
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Begin by slicing off both ends of the Orange,
then slice away the orange peel using a curving motion to your slice.
Continue to remove the white pith of the orange.
Then slice between the segments to segment the orange slices.
Simply follow the thin white lines of the orange with your knife to the center.
Garnish with your orange segments as shown.
Almost time to plate the Strata!
Pictured is an old-fashioned way to remove the zest of your orange.
Add some of your Fresh Orange Zest to the top of the Strata’s.
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Looking great!
You could also add a sprinkling of Powdered Sugar here if you like!
Remove a good section of the Strata and place it on your plate, add some more of the amazing Orange Jezebel Sauce and some nicely cooked Bacon. The saltiness of the bacon goes well with this dish.
There you have it…. Time to dig in!
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Orange Jezebel Cocktail Sausages
This is an easy and delicious recipe.
It’s just 2 ingredients:
Cocktail Sausages
and,
My Orange Jezebel Sauce
My Orange Jezebel and 4 Packs of Cocktail Sausages
You may use any sausages that you like. These are perfect for this recipe. They are Hillshire Farm Lit’l Smokies. I first drain them into a colander to remove any excess liquid.
Because I’m making 4 packs of the sausages, I am placing 2 packs of sausages in each baggie, using about 1 jar per bag.
I start marinating these about 2-3 days before I will be cooking them. Just place them in some kind of plastic container in your fridge just in case the bag may leak. You just want to massage them around in the bag to make sure they are covered with the sauce.
When I am ready to cook them, I dump the entire bags of sausages into a colander to drain, then I place them into an un-greased casserole dish. I do not rinse them!
I then open up a new jar of my Orange Jezebel and add that to the sausages, making sure they are coated nicely with the sauce.
I then just stir them together…
…and then I place them into a 400F oven for about 35-40 minutes.
I do take them out after about 20 minutes or so just to stir them around.
You know they are done when they plump up.
I also love some of the charring as that is the sausages caramelizing.
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Orange Jezebel Sandwiches
Here are the completed sandwiches… and they were all really good!
Why not serve some other Orange things to go with the sandwich?
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Ingredients:
Bread Slices of your choice
Orange Jezebel – See Recipe Above
Provolone and Baby Swiss cheese slices
Cuban Style Mustard
Orange Bell Pepper – Sliced
Sweet Honey Ham – Cracker Barrel Brand
Deli Turkey Slices
Turkey Pastrami
Red Pepper Relish
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Start by heating a large sauté pan to medium heat, then spread some of the Orange Jezebel over one side of each slice of bread.
Place the bread, Jezebel side down into the sauté pan.
No butter is needed as this is a non-stick pan.
Cook the bread so that the Jezebel sauce is slightly browned and very sticky. This will take a few minutes. Then flip the bread over and brown the other side.
Here you can see the bread is nicely browned. Place the Jezebel side of the bread on the outside of the sandwich. This will make them “Finger Lickin’ Good”… I know that phrase was already taken, but it applies to this as well.
Spread a little more of the Jezebel Sauce over one side of the bread for good measure.
Then add your Mustard to the other side as shown.
Slice your Bell Pepper as shown producing nice wide slices.
One of our Bell Peppers was Pregnant with TWINS! 🙂
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Now add some Sweet Honey Ham slices.
Then add your Baby Swiss Cheese.
Here is the Red Pepper Relish we used… it provided some nice sweet heat.
Spread the Red Pepper Relish on top of the cheese.
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Close the sandwich and slice!
Nice!
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Now for another variation…Spread your Orange Jezebel over both slices of bread and place the Jezebel side down in the sauté pan as you did previously.
Cook until slightly browned.
As I was waiting, I placed some Cuban Mustard and Orange Jezebel on the other side of the bread.
Now add your Provolone and Bell Pepper slices.
Then I am adding some of our leftover Turkey.
The Turkey Pastrami and Red Pepper Relish goes on next.
Close up the sandwich and cook for another minute or two, just until the bread is nicely browned as shown.
Remove from the pan…
Slice diagonally as shown for a great presentation.
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You can also use your Toaster:
Toast the bread as shown.
Place the toasted bread on a plate…
Then add your Orange Jezebel and Cuban Mustard to the inside of the sandwich.
Now add your Bell Pepper, Baby Swiss, and Turkey Pastrami…
Then add your Red Pepper Relish, a slice or two of the Sweet Honey Ham, Provolone Cheese, and some Black Pepper.
Join the sandwich together and slice on the diagonal!
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Excellent Lunch, or Light Dinner
A Great Saturday Sandwich!
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Here you have three great sandwiches each with their own distinct flavors.
Julie and I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
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Leftover Spatchcock Turkey
Using the leftover meat, we made pressed sandwiches using Julie’s Florida Jezebel Sauce… absolutely delicious!
To start, use some good crusty bread.
These were perfect in size and thickness.
I love Swiss Cheese so we shredded a good amount of it.
I love to use our cast iron skillets as they hold the heat well and are great for frying. I placed about 1 Tbsp. of olive oil into the pan and spread it around using a paper towel and turned up the temperature to medium.
Slice the bread in half then spread some grainy mustard and Julie’s Florida Jezebel Sauce on each slice.
Add your sliced turkey breast and grated Swiss piled high as shown.
Then we added some fresh Spinach leaves to the top of the cheese and used the top section of the bread to close the sandwich.
Place the sandwich off center in the pan as shown.
I quickly made another sandwich…
and placed it next to the one in the pan.
I then placed another cast iron skillet on top of the sandwiches…
then placed another as shown to increase the weight.
I also pressed down on the sandwiches some to help them press evenly.
I am making another sandwich as I am sure they will be great!
After a few minutes, remove the pans and using a spatula turn the sandwiches over and cook for another few minutes until well browned and crusty.
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Time to dig in!
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Also Check Out My:
Click Here For: Julie’s Jezebel Sauce
AND,
AND,
AND,
An Old Florida Jezebel (Sauce)
AND,
One HOT Jezebel for Breakfast (Sauce, That is.)
AND,
Click Here For: More of Julie’s Jezebel Recipes to Enjoy
AND,
AND,
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Vintage Cakes
———————————————————————— Vintage Cakes From My Vintage Childhood At this writing, 2022, I am 61 and longing for my past childhood of cakes being made from scratch by the loveliest women I have ever known in my life. My Great-Grandmother’s and …
An Herb Garden Redo
(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 …
Pizza, Pizza
Pizza: Latin for “to pound, or stamp.”
The Lombardic word bizzo, or pizzo, meaning mouthful. Was brought to Italy by the Lombards in the middle of the 6th. century A.D.
A Pizza consists of a base of dough with a selection of ingredients that vary from taste to taste but mostly include tomatoes, cheese, and meat.
Who doesn’t love pizza?
(Homemade Tomato Sauce, Italian Cheeses, Pepperoni, Artichoke, Mushrooms…)
Actually, I have to admit that the first pizza I ever ate was at the age of 6. I was with my mother and some other people at a restaurant in Rome, Georgia. I didn’t want it. My mother made me eat it. I then went home and threw it up because it made me sick. So, pizza and I hardly have a’ Love at First Bite’ relationship. However, that changed as I grew up and my tastes changed. Now we love each other dearly and will always be a part of each other’s lives.
Pizza is my love story, 🙂
Julie
Sometimes the best dinners are Pizza and a Salad
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Here are just a few of our favorite Pizza’s and how we make them. We eat these flatbread pizza’s so often that to me it’s not really cooking. It’s more of a creation born out of tasteful cravings that we have every now and then.
Mini Pizza Bites?
Perhaps.
They are grilled Bell Peppers with Mozzarella Cheese, Pesto, and Basil.
Delicious bite sized goodness. 🙂
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To me, Pizza’s are a lot like fingerprints.
They are all the same, yet each one is different.
The above flatbread Naan has Hummus, Mozzarella Cheese, Green Gouda Pesto Cheese, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Grape Tomatoes.
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If you would like to check out our more traditional pizza recipes then click right here:
Grab the napkins and dig in!
We will be adding to this page over time.
Julie and Gordon
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My high school homage to my favorite then pizza, Stouffer’s French Bread Pepperoni Pizza.
Actually, still a favorite. And yes, I do eat it with a fork.
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Julie’s Easy Pizza Salad
This was something very easy and delicious that I threw together one night for dinner.
I started out with a frozen pizza and topped it with some Sundried Tomatoes marinated in olive oil, some cheeses that I had in the refrigerator such as Manchego, and a Red Pepper stuffed with Cream Cheese marinated in olive oil. I also put a few spoonfuls of Pesto over the pizza, and as always, a good sprinkling of Garlic Salt.
I then baked it according to the package instructions.
While the pizza was baking I placed some of my artisan lettuce all around a large plate.
When the pizza was done I placed it on top of the circle of lettuce, then strewed it with some Onions and Fresh Basil. Then a drizzle of salad dressing all around. I think this was either a French or Catalina Dressing.
It was DELICIOUS!!!
One of the best things I’ve ever eaten!
Just Another Version
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One of my favorite store bought pizza’s is from Sprout’s.
This Italian sausage can hit the spot when necessary. 🙂
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Never Underestimate Fresh Herbs Ability to Enhance a Pizza
Even on Those Store Bought
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You Can Always Try A Fried Egg On A Pizza
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It is Rare When the Photo of the Pizza on the box…
..Actually Matches the Pizza!
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Recipes Start Right Here
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I don’t know that this is as much of a Grilled Cheese Sandwich as it is a Pizza.
Either way, it is a grouping of various cheeses inserted between two Naan’s and baked in the oven, melting the cheese’s.
It Was Delicious, None The Less 🙂
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English Muffin Pizzas
Easy: English Muffins, Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella Cheese, Turkey Pepperoni
Bake in a 350F Oven for about 15 minutes.
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OUR PIZZA SANDWICHES
Everything You Want On Top of a Pizza, Except in a Sandwich
(Recipe Down Below)
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Naan and Flatbread
Ideas and Suggestions
To me, Julie, there really aren’t recipes associated with pizzas anymore.
They are more suggestions and ideas.
At this writing in 2022, I am 61 years old and I grew up eating frozen pizzas from the grocery stores that just weren’t that good when I was growing up. It never really occurred to us to add a multitude of toppings or sauces, or even cheeses. I pretty much just added a bit of Garlic Powder to my frozen Cheese Pizza. Sometimes I would add some mushrooms in water from a jar.
The only good pizzas when I was growing up were purchased at a Pizza Hut and then a bit later on, at Dominoes Pizza.
But now things are different. You can buy a delicious frozen pizza at the grocery store and add your own updated toppings to suit your tastes. Or, you can buy some flatbreads or Naan and create your very own unique pizzas for lunch or dinner.
The pizza’s that you see here are mine and Gordon’s.
We used Naan (Bread), Hummus, Various Cheeses, Sundried Tomatoes in Olive Oil, Pesto, and my favorite Pepperoncini stuffed with Cream Cheese in a Spicy Hot Olive Oil.
These are a Favorite of Mine Whether on Pizzas or anywhere!
Our Naan’s! Gordon’s to the left, mine to the right.
Don’t just limit yourselves to Mozzarella. I used a Red Wine Cheddar on mine that I adore! That and some Pesto, and those great stuffed Pepperoncini.
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More of those Excellent Cream Cheese Stuffed Pepperoncini’s Topping my Pizza
I simply took a frozen pizza and added some of my Manchego Cheese, some Pesto, some Cream Cheese Pepperoncini, and then baked it in the oven following the package instructions.
You can see all the lovely olive oil on top of the pizza.
That is wonderful flavor!
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More Naan’s
The secret to making the Naan nice and crusty is to first turn the oven on 400F and when it comes to temperature, place the bottom side up in the oven. Cook for 5 minutes. Then remove from the oven and flip it to the top side and start loading up your toppings.
Before, After
Once you have loaded all of your toppings on to the top, place into the oven for 8 minutes to cook.
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Salad/Herb Pizzas
I love these because they are crunchy, and I love crunchy!
Once cooked, I place my lettuce/herbs on top of my pizzas.
They are just as crunchy the next day for lunch. I don’t even have to heat them up.
I can just eat them right out of the refrigerator.
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Shredded Green Gouda Pesto Cheese
I find that my most favorite of all pizza’s seems to be GREEN!
Green Pesto Gouda Cheese, Green Pesto, and Green Lettuce
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Flatbread Artichoke Pizza
These pizzas we made by using the elongated Flatbreads, Hummus, Cheeses, Marinated Artichokes, Sundried Tomatoes, etc. They were delicious! A sprinkling of Garlic Salt to top it off!
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Our Naan Pesto Pizza’s
I adore a Green Gouda Cheese and Mushroom Pizza with Pesto.
Don’t limit yourself to Mozzarella.
There are so many cheeses that you can use to suit your tastes.
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Also, Toppings are Endless Suggestions!
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NAAN
I told Gordon that I wanted the larger Naan and the medium sized Naan so that we can make pizza’s with them. The larger Naan is great for dinner, but the medium sized Naan is great for lunch.
I wanted to use up the cheeses that we already had, along with some pesto.
The first thing that Gordon did was to turn the oven on 400F and place the Naan in the oven to cook for 5 minutes on the bottom side of the Naan. Now, it is ready for the toppings.
I told Gordon that I wanted a thin layer of my Red Pepper Hummus on the Naan. I then wanted some mozzarella and some grated Pesto Gouda on top.
Followed by a few blobs of Pesto.
Next, some sliced Mushrooms with a drizzle of the Olive Oil from the marinated Sundried Tomatoes.
As well as a few Sundried Tomatoes on my pizza.
Now, it’s time for a sprinkling of Garlic Salt and then placed into the oven for about 8 minutes until done.
Perfection at it’s best!
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Making Naan With Leftovers
Here We Topped the Naan with some Stuffed Peppers and Stuffed Mushrooms.
Always start with the Naan having been baked in a 400F oven for 5 minutes, and then place the Hummus on the top portion of the Naan. This is a Red Pepper Hummus.
Now some Cheeses and Colorful Bell Peppers are Topped, Along with a Cheesy Stuffed Mushroom.
Now Baked. Always use your refrigerator as an inspiration.
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A Cornmeal Pizza
We used two Corn Meal Pizza Crusts here.
They were ready made.
We then added some Pizza Sauce, some Artichoke Piccata Sauce, some Mozzarella Slices…
The Artichoke Piccata Sauce
Getting Ready for the Oven
A 400F Oven to Melt and Cheeses
Some Turkey Pepperoni and Some of our Garden Basil
Perfect! Enjoy!
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Italian Basil Left, Thai Basil Right
And Lots of Pesto!
More Beautiful and Delicious Pizzas
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Italian Grilled Squash Alfredo Sauce Artisan Pizza
Makes 2 Artisan Pizzas
Ingredients:
2 Zucchini – sliced into triangular wedges
2 Yellow Squash – sliced into triangular wedges
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
2 Artisan Flatbread – (Stonefire brand)
1 Cup Creamy Basil Alfredo sauce – (Bertolli brand)
1/2 Cup Red Pepper sauce plus 4 Tbsp. to top the pizza – recipe is found below
1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
18 Fresh Mozzarella Balls – (Bel Gioioso brand)
10 Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes – sliced in half
1/4 Cup Sweet Onion – half circle slices
Garlic Salt to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh Herbs to Garnish
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Slice your Zucchini into 2 inch rounds, then slice those on a bias as shown to make triangles. Do the same with the Yellow Squash.
Julie wanted the pizza to look 3-D. 🙂
Pictured are the Artisan Naan, Heirloom tomatoes, and Mozzarella Cheese we used for this recipe.
In a mixing bowl toss the cut squash with salt, pepper, and olive oil.
Grill the Zucchini and Yellow Squash on your grill. Here I used a wire rack used to cool bread and cookies, so the squash wouldn’t fall through the grill grates. Grill them for about 8 min. on each side over medium high heat.
Place your Naan into a 400’F oven bubble side (Top) down for 5 min.
When done, place them top side up on a baking sheet.
Place some foil under the Naan slices as shown.
Using a large spoon, spread the Creamy Basil Alfredo in a thin layer over both Naan up to the edges.
With another spoon, spread the Red Pepper sauce in a zig-zag pattern.
(This Roasted Red Pepper Sauce recipe is listed below this one.)
Top the Alfredo Sauce and Red Pepper Dip with a thin layer of shredded Mozzarella.
Now, evenly disperse your Zucchini and Yellow Squash over the Naan, about 8 slices per Naan.
Now, evenly distribute the heirloom tomatoes and Mozzarella balls.
Place some of your onion slices evenly over the toppings then top with some more of the Red Pepper sauce.
Lastly, top with a sprinkling of garlic salt. Bake in a 400’F oven for 8 min. or more you melt the cheese. If you like, you could broil the Naan pizza after it has baked to get a little char on the onions.
DELIZIOSA!
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Sausage, the Afterthought
I knew we forgot a main ingredient when we were making the pizzas from above, and here it is….
….better late than never. It made it to the leftovers.
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Roasted Red Pepper Spread/Dip/Sauce
This is an excellent dip for pita chips, or a spread for crackers, or as a dipping sauce for shrimp. Also great eaten with our fresh veggie bar.
This recipe makes a little over 2 cups.
Ingredients:
15 oz. jar of Roasted Red Bell Peppers, drained
¾ Tbsp Cumin
½ Tbsp Turmeric (To help fight off Cancer)
½ Tbsp Smoked or Regular Paprika
½ Med. Onion chopped, (Red Onion would also add to the color)
2 Garlic Cloves, chopped
3 to 4 Tbsp Lemon Juice
3 Tbsp Plain Greek Yogurt
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 packages 8 oz. light or reg. Cream Cheese (softened)
In a blender first mix all the ingredients except the cream cheese until just combined. Then add the cream cheese and blend until smooth.
When done top with a sprinkling of paprika or chopped scallions!
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Getting out all of my ingredients and allowing my Cream Cheese to come to room temperature.
Placing My Ingredients Into a Blender
Onion, and Lemon
Everything Into the Blender, Now Puree Until Smooth
Place Into Dipping Containers and Refrigerate
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OUR PIZZA SANDWICHES
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I, Julie, am the one that came up with this idea. I just wanted a pizza in the form of a sandwich so we set about creating these. They are delicious! Especially with the cheesy crusty bread and our fresh herbs from our garden. In doing the write-up both Gordon and myself are wanting this again very soon.
Hope you enjoy!
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Write up by Gordon:
Ingredients:
1 Loaf English Muffin Bread – Garlic Bread is also a good choice, Sliced
12 Slices Capicola Ham
12 Slices Pepperoni
1 Jar (Classico) Pizza Sauce
1 1/2 Cups Grated Mozzarella Cheese
Butter as needed
1 Lb. Pre-sliced Mozzarella Cheese Log
1 tsp. Dried Oregano
4 Basil Leaves – 2 per sandwich
Garlic Salt to taste
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Slice your bread to ~3/4 inch thickness using a bread knife.
Using a large pan, cook your Capicola Ham slices over medium heat. No oil is necessary to cook them.
When browned on one side, flip and cook until browned on the other side. Place them on a paper towel when done to absorb any excess fat.
Do the same with the Pepperoni slices as shown.
Place them on a paper towel when done. Here you can see all the fat the paper towels absorb.
Pour your Pizza Sauce into a small pot…
and turn to medium heat.
Using a clean large pan that has been heated to medium heat, place 1 Tbsp. of butter and 1/4 Cup grated Mozzarella Cheese into the pan, then place a slice of bread on top of the cheese
Cook the cheese for a minute or so until the cheese browns as shown. When done add some more butter to the pan and turn the bread over and brown the other side for about 3 minutes.
For the middle section of bread of the sandwich, simply add some butter and cook on both sides until browned.
For the bottom section of the sandwich, add more butter to the pan, then add your grated Mozzarella Cheese as before.
Then top with a slice of bread and cook until browned as shown.
Place your bread slices on a sheet pan lined with non-stick foil, with first slice having the cheese side down.
To assemble the sandwiches, place a dollop of Pizza Sauce on the non-cheese side of the top piece of bread, then top some sauce on the middle slice. Spread the Pizza Sauce evenly over the bread as shown.
Add a few slices of the Mozzarella over the first slice of bread.
Then add 4 slices of your Pepperoni on top of the sliced Mozzarella.
Now place your middle slice of bread on top of the Pepperoni, then add some more sliced Mozzarella and 4 slices of Capicola Ham as shown.
Add more sauce to the top of the Capicola slices then add some dried Oregano to taste. Now add your fresh Basil leaves to the Pizza Sauce.
Place the top slice of bread with the melted Mozzarella Cheese on top of sandwich. Add some Garlic Salt to taste, to the top of the sandwich.
Bake the sandwiches at 350’F for about 10 minutes or until the sliced Mozzarella inside the sandwich melts.
We hope you enjoy these Pizza inspired sandwiches as much as we did!
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Next Day Leftovers….
…With Some Potato Sticks
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The Leftovers Pizza Naan
We Created This Simply By Using Up Our Leftovers
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Ingredients We Used:
Naan
Leftover Shrimp
Roasted Garlic
Goat Cheese
Purple Moon Cheese (A Favorite!)
Pesto
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Some of This was Take-Out
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Gordon Toasting the Naan
This is a step that we do that most people don’t. We will toast our Naan on both sides for just a few minutes in a 350F oven.
It will just crisp it up a bit before you place your toppings.
Now that the Naan is nice and warm, Gordon is grating our Purple Moon Cheese on top.
In the back above, Gordon has smooshed some of the Roasted Garlic and is spreading it on the Naan.
He is now placing Goat Cheese on the Naan in the back, top.
Naan in the front have dollops of Pesto.
Place the Naan back into the oven with the Shrimp Toppings, just to warm them through and melt the Cheeses.
I Always Top Mine With Some Sort of Lettuce
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An Easy Tandoori Flatbread Pizza
My Very Simple Ingredients:
Tandoori Flatbread
Jarred Pizza Sauce
Marinated Pearl Mozzarella Balls
Red Grape Tomatoes
Garlic Salt
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Tandoori also makes an excellent Pizza. We do like to toast our bread before we add the toppings.
Just a few minutes on each side in a 350F oven.
Slicing My Tomatoes in Half
I LOVE these Marinated Mozzarella Balls!
They are marinated in Olive Oil with some lovely Herbs and Spices, adding more flavor to your Pizza.
With My Tandoori Ready….
I’ve Added Them to a Foil Lined Baking Sheet
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We love this Garlic Salt and add it to many of our Pizza creations.
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With My Pizza Sauce, Marinated Mozzarella Balls, Grape Tomatoes and Garlic Salt…
I Baked it in the 350F oven for about 10 minutes. But, it is up to you to decide how well done you prefer yours.
Don’t forget the Lettuce!
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We hope that you enjoy some of our Pizza recipes and ideas. Some of them are very easy and simple. But, it may not be something that you had thought of previously, that perhaps just might make you think of creating something similar that you hadn’t considered before.
Pizza, Pizza,
Julie and Gordon
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ONO Hawaiian
(I took the photo above when we first moved to Hawaii in 1986. This is Diamond Head side of the island.) We sure do miss riding around the island playing tourists. ————————————————————– ALOHA! May Day is Lei Day When I was a …
Sixty’s, (Sensational or Surviving?) We’ll see, right?
Welcome to My Sixty’s Currently Aging to Perfection (Or Rotting and Disintegrating? But I swear this to you, as long as there are moisturizers and Loreal Superior Performance Medium Blonde, I will always be here for you.) 🙂 When I look …
Julie and Gordon Whann Way Mexicana Cuatro
HOLA!
HOT! HOT! HOT!
Growing Jalapeno’s in our Backyard
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Sometimes It’s Nice Just Picking up Dinner at The Latin Supermarket
Grilled Chicken Breast with Peppers, Yuka Fries and Yellow Rice, Sides of Red Beans, Black Beans, and Gordon’s Roast Mojo Pork, Sweet Plantains and Black Rice with a side of Mofongo.
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Bienvenido a nuestro cuatro pagina web de inspiracion Mexicana.
(Welcome to our 4th. Mexican inspired webpage.)
This time Gordon was here to help me with this one. My first tres Mexicana webpages were done by me alone while Gordon was working overseas. It’s nice he’s here to help build this one. We love Latin / Mexican foods and we especially love adding our take to some of the recipes that we love the most. Which is why nothing here will ever be authentic and only ever inspired.
Feliz de que estes aqui,
Julie and Gordon Whann
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An Easy Weeknight Treat
I would love to say that this is one of our homemade recipes but actually we bought this ready-made and in the freezer section at our commissary. Just an easy dinner that you can cook up yourself on the stove top and ready in about 30 minutes. Sometimes we add an extra bell pepper or two. We definitely add a few of our favorite spices to spice things up a bit more. Just place into ready-made tortillas and roll up with some sour cream and fresh cilantro from your garden. Top with your favorite hot sauce.
Eat it till it ouches you!
Not Everything Has to be Homemade to be Delicious
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A New Favorite Mustard
A Light Lunch for Dos
What you see here is our Tocino Pork Mini-Sandwiches on the Sweet/Whole Wheat Hawaiian Dinner Rolls with the Tequila Mustard from above and some of our Cilantro from our herb garden.
Also, a few Plantain Chips seasoned by the juice from that Jalapeno Pepper that is leaking onto them.
Not totally Mexican but definitely inspired because of.
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Our Authentic Tortilla Maker
Our Homemade Tortillas
(We will show you how down below. Hint: It’s EASY.)
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Julie’s Wild Grain Lime Rice
(Recipe Down Below)
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Our Mexican Spiced Cheese Ball
Rolled in Dried Cilantro
and served with….
Cuban Crackers and Plantain Chips
(Recipe Down Below)
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Beautiful Colorful Peppers Play a BIG Role in our Mexican Foods
Washed and Drying in the Cocina
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Our Poblano Stuffed Grilled Mole Chicken Breasts
These Will Make Great Fajitas
(Recipe Down Below)
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Our Cinco de Mayo Fajita Buffet
Don’t Forget the Corona
THE WORKS!
Our Homemade Tortillas, Grilled Mole Chicken, Colorful Bell Peppers, Grilled Spring Onions, Fresh Cilantro, Chopped Spring Onions, Sour Cream, Mexican Cheeses, Mexican Sauces and Hot Sauces, Limes, and Julie’s Wild Grain Lime Rice.
Colorful and Delicious
Topped with a bit of Queso, Avocado and Lime
And some Pico de Gallo
(Recipes All Down Below)
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Poblano Stuffed Grilled Mole Chicken Breast Sandwiches
We set aside two of these breasts just for this. 🙂
Another Great Way to Eat our Mole Stuffed Chicken Breasts
w/ Mango and Lime
With Colorful Bell Peppers
The Build up of the Sandwich
Bottom to Top: Lettuce, Sauce, Chicken, sprinkling of Chili Powder, Tomatoes, Sour Cream, more Sauces, between two slices of Bread.
You can have the Mango in the Sandwich or on the Side
(Recipe Down Below)
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Our Leftover Chicken Mole in Nachos
There are so many delicious ways to eat it.
WE LOVE NACHOS!!!!
We made these with all the leftovers that you see above. Tortilla Chips, Refried Beans, Chicken Mole, Pico de Gallo, Black Beans, Chopped Spring Onions, Sour Cream, Various Spices such as Chili Powder, and Fresh Limes.
Although the recipe is down below I will say that Nachos are such a fun and easy food to make and eat.
Sometimes a bit messy, but always a lot good!
So Very Easy To Make and Eat
(Recipe Down Below)
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Throw Together Nachos
Gathering Foods From the Refrigerator and Pantry
Also, Our Secret Ingredient is Spiced and Sauteed Cauliflower
(Recipe Down Below)
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Chorizo, Kale and Spinach Tortilla Omelet
Made with our Leftover Tortillas
(Recipe Down Below)
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Our Baked Queso Fresco Cheese
(Think Mexican Baked Brie)
Wrapped in a Tortilla and Banana Leaves
(Recipe Down Below)
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Tostadas de Pescado
Spicy Cod and Mojo Cabbage Tostadas
Fish Tacos/Tostadas originated in Baja, California in Mexico
Crispy Tostada Shells
Delicious Tostadas in the Making
Refried Beans topped with Queso, Chives and Spring Onions, Left
Baked Spicy Cod in Marinated Mojo Cabbage
Tostadas Ready to Assemble
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Shell, Refried Beans, Cod, Mojo Cabbage, Fresh Cilantro…..
Topped with Sour Cream and Tomato Salsa
(Recipes Down Below)
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Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Shrimp
Cheese Stuffed/Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Peppers
(Recipes Down Below)
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Leftover Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Peppers
And Guacamole
Leftover Latin
Leftover Cod, Leftover Shrimp, Leftover Mole Verde, Leftover Tortillas, Leftover Guacamole, Leftover Tostadas, Leftover Cabbage, Leftover Spring Onions, Leftover Cilantro.
It’s Great Throwing Leftovers Together
Excellent Shrimp Dip
(Recipes Down Below)
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Our Mole Verde
Julie’s Mole Verde Deviled Eggs
(Recipes Down Below)
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In The Cocina
Just a Mole Verde Snack
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Beautiful Green Jalapeno Peppers and Red Tomatoes
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Marinating Cocktail Sausages
(You can see them marinating in that baggie to my right, your left.)
In order to make my Mexican Sausages I simply marinated them in our Spicy Hot Mexican Cranberry Sauce
Click Here For: Spicy Hot Mexican Cranberries
I also used the juice of probably 2 limes and marinated the cocktail sausages for about 24 hours prior to.
I then just placed them into a casserole dish and baked in the oven uncovered for close to an hour in a 350F oven. I would remove them every 20 minutes to stir them around. I knew they were ready when they were all plump.
Into the Oven They Go
And When They Are Done
Perfect!
A Nice Twist on Cocktail Sausages
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Our Mexican Grill
Grilled Tequila Wings and Drumettes
Our Tequila Wings Marinade Cooked Down to a Dipping Sauce
Spicy Scallops Ready for the Grill
Spicy Grilled Scallops
Also a few Grilled Tomatoes
The Tequila Wing and Drumette Marinade Dip for Little Toasts
A Very Easy, Tasty Light Meal
(Recipes Down Below)
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Stuffed Sweet and Jalapeno Peppers
This is probably the most popular of Mexican food in our area, stuffing the peppers with cheeses and chorizo.
I love a variety of peppers.
Jalapeno, as well as some nice sweet.
Take out a baking sheet and line it with aluminum foil. Do a light spray of an oil. Even though you will be wrapping them in bacon, sometimes they still stick.
Here I am frying up a bit of Chorizo to stuff the peppers with.
Place on a paper towel to drain.
I have already slit the peppers down the middle and removed all the seeds, washing them and drying them.
Stuffing the Peppers with Cheeses and Chorizo
Wrapping Them in Bacon and Securing with Toothpicks
Place Into a 400F Oven for 15 Minutes Cut Side Down
After 15 Minutes Remove and Turn Over, Baking Another 15 Minutes
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Our Baked Spicy Cod in Marinated Mojo Cabbage
Ingredients:
1 Cabbage Head – cored and sliced thinly
~ 16 Cherry Tomatoes
~ 2 Cups Mojo Marinade
1 Large Cod Fillet
2-3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 Tbsp. Ground Cumin
1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
1/2 Tbsp. Ground Jalapeno
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Fresh Vegetables Washed and Drying
Mojo Marinade and Cabbage
Slice the head of cabbage in half then slice around the core and remove it.
Slice the cabbage in 1/4 inch slices and place all the sliced cabbage in a large bowl.
Pour the Mojo marinade over the sliced cabbage and mix well to combine.
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Here is our Cod fillet which I just removed from the bag it came in which kept it on ice.
Place your olive oil over a large sheet pan as shown and spread it evenly over the pan using your fingers or a piece of cabbage.
Spread the marinated cabbage over the sheet pan.
Place the Cod fillet on top of the marinated cabbage.
Add your cherry tomatoes to the cabbage and Cod.
Just dot them around the pan.
Sprinkle your Ground Cumin over the Cod…
Then your Chili Powder…
and lastly your Ground Jalapeno.
Add more or less of the spices to suit your taste.
Bake the Cod in a preheated 400’F oven for ~10-15 min. or until fish flakes easily.
Smells Wonderful!!
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Baked Re-fried Beans
This is very easy and a favorite of ours.
Just open a can of Re-fried Beans.
Any one that you prefer and spread them out onto some sort of baking dish or in our case, this perfect cast iron skillet.
Now just top with some of your favorite cheeses. We used a Queso Fresco here.
It crumbles very easily and melts nice too.
Here Gordon is topping with some of our freshly cut Chives from our garden and some chopped Spring Onions.
Next, place into a 400F oven for about 15- 20 minutes.
You just want the cheese to melt and the beans to warm up.
We did drizzle a bit of our Chili Oil over top.
An excellent side for any Mexican meal. Don’t forget the tortilla chips!
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Baked Cod with Mojo Cabbage
This was so delicious!
Our Cod Draped on a Bed of Mojo Cabbage and Encircled with our Fresh Cilantro
Salsa Verde, Hot Sauce, Pickled Jalapeno’s, and Sour Cream
Fresh Cilantro from our Herb Garden
Freshly Washed Iceberg Lettuce is also a Topping
Gordon Building His Tostada
California did Popularize Fish Tacos in America
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Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Shrimp
Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Peppers
Bacon, Shrimp, Jalapeno Peppers
Oaxaca and Queso Fresco Cheeses
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I’ve got 2 recipes going on here:
One is the Bacon Wrapped Shrimp and the other is the Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers
Let’s Start With The Shrimp
The only ingredients for these are Shrimp, Jalapeno Pepper strips and Bacon.
The shrimp we bought frozen and just thawed out.
They had no shells on them.
The Jalapeno Peppers we just washed and sliced and de-seeded and cut them into strips.
Here Gordon is taking a Shrimp and a Jalapeno strip and wrapping them in Bacon and securing with a toothpick.
Here Gordon is placing the Bacon Wrapped Shrimp and Jalapeno’s onto an aluminum foil lined pan. Even though we are using bacon sometimes it still sticks to the pan so lightly spray a cooking oil onto the foil before placing the food onto it.
All Ready for the Oven
Place into a 400F Oven for 20-25 Minutes.
Each oven varies so you may monitor the cooking.
You want the bacon to get a bit crispy.
Looking Delicious!
In the photo below Gordon is adding a sprinkling of Chili Powder.
I suppose this batch needed a few more minutes as it is going back into the oven.
Todo Listo!
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This was just something that we thought we would try as an accent to our appetizers.
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Now It’s Time to Stuff our Jalapeno Peppers
To me the hardest part of making these is slicing them into and cleaning the seeds out. The fumes really do get to me! My eyes water and my nose runs. I am constantly blowing my nose and wiping my eyes. I usually get either Gordon or Brodie to do this process for me.
Here Gordon has stuffed the Jalapeno Peppers with Queso Fresco and/or Oaxaco Cheese and then wrapped them in Bacon, securing with a toothpick.
Placed onto a foil lined pan and placed into a 400F Oven for 15 minutes cut side down. Then remove and turn over and cook an additional 15 minutes until done.
Todo Listo!
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Latin Leftovers
(With the exception of 1 new recipe here.)
Our leftover Cod, Tostado Shells, Iceberg Lettuce, Cilantro, Shrimp, Guacamole, Bacon Wrapped Shrimp with Jalapeno Peppers, and Bacon Wrapped Cheese Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers, and…..
Our Leftover Poblano Grilled Salsa
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Here is Where it Starts
We had some leftover shrimp and some leftover Mojo Marinade….
So….. 24 hours marinating in the fridge.
Time to Grill the Leftover Poblanos and Tomatoes
Grilling our Mojo Marinated Shrimp
Gordon Removing the Char From the Grilled Peppers
Leftover Peeled and Roasted Garlic Cloves
(Each will add a different flavor.)
Into the Blender are a few of the Roasted Garlic Cloves, Tomatoes, and Peppers
Time to Soften Some Onions on the Stove Top in Olive Oil
Adding Some Freshly Ground Black Pepper and some Hawaiian Sea Salt
Add a touch of Lea & Perrin’s Worcestershire Sauce to the blender.
Then add a little lime juice for the acidity, then a heaping Tbsp. of Horseradish, and Olive Oil.
Saute the onions over medium heat turning often until they are slightly browned, about 10 min. time.
Also add a touch of lemon juice to add to the acidity of the dip.
Here the onions are caramelized to my liking and now I will add them to the blender.
Blend to puree the ingredients to a consistency of your liking.
Using a rubber spatula, remove the blended ingredients and place into a bowl.
Our Baked Tostada Shells For Our Leftovers
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Heating Up Our Jalapeno Shrimp Apps in the Oven
In the meantime I decided to use up our Avocados and make some Guacamole.
It was easy. I just followed the package instructions and added some Lime Juice.
Dotting the Bacon Wrapped Goodies Along the Guacamole 🙂
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Leftover Cod
Add a Tbsp. or more of olive oil to a small saute pan and heat it to medium heat. Add some of your Cod fillet pieces to the pan.
Add some Ground Cumin to the fish and saute until slightly heated cooking the fish on both sides.
Another Way to Eat the Leftovers
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Mole Verde
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Ingredients:
2 Cups Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
2 1/2 to 3 Cups Chicken Stock
Ground Cloves – large pinch
7 Tomatillo – sliced in quarters
1/2 Red Onion – diced
1/2 Yellow Onion – diced
2 Jalapeno Peppers – One seeded and sliced, the other one sliced into rounds.
4 Garlic Cloves – sliced
5-6 Thyme sprigs
1 Tbsp. Dried Marjoram
1 Red Tomato – quartered
2-3 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
3 Bay Leaves
4 Tbsp. Fresh Cilantro – chopped
Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste
1/4 tsp. Turmeric Powder
Salt to taste
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Garnish with:
Cilantro Leaves
Jalapeno – sliced in rounds
Fresh Ingredients
Ready to be Chopped
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You will need a large saucepan for this as well as a blender.
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Place your two cups of pumpkin seeds into the blender.
Add ~ 1 Cup of Chicken Stock to the blender and blend until mostly smooth.
Add a pinch of ground cloves.
Our Tomatillos
Slice your Tomatillos into quarters as shown and place them into the blender.
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Now peel and slice your red onion as shown,
and add it to the blender.
Peel and slice your yellow onion,
and add it to your blender.
Slice your jalapeno in half and remove the seeds.
Now, slice the jalapeno into half rings and add them to the blender.
Slice your Garlic as Shown
Adding the Garlic and Thyme
Add your marjoram to the blender.
RED TOMATO
Slice your red tomato into quarters and add it to the blender.
Blend all the ingredients until they are almost smooth.
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Add your vegetable oil to a large saute pan. Once heated to a medium-high temperature, then add the blender ingredients.
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Bay Leaves From Gordon’s Sister Heather’s Backyard Tree
Add your bay leaves to the mixture and saute over medium high heat to cook the seeds and vegetables.
Here I am slicing the jalapeno rounds for the garnish.
Continue to cook the ingredients while stirring.
Here I am adding more stock to the pan to help further cook the seeds until they become tender.
Again, continue to stir the ingredients so they don’t stick and burn.
Here, I am chopping the cilantro leaves.
When the Mole Verde is almost fully cooked, add the chopped cilantro.
I wanted the mole to be a little more smooth, so I placed it back into the blender.
Now, add your pepper, turmeric, and salt to the mole.
Blend until very smooth then add them to your serving dish.
Garnish with some of your sliced jalapeno rings and whole cilantro leaves.
Enjoy!
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How to Eat the Mole Verde
You can eat it as a dip with tortillas chips like I am here or…
you can eat it on a Tostada Shell with Chicken, tomatoes, lettuce and herbs.
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Mole Verde to Top my Tostadas
Delicioso!
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Another Way to Eat the Mole Verde
Julie’s Mole Verde Deviled Eggs
Browning Some Chorizo
So Excited to Bring to You MY Chorizo and Mole Verde Deviled Eggs
The first thing that I did was to hard boil a few eggs. If you don’t know how, all you have to do is to fill a large pot with water and add a bit of salt to it. Bring the water to a boil with as many eggs as you wish to boil in the water. Turn the burner on high and when it starts to boil turn it down to a medium-high and boil for a total of about 10 minutes.
Remove the eggs from the water and place into a bowl and place into the sink filled with cold water to stop the cooking process. Once cooled then place the eggs into the refrigerator into a bowl to allow the eggs to cool. Sometimes I leave them overnight. Other times I do this a few hours before I am ready to make my Deviled Eggs.
Now I start by adding my ingredients:
I am just eyeballing this.
But first you remove the shells from the cooked eggs and discard them. You next want to slice the eggs in half and remove the yellow yolks and place them into a bowl.
Here are the yellow yolks, I have added Mayonnaise and Yellow Mustard. Now I am adding some Salsa Verde and some Green Chili Hot Sauce. I also added some freshly ground black pepper. I then added some of our leftover Mole Verde, maybe about a half a cup.
Just Mix Together
I had the best time placing the cooked Chorizo Sausages into each little Egg. As if there is a hidden surprise when you bite into them.
Now It’s time to place the egg mixture over each sausage and then top with some Chili Powder and a sliced Jalapeno Pepper.
Excelente!
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A Chili Dog on one of my Mexican Pottery Plates
(It serves no purpose other than that I just wanted to photograph it.) 🙂
Just Showcasing The Mole Verde Deviled Eggs Here
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Mexican Inspired Cocktail Sausages
This is a more detailed explanation of my sausages that I write above.
Before the Oven, After the Oven
You always look for the sausages to be plump when done.
My Ingredients:
2 Packages of Chicken Sausages
Small Jar of our Mexican Cranberries
One Orange, Rind, Juice and Pulp
One Lime, Rind, Juice and Pulp
A Few Shots of Hornitos Tequila
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You first want to drain the liquid from your sausages.
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Place the sausages into a large baggie and grate onto them your orange and lime rind zest. Now, slice in two and squeeze the juice and pulp from each half of the Orange and Lime.
Now add a few shots of Hornitos
Next I am adding quite a bit of our Mexican Cranberries to the mixture.
(I have the link for our Mexican Cranberries listed above when I originally talk about this recipe.)
You want this to marinate in the refrigerator overnight, or 24 to 48 hours prior.
My Sausages Ready for a 400F Oven
I just placed them into a casserole dish.
Into the Oven They Go!
These sausages took about 45 minutes or so until they were all nice and plump. I did remove them and stir them around every 20 minutes. Just watch them for when you prefer their doneness.
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Mexican Spiced Grilled Scallops, Grilled Tomatoes, Mexican Cheese, and Tequila Wings
Grilling the Scallops, Tomatoes, and the Chicken Wings
The Sauce to the left above is the marinade for the Tequila Wings simmering down.
This is that Sauce!
We Decided to use it as a Bruschetta on little Toasts
Our Great Light Dinner
I, Julie, am NOT a wing person. However, these are my new favorite wings and I told Gordon that I am all for Wing Night as long as they are these. 🙂
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Recipe For Our Grilled Tequila Wings
Ingredients:
1 Family Pack of Chicken Wings – cut into sections
Zest of 2 Limes
Zest of 1 Orange
Juice of 1 Mandarin Orange
Juice of 2 Limes
Juice of 2 Oranges
1 tsp. Ground Cumin
1 1/2 tsp. Chili Powder
1/2 tsp. Ground Allspice
1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. Dried Oregano Leaves
2 shots Hornitos Tequila – to your taste
~ 3/4 Cup Smokey Chipotle Salsa – we used Chi-Chi’s Fiesta Style
2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
1 – 2 Tbsp. sugar – to your taste
~20 Garlic Cloves – chopped thinly
1/2 tsp. Hot Sazon Caliente Seasoning – Badia brand
1/2 tsp. Ground Chipotle
1/2 tsp. Sazon Complete Seasoning – Badia brand
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Chicken Wing Family Pack
Zest your Lime into a large bowl.
Now, do the same with your Orange.
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Juice your Mandarin Orange, Limes, and Oranges into the bowl.
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Add your Ground Cumin and Chili Powder to the bowl.
Then add your Ground Allspice, Ground Cinnamon, and Oregano Leaves to the bowl.
Here you can see the amounts I used. Use a much or as little as you like.
Here I am pouring the tequila into the bowl. Again use a much or as little as you like… but they are called Tequila Wings. 🙂
Now, add your chipotle salsa.
Then add your vegetable oil to the bowl.
Add your sugar to the bowl.
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Now, chop all of your garlic.
ADD, and..
mix all the ingredients, and taste.
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Slice your chicken into sections as shown and place them into a sturdy zip lock bag.
Here, after I tasted the marinade, I felt it could use some more seasonings…
Here I added some Hot Sazon and more Chili Powder…
then some Ground Chipotle and some Sazon Complete Seasoning.
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Then it needed some more tequila!
Stir and taste again.
With adding those other ingredients, I felt it needed more sugar.
Stir it all up again to dissolve the sugar and taste again….
Perfect!
Pour the marinade into the bag with the chicken.
Place the closed bag of marinating chicken into a large clean bowl just in case the bag rips. Let the wings marinade in the refrigerator overnight or longer if desired.
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Meanwhile……
The Grilled Scallops
Ingredients:
~ 40 Sea Scallops
2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tbsp. Ground Chipotle
1 tsp. Ground Pimenton Picante
1 Tbsp. Roasted Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp. Sweet Paprika
2 Tbsp. Chili Lime Rub – Weber brand
11 Thick Wooden Skewers
Rinse your Scallops and drain them well.
Pat them dry if needed and place them in a large bowl.
Our Ingredients
Add your olive oil to the Scallops.
The olive oil helps to adhere the spices to the Scallops.
Add your Chipotle and Picante seasonings to the Scallops.
Then add your Roasted Garlic and Sweet Paprika to the Scallops.
Lastly, add in your Chili Lime Rub.
It may look like a lot of seasoning, but once you mix it all over the Scallops it disperses nicely.
Use your clean hands to mix the Scallops and Spices.
Use two skewers for the larger scallops as shown. I like to push them in at the same time holding the scallops down firmly. Using two skewers prevents the scallops from rolling on the skewer when turning them.
The scallops will shrink when cooked, which is why I don’t use two skewers on the smaller ones.
Place the skewered scallops on a plate to easily transfer them to the grill.
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Grilling the Tequila Chicken Wings
Ready to Grill the Scallops
Here I am grilling the Tequila Chicken Wings where I started them out on the upper shelf of the grill as the scallops won’t take long to cook. The grill was first heated on high using all four burners for 5 min. Then I turned the grill down to medium. Doing this gives the meat a nice sear and cooks off any leftover bits from the last grilling. I also use a wire brush to remove the cooked on items from the grill before placing any food on it.
I placed the Marinade in a large pot and cooked it to a boil to make it safe to eat. We will use it like a hot salsa later on once it cooks down and becomes thick. I add some more of the seasonings like the Chili Powder, Chipotle, Sazon, and Paprika to the Wings.
Here is a close up of the wings from Julie… Nice!
Here, you can see the Marinade boiling on my grills side burner.
The Scallops and Tomatoes ready to go onto the grill with the chicken.
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Here you can see the nice char I got onto the Wings.
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Now that the Wings are mostly cooked, I can place on the Scallops.
As the Scallops cook, they will season the Wings above them.
Here you can see how I loaded my grill up with all the items.
The grill is still on medium heat.
Add your Tomatoes to the grill and spray them with a touch of Olive Oil. Grill the Scallops for about 5 min. on each side or until each side turn slightly white and the Scallops get a little char on them.
Here I plated the Scallops, grilled Tomatoes, and Chicken Wings on a large platter.
You can also see the thickened Marinade.
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Now It’s Time to EAT!
Here, we added some Queso Fresco Cheese to the platter. The Marinade/Salsa is served with some crispy Toasted Bread.
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Our Authentic Tortilla Maker
Our Homemade Tortillas
Here are the tools and ingredients we used to make the tortillas. This was our first time making these and it was very easy to do.
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Here is the Maseca we mixed with water to make the tortilla’s.
Here I used a large bowl and made the tortilla’s as the mix described.
Now, add the cold water as the mix called for.
I used gloves to keep the mix off of my hands as I mixed it. The mix didn’t feel like dough, but had the consistency of play dough the children’s modeling compound.
Once mixed, you let the dough rest with a damp towel over it to keep it moist.
Now, I am making a ball out of the dough which is larger than a golf ball. I found that if I make it look like a hockey puck, the tortilla came out more round. We are using an 8 inch press.
Use plastic wrap over the top and bottom of the tortilla press, so the tortilla won’t stick to the press.
Fold the top of the press down then move the handle forward and press it down firmly. I pressed down until I saw the dough start to peak out of the side of the press.
Here you can see I made a somewhat round tortilla. Carefully remove the top piece of plastic wrap the carefully remove the bottom piece.
Place the tortilla in a hot cast iron skillet and cook for a few minutes on each side until slightly brown.
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Here is the hockey puck I found which worked out well for me.
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After a few times I got the hang of it and they came out a little better each time.
Here is another nice one! Nice picture Julie!!!
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I found the size of dough I was making used more than the direction called for using our 8 inch press.
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After a few, you will get in a rhythm and they turn out pretty quickly.
Here is a nice stack of them.
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Julie had the great idea to place spices into the basically bland dough. We thought Chili Powder and ground Jalapeno would be nice.
I added a few good shakes of each in the dough.
Again, add the Maseca and water as directed.
Mix the dough and let it rest topped with a moist towel.
Here again, I am using my puck shape to make the round tortillas.
Cook them for a few minutes on each side to brown.
Nice!
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Here I show you how to make the puck using my fingers and thumbs and turning it as I work the dough.
Again, place plastic wrap under and on top of the dough.
Press down firmly until you see the dough just peak out the sides of the press.
I used a rubber spatula to turn the tortilla.
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Here are our two types of tortilla’s. Enjoy!
(We bought the Tortilla Press and the Tortilla Mix at the Latin Supermarket.)
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Julie’s Wild Grain Lime Rice
This is my version of ‘Rice a Roni, The San Francisco Treat!’
Most American’s know the rice dish, and the jingle that is sung with it. A lot of us have probably made Rice a Roni in our lifetime. Well, this is my Mexican version of Rice a Roni. I had the best time making it!
Ingredients:
12 oz. Wild Rice
1 Medium Onion, Chopped
6 Garlic Cloves, Diced
32 oz. Chicken Broth
2 Limes, Zest, Juice and Pulp
1 Can Fire Roasted Diced Green Chili’s
1 t. Chili Powder
1 t. Sazon Completa
1 t. Pimenton Picante
Bunch of Fresh Cilantro
Vegetable Oil
One Lime Sliced into Rounds
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All of my Ingredients Ready
The first thing that I did was to get out our heavy cast iron pot and placed a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in it.
Next, I chopped a Medium sized Onion and placed it in the pot.
12 Ounces of Wild Grain Rice
Vegetable Oil, Onion, Diced Garlic Cloves, and Wild Grain Rice
You want to stir around in a medium-high heat constantly in order for the lighter rice to turn a brownish color. This will take 7 – 10 minutes, or until browned.
Now you want to add the Chicken Broth to the Rice.
You want to bring the rice to a boil. Stir constantly.
Now, reduce the heat to a medium and add the Diced Green Chili’s.
Adding the Spices to the Pot
Allowing the Pot to Simmer with all the Ingredients
Next, Adding all the Limes. Zest, Juice and Pulp.
That Zest is Key!
Just Slice a Lime and add some Cilantro
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Our Mexican Spiced Cheese Ball
Rolled in Dried Cilantro and Served with Cuban Crackers
This Cheese Ball was born from the Chili Con Queso spice packet I bought a few years ago at a food fare.
I then added some Cream Cheese, chopped onion, and many spices of Chili Powder, Sazon Completa, Sazon Calliente, Pimenton Picante, and Jalapeno.
Mix Everything Together and Chop the Onions
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Adding the Chili Con Queso
Adding Some More of the Spices
Dried Cilantro
Rolling My Cheese Ball into Dried Cilantro
Now It Goes Into the Refrigerator to Harden
To Be Eaten With Cuban Crackers and Plantain Chips
Delicious and a Great Appetizer
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Our Cinco de Mayo Grilled Chicken Mole Fajitas
(My colorful pottery Bell Peppers that you see at the top of the photo were bought in Mexico from Gordon and brought home to give to me. We also have another set similar somewhere else that I can’t locate.)
We wanted to do something special for Cinco de Mayo. It being Mexico’s Independence Day. America has a very large Mexican population and their food has played a big roll in the lives of many different cultures here in America. Interestingly enough, Cinco de Mayo is celebrated more here in The United States than it is in Mexico. Our own 4th. of July celebrations probably have something to do with that fact.
Here is OUR Cinco de Mayo Feast
Pictured above are our Grilled Mole Chicken Stuffed Breasts, Julie’s leftover Wild Grain Lime Rice, Our Homemade Tortillas, Pico de Gayo, Guacamole Salsa, Tomato Salsa, Sliced Avocados, Queso Fresco Cheese, Sliced Limes, Sour Cream, and Chopped Spring Onions.
Our Delicious Grilled Mole Chicken Stuffed Breasts and our Roasted Colorful Bell Peppers with Cilantro
This was so delicious!
We also ate them in more ways than you see.
I, Julie will explain further below and give you other examples than just the Fajitas here.
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Grilling our Mole Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Grilling Spring Onions as Well
The Chicken isn’t Burnt, the Mole is Black
Off the Grill and Ready to be Sliced into Longs
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The Recipe Starts Here:
Food Prep
Whatever you can do ahead to save time, then do.
I, Julie did all of this the day before.
I washed all of the Poblano and Bell Peppers, here they are drying.
I wanted everything cut into long strips.
Of course I de-seeded the pretty Bells, but if a few seeds remain that is fine too.
I wanted to use every color of the Bells that I could find.
After all, the Mexican culture is very colorful.
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I placed all the Bells into their own baggies and put into the refrigerator until the following day. But for now, that is one job out of the way.
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Now For The Chicken, and Gordon’s Write Up
Pablano Pepper Stuffed Mole Chicken
Wash your boneless chicken breasts and remove skin and the excess fat.
Pat the chicken dry, then using a sharp knife butterfly your chicken. To do this, place the chicken breast on your cutting board with the rounded side out. Slice the chicken in half keeping your blade tip about 1 inch away from the straight edge of the breast.
When butterflied, the breast will open up and look like this.
Butterfly all the breasts your are using.
Here is another picture of a butterflied chicken breast.
I place all the butterflied breasts on a plate to keep them out of the way.
Slice your pablano peppers in half as shown.
Now, remove the seeds.
Pictured is the Mole we used. I really enjoyed the flavor of this brand. The mole did come out of the jar a little thick even after mixing with a spoon and would not allow me to spread it over the chicken in this condition.
Once I added a little bit of peanut oil, I was able to get a smooth saucy consistency.
Here, I placed some of the mole inside the butterflied chicken breast…
then brushed it evenly all over the breast. I then place half of a pablano pepper inside the breast.
Now, fold the breast together as shown.
Then brush the outside of the breast on one side with the mole.
Here are all the breasts with the mole brushed on them.
I used long sturdy skewers to keep the breast together making sure I punctured the pablano pepper to keep it in place.
Here, all the breasts are now ready to be grilled.
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Now back to me, Julie. 🙂
I got out a large baking sheet and placed aluminum foil over it.
I placed in a long row all of the Bell’s that I had sliced the day before.
I then drizzled some Vegetable Oil over top of the Colorful Bell’s and then a nice sprinkling of this Sazon Compete to give the Bell’s some flavor. Here you can add whatever you like even if it is just some salt and pepper.
I did place them into a 350F oven for about 10 – 15 minutes just to soften the Bell’s.
I didn’t want them to be so cooked that they would lose their crispness.
Now They are Ready for the Oven
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Grilling The Chicken Breasts
I turned all four of my grill’s burners high and let it heat for 5 min. This will cook off any leftover previous grilled items, plus heat the grill providing a nice initial sear on the meat. Then turn your gill’s heat down to medium. I also grilled some green onions on the grills upper section.
Space the chicken breast evenly all over the grill. Once you place the chicken mole side down on the grill. Don’t move the chicken as this will mess up the grill marks and cause the tears in the meat as it will likely be stuck to the grill.
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Brush on the remaining mole on the upper side of the breast as shown.
Close the lid of your grill and leave the breasts alone to cook.
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Meanwhile…..
I, Julie placed my beautiful Bell’s into the oven to soften for about 10 minutes.
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The Chicken is Looking and Smelling Wonderful!
Here, I grilled the breasts for about 6 min. or until the meat was firm on the heat side down. This could change as per the temperature of your grill. The temperature of this side of the breast, if using a meat thermometer, should be ~160 ‘F. Turn the breast over onto another hot section of the grill. This will provide a nice sear to the chicken. Also take note of any hot and cool spots on the grill and adjust the chicken accordingly.
Now that the chicken has had an initial cook, you can remove the skewers as the meat will stay together around the pepper.
As the chicken cooks, it will also heat and soften the Poblano Pepper inside. Grilling the chicken’s other side will take about half the time as the initial grilling baked the chicken’s upper side when the grill’s lid was closed.
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Once the Chicken is Removed From the Grill
When the chicken is firm on the other side or it has reached 160 ‘F, let the chicken rest for about 5 min. or more to allow the juices to return to the center of the meat, cooking the inside of the breast to 165’F. Doing this will give you juicy chicken.
You Can See The Grill Marks
Here you can see the juices come out of the chicken as I am slicing it for our tortillas. The juices are clear and the meat is white, meaning that I cooked it properly.
We love the look of the Green Poblano sliced alongside the Chicken.
Now The Chicken is Ready
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More Slicing Before we are Ready to Eat
Spring Onions
Avocados From Mexico…
..sliced nice.
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Our Colorful Table
Fajitas with the Works! 🙂
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Next Up:
Our Grilled Mole Stuffed Chicken Breast Sandwiches
This was my, Julie’s Idea:
I told Gordon to reserve two of our Grilled Mole Chicken Breasts and we can make sandwiches out of them.
Just another delicious way to eat them.
Sour Dough Bun, Iceberg Lettuce, Pico de Gayo, the Mole Stuffed Chicken Breast, Tomato, Guacamole Salsa and Sour Cream
Topped with some Mango and Leftover Bell Peppers with a sprinkling of chopped Spring Onions, Cilantro and Lime 🙂
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Assembling the Sandwiches
Gordon Grilled the Bread First
Heated up our Breasts in the Oven
Slicing up some Mango
We originally wanted Mango on our Sandwiches but they were already packed full enough so we had it on the side.
Pico de Gayo, then Iceberg Lettuce
Mole Chicken Breast
Tomato, then Guacamole Salsa
Next, a Dollop of Sour Cream
Excellente!!
We ate these with some Plantain Chips and our leftover Mexican Cheeseball and Crackers.
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Our Leftover Chicken Mole in Nachos
I wish that you could see the ingredients better in these photos.
But, everything here is all the leftovers from the foods above.
Gordon and I did two separate trays of Nachos, each one a bit different.
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We started out by opening a few cans of Re-Fried Beans and heating them up in sauce pans on the stove top.
We just warmed the Beans through.
We then spread the different Re-Fried Beans onto different Tortilla Chips on an aluminum lined baking sheet.
Gordon Chopping Our Leftover Grilled Mole Chicken Stuffed Breasts
Gordon scattering around our chopped Mole Chicken, and a sprinkling of our Pico de Gayo.
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A drained and rinsed can of Black Beans.
Just Scatter Them About
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Now Add Whatever you Like
Mexican Cheeses, Limes, Sour Cream, Chopped Spring Onions, Chili Powder, etc…..
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Now just place into a 350F Oven for about 10 – 15 minutes to heat everything up.
Then, turn the Oven Off and and Broiler On, and brown the Nachos. You will need to keep watch over this so that they don’t burn. When done to your likeness, enjoy!
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Throw Together Nachos
Gathering Foods From the Refrigerator and Pantry
Also, Our Secret Ingredient is Spiced and Sauteed Cauliflower
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Chicken Ranch Taco Meat
Every now and then we will purchase a Rotisserie Chicken from the grocery store, pick it clean, place it into a bowl and add some Ranch Salad Dressing and a few packets of McCormick’s Original Taco Seasoning Mix.
We then eat it in Taco Shells with all the fixin’s that we love.
Then, as that last little bit of Chicken Taco Meat lingers in the refrigerator, we usually find some way to eat it up.
Hence, Our Throw Together Nachos
We pretty much just gathered some open bags of Tortilla Chips that we keep on top of our refrigerator, and some spices from our cabinet, a few cans from our pantry, the leftover Chicken Ranch Taco Meat, and some leftover Bacon, Spring Onions and Grape Tomatoes.
Oh! Let’s not forget the Bean Dip!
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But first, time to saute the Cauliflower.
Ingredients:
1 Bag Cauliflower Pearls
~2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 tsp. Roasted Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Black Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Onion Powder
1 tsp. Smoked Paprika
1 tsp. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Dried Oregano
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Add your olive oil to a large skillet, turn the heat to medium high and add the Cauliflower Pearls.
Now add your Roasted Garlic and Black Garlic Powder…
then add your Onion, and Smoked Paprika Powder…
and then your Chili Powder and Dried Oregano to the skillet.
Toss the ingredients together well and cook until the cauliflower is tender stirring occasionally. This should take about 10 min.
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Here we splayed our various Tortilla Chips onto a baking sheet and spread some of the Bean Dip onto them.
Here, we are heating some Kidney Beans in a sauce pan on the stove top.
Just to warm them through.
Our Kidney Beans and Spiced Cauliflower Warming
Now It’s Time To Heat Up Our Chicken Ranch Taco Meat
Just Place Into The Microwave For A Minute Or Two
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Just Place Some of the Chicken Ranch Meat onto the Chips
Next, Add Some of the Kidney Beans and Sliced Grape Tomatoes
Now Comes the Leftover Bacon
Now, Sprinkle Over Any Grated Cheese You Like,
and then top with the Spiced Cauliflower.
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Topped With The Cauliflower
We then added some chopped Spring Onions….
a few blobs of Sour Cream….
and then a bit of spice from Chili Powder.
Into a 350F Oven for about 8 Minutes.
Then turn the oven off and turn on the broiler to brown the nachos.
You want to watch and monitor this. You only want the nachos to brown, not burn.
Perfect! Place onto a Plate and Enjoy!
Leftovers go into Aluminum foil for Tomorrow
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Mexican Tortilla Omelets
The idea for these Omelets came from me, Julie. We had leftover Tortillas as well as other ingredients and I wanted to use everything up so I suggested to Gordon that we make these.
They were so PERFECT!
We had some Chorizo in our pantry.
Gordon chopped them up into rounds.
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Gordon did add a little bit of our Chili Oil to the pan and just browned the Chorizo.
Just place onto paper towels and set aside.
Here Gordon is adding more of our Chili Oil to a saute pan.
Gordon is now adding our leftover Spinach Leaves.
They are Wilting Down
Now It’s time to add some more of our Chili Oil to a sauce pan and add some of our Red Onions to soften.
I’m not giving you exact measurements because of personal tastes. Some prefer more onions, some prefer more Spinach, and some prefer more Oil.
These are our leftovers from above.
Remember our leftover Bell Peppers from our Fajitas? And some of our Cilantro? Well, here it is again! Gordon doing some chopping.
Sauteeing Some of the Leftover Red Onion
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Here Gordon is Adding our Chopped Veggies
Now For the EGGS
1., 2., 3.
(Uno, Dos, Cuatro)
Now for some Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Mixing Together on a Medium-High Heat
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Now It’s Time to Add our Wilted Spinach
Here Gordon is Placing in our Chorizo
Just allow it to continue to cook and then turn out onto one of our Tortillas for an excellent Omelet.
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Next One:
Mostly the same as above with the exception of a few new ingredients.
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Spinach and Chorizo
A Sprinkling of this Mexican Cheese
Some Chili Powder
Just Turn Out Onto a Tortilla Lined Plate
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Our Queso Fresco Cheese Baked in a Tortilla and Banana Leaves
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Gordon picked this up at the Latin Supermarket one day for us to try. It is draped in a Banana Leaf and the presentation is actually quite nice. We didn’t know what we would be eating with it, but we knew it would make a nice appetizer for one of our Latin Inspired Dinners.
I, Julie kept looking at it every time I opened the refrigerator door wondering when and how we would eat it? I then was looking around Instagram when I saw someone posting a photo of Brie Cheese wrapped in bacon or some such nonsense as that, but it inspired me and made me think of this Queso Fresco that we had in our refrigerator and I got the idea to somehow wrap it up and bake it as some kind of Mexican Brie Cheese.
That is when Gordon suggested that we use one of our Tortilla’s to wrap around it and bake it and just experiment with it.
So, we got to work placing some Vegetable Oil onto a Cast Iron Skillet of ours and placed one Tortilla down on top of it.
I got the idea to place some of our Bean Dip in the center of the Tortilla and then to add a few spices to it.
Each Chili Powder Has a Different Taste
All Spiced Up!
Now It’s Time to Open the Container with our Cheese,
and place on top of the Bean Dip.
We had this Guava Jelly in the pantry and I suggested that we place some on top of the cheese.
Beautiful!
Gordon suggested we top it even further with this Mexican Cheese.
It is a bit powdery.
Gordon then cut a Tortilla to fit over the top of the cheese,
and then brought the sides up and secured with toothpicks.
I didn’t want the beauty of the Banana Leaves to go to waste so I suggested they be draped around the top just to make it look festive.
Now into a 350F Oven for about 30 minutes.
We kept checking on it to make sure it wasn’t burning.
It actually cooked quite nicely.
We then just sort of sliced it like a pie and ate it by spreading it on Tortilla Chips.
We can experiment with this some more but it was quite nice.
A Spicy Sweet Treat!
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Gracias,
Gordon and Julie
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If you would like to check out our other Mexican posts:
AND,
AND,
AND,
Julie and Gordon Whann Way Mexicana Cuatro
AND,
Uno, Dos, Tres, Cuatro, Mexicana Cinco!
AND,
AND,
AND,
Our Mexican Inspired Thanksgiving Roasted Chicken and Vegetables
AND,
Our Mexicana Thanksgiving Dishes
AND,
AND,
Adios Amigo!
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