Honolulu

I'm extremely grateful that my job gives me the opportunity to travel.  Maybe not as often as I like but really, I can't complain.  Last week I visited Hawaii for the first time, for work!  My companies retail stores are located there and it was time for store visits.  My schedule was jam packed for 4 days with visiting stores and observing local Hawaii style.  To be honest I spent most of my time in shopping malls so this is not the place to find travel tips in Oahu.  But Saturday morning I did get to have breakfast that was not handed to me in a brown paper bag and swim in the ocean!  Planning to go for more of a vacation and see the amazing sights next time!

Downtown Honolulu city lights

Temari sampler from Yuzu in our hotel

Sun rising over downtown

Make your own oatmeal is right up my alley :)

Finally some fresh pineapple and papaya for breakfast

And finally, to the beach.... just beautiful

It's all in the Sauce

Any worthwhile Italian cook knows that the secret is in the sauce, and has a homemade sauce recipe on hand.  Last year I finally dedicated a Saturday to spending the day with Grandma and learning how to make our family sauce.  Don't be intimidated that I was there all day.  I love spending time with Grandma and the longer the sauce simmers, the better it tastes.  It's actually quite simple to make.

Once you have the tomato sauce base, you can make many kinds of variations.  This weekend I made marinara with meatballs.  Just like Grandma taught.  Marinara comes from the Italian word marinaro which means, 'of the sea.'  Marinara first came from Naples, Italy around 1550.  It was favored by sailors and ships cooks because it would last while out of the sea without refrigeration and like many sauces was used to mask spoiled food (ew!).

Ingredients:
1 large can diced tomatoes (even better if you can your own tomatoes!)
1 large can tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 c. chopped basil
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Italian seasoning to taste (I used about 2-3 tbsp)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Crushed red pepper to taste (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the chopped onion to the saucepan, and then the garlic.  Stir occasionally until onion is transparent.  Add the tomato paste and stir in with onion and garlic.  Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and 1 of the large cans filled with water to saucepan.  You can add more water if it starts to get too thick as it simmers.  Now add in your salt, pepper, italian seasoning, and basil and bring to simmer.  I also add in some crushed red pepper because I like it a little spicy!  Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally for 1 hour or more.  The longer the better!

If you decide to add some meatballs... You can call yourself fancy and say you're serving Napoletano sauce.  Napoletano comes from the city where it originated, Naples.  Napoletano is a red tomato (marinara) sauce served with whole meat or meat balls.  Traditionally this is what a lot of Italian families serve at Sunday dinner.  Grandma always makes with meatballs and Italian sausage, delish!

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef (I buy lean)
1/3 c. chopped basil
1 small onion chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. Romano or Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1 c. bread crumbs
dried oregano to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350.  Pour a couple tablespoons of olive oil into pan.  Mix all ingredients together in medium mixing bowl.  Take small handful of mixture and make into ball.  Place in pan and cook for about 15-20 minutes.  Remove from oven and put balls into cooking sauce.  Balls will finishing cooking in the sauce.

Serve sauce and meatballs hot over your favorite pasta!  Bon Appétit!

This post is dedicated to Grandam Jean!

Basil

Sweet basil.  Spicy, sweet, and essential in any Italian kitchen.  As much as I would like to claim that i have my own basil plant and pick it fresh for cooking, my tiny studio apartment doesn't have the best set up for plants.  If I can't get fresh basil from the farmers market, I can usually find it at the local grocery.  You may not realize, but refrigerating basil will actually make it black and rather slimy.  The best way to store basil is trimming the ends and putting it upright in a jar with water.  Change the water daily and keep out of direct sunlight and it can last for weeks!  

If you bought a large bunch like I did you can also freeze it for later use.  Surprised?  I was too.  But it actually works.  All you have to do is dip the sprigs in boiling water for 15 second and then in ice cold water.  What this does is toughen the skin to survive the freezing process.  Dry the leaves well and place them on tray in freezer.  Once they are frozen, take them out, wrap in paper towels and put in freezer bags.  You can take out as much as you want as you need it.

My favorite thing to make with basil is pesto.  Pesto comes from pestare, which is Italian for pound or bruise.  Thats because traditionally pesto was made with a pestle and mortar.  You literally crush the ingredients in the mortar.  I myself do not own one so I stick to a food processor which gets the job done just fine.  Pesto is amazing on pasta, with crackers (add sun dried tomato!), and on my favourite pizza!

Ingredients

adapted from 'skinny italian'

1 1/4 c. fresh basil leaves, washed

1/3 c. pinoles (pine nuts)

2-3 garlic cloves peeled and cut 

2/3 c. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 c. grated parmesan

salt and pepper to taste

If using a mortar, start by adding some basil leaves and crushing with pestle in circular motion.  Continue to add the rest of the basil until all is crushed, then crush garlic, then pine nuts.  Start to add in some of the oil, then mix in the parmesan.  Add the rest of the oil, salt and pepper and mix.  

If using a food processor, add the ingredients one by one to the processor in the same order as above.  Add more oil to get the consistency you want.  You can play around with the ingredients but I find the above measurements make a great pesto.  

Store in a small container.  Add a small amount of olive oil to the top to seal.  Cover and store in the fridge for up to 1 month.  

San Francisco

For my birthday this year, Chris treated me to a long weekend in San Francisco.  Believe it or not, it was my first time there!  We stayed right downtown in Union Square.  Loved how easy it was to get around on their public transport.
Day 1 we we roamed around a bit and gave in and took a trolly ride to Fisherman's Wharf.  I had heard a lot of things about the Wharf.  It really is the 'Hollywood Blvd" of SF.  Tons of tourist (myself included) getting sold all kinds of tours and packages.  We also checked out Museum Mechanic, a little museum at the wharf with tons of vintage arcade games.  Oh, and you can play them too!

Day 2 we spent most of the day at Alcatraz.  It took up a big chunk of the day but I would absolutely recommend it.  The whole story of Alcatraz is amazing.  

We had a huge list from friends of places to see and to go eat.  Our first night we ate at this amazing mediterranean place Kokkari.  Chris couldn't wait to try the saghanaki which was delish.  Oh, they have an amazing wine cellar downstairs and you can actually dine down there!

Next we had Italiano at Caesars in North Beach.  So good!  After we walked through North Beach and stopped for tiramisu at The Stinking Rose.  Delicioso!

Our last day we headed to Golden Gate Park.  It's huge!  We walked through the park to a Japanese tea garden, the California Academy of Arts and Sciences and then on to Haight Ashbury for lunch!  We ended our weekend with a sunset cruise around the bay :)

Vancouver

I dont usually make New Years resolutions, mostly because I never keep them.  And like a friend noted last night on NYE, you can have a fresh start any day.  Every day is a new day!  However, I did manage to accomplish one thing last year, I finally got a passport and took a trip to Canada with my best friend Jennie.  I know, not the most glamourous use of your first passport stamp.  But it was winter, bloody cold, and beautiful.  We stayed in north Vancouver with some of Jennie's relatives and were just down the road from Grouse Mountain.  And just a ferry ride away from downtown Vancouver.

View of downtown from ferry

Mountains of North Vancouver

Zip lining at Grouse Mountain

This was part of a series of pictures Jennie happened to catch of me falling repeatedly whilst trying to pose for a photo

Some strange leaning shack on the waterfront

Downtown, Granville.  You can't tell but it actually started snowing heavily in this picture!

Farmers Market at Granville Island

Water Street, really snowing now!

Apparently these pastries called Beaver Tails are famous.  And delish!  Kind of like a deep fried flat doughnut.

The night before we left it REALLY snowed!