Aloha Baby!

Spring Break 2010 was an amazing week of adventures. The family and Sparky (Candace's BF) flew out to Oahu, Hawaii on Sunday.

The majority of the family drove from Monahans, Tx to Midland, Tx and caught a flight to Dallas. I drove from College Station to Stephenville, dropped off my pups and Cafrine and I drove to Dallas to meet them at the airport. From Dallas we flew to LAX, had an hour layover and then flew to Honolulu, Hawaii.

We arrived around 8pm...which back home in Texas is 1AM and not a good time to call the boyfriend :). My mom had a special surprise for us and she had rented 2 Sebring convertibles! A red one and a white one. I rode in the red one all week! Being thoroughly exhausted we drove to our hotel, got somewhat settled and then the family headed out to P.F. Changs for dinner.
The next week was full of activities, adventures, learning experiences, and no end of hilarious moments! To summarize:
Monday: loaded up the family in the convertibles, put the tops down and drove completely around the island. We stopped at beach on Northshore where Cassandra lost a battle with the waves. Grabbed lunch at a local surfer grill and shared our lunch with the numerous cats and chickens roaming the patio. We also drove to the military base...they won't let you in...then we made a stop at the Dole Plantation, I found pearls in some oysters, had some of the best pineapple ice cream I've ever tasted and enjoyed listening to the history of the plantation. We stopped for a photograph moment at a small cove, I fell out of a tree, and then headed back to the hotel for Happy Hour!! We definitely got happy...everyone was pretty toasty for the rest of the night, so we walked to dinner at Duke's.
Tuesday: We made a more historical visit this day, we went to Pearl Harbor. We boarded the USS Missouri, took a boat to the Arizona and learned about the Zeros that bombed Hawaii at the Pacific Aviation Museum. We headed back to the hotel for yet another Happy Hour and had dinner at Tony Roma's...not Tony Romo's because as my dad said...we would choke.
Wednesday:
On Wednesday we went to the Swap Meet at Aloha Stadium. Lots of shopping, but not a lot of money spent :) my favorite! The rest of the day was spent at the beach where we ate a fresh pinapple! Then more happy hour and dinner at the Yard House, and because it was St. Patty's day, Sparky and I had an Irish Carbomb. I had fish and chips and the rest of the family had Shepherds Pie. I also enjoyed a Maui Brewing Coconut Porter.
Thursday:
Thursday started out as a beach day, we rented an outrigger and with the help of the captain and his first mate, rowed somewhat in sync out into the breakers. I was the lead...and believe me, it's a lot harder than it sounds to get everyone in rhythm. We caught a few waves, and turned it. Then we loaded up and headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center to learn about the history of the Polynesian Islands from natives (with a BYUofH spin of course), we enjoyed a luau and then watched HA! The Breath of Life. This lasted until around 9:30 so afterwards we just went to bed.
Friday:
We had made plans for a "hole in the wall" food tour with Michael Gray for Friday, and believe me it was the best idea ever! We stopped at some cool bakeries, walked around Chinatown and learned alot about the history of the food we were eating. It was amazing! Then more happy hour, and we ate at a surfer grill that I can't remember the name of right at the moment.
Saturday:
Saturday was adventure day! We went to the beach and surfed, then went parasailing. That what truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life! I suggest you try it! After that we changed and headed up the Diamond Head. The hike up Diamond Head is supposed to be 45 minutes, well we made it up in 18. Talk about being in pain...the burn was powerful and I felt bad for the soldiers and mules who used to make the climb daily. After Diamond Head we...you know where this is going...went to Happy Hour. For dinner that night we went to a local diner. It was probably some of the best food we'd had the entire trip.
Sunday:
Sunday was a rush of packing, repacking, and hustling to get to the airport by 11AM. We flew out of Honolulu at 12:45 and landed in San Francisco for a 2 hour layover. We landed in Dallas at 5:40AM Monday morning. Quite a trip.

Pictures should be up soon!

Pliny Thursday

Pliny guarding his closet fort

Cute Little Boutiques

Have you ever driven by one of those cute little boutique stores with their antiques and adorable home decor?

Well I made the mistake of driving down Longmire yesterday and was tempted by one such store called the Checkered Corner. I went in to peruse the merchandise and left with some purchases.

One purchase is the mug you see here. Isn't it adorable with my initial and everything!! I just couldn't pass it up! And it was on sale (shhhhhh)! My other purchase was a candle whose title is "sandcastle". I don't know if it actually smells like sandcastles, but it does remind me of the beach so I'm happy with it.

These little antique stores are really my weakness, I can't pass up the original art and other unique things they have!

Well I'm off to enjoy a fresh cup of tea in my new mug!

Craving Coconut

As I was sitting in my kitchen messing with my computer I had a sudden urge for coconut, so I thought about what I could make and macaroons immediately came to mind! So here's my recipe! And they are tasty and satisfied my urge! Also...I have no idea what to do with the 4 left over egg yolks...any suggestions?

Super Easy Macaroons
1 14oz package angel flake coconut
2/3 c sugar
6 tbs flour
1/4 tsp salt
4 egg whites
1 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 325F.
Mix coconut, sugar, flour and salt in a large bowl. Stir in egg whites and almond extract until well blended.
Drop onto a parchment lined coookie sheet. I use my tablespoon to do thing, makes them all even and pretty.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until edges are golden brown, watch them after about 12 minutes, I burned my first batch.
Immediately move to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.
If you feel crafty, drizzle some melted chocolate over them, or dip them half way in chocolate...the possibilities are endless

Nutella Fudge Brownies

Nutella Fudge Brownies
4 oz unsweetened chocolate (I use Bakers)
1 c butter (2 sticks)
1 lb 4.5 oz sugar (about 2.5 c)
4 lg eggs
1 tbs PURE vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
5.5 oz ap flour (about a cup)
1 c nuts or choc chips
1/2-1 13 oz jar Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 F
Grease a 9*13 glass pan.
Melt chocolate and butter in large saucepan over medium heat. DON'T BURN!! Remove from heat.
Using spatula or wooden spoon add sugar and mix well.
Add eggs, vanilla and salt, mix well.
Fold in flour just until smooth. Fold in chips or nuts (or both!) Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes then spread however much Nutella you want over brownies, sprinkle with any additional toppings, cool completely then cut into squares.

Breakfast Sundays!!!

Yesterday night boyfriend said he wanted waffles for breakfast. I obliged and looked up a recipe, then went to bed and forgot about it, thinking he would too. BUT NO!!! This morning I was rudely awoken to "where are my waffles?!?"

So I pulled out my waffle iron that I've never used before (YAY!!) pulled up the same recipe and went to work. The only problem being that soon the boyfriend completely took over the process :( Not that I'm against having him cook, but I was making the waffles. Oh well, they turned out very good even though we ran out of buttermilk and substituted regular milk instead. They were light and fluffy and super tasty just like a waffle should be, topped with pure maple syrup. Plain and simple amazing!

I love breakfast on Sundays!

my pups

Dixie really really likes the camera

Hello my name is Lizzy

Oral Fixation, Intoxication, or Addiction?

Everyone knows I have a sweet tooth, it's obvious from my nickname, my love of baking, and baked goods. To get more to the point though on Sunday I saw a commercial for Milano cookies, I love Milano cookies and haven't had them in a while so of course a craving ensued. I jumped into the car with a friend and headed to the store to grab cookies and some beer of course. Outside of the store those sweet innocent girl scouts were advertising the last day to buy girl scout cookies. These girls seem like angels but in reality they're sirens singing their sweet song of cookies and luring you to your destruction. Their song was completely effective and I fell to my sugary death buying 6 boxes of Samoans. Then we continued our trek into the store where I bought three bags of Milanos. This wouldn't be a big deal if I possessed an ounce of self control, unfortunately when it comes to cookies I don't. Here comes the kicker, I later drove to my house and ate almost a whole bag of milanos without even realizing I was eating them, I had no idea until boyfriend pointed out the empty bag later that day. So this leads to my question, do I constantly munch on cookies because I have to have something in my mouth, because I'm high (haha...my mom suggested this, it's completely fictional), or because I have a cookie/sugar addiction?

I'm on the downhill side of the second day of my cookie free week challenge and it's not going so well. I was grouchy and shaky yesterday until I had some frozen yogurt. Today I've gotten over the shaky feeling but still feel somewhat grouchy and unmotivated. Overall I am not happy about my lack of sweets, but I guess I will appreciate the supposed health benefits of it.

Anyway, I will be updating on whether or not the cookie free week has succeeded or not and how my mood deals with the loss of sugar.

Home Improv continued!

the horses needed a temporary home

Well as promised here are pictures of the ongoing home improvement at my casa!