BLOG ALOHA

I'm pleased as Hawaiian punch to blog about a recently completed redesign for hapa|hale. The blog's author, Leigh, and I cyber-met about 2 years ago through the design*sponge feature penned by our pals Lauren & Derek about Conn's shelf makeover. We shared many common interests and design influences so it seemed a perfect match when she asked me to redesign her blog identity and site. She was well prepared and supplied me with a handful of blogs that she admired and a wish list of design tricks and functionality that she wanted deployed in the new template design. When she suggested Squarespace as a development and hosting platform, I took it out for a test drive and gave her my blessing. Using a combination of their custom style editing features, I designed the template based on the approved mock-ups and banner photography.

Before all of that were a few rounds of logo design. The lowercase h's were a trademark display style that I needed to keep but I really liked how the capitol H's worked together and when placed in a pattern arrangement they do double duty as the state's abbreviated name. The simplicity of the letter forms in the title words seemed well-suited for futura, where as the client wanted a more whimsical and girly cursive for the tag line. Enter linoscript. We were both really pleased with the results.

I styled the image in the top banner with a combination of things supplied by Leigh and an assortment of our own flora and seashells (all from local sources). Conn helped me out with gathering and positioning the elements. I must of snapped a zillion photos before we arrived at the perfect one. Leigh had the vision to have the logo letterpress-printed into beautiful calling cards by Meimiko. I took a photo of the card in the cello-envelope because I liked how the label complemented the design on the cards. They did a great job in the printing and color matching. Beautiful paper too. Letterpress is a wonderfully tactile medium, so nice to actually "feel" the design rather than just see it on the computer screen.

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An old abandoned water tank near Ali'i Kula Lavender.

3 AND COUNTING...

It just dawned on me today that as of yesterday we have been living on and in our little slice of paradise for 3 years. It feels like more and less at the same time. We don't remember too much from last year with all of the construction and as you can see, we still have yet to paint the main house. It's going to happen soon... well sometime in April or May. Just look at how much things have changed around here. Mind boggling really. Here's to (at least) another 3 years. Thank you to all who have stopped by. We truly enjoy your comments and are happy to have met so many new friends via CFC.
A hui hou!
c+j

Right after we moved in and a shot from today.
We have also planted many plants or just allowed others to grow in rather than scalping them in addition to the construction. Here you can see some of the coco palms we planted soon after moving in. They were about 18" tall with 2 - 3 fronds each. Notice the potted palms nestled in under the teenage palms? There are about 45 of them... waiting to go in the ground.

TUESDAY'S TEXTURE: 030910

Stems of a TRAVELLER'S PALM.

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Leaves of the ROYAL POINCIANA tree.

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Today I am starting a new weekly feature called: Tuesday's Texture. These are images of various patterns and textures that make me stop in my tracks and take out the camera. I have been gathering these last year or so, but many of them are going to be more recent. Most will be natural textures, but that's not to say there won't be a man made one tossed in now and then.

This is the photo that really inspired me to start this weekly post. It was taken down inside HALEAKALA CRATER and shows the many textures you encounter as you walk further and further in.

m&mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

As I approached the checkout aisle yesterday at Costco, this little box of treats caught my eye. I put it in the cart, then took it out and proceeded to the checkout. Still thinking about what the coconut m&m's might taste like... I made my way back for a box. HOW COULD I NOT BUY THEM? We are CUCKOO FOR COCONUTS after all! They aren't bad and taste a little bit like Mounds candy bars... without the chewy coconut. I actually think the packaging is pretty good and I like the bright white with the hot pink accents. It feels fresh and tropical. The brown m&m's in the tree are a cute touch, but coconuts have a green outer shell and brown inner shell. I'm just sayin'. The graphics of beach umbrellas, palm trees and hibiscus printed on each could be a bit easier to see though. They really only show up on the white ones and the brown seem to only come with m's. I'm such a sucker for something old in a new package or that has been given a new taste sensation. Sometimes it doesn't always work, but I (we) give these two (four) thumbs up.

ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO...

A few years ago, my mom tried to show conn and I how to make gnocchi di patate (potato gnocchi) but we didn't have the proper kitchen tools so they came out mushy and clingy. So later that year, she gave us a ricer (think large-scale garlic press) hoping we'd be churning out the gnocchi like professionals. Alas, that didn't happen.

So on this visit, faced with a big ol' Costco bag of large, starchy, Idaho baking potatoes, we figured we'd finally put that ricer to use and attempt the gnocchi again. Here's what we did, without measurements because my mom doesn't measure anything when she's cooking... only when she's baking. This batch gave us dinner for 7 or 8 (we actually froze about half).

• 4 very large (or 6 medium) baking-type potatoes, like a Russet or Idaho Gold.
• All-purpose flour
• 2 eggs

Put the potatoes in a pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Cook until they are fork tender. It's important that you use the starchy baking type of potato.

Let the potatoes cool until the are warm and easy to handle. Peel them and cut them up into pieces that fit in the ricer. The cut pieces here in the pic fit perfectly into our ricer.

Squeeze out the potatoes into a pot or bowl that you can then mix the dough in. It's sort of like Play-Doh Fun Factory. Very cool. See how they get all delicate and stringy? You can't just used mashed potatoes, they need to have some solid bits in there. And also be sure not to let any large pieces of potato fall in. We only riced 2 of the very large potatoes to start out with, otherwise the final dough would have been too large to manage. And if you decide not to make the full recipe you'll just have leftover boiled potatoes that you can make potato salad or mashed potatoes with.

Here we are sprinkling all-purpose flour over the potatoes. Start with about a cup and a half of flour. Then add 1 egg. Remember to reserve the other egg for the second batch.

Then blend the flour, potato and egg together with your hand until it holds together. Add more flour if it's too wet. Or alternatively, more riced potato if it's too dry. It should start to form into it's own loaf-like shape.

Place your dough on a floured surface and lightly knead it until all the ingredients are incorporated. You'll have to tell by touch and by the look of the dough. Conn tried to resist the lure of the fresh boiled potatoes but eventually succumbed.

It's going to feel light and soft... sort of like the top of your hand between your thumb and index finger. It's not nearly as firm as a bread or pasta dough.

Then cut 3/4 inch slices off the dough and roll them out into a rope-like shape that's about 1/2 inch thick. It doesn't matter how long it is because you will then cut off little 1/2 inch pieces. It may help to have a small pile of flour near where you are flicking the pieces so they don't stick together or to your finger when you roll them.

Using a box grate, nail-punch side up, dip your thumb in flour and roll/flick the gnocchi by pressing into the grater and off toward the bottom. It helps to hold the grater at an angle. The gnocchi need to curl up as you can see in the pic. So getting the pressure just right is crucial. I let mom do this part. It would be good to have a cloth spread out on the counter with a fine sprinkling of flour on top to set the gnocchi as you finish rolling them.

Here's a close up of the finished gnocchi. They can sit out on the counter for up to a few hours. Then you can either prepare them or freeze them. To prepare them, drop them into a pot of well salted, boiling water. Stir them gently to make sure they don't stick to each other. When they start to bob up to the surface, they should be done. They'll be firm and tender. We ate them in a simple sauce of melted sage butter and lots of grated parmesan cheese. Notice, there are no pics of them prepared because they were gone in a flash. Seriously. They were extremely ono!

Update on mom and dad's doings... Here's Dad making the very steep trek from the coastal cliffs near the house. "Never again!" he vowed. Too steep for his 70 year old self.

Mom stayed at the top which is maybe why she doesn't look as flushed as Dad. It was a cloudy day but still gorgeous.

Had to post this pic I took on our jaunt to the Kula Lavender Farm. The orangey plant is a type of bromeliad i think.

More tufts of lavender.

Mom and Dad stop to take in the clear view of West Maui.

THE NATURE OF ABSTRACTION

Well, he's done it again. Here is a new announcement I did for my friend and Artist Extraordinaire, PARNELL O. CORDER. He is part of another group exhibition called Patterns and Abstractions of Nature - A Fine Art Mixed Media Exhibition, of original fine art drawings, paintings and photographs. The installation illuminates the force and structural beauty of nature in all its glory seen through the works of America's most prominent botanical illustrators and contemporary artists working in the genre.

If you are in the area and able to attend, please check it out. You can check out the 2 announcements I did for him last summer here. Congrats Parnell.


Filoli Center:
Located 30 miles south of San Francisco, Filoli is a historic site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and one of the finest remaining country estates of the early 20th century.

Filoli Center
86 Cañada Road
Woodside, California 94062
www.filoli.org
Phone: (650) 364-8300
Fax: (650) 366-7836
Email: friends@filoli.org

MOOD FOOD

Last night we made chicken in coconut gravy, sauteed green beans and Hawaiian Purple Sweet Potatoes, also known as Okinawan potatoes. The potatoes are native to the Japanese island, Okinawa and are a member of the morning glory family and are called ‘uala in Hawaiian.

Anywhoozle, I went to squeeze some lime on my chicken but accidentally aimed for the purple potatoes and they turned red... right before our eyes. I've been looking online as to what makes the potatoes turn into a mood ring of sorts with lime juice squirted on them, and have yet to find anything. We noticed our garlic turning blue when sauteed in lemon and butter before, but this is just wild. I'll keep you posted should I find anything... and if anyone out there has the answer... we'd love to hear it.

MARZIPAN & MERINGUE

We hit 2010 running... bid aloha oe to our good friend William (from my FunnyGarbage days), dove into home projects, then greeted Mom and Dad for an extended winter stay. It wasn't long after Mom cracked open her luggage when she gifted us some tasty treats including a jar full of homemade mini-marzipan fruits. They really are that bright! It's been heaven having Mom take on some kitchen duties whilst we toil away on work and home projects. And Dad has been alternating garden work with fishing trips to the beach.


New Year's Day rock scrambling with our friend William who visited us through the holidays. The weather for his visit was insanely spectacular. Normally windy beaches were just breezy, crystal clear blue skies, and views for miles.

Other big news, we finally occupied the office and are logging hours. More pics to come, this is just a sneak peek. We are still building furniture for it. The room-long desk and base cabinet is almost ready for it's closeup but there is still the construction of the giant work table and bookshelves on the "to do" list. The work table is efficiently designed with storage for books, rulers, squares, cutting mats, xactos, etc... And deep, tall cubbies for portfolios and flat art. Alas, no money in the budget for flat files. Someday. Also, finishing up railings and bathroom sink installations. I feel like I'm living in the lap of luxury with two bathroom sinks. No more jockeying for tooth-brushing space at one sink.

In the meantime, we are stoking our fires with sugar, what else? Mom kindly turned an abundant lemon tree into a meringue pie maker. If only you all could taste this light and delicious work of wonder. The meringue was higher but it deflated a bit in the fridge where it also developed those little freckle blobs of brown sugary sweetness. Oh so good.

CUCKOO REVUE 2009

As 2009 left and 2010 came rushing in, we thought we would take a look back at the past year here at CFC... albeit a bit late. Mahalo to everyone who stopped by and found what we had to say from Haiku, Maui entertaining, informative, funny or just plain stupid over the last 3 years. We look forward to sharing more of our adventures soon and hearing what you have to say... so stay tuned.
We still have a few projects up our short sleeves that involve the completion of the office and the building of a new garden/tractor shed. Oh yeah... and we can't wait to get our garden up and growing again.
Aloha + Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!
Conn + John

JANUARY

It was a slow month in terms of activities... but we had a good amount of work to keep us busy in January. We did take time to take a hike down to the ocean cliffs, enjoyed daily visits from Kekoa and made a few treats with the winter guava.

FEBRUARY
February was another one of those slow months in terms of activities and heavy on work.
John made his way to Oahu for a meeting with Leonard's Bakery, a bit of whale watching, more visits from Kekoa and gardening.

MARCH
All work and no play... ok... some play, but not much. This month we finally tried the banana fruit pies at McDonald's, had Kekoa eating out of our hands, planted a few new hedges and John found himself back on Oahu photographing ALL the baked goods Leonard's Bakery has to offer for their website. That giant shopping bag full of sweet treats he brought home didn't last long.

APRIL
Ok, Here we go... April was a month from hell. It started off easy enough with a trip to the planning department to pick up our building permit, lunch at
Sam Sato's, Lahaina, the beach and home for dessert on John's birthday. A few days later Kekoa showed up with his broken leg. The 2 weeks of nursing back to health, with no eating and loud crowing at 5:00 AM was taking it's toll on all of us. After a few days of weaning in the coop, we finally let him go, only to find out he was harassing a neighbor, who admitted to kicking him, so we felt it best to take him somewhere a bit safer. That's when we met Laurlee at Leilani Farm Sanctuary. With heavy hearts, we dropped Kekoa off at her farm in hopes he might have a better chance at not being hurt. We are not really sure what became of him, but Laurelee said she hears him crowing now and then. We started the demo on the shed in preparation for the new office. New gas lines were dug and we stopped by Leilani Farm Sanctuary to help plant fruit tree's for the animals to feast on with the help of Orchards for Animals. We did not see Kekoa, bu we did hear him.

MAY
May was another jam packed month. Without Kekoa around, it was feeling a bit dreary. His dad, Big Daddy as we call him, began making regular visits to the banana patch... where I put out grains for him and the other birds. We also discovered the Northern Cardinal nest and kept an eye on that daily. The lanai became the temporary home for our water pump, pressure tanks and batteries. Solar panels were relocated to the lawn and new underground power lines were laid to the battery box. Another trip to McDonald's, this time for the Taro pie... the best one in my opinion. More demolition of the shed on top of all our design work. We manged to get our photo's in Maui Weekly from the tree planting at the sanctuary and saw the 3 baby cardinals hatch. More demolition and selections of exterior paint colors and desk tops were tackled. We finally made it to the MFOL - Maui Friend's of the Library and are now addicted. We participated in an interview over at the groovy paige + modern on what influences us.
The month ended with a Memorial Day hike along the sea cliffs.

JUNE
Summer is here and we didn't even notice spring. We thank our lucky stars we had so much design work this year. Here's hoping it keeps up now that we have a proper office. Exterior paint colors were finalized, the baby cardinals flew the coop. We finally got to meet Deb, Scott and Malia from Deb and her Camera fame. That was a treat... why don't you still live here Deb? WHY? Tiles for the lanai were finalized... stay tuned for the installation of those in the next month. Excavation was done and concrete was poured for the new office. Building materials arrived as did a new propane tank. The work tent was erected, wood was cut and walls were raised. A teenage cardinal needed special handling after it flew into the house and was knocked out cold. Nursing an injured bird was not on my to do list. He sure was cute and I still can't believe I held a baby cardinal... John immediately looked at me and said ... NO. After long hot days of building and computer work... a rest in the hammocks was in order.

JULY
Keep it coming. Summer seemed to be flying by. The second story was put on, the roof was attached and inspections were coming at us left and right. Windows FINALLY arrived and we could get back to building. Siding was attached and painted. The metal roof was secured, more painting was done as well as more and more design work. Big Daddy was still hanging out and finally realizing that I was the source of the grain. He is used to me know and does not run off to quickly. He hides just on the other side of the drive and as soon as I walk away from the pile of grain... here he comes.
It was time to do a bit of shopping and find things for the interior like this perfect 3-drawer orange chest of drawers.

AUGUST
AH.. a moment to breath... the desks tops and bathroom counters arrived, the stair rails were installed and we got to we try the coconut pie at McD's. Drain pipes and water lines buried as well as the construction of the new battery box. Oh... did I mention we had lot's of design work this month? That explains the lack of imagery this month. I'M NOT COMPLAINING!... just sayin'.

SEPTEMBER
Back at it and full throttle. Insulation in place, sheet rock hung and walls plastered. Solar panels placed on the roof and batteries on their new home. The water pump and pressure tank were also relocated to the new utility room which also received it's new concrete landing. Interior paint colors were chosen, then we later tossed out the Vintage Map Blue color. The copper rails were cut, polished and installed on the stairs. And we ended the month with a visit from John's high school chum Denise and her husband. Boy did we need a mini vacation?

OCTOBER
Banisters and copper rails were finished and a pathway of stepping stones was put in place. Walls were painted and lighting installed. I worked on staining the concrete floor... a 3 day project, while John installed the Crushed Mulberry upstairs. We had a wayward Homing Pigeon we named Homie, call our lanai home for about 2 weeks and we FINALLY got the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park poster by artist Charley Harper framed as a birthday present to myself. It's still waiting to be hung.

NOVEMBER
November saw us getting our FINAL INSPECTION and we found ourselves taking a few days off to regroup. It was then that we really noticed just how much we had ignored the yard and garden. So what did we do? We went the the Arbor Day Celebration at Maui Nui Botanical Gardens and picked up a few more plants and planted a small succulent garden with some of our finds. John and I were invited by Anne over at one of our favorite "getaways" - Prêt à Voyager - to participate in an interview segment called Boarding Pass. Read Conn's interview here.
Read John's interview here.
More shopping and a few great vintage finds like these little coffee cups from Japan. Thanks giving came and went and I finally just pulled the car over at the side of the road on the way to town one day, parked it, got out and walked along a rocky shore and cliffs that I had never stopped at before. Sometimes you just gotta slow down and enjoy the things around you. I can't wait to go back with John's folks and my family in the next few months.

DECEMBER
December brought us HUGE 40-50 foot waves at JAWS and there was no way I was missing them. We had a front row seat on the cliffs at JAWS here on Maui's North Shore to some of the best names in surfing. How can you say no to that? John began building the cabinets for under the desk and we got the top set in place. So far so good. Next up we ripped out the old lanai and installed the new composite decking... more on that in a future post. We no sooner got the last screw in and our friend William from NYC arrived for 2 weeks... which meant we were on another mini vacation. The tree was decorated with much thanks to Denise and Peter for the new LED lights on white cords and parties were attended. Swimming, hiking and resting were on the agenda as well as a drive to Hana and Kaupo in a convertible. It was great to have the top down... but the back seat is REALLY where you want to be for the best views.
The year ended with a night of fondu and a chocolate version for dessert and a little bubbly. Just the 3 of us and we were all lights out by 11:30 PM. It was already midnight somewhere... right?


... And somehow we still managed to stop and watch the sunset most nights...

...As well as break for rainbows as they magically appeared...

... We took time to stop and smell and admire the flowers...
And if we could grow it, we ate it.Tomatoes, mac nuts, pineapple, more tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, fennel, bananas, more tomatoes, avocado, green and lima beans and radishes. And did I mention tomatoes?

Of course there is always time for dessert...
starfruit upside down cake, lemon cookies, lilikoi and banana doughnuts, citrus pound cake, lilikoi coconut jello, orange chocolate pound cake, guava cheesecake, lemon pepper pound cake, banana upside down cake, lilikoi cream cheese cake, banana honey cupcakes, orange chocolate cheesecake, peanut butter and jelly cookies and guava caramel cake... just to name a few.

With a schedule that was truly evil... we did not cook as much as we would have liked to... but we got by. Turkey tetrazzini, stuffed breadfruit, lumpia and southwestern hamburgers were just a few home cooked meals on the menu.

...Some of our design work this last year.

Biggest Loser Club - re-design of website

Maui Oceanfront Weddings and Events - identity and web design

Leonard's Bakery - re-design of website and identity re-design

Melissa Foster - RDH - identity and web design

Locate This - identity and web design

Flowers First - identity and web design

Dark was the Night - cd booklet design

Parnell Corder - promotional flyers

Maui Weddings and Events - identity and web design

Brilliant Life Design - identity and web design

Tiger Athletics - identity and web design

Ignite Athletics - re-design identity

Girls Scouts Awards - website design

...with more in the works, so stay tuned for new designs and launches this spring.

Please visit us often in 2010 for the more Adventures of Conn + John in Haiku, Maui. We will have some updates and final postings on the new office as well as some new posts on the garden shed and another all new project I hope to get off the ground this year. And who knows what critter we will be showing off next. To those of you who visited... we loved hearing from you and hope you enjoyed your visits. We hope to hear from you again soon.

Aloha Nui Loa

c+ j

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou translates to Happy New Year in Hawaiian and from the stories in the Maui News the last few days it appears to be shaping up as so.


You might remember when we posted Maui Land + Pine would be ceasing operations her on Maui the end of December. But good news, Haliimaile Pineapple Co. Ltd. has come to the rescue and has taken over 1000 acres in the effort to keep pineapple in the fields.

In order for it to succeed, the pineapples need to reach your stores. If you don't see MAUI GOLD pineapples in your stores, please request that they start carrying them.

It's been awhile since our last post and we promise to get back to posting soon. We have had our friend William visiting from NY over the Holidays which has not left too much time to blog.

We'll be back in a few days with new posts as well as the 2009 Cuckoo Review.