@home in paradise

Welcome to @home in paradise!

I started this blog on a whim.  Never really knowing what I would talk about or share.  Since I am presently living on an island "paradise" I figured, why not just ramble on about my life, laughs, loves, and eats while living on an island! 

After your visit, I hope that you would leave me a little "aloha," so I know that you dropped by!  

Mahalo for visiting,

Hasmin :-)

Dried Mangoes and Berries

I went to Costco yesterday, for my once a month(maybe twice)-spend $100+ visit, and saw these for the first time.  I thought...I love mangoes, like blueberries, and strawberries too.  Plus they are a healthier snack than reaching for something like...a cupcake...but who can resist a cupcake?! come on Hasmin!  Ok, ok, I should say for a "healthier alternative" reach for these.  I'm not a big fan of "dried" fruits you buy in packages that are "petried." (petrified/dried)  I still like a little moisture to them and at the same time, you can still taste the natural flavor of the fruit.  

So this is what you get inside...blueberries, strawberries, sweet mango (orange colored ones) and green sour mango (light yellow).  YESSSSS! GREEN SOUR MANGO!!! love them fresh, even better in semi-dried form.  Soooo good...can't beat the sweet/sour combo, and like the package says, these are "Rich in Antioxidants."  

A Contemporary Floral Arrangement on Canvas

My project today at  DECO~Honolulu Studio...The flowers on canvas (16"x16") consisted of English Roses, Proteas, Anthuriums and Cymbidium Orchids.  I'm very into the color brown, so I chose that color to paint (burnt umber gouache) my canvas.

 

The center of the canvas is raised, so this piece is dimensional.  I'm very happy how it turned out.   

HUGS and a big THANK YOU to Yukiko and Chenli for their input and assistance. :-)

Quick Salmon Dinner

Salmon with Mediterranean Pasta (Orzo) Salad.  I bought the pre-made orzo salad at a deli.  Surely there must be a quick recipe out there in "internet land" for this...but for now, it's a store bought version.  Will search for a recipe, or maybe you have one to share? ;-)

I did contribute to my simple~fast dinner by cooking a couple of pieces of salmon with these ingredients...plus garlic and butter.

Is it obvious where I got these from?! :-)

I washed my pieces of salmon, pat dry with a paper towel, then placed seafood rub on both sides. Heat a pan on medium.  Melt 2 T. of butter, add chopped garlic (as much as you like~I think I put in about 2 heaping t.~love garlic!), add capers (again, your preference~2 T. and then some for me), add your salmon.  My salmon pieces were on the thick side, so it took a little longer to cook (sorry, I didn't time it), just make sure that the salmon is easy to flake with a fork, you want your fish to be moist not dry.  After cooking the fish, the pan had some burnt bits of capers in melted butter...I took a big spoonful of it and drizzled it over my piece of salmon.  Mmmmmm...  

note: I could see this with a nice helping of green salad too, or in lieu of the orzo salad.

Food Break

I have been on a food kick lately...eating...eating...eating!!!  The island weather (typical at this time) is either sunny, rainy, humid, sunny, hot, breezy...you get the idea. 

Anyway, when it gets quite  warm, the kitchen is warm, and cooking is nearly out of the question for this "warm is not a good time to cook" kinda gal.  Yes folks, my home doesn't have central air...just a dinky little unit (and a fan) placed in our living area that doesn't quite do the trick.  Also, I tend to get pretty congested (now at my age) when I'm placed in a very well air conditioned room or ac blowing at me...yes dilemma...cold air=congestion or no air=hot.  Ooops, I'm getting off the path to which I'm delegating this post to...food. ;-)

Last night, I was craving seafood (again), so I wanted to try and make this recipe for Cioppino.  And if I may toot my own horn, it turned out quite well, indeed!  I did forget a wonderful crusty loaf of bread to go with it though...I still have left overs, so I'm going to get some bread today! (from Safeway-I think they have good French bread) :-)

Yup, I use my Chinese soup spoon for eating this stew...it just has the right depth and size to capture all of the stew goodness!

 

The seafood I had on hand were mussels (just the meat no shell-the shell would have added a nice rustic look to the stew though), shrimp (peeled, but left the tail portion on for better handling-again, I could have left the shell on completely, but I didn't want to "work" for that shrimp, ya know?), fish, and scallops.  I also didn't have all the "fresh" ingredients called for like, thyme (used dried), fennel (used celery), and didn't add the concoction of flat leaf parsley, orange zest/juice, and capers before serving...I did add some whole capers though, to add some saltiness. (this dish did take a lot of salt)

The recipe was quite easy and didn't take long to cook.  So if you're looking for a quick/easy seafood dish, this is it...and don't forget your bread!!!   

Peony Wedding Bouquet

Completed my Peony wedding bouquet.  This will be one of several arrangements I will be selling thru Deco Clay Craft Academy's booth, at the upcoming Made in Hawaii Festival.

No, I don't think there is such a thing as green Peonies, but it just goes to show that one can go really wild or very sublime with their color choices.  When it comes to clay flowers, the color possibilities are endless!

Note:  the dimensions of the bouquet are 8" across and 11" long 

Chocolate Haupia Pie

For this Memorial Day weekend, thought I 'd get some Ted's Bakery (home of the original chocolate haupia pie) pies.  The bakery/deli is located on the North Shore,  Sunset Beach. I'm glad that for us Leeward folks, we don't have to drive an hour away for them.  They deliver their pies to local markets.

Flakey crust, first layer consists of the chocolate,  then haupia, topped off with whipped cream.   YUMMERS!  (I also got a pumpkin haupia cream)

Hoping you all have a wonderful Memorial Day with your families! 

2nd Blog Anniversary Giveaway Winner!

So sorry for the lateness...but better late than never, right?!

I woke (barely) my daughter up this morning, just enough to have her pick the winner from the tea cup...

And the winner is...

Liza O.!!!

Liza, let me know your hair pick of choice-Tiare or Gardenia! :-)

Thanks everyone for commenting and hopefully we'll be doing this again next year!

Paper Tales & Cupcakes Squared~Vacation Tidbits

I had a wonderful time back home in sunny, southern California!  Loved meeting up with friends and family...did a bit of shopping and food consuming! (at shops and food joints we don't have on the island) :-)

These are just some of the highlights of my vacay!!!  (and I'm ready to do it again...SOON!)

In front of Paper Tales!  Michelle's WONDERFULLY CUTE store!!! Great place to buy scrapbooking, stamping, mixed media, felting, soldering, vintage finds, and gift giving needs (these are just some of the things I noticed they had at the store while browsing around)...I can go on and on!!!  Plus everyone is so friendly,  knowledgeable, and FUN! If I live in Point Loma (San Diego) right now, I'd be in big, big trouble.  Oh yeah, they have great classes too!

Helle, Me, Jenny, and Michelle on Paper Tales' comfy, shabby chic sofa-do you see some of the cool stuff in store?!  I just love that large window pane on the wall!  Big thanks to Michelle for being our guide at  Ocean Beach for some "antiques" window shopping, and the muy delicioso (authentic) Mexican food!  

I MISS YOU SWEETIES ALREADY!!!  (sad face)

Speaking of "sweets,"  the day before my flight back to the island, my dear friend Celynn took me to her fave cupcake shop, also in Point Loma. 

CUPCAKES SQUARED!  First of all, loving the "brown" color scheme of their store front, which also carries into the bakery...and the name?  Very appropriate and catchy BECAUSE...

the CUPCAKES ARE SQUARE!!!  HOW COOL (and UNIQUE) IS THAT!!!  (I didn't get the name of the young lady who helped us, she was very patient, since we couldn't decide, but I want to thank her and the owner for letting me take photos) :-)

Cupcake HEAVEN...

Got our dozen cupcakes to go...and yes, they get packed this way...ready for gift giving, don't you agree?!  (they get a plus on "presentation!")

Made it safely to Oceanside...BEFORE

and AFTER...2 teenage girls and 2 adult women taste testing each flavor!

Conclusion?  hands down winner was the Vanilla Chai!  But ALL of the cupcakes were so wonderfully delish (and moist).  I love that they were just right in sweetness, flavor, and that the frosting didn't overwhelm the cupcake.   A definite 8 thumbs up for CUPCAKES SQUARED!!! (Thanks Cey for taking me!)