Posh Pau Hana

Last week I was lucky enough to attend Posh Pau Hana, the kickoff event of Ala Moana Center's Shop-a-Le`a Celebration! In true pau hana [happy hour] style we were quickly served a signature drink, the "Greyhound" made with grapefruit juice and a sprig of rosemary. If you drink enough of them you're overcome with high speed racing abilities, so I've heard.

Girls Day at Waioli Tea Room

Today's overdue BWB outing was in celebration of girls day! 

In related news also in the overdue category, I'm finally sitting still to write a blog post after an extremely busy month during which I spent 1 week out of commission due to what my doctor said was "just a cold!" My diet consisted of H2O, tea with honey, homemade chicken noodle soup, and acai bowls for 5 days straight and I couldn't even think about real, chew-requiring food, much less blog about it.

The ladies and I met today in the historic and charming Manoa Valley at the Waioli Tea Room.

It's located in a huge, old house that couldn't be more adorable if it were wrapped in a polka dot bow from Target.

Chaslee's Birthday Butter Mochi

Hey y'all! Can you guess what this post is about?

It's Paula Deen's favorite food, y'all - BUTTER!

Here in Hawaii there exists a wonderful dessert called butter mochi. It's made mostly from sweet rice flour and eggs and resembles a baked custard. The flavor is rich, sweet, and heavenly. Butter Mochi's texture is the best part: sticky, super heavy, and slightly crispy on the edges. 

Mom and Dad's Visit - Part II (The Birthdays)

My Mom and I celebrate our birthdays just 6 days (and many years) apart from one another, which is either really convenient or very irritating for my Dad. In 2011 Mom and Dad were here for the occasion and this year we were able to celebrate and enjoy warm weather birthdays again! Shaking up the previously relaxing visit to Hawaii, we went out on the town for Mom's birthday.

We began Carol's extravaganza with pau hana (happy hour) drinks at a downtown Honolulu favorite of mine: Brasserie Du Vin. It's an adorable little French restaurant with the most picturesque outdoor seating area. Their baked brie is so good it should be illegal! We didn't indulge in any food during our visit, just many drinks and a few creative photo opportunities. Cheers! 

Great job on the photo, Darren! - in the mirror at Du Vin

Mom and Dad's Visit - Part I

My parents recently came to Hawaii to visit for 10 days. In the (almost) 5 years that I've lived here they've visited six times, and I've been back to Pittsburgh NINE times! Every visit is better than the last and, despite the absurd distance and flight prices, nobody ever regrets the trip or the family time spent together.

I'm embarrassed to admit that Mom and Dad finally tried malasadas for the very first time during this visit! What a bad daughter/foodie I am for depriving them, right?! I can assure you that they've tried other Hawaii staples: SPAM, poi, a loco moco, apple bananas, mochi ice cream, and so on. It was time for their malasada initiation and we stopped at Leonard's on the way home from dinner, getting our maladadas to go.

I went for a guava filled malasada puff, Mom tried custard filled, and Dad had the original (non-filled) with cinnamon. I promise we always have a great time togther, just look at those faces :)