The Maui Blow Hole

I never did finish the posts I had planned from our trip to Maui this past May. I wrote one post about our favorite food finds. But you don't really go to Maui for the food, well maybe you do. We love the beach, riding around all day in a Jeep with the top off, kayaking, snorkling and just discovering nature.

One of our highlights this visit, was a stop at the Blow Hole. The Blow Hole is an opening in a lava shelf where the ocean crashes right through! The hike from the road is stunning and it's a very interesting rocky area with beautiful views of the ocean. We had a great time waiting for the hole to blow and enjoying the views and rock formations. Kids will enjoy trying to get soaked by the water sprays.

Useful Information:

• Wear tennis or hiking shoes, you will be hiking on rough lava rock
• It's a steep climb and may be difficult with small children, pregnant women, anyone not comfortable with a bit of climbing
• You may want to stay longer then you would expect so you can enjoy the area and views, we stayed about 2 hours
• Visit this site for more info

Directions:

• Follow Highway 30 (Honoapi'ilani Highway) north from Kapalua
  
• Look for Mile Marker #38, about 1/2 mile past the Mile Marker you will see a large dirt pullout along the ocean side of the road
  
• From there you should be able to locate the trail down to the lava shelf

Storing Tomato Paste

Have you ever noticed that when recipes call for tomato paste, they usually only require 1 tablespoon? So you have to open up an entire can for just one spoonful and then what?

I've seen tips on how to store leftover tomato paste. Such as filling up an ice cube tray, freezing it, then putting the cubes in a freezer bag. Too messy.

Or by placing spoonfuls onto a wax sheet lined cookie tray, freezing them and storing in a freezer bag. Not fast enough.



Here's my cheat. Spoon tomato paste onto squares of plastic wrap. Roll wrap tightly around paste to keep air out. Throw the little balls into the freezer and you're done!

The plastic wrap comes right off when you are ready to use the tomato paste. And so far I haven't found a recipe where I couldn't throw in a little frozen ball of tomato paste in and let it defrost as it cooks in. It does melt very quickly.

Fresh Peach Pie

I CANNOT believe it's been over 3 weeks since I've posted! What I thought was a little bit of slacking off turned into a huge land slide. I hope you all have been enjoying your summer in the mean time.

Here is a little bit of summer for you today: fresh peach pie. This is one of those desserts that is so easy to make, and so full of summer goodness, I don't know why I don't make it more often.

You don't even need a recipe, just a few storebought items:

• Frozen pie crust (I prefer Marie Callender's or Mrs. Smith's)
• 5-6 large fresh peaches
• 1 jar or container of peach pie glaze (found in produce section)
• 1 lemon, juiced (this will keep the peaches from browning)
• Sugar

Sprinkle one pie crust with sugar and bake according to package directions. Freeze remaining pie crust for a later use. Meanwhile, rinse and slice peaches. Toss in a large bowl with lemon juice. Then toss again with pie glaze. Refrigerate filling while pie crust bakes. Let pie crust cool completely before filling. Store pie in fridge covered in plastic wrap.

Strawberry Pie: Peaches and pie glaze can easily be substituted for strawberry

Quote of the Day

"A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world." --John le Carré, English author

There is a thought worth musing over. Of course, I spend most of my life at a desk.

Tucany Painting

I am finally making progress on my Tuscany inspired painting! I started this painting at least *ahem* a year ago, if not longer! I was getting really frustrated with a patch of trees that I couldn't get right and gave up for a while. One of my summer goals is to complete it. I'll admit though, that it took finding these topiary trees to finally incentivize me. (why isn't "incentivize" a real word? we use it all the time at work. another one of those made up marketing terms i guess.)

Wish me luck, I'm hoping to finish it within a week! P.S. It's not an original painting of mine, I am copying something I saw at Crate & Barrel. I think I spent almost as much buying the art supplies as I would've just buying the painting. Sometimes doing it yourself doesn't really save money!

My Nonna's Lasagna

My Nonna (Italian grandmother on my mother's side) sent me a wedding anniversary card a few weeks ago and included a handwritten recipe for her lasagna. Which oddly enough, I've never actually had. She doesn't make lasagna much that I can remember.

My grandparents immigrated here in the 50s and still don't speak English very well. The best part about this recipe is trying to read it. I'll give a prize to anyone who can translate it!


If I try and speak like my nonna, with her accent, it starts to make sense.

Here are a few clues:

• Miad = meat
• Pis = pieces
• Ef = half

My favorite line though is the one she circled at the bottom of the page, "Eskius may rait" which translates to "excuse my writing". This one is a treasure.

I thought I had decided...

I thought I had decided...on which topiary I liked best for our fireplace mantle.

Now that I am looking at the photos again as I post them...

I'm not really sure! Which ones do you like? The scraggly rosemary ones, or the two "ball" mint ones? I thought the rosemary ones went better with my half painted Tuscan scene. The mint ones look a bit to groomed "English garden" to me.

I've been wanting topiaries for the mantle since we moved in three years ago! And I finally found some on sale at Crate & Barrel for only $15 each. Now I just have to choose...