I'D LIKE TO USE A LIFELINE....

AUTUMN IN NEW YORK

ALOHA from another island... the isle of Manhattan. John and I are on a little trip and will be back to posting soon. Please stay tuned while we are traveling about and catching up with friends and family.

Yesterday I stopped by the Todd Oldham office for a lunch and tour of the new space. I was also treated to a nice little cake and a new camera! Yeah! a trip with cake and swag! Thanks so much gang!

HOME BOYS

What did we do to be so lucky to find ourselves first featured in READYMADE MAGAZINE then on the wonderful blog design*sponge and now in the pages of the Fall 2008 Fashion and Home Special issue of MODERN LUXURY - HAWAI'I? We don't know, but we'll take all the love that comes our way. For those of you not living here in Hawai'i, you may be unable to pick up an copy, so click the above link to Modern Luxury - Hawai'i and go to page 114 of the digital version. You can zoom in and out to read the text.

Stay tuned for another on-line feature slated for the coming months. How's that for a teaser?

Mahalo to everyone for making this a really incredible summer.

FROZE FRUIT

Recently our friend Leigh over at hapa|hale sweetly inquired as to what was cooking in the c4c kitchen. We had actually been trying to avoid cooking all together because the weather had turned stagnant and HOT. But our sweet tooth's beckoned, heatwave be damned. With a bunch of bananas on their way out, I perused my bookmarks of banana-themed desserts and came across this recipe for a Banana-Peanut Semifreddo. It was pretty simple-a few eggs and some heavy cream. The tricky part was setting the egg custard. I didn't want to have to hold the bowl over a saucepan so I improvised using a metal steamer basket in a pot of shallow water. Then I just held a stainless steal bowl containing the eggs and sugar on the steamer and whisked away until the eggs set. Mmmmm, custardy. I didn't have peanuts so I left them out. Though, I did try a slice with a teaspoon of natural peanut butter on the side and it was ono.


Setting the egg custard. I had the heat too low so it took longer than it should have. The instant read thermometer was essential to make sure the eggs reached the right temperature.

Fresh out of the freezer. Luckily I made it in the afternoon so it was good and frozen by dessert time!

If you are going to serve it to guests, throw the serving dish in the freezer to chill it down before flipping it out of the laof pan. That way you can avoid the immediate puddling as seen here.

IT'S TIME...

“Get up. It’s time. Your life! Your World! Get Up. It’s time. Your life! Your choice! Have got to say what’s on your mind … if you wait too long you’ll be too late.”

STAR QUALITY

If it seems as though I am always in the kitchen making some sugary sweet concoction you are right. I just can't stop myself with all this amazing fruit around just waiting to rot. So this weeks adventure was making star fruit jam. I prepared over 150 star fruit for this batch which yielded 20 cups of juice and 10 jars of jam by the time it cooked down. I usually make this jam chunky, but was not in the mood for all the chopping involved so..... here is what I did this time around.

Start by washing the star fruit, and then trim tops, bottoms and down each vein.

Cut into large over a large bowl or pot to catch all juice. Bring to a boil to soften the fruit and release more juice. I also added several large slices of ginger root to this for a bit of a kick.

Transfer cooked fruit to a food mill and extract pulp.

Then place some cheesecloth in a strainer and pour through to remove all the pulp the food mill allowed to pass through. You will need to help it through by stirring it a bit with a spatula or wooden spoon. Then pour all juice into a large pot with the desired amount of sugar pectin and lemon juice and cook down until the back of a wooden spoon coats and is desired thickness.The finished product. Yes believe it or not this is it. I slow cook mine, still bringing it to a slow boil which takes longer, but it gives the fruit a great caramel flavor and color.

Here is the chunky version, which takes a bit less time to cook in my opinion.
The color gets less caramel as a result. Both taste the same.
Delicious.

I CAN SEE RUSSIA FROM MY HOUSE

In case you missed it, Tina Fey and Amy Pohler as Palin and Clinton on SNL this weekend. YAY!!! Makes me so happy... but now that she's had her "15 minutes" can we get back to the issues?

LIME-RIGHT

I'm a little behind schedule on this post, but here is the Lime Cheesecake with Lime Custard Filling and a Shortbread Crust that I made last week. I don't mean to brag, BUT it was the best dessert of them all so far. I'm imagining and orange version when the oranges are ready this winter.

The layer between the crust and the cheesecake filling is the custard,

which makes this cake so good.Serve with fresh whipped cream and lime zest garnish.

Here is the recipe I used, which was adapted from one I found on-line.

Lime custard
6 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
5 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon grated lime zest

Crust
1 cup butter (softened)
2 cups sifted unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup sifted confectioners sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

(optional)
add in 1/4 cup chopped mac nuts
or
1/4 teaspoon ginger powder


Filling
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon grated lime zest

For lime custard:
Whisk all ingredients in small saucepan over medium heat until custard thickens and just starts to boil. Cook 2 minutes stirring constantly. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally ... mixture will thicken.

For crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix all crust ingredients to blend in medium bowl. Press mixture evenly onto bottom of a pie pan or baking dish. If using a rectangular dish, you may be short on crust for the sides, but that is fine. Pierce dough with a fork to allow air to escape. Bake until just set, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. Maintain oven temperature.

For filling:
Place cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar, eggs, lime juice, and lime peel in bowl and mix well until creamy. Make sure your cream cheese is completely softened so that you will not end up with chunks in your mixture.


Spoon custard mixture into crust & smooth top. Carefully spoon cheese filling over. Set cheesecake on a cookie sheet to catch any overflow as the cake does rise. Bake until set and center moves slightly when pan is gently shaken, about 45 minutes. Toothpick should come out clean when pierced.

Cool and garnish with lime slices or twists.
I like to serve mine with a dollop of fresh whipped cream and a dusting of lime zest.

IN THE SHADOWS

This morning as I was opening the blinds I noticed an odd shadow moving in the driveway. I thought it was Kekoa's shadow with the sun rising behind him. I went to the front door to say hello... what? Nothing there... but wait the shadow is still moving. Did I need coffee? Yes and no... but let's move on. It was Kekoa's shadow alright. He was on the roof. Every week we can be sure he will find some new way to amuse himself and this week it must roof roosting.

Above from today

Also included here are images from a few days ago when I looked up and to my surprise I saw him on the shed.

Also there is a can of game bird feed that we have on the lanai from when we had him in the coop. He has not shown any interest in that in weeks... and now all of a sudden demands it by going over to the can and tapping it.... or should I say rattling it. He literally grabs the top handle and TRIES to lift it.
What next? Picking our locks?

AUTUMNAL ANIMATION

Is it fall already? All the Halloween displays in the stores seem to indicate that it is. To commemorate the season, Hillhouse Naturals contacted me to create a seasonal animation for their homepage. The client wanted trees growing and changing colors, then the leaves falling. Check it out on my site, here. Or go to the Hillhouse store if you're in the market for some good scents.

SPIT SHINED

As they say here in the Islands, Happy Aloha Friday everyone.


I always love seeing the transformations that people make to found pieces of furniture over at design*sponge, so I thought why not submit a great make-over project I did for the before and after section this week. You can see the finaI spit shined photo of this rusted metal cabinet here.

SAME BUT DIFFERENT

I was inspired to take this photo up in Makawao after seeing the the painted image of it on DEB AND HER CAMERA. I love how the shadows of the phone lines are nearly the exact in both images. Deb is a fairly new reader of CFC and we are also fans of her blog. Deb grew up here in Maui and we are glad we can give a a little taste of home and Aloha from time to time..

HARD NUT TO CRACK

It's that time of year... The macadamia nuts are beginning to fall. We have one small tree that last year only produced 5 nuts. But this year, like the mango trees this year, the flowers were able to mature before the winds blew in and ruined the crop. It looks like we have a few hundred on the tree now. That should keep Kekoa happy for awhile.

They start out as small white flowers on a long stem that resembles a bottle brush and are actually a member of the Protea family. They then grow into nuts which are covered in a very thick and hard green outer skin. The leaves of the tree are very stiff, pointy and sharp which makes picking them difficult. I have read that they are usually harvested after they have fallen to the ground because of the leaves. When they drop, that outer shell will slowly split open over several days to reveal the round brown shelled nut inside. Don't even think about using a nut cracker or a hammer. What you have to do is roast them in the oven for about 30 minutes until the brown shell starts to crack. Then you take them out, wrap them in a towel and lightly hit with a hammer so as not to crush the meat part. So you see it is a very detailed process and indeed a hard nut to crack.

PLAY IT AGAIN SAM

I thought it would be nice to post some of these beautifully modern old school record sleeve designs by Stan Suliman. Couldn't find much about him online so if anyone has any more resources, please share. I have the Lionel Hampton, Jose Melis and Louis Prima/Keely Smith in my personal collection. The Sarah Vaughan cover design was found here.

Art Chantry is the master at re-interpreting this style and era of design as evidenced in his poster design for Satan's Pilgrims which echoes Sam's design for the Vaughan platter quite closely. To see more of Art's work, check out the book Some People Can't Surf: The Graphic Design of Art Chantry. On a different note, did anyone catch Keely Smith singing with Kid Rock on the Grammy's this year and wonder, who the heck is this old ballsy broad? Well, now you know!

VISITING HOURS

We realized it's been a few weeks since we have done a Kekoa update so here it is.
He usually shows up early mornings and now waits for us to get up instead of pecking at the door. The not so little guy has shown up off and on over the last few weeks and still demands his mac nuts by tapping on the door once he realizes we are awake. He spends several hours a day sleeping on the lanai then heads off to feast in the yard. Around 5:30 he heads off up the hill where he sits a few moments before taking flight into the thick underbrush for the night. I am still waiting to capture that flight on film... I sit and wait for it to happen and the minute I blink he takes off.

Last week he completely disappeared for 4 days. He just feels comfortable here on the lanai as this is where he was raised. I am glad to see him becoming more independent though.

Here is at about half his full size. I would say he is about 12" tall and 18" long and the colors are intensifying everyday. The transformation is amazing. He still loves fanning out and sunning himself in the afternoons.

He has also started puffing up the red areas on his face at various times of the day... I'm still trying to research this behavior. It's pretty amazing... as you can see here, his jowls as I call them hang down and the space between his eyes closes up. It's almost like he has put on a mask.

Above before and after puffing up.

BREAD WINNER

On a recent visit to the Kahanu Gardens outside of Hana, I was given a handy guide to all of their specimens of indigenous and Polynesian-introduced flora. One entry that I found especially interesting was the description of the Polynesian-introduced Breadfruit or 'Ulu tree.

A view of our 'Ulu tree with developing fruit and moon in the background.

We have an 'Ulu in our yard and have actually cooked the ripe, white fruit which has a sweet potato-like taste and texture. I especially liked it diced and roasted in the oven. But this tree's offerings go beyond just the fruit, which, by the way, isn't a single fruit but actually a collection of many smaller fruits pressing together into a multiple fruit. And that's only from the female flowers. The male counterpart is a separate flower that grows on the same tree.

A close up of the fruit. You can see the seams where all the many smaller fruits fuse together.

I have seen these male flowers littering the ground under the tree but always thought they were just undeveloped fruits. They drop when they are whitish yellow and then dry out to a very dark brown. One may think "what a waste" isn't there something that can be done with these? Leave it to the Hawaiian's to figure out that if you LIGHT them, they turn into mosquito punks!

Male flowers on the ground underneath the tree. Dried (dark brown) and somewhat fresh (pale yellow)

So the minute I read that I had to go try it out for myself and voila! They burn just like incense, and with the most wonderful, pine-cone-cabin smell to boot! They have to be super dry though, which can be difficult to achieve in our neck of the woods. Other uses for this tree include glue from the sticky sap, poi pounding bowls from the wood, and a fine sandpaper from the rough leaves.

A bunch of the dried male flowers.

The dried male flowers burn like incense and the smoke is said to keep mosquitoes away.

WHO'S YOUR DADDY?

Lilikoi, Chocolate, Guava taking up the majority of the box with Plain and Cinnamon up front.

Today we went on a hike in Waihe'e, had lunch at A Saigon Cafe rounded out by a stop at Dad's Donut Shop in Wailuku. It's been open since January and we have just had the time... well make that we finally remembered to stop by. Are we glad we did. It is a cute little walk up bakery that makes one mean donut. It's simple... make one type of donut and top it with a few select toppings. All donuts are good old-fashioned cake style and are perfectly cooked using no trans fats. Plain donuts are 50 cents and glazed or sugared are 75 cents. Bargain! The toppings on hand today were chocolate, plain glaze, lilikoi glaze, guava glaze, cinnamon or powdered sugar. We went for ALL the glazes and snatched up a dozen for $9. The service was beyond friendly and top notch. Our delightful server took great care and pride placing each and every donut in a muffin liner then in the box. Oh yeah... they get sugar coated when you buy them so the sugar stays nice and crunchy. The presentation is in my mind perfect. Simple. Oh yeah they taste great too. Ok.. I have some eating to do. Bye.

The shop is open from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 7 a.m. to noon on Sundays.

You can read an article here on the history of Dad's Donut Shop.

LET'S GET PHYSICAL

Stretch it out!

A few days ago, John and Gabi laid out their towels to do a bit of pilates in the back yard. They turned their backs for one second and Kekoa moved in and stole a towel for himself. As you can see he is still hanging around. He shows up every morning for coffee and nuts... well we have the coffee, he has the nuts. He pops in and out all day and holds court on the lanai until finally shuffling off to bed somewhere in the yard.

He likes to spread his wings to sun himself before dozing off.
These were shot last week, so add about another inch in height and 2 inches to the tail length.