my kind of "missing" cat...

It was such a nice day today, the sun was finally out, it was a warm 33 degrees outside! That's warm for us that have been stuck in the artic tundra for the last few weeks. I decided to get out early and do all my errands, get in my exercise of walking while the sun was still high and strong in the sky. Now normally when I go out and come back home my cat always, I mean always greets me at the door. Not today. He's such a friendly loving little guy. He always hears my car pulling into the driveway, runs over to the sun room watching me get out of the car, walk up the pathway, and at that point he runs to the other side of the house to the front door to greet me. No kitty to be found. I was so scared. I thought the worst....and told myself not to panic. I thought maybe he got outside? We don't let him outside because of all the coyotes we have around here. And then I remembered this did happen a couple times before and I eventually found him in my bedroom closet (he knows how to close the closet door, and for whatever reason he loves to close the closet doors and have a nap on the floor of my closet). He was not in the closet. I searched everywhere in the house, nothing. More panic came over me. I started thinking maybe he got into the back of the washing machine? You know how your mind starts thinking the absolute worst and craziest outcomes? Yeah, that's where I started thinking towards. And then all of a sudden, as I was walking down the stairs to go check out the laundry room, I looked over to the post & beams of the ceiling, over by the skylights and found this.....

Relief flooded over then a little bit of anger as it's not the safest place to be since the drop to the ground floor is a long way down. How did he get there? Upstairs in the bedroom, there is a little lookout window, that overlooks the downstairs. He jumped up onto that little railing, hopped onto the post beams and over to the windows.

This is the little opening. Crazy right? He got down fine and now, goes back and forth like it's nothing. I think everyone in this house has a bit of cabin fever lately, so maybe that's why he was feeling 'creative & daring'. So after that mini heart attack, I put away the groceries and wanted to go outside and see where my duck buddies were. Lately there have been a few ducks brave enough to kind of come close to me and say hi, but only if I feed them some treats. So, I wanted to give a few stale pieces of bread to them. As soon as I opened the slider, they heard that noise and came right over.

But as I was feeding them I turned to my left and looked at what was coming....

I had never seen this before! I was in shock and slowly, walked into the house to get my camera. I mean is this a shot or what? And if you can see in the distance, there are more crossing the little pathway heading over! And just behind that bush, by the pathway, are tons more coming over! It was so cool! I was lucky to get this shot, and wanted to feed them more, so on my way back to the house (to get more bread) a ton of them got spooked and flew back into the river. The fly-away wind they created was INTENSE!

chai crumbcake

My love for crumb cake runs deep. I love NYC style crumb cake with a thick, thick crumbly topping and a rich buttery cake. I love how it's a 2 to 1 ratio for topping and cake. But some of the recipes I've found only give it a 1 to 1 ratio, so when that happens I just double the ingredients for the crumb topping, just like I did with this recipe below. I mean the best part is that darn sweet and gently salty topping filed with spices or just plain cinnamon, right? Oh yeah! And I also love what you can do with crumbcake: you can add fruit to it, add nuts, glazes, drizzles, chocolate, and now I've found you can add chai. I love that strange but warming flavor of chai, every once in a while I love to get a hot chai tea from Starbucks. I highly recommend this recipe from Baking Bites; it's really good and has a gentle flavor of chai.

If you were going to kick up a crumbcake, what would you add to it?



chai crumb cake (with extra crumb topping)
adapted from Baking Bites
print recipe

Topping: (I doubled this for an extra thick topping. Below is the regular size, if you want double crumb topping, then double all the ingredients for topping)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
½ tsp cardamom
½ tsp allspice
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup butter, melted and cooled slightly

Cake:
1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2/3 cup butter, soft
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9″ square baking pan with parchment paper or lightly greased aluminum foil. (I used an 8inch pan and sprayed with Pam)

In a medium bowl, combine all topping ingredients except butter. Whisk to blend.
Gradually stir in the melted butter, using a large fork or spatula to mix. When all the butter has been incorporated and the mixture looks like wet sand, squeeze small clumps together to make large crumbs ranging in size from that of a pea to that of a grape. Set aside. (I doubled the amount of crumb as there was such a thin layer of it).

In another medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by vanilla extract. With the mixer set on a low speed (or by hand), alternately add in flour and sour cream in two or three additions. When no streaks of flour remain, pour into prepared pan. Top evenly with crumb mixture.
Bake at 350F for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack before slicing. (I baked at 325 degrees for 15 minutes, turned pan, then another 15).
Serves 9-12, depending on how you slice it.

honey sesame shrimp

A fabulous taste sensation of flavors in this shrimp dish. Just like I love my sweets with a hint of salty, I love my spicy foods with a hint of sweet. The key to this dish is the marinade, but then again isn't that always the case? The longer something sits and marinades in a good sauce, the better it tastes. So, if you can, let this marinade overnight. I also added in more of the Thai chile sauce, you don't have to, but the flavor is a deep spice, not an instant HOT, but a slow warming heat as you eat it; that's why I love spicy Thai chile sauces.
Sorry I don't have better pictures this time around as this was a dinner meal and it's so dark here by the time we get around to eating. But I had to share this recipe with everyone as the sauce was soooooo good. And when something is good you just have to share it with friends.
I don't know about you, but I am a huge lover of ginger root. I am amazed at it's healing powers and more importantly it's taste. Whenever I eat sushi I always ask for more ginger. I'm the person in Whole Foods buying the jars of pickled ginger and bargaining with the sushi chefs to pile on some more ginger onto my sushi lunch rolls. In this dish, I added big chunks of thinly sliced ginger...you can see it in the first pic, on the left side. When those chunks of ginger marinaded in that sauce and then were cooked through, oh the taste! I ate all the chunks in this dish as the hubby won't touch it.

Honey Sesame Shrimp
print recipe

1 ½ pounds jumbo shrimp peeled and deveined
4 slices fresh ginger 1/4-inch thick (I did 6 slices)
5 trimmed scallions
6 TB dark sesame oil (also called Asian sesame oil)
4 TB rice wine sake (or dry sherry)
6 TB soy sauce
5 TB honey
3 TB sesame seeds
1 TB Thai sweet chile sauce or paste (I did 2 TB)
1 ts Chinese five-spice powder
4 cloves garlic crushed

Flatten white parts of scallions with the side of a cleaver. Finely chop green parts and set aside for garnish. Rinse the shrimp under cold running water, then drain and blot dry with paper towels. Set aside while you prepare the marinade.

Combine 3 tablespoons of the sesame oil, the rice wine, soy sauce, honey, sesame seeds, chile sauce (if using), and five-spice powder in a large bowl and whisk to blend.
Stir in the garlic, ginger, scallions, and shrimp to coat, then cover and let marinate, in the refrigerator, for 30 to 60 minutes.

Preheat the grill to high. Using a slotted spoon, remove the shrimp from the marinade to a bowl and toss with the remaining 3 tablespoons sesame oil.
Pour the marinade into a saucepan; remove and discard the garlic, ginger, and scallion whites, using the slotted spoon. Bring the marinade to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, uncovered, to a thick, syrupy glaze, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
When ready to cook, oil the grate.
Arrange the shrimp on the hot grate and grill, turning with tongs, until nicely browned on the outside and firm and pink inside, about 2 minutes per side. Brush the shrimp with the glaze as they cook.
Transfer the shrimp to serving plates and or a platter and sprinkle with the scallion greens. Serve immediately with sticky rice

Serves 3 - 4
(I've also stir fried this dish and it came out just as good. Right now the grill is buried in snow...somewhere)

potato chip & cc cookies

My love for salty, crispy food things combined with chocolate is endless. I love making my potato chips dipped in chocolate, and my new found love of dipping Cheez Its in chocolate was a thrill when I found I could further kick it up a notch by using it in my Poor Man's Toffee. I had yet to make a good chocolate chip cookie with potato chips in them. It was hard as I wanted to find the perfect balance of potato chip and cc's. I would make normal cc cookies and add chopped up potato chips to it, but never tasted the potato chips in the end. To make a long story short and to sum up my many experiments in finding the right balance I finally came up with the fact that you have to use small chocolate chips because the bigger ones (or normal sized ones) were too overpowering and I could never taste the potato chips. I also found that using salt & vinegar potato chips that are hearty and have a bold potato flavor like Kettle Brand worked perfectly. These potato chips have enough salt on them to stand out with the sweet contrast of the chocolate chip, and the intense flavor of the salt & vinegar doesn't break down/get lost as much during the mixing and cooking sections. You really don't taste the vinegar in the chips, just the salt. I think the vinegar dissipates during baking. Also, never grind the potato chips too fine, leave them a bit hearty-like so you have that crunch in each and every cookie. These were so good, I mean really good. If you like salty & sweet then you need to put this on your 'to bake' list. Next time I make these I am trying other flavors of the Kettle Chips; those spicy thai, the chipotle (oh yeah!) and the salt & pepper. Endless possibilities, I love that.

potato chip & chocolate chip cookies
print recipe

1 cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup crushed (not too fine) salt & vinegar potato chips (used Kettle Brand)
1 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder; mix well.
In a mixer combine butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
Add egg and vanilla.
Gradually add in the flour mixture and combine well.
Stir in potato chips and chocolate chips by hand.
Place in fridge to chill for at least an hour or more.
Once dough is nice and chilled use a mini scooper or your hands to form about 1-inch balls. Place on an ungreased baking sheet, 2 inches apart. (they do spread when baking)
Bake 14 to 18 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on baking sheet.

Makes 2 dozen.

Note: you can add crushed salted pretzels to this as well in addition or in place of the potato chips. You don’t have to use salt & vinegar chips. Just make sure to always use a hearty/sturdy type of potato chip.

winter, so far....

Obviously you've heard the northeast had quite a cold spell? Yeah, I'm living in the artic tundra. This past Friday & Sat. nights we had temps below zero and the wind chill was a -5. Today, Sunday, isn't so bad, we're having a mild heatwave as the temps are finally back into the low 30's. I thought I'd share some winter photos from my neck of the woods...


The docks in my town. The commercial fishing boats, most of them are all out. How'd you like to go and fish in zero degree weather with cold water all around you for 10+ hours? That's gotta be a very hard job to do in the winter. My hat goes off to these guys & girls; I'm grateful for their hard work and some of the best local seafood around.
Look at that sky! How magnificent, how monstrous! When you're standing in zero degree weather with below zero wind chills staring up at that sky you truly feel alive. (and truly friggin frozen!)

Down the road a bit from the docks is the cape cod canal. This is a place where I like to walk, long walks, as the canal is about 8 miles long. It's a great place to walk in the spring & summer, not in the winter as the winds are brutal here. The wind is so strong here in the winter that it literally slaps your face.

That's that Sagamore Bridge in the distance; a bridge that separates cape cod from the mainland; only way on to cape cod is this bridge or the other bridge (Bourne Bridge).

Look at the clouds! Friggin awesome.

Ever since 911, cameras are everywhere along the canal, thankfully.

My back deck with the beginning of snowstorm number 7? I lost count by now.

One hour later, two more inches fell. I love the sound/no sound of the snow falling. No other noises, no cars, no animals, just snow falling...you know that almost non-existence sound?

This photo is from Friday, the creek that runs to the marsh in our backyard is frozen in some parts: that rarely happens; this shows you how cold it was. But I worried about my friends the ducks, how can they stand that cold water? Aren't they just freezing? Can they not feel the cold water in their feet? I wanted to bring them in the house so badly.





When I went over to feed them, they started to move, so I my thoughts of bringing them inside would never work. I love my duckie friends. They do chat A LOT with each other early in the morning.


Very early one morning I saw these tracks on my back deck. How cool? Nothing else touched the snow, but these tracks. I'm pretty sure it was a bunny.

You know it's cold out when my cat literally gets under the blankets!

A skylight window above my bedroom at 9am--yes, 9am! It's that dark outside. Can you say SAD (seasonal affective disorder)? I swear I have a touch of it every winter; I crave the sun so much these days.

My bedroom outside deck, not very deck-like these past few months. I loved sitting here in the summer soaking up the warm rays and watching sunsets at night.

My cocoon. Winter makes me sleep a lot more. Hibernate is more the term. See the ivory blanket on top of the mattress? That's my electric blanket, I put ON the bed so I lay over it me--that's how cold I am at night. Sooooo nice and comfy that way. When we have frigid cold days I swear I love getting into bed with my electric blanket set high, and my comforter surrounding every inch of skin, I can't leave any skin unexposed, everything covered!! Cocoon!

My night table these days is nothing more than a pharmacy and watering hole. My skin is so dry this winter. On Friday night the dew point was a minus -4. Minus people! It's been so dry here this winter. During the middle of the night I get so parched and my skin so dry that I have to mist it. I put eye cream on my dry eyes at least 3 times a day...crazy. The dark gray box behind the water is my late kittys' ashes; it's always on my nightstand, near me.

I finally broke down and bought a warm mist humidifier. I LOVE this. The amount of clean, warm mist this little guy spouts out is amazing. No more waking up with dry throat. It really is a great little machine.

This is where I'd rather be this winter....

Or here.... aloha `aina