We're Back!

We're back from Italy! Actually we've been back for almost two weeks already, but with the move to a new state, the furnishing of a new apartment, and the start of a new job, blogging has been on the bottom of our priority list.
The good news is that bathrooms are free in the good old USA. As you can see in the picture, we ended up paying 1.50 euros to use the restroom in Venice. That's almost $2.50! Crazy huh? A good travel hint for anyone heading off to Venice is to go buy something from the 1 euro menu at Mcdonalds. Anyway, we'll post more later!

Still on Vacation....in Italy

Hi all you loyal blog readers! I keep apologizing for the lack of blog posts, but will be apologizing a little bit more. I have been taking sooo many pictures, but haven't had the time to blog. The only reason the Daring Bakers post popped up was because I had pre-posted it earlier in September.
September and October have been a whirlwind of travels. After my trip to Las Vegas and Hawaii, I picked up the hubby from Hawaii and we caught a plane to Illinois. We stayed in Illinois for ~24 hours, then DROVE to Texas. We've been in Texas for less than two days and then are heading off to Italy (Rome, Florence, and Venice) in less than 12 hours!
I guess you can say that we're training for the "Amazing Race" TV show. Nah, our travels are not as extreme.

We'll be back in the States in a couple of weeks, so by late October there will be posts about food from Las Vegas, Hawaii, and Italy.

Take care everyone!

Daring Bakers~September Challenge~Vols-au- Vent

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

These are my mini vols-au-vents filled with lemon curd (Chou's recipe), topped with fresh raspberries.
The initial butter block. Glad "Press n Seal" wrap worked well while I pounded/pressed the butter into a solid block.

One of the first folds of the puff pastry dough. The final dough.
Look at all those layers.
My vols-au-vents all stacked up and ready to be placed in the oven.

Puff pastry "slugs." By the time I was ready to bake the puff pastry, I was super tired and did not read the instructions as carefully as I should have. So I did not place a piece of parchment paper on top of the dough prior to placing them in the oven. BIG MISTAKE!
These are the Vols-au-Vent I made the next morning...with a sheet of parchment paper on top.

Grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese.
With the leftover scraps of puff pastry, I made cheese twists. Mmmmm....yummy.

Update

Sorry for the lack of posts. It's been a busy couple of weeks. Did I mention...

*I defended my dissertation and passed.
*Dropped off my dissertation to the thesis office yesterday...so it's official, I'm done with school! ~*~woot woot~*~
*Been cleaning and packing up my apartment for the past few days. It's amazing how much stuff you can accumulate in 4 years!

*Flying to Vegas on Saturday (2 days from now) to hang out with my sister and to attend a friend's wedding (get this, she planned it so that she and guests could attend the UH game against UNLV).
*Flying from Vegas to Hawaii~send me an email if you want to hang out in Hawaii
*Flying from Hawaii back to Illinois to clean up my apartment and move out.

My sister has already emailed me an itinerary for my trip to Las Vegas and its filled with LOTS of restaurants. I will try to blog about them, but I'll be on vacation and enjoying my new found FREEEEEDDDOOOOMMM!

Hawaiian Shave Ice...in Champaign, IL?

About a month ago, Aaron mentioned that he saw a Hawaiian Shave Ice van in Champaign and asked me if it was the real deal. I was a bit skeptical about the place because at the "Taste of Champaign" a couple of years ago, the "Hawaiian Shave Ice" was similar to the texture of the coarse ice in a "Snow-cone."
Aaron brought it up again and said that he tried it and the ice texture was similar to snow, rather than crushed ice. Here's a picture of a slightly melted cup of shave ice.
So last Saturday, one of my Hawaii friends (yeah, there are a few others from Hawaii who attend school in Illinois) and I finally checked out the shave ice van on Neil St. in Champaign, IL. She's posing next to the shave ice van.
The workers were super nice and friendly and there were TONS of flavors to choose from. We tried the mango and the banana cream pie flavors. We then unintentionally got the cups mixed up and told/convinced Aaron that the mango was the banana cream pie flavor. He even said, "Mmm...that banana cream pie is really good." Then he some how figured out that he was eating the mango one. So, those flavoring in particular could use a little tweaking, but our taste buds could have been shot because we had been cooking and tasting all the food for our "Grown-Up Kids Party."Overall take home message, the shave ice van gets my stamp of approval. It is not as soft as Matsumoto's shave ice or Waiola's, but it's the best I've tasted on the mainland and definitely similar to other shave ice stores in Hawaii. I'd definitely go back, but I would try other flavors. Maybe stick with one of the more traditional flavors like strawberry.

Smirnoff Summer Entertaining Extravaganza:Grown-Up Kids Party

We were lucky to have been selected to host a "Smirnoff Summer Entertaining Extravaganza" this past weekend. Much thanks to Foodbuzz and Smirnoff for sponsoring this event.

The theme of our party was a "Grown-Up Kids Party," which involved kids' food with an adult twist to them. These foods had a gourmet spin on them, but realistically, it meant that we included alcohol into these foods. A bunch of us Food Science graduate students had a great time chomping down on all the food and just hanging out.

The stars of our "Grown-Up Kids Party" Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade and Smirnoff Vodka Mojito. Prior to the event Aaron and I had a pre-party and sampled these drinks on the rocks for experimental purposes. After all, we needed to figure out how to best incorporate these beverages into our foods.
Extra Lime-y Mojito. See Recipe Below
Colorful Kiddie Fruit Punch (Melon Ball with Grenadine).
Slushy Mojito. Smirnoff Vodka Mojito Mix, Lime Juice, and Ice Blended. Our adult version of frozen slushes and icees.Outdoor Games and Grilling.
We began with the appetizers. As you can see, just like little kids, we all ignored the vegetable platter.
Warm Brie with Aaron's Homemade Sweet Cherry Jam in Puff Pastry. Any kid or adult cannot resist oozing melted cheese! This was soooo good.

Grown-Up Grilled Goat Cheese and Pesto Sandwiches (my personal favorite dish of the night) and our Mini-Hot Dog Bites which consisted of Little Smokies wrapped in Bacon and topped with Maple Syrup.Shrimp Cocktail Concoction (cream cheese covered with shrimp, and cajun cocktail sauce)
Smirnoff Mojito Marinated Shrimp Skewers with three kinds of Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade dipping sauces. We had a Black Peppercorn Parmigiano-Reggiano Dipping Sauce, a Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade Infused Sweet and Sour Sauce, and a Zesty Tuscan Lemonade Infused Sauce. Recipes are below.
I forgot to take a picture of the chicken skewers when they first came off the grill, so this is a picture of the remaining surviving chicken pieces. We also served the chicken with the dipping sauces.

Spiked Gummies. For the recipe, check out my previous post. Gummy colas soaked in rum (get it...Rum and Coke), and Gummy Bears soaked in Raspberry liquor and vodka.
Original Gummy Bear-->Drunken Gummy Bear

Guinness Chocolate Cake with Bailey's Cream Cheese Frosting. Even though we were all stuffed with all the other yummy food, we all found room in our stomachs to enjoy this decadent cake!

The party was a success! We all were able to enjoy our favorite kids foods with a grown-up spin to them.

RECIPES
Smirnoff Mojito Marinated Shrimp Skewers
Mojito Marinade
1 & 1/4 c. Smirnoff Mojito
5 Cloves Garlic-crush in garlic press
1 Serrano Chili-finely chopped
Juice of Two limes
1/2 c. Canola Oil
1 t. Ground Cumin
1/4 c. Red Onion-finely chopped
1/2 t. Salt

Marinade shrimp for approximately 30 minutes. Then thread onto presoaked (with water) skewers. Grill Shrimp.

Black Peppercorn Parmigiano-Reggiano Dipping Sauce
1/3 c. Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade
1 c. Mayonnaise
1/4 c. Buttermilk
1 T. Freshly Ground Peppercorns
1 t. Garlic Powder
1 t. Onion Powder
1/2 t. Garlic Salt
1 Egg Yolk
1/4 c. Canola Oil
1 T. Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend for a few seconds.

Zesty Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade Dipping Sauce
1/4 c. Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade
1/2 c. Mayonnaise
1/4 c. Buttermilk
1/8 c. Red Onion-Roughly Chopped
2 Cloves Garlic
Salt to Taste (1/8 t.)

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend for a few seconds.

Extra Lime-y Mojito
1/2-1 c. Smirnoff Vodka Mojito
8 Mint Leaves-muddled
Juice of 1 Lime
2 T. Sugar
1/2 c. club soda
Handful of Ice Cubes


The aftermath of all the dishes we used!

My Favorite Hawaii Desserts

I'll be returning home to Hawaii for a short trip next month, so I started thinking about my favorite desserts from back home. It's been a few years since I've visited some of these places so recipes may have changed. Apple Turnovers-Napoleon's Bakery-Zippy's
Blueberry Cream Cheese Scones-Kapiolani Community College Baking Class. (Make friends with a Culinary Student)
Bread Pudding-Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Prince Hotel (close second)
Chichi Dango Mochi-Nisshido
Coco Puffs-Liliha Bakery
Coconut Cake- Ted's Bakery (not only are their pies delicious, but the cakes there are great!)
Key Lime Pie-Morton's (yeah, I know it's a chain restaurant, but it was so good!)
Kulolo-any place I can get it
Molten Chocolate Cake-Roy's Restaurant
Orange Chiffon Cake-Liliha Bakery , my friend's dad's cake
Palm Leaf Cookies-St. Germain Bakery (in Shirokiya or Ala Moana Shopping Center)
Pianomo Roll-Jesse's Bakery
Pumpkin Custard Pie-Sconee's
White Chantilly Cake (this used to be sold at Liberty House)-Prince Hotel

Ice Cream/Sherbets-too many places to choose from, I really like Dave's Lychee Sherbert, and on Oahu, Samurai Shave Ice's Maui-Style Sherbet
Shave Ice-too many places to choose from. At the moment, Shimazu's might be my top choice. Waiola's is good too.



As you can tell, I have a major sweet tooth. I'm sure I am missing a bunch of desserts that I really enjoy.

What are your favorite Hawaii desserts? Or if you think there is another shop/restaurant/bakery that has a better one, let me know, and then I'll go check it out in September. :)