Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Eleanor


Ok this is for anyone who is a fan of "Gone in 60 Seconds." Zach and I were on our way back home after driving up the Waianae Coast when we decided to take Farrington Hwy and tool around near Barber's Point. There are a lot of manufacturers and one junkyard in the area. The junkyard just happened to have a striped 1967 GT 500E with weeds growing in and out of it. So of course that is the one thing Zach wanted me to take a picture of after being out all afternoon. Fans of Eleanor enjoy.

Clock in Chinatown













Zach and I went to Chinatown on Saturday morning (2-11-2006) to get some vegetables, shrimp, and fresh pasta from the farmer's market and I noticed that the clock in the courtyard has Chinese characters in place of Arabic numerals. Zach bought some really hot chili peppers and limes that made for a nice centerpiece on the bar in the kitchen. The chili peppers are called Kgin Ped Dai Mai and reach 70,000 Schofield units. Not as hot as a Habanero but close. We then went home and had shrimp pasta for lunch. Really, really good! And then I made Zach go interview clothes shopping with me to Sears at Ala Moana. Found a really nice outfit for $50 and Zach was very patient. I owe him fishing trip for that. On Sunday we went to Waikiki for the afternoon. Our reason for going was to see if we could bargin for some nice aloha style luggage. No luck with that but we did enjoy some Cheesecake Factory cheesecake by the beach. I had the Key Lime cheesecake while Zach got the Tiramisu cheesecake. Good stuff in small quantities but too powerful to eat all the time. While walking around Waikiki, I took pictures of random things like a view down the Ala Wai canal looking towards Diamond Head, a WWII memorial, and the staircase of a trendy clothing store, 88 T-Shirts, with license plates from all over the US.

Valentine's Day Party






We hosted a "Welcome to the Lab/Valentine's Day" party today and welcomed Lifang Zhang (research assistant) and ------ (lab assistant) to the lab. Thanks to people for bringing some really good plum sauce chicken wings and fried rice. Anna made a really great salad and introduced us to Papaya Seed salad dressing. Thanks to Mingxiao for the pizzas. Zach liked the mexican one. Zach's fried chicken was a hit that we'll definitely have to have again sometime soon! And of course because we had the party before Valentine's Day the pictures have a V-day theme to them. Thanks to everyone who came!

The Waianae Coast





Zach and I went up the Waianae Coast on Sunday afternoon two weekends ago. We went as far as Makua Sands Beach before we had to turn around. The surf was so high that a part of the road had been covered by sand and waves further up. The Waianae Coast is the least visited part of the island by tourists. We stuck out like a sore thumb with our rental car and cameras. We also garnered more than a few unhappy looks by the locals. Friendliness is not their forte. There are also large homeless tent camps in the beach parks along the coast so if you ever visit use common sense and caution. But the views are amazing and when the surf's up the waves are huge!

North Shore and around Oahu in February











Zach had drills weekend before last so we had a rental car and went on a tour of Oahu on Saturday afternoon. Usually we start by going down H1 to Kalanianaole Hwy. around the southern point of Oahu and up the Windward side but this time we went north and started with Haleiwa on North Shore. Before we got to Haleiwa we stopped at the Dole Plantation where I got a pineapple float that I highly recommend and Zach got a chili pineapple hotdog that I do not recommend. Then we moved on to Haleiwa. We got shave ice from Matsumoto's and stopped to take a few requisite beach pictures. Zach got a Chik-O-Stick which I'd never heard of before and tasted like a butterfinger with coconut to me. Then we were off to the Windwind side of Oahu! We stopped at one of the many shrimp shacks along Kamehameha Hwy to check out the prices. Sticker shock made us take a picture of the nice shack, get back into our car and continue our afternoon drive. We spent the rest of our time taking pictures of the shoreline as the sun went down: old sugar plantation ruins, a horse farm, surfers, the sun on a part of the Koolau Ridge and old cars on the highway. Then we went home and had dinner but I don't remember as it was two weekends ago and I should have made this entry back then. Such is life.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Just try to say you can't find our place!


Last week, if you didn't know it, Honolulu had its picture taken. Here we are in the pic.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Oh my god I have a new favorite ice cream!

You'll dig GUINESS ICE CREAM! It's the weekend! Let's get going with this recipe!

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup Guinness stout
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons molasses
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a medium saucepan, scrape in the vanilla bean seeds. Add the pod, milk, and cream. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn off the heat, cover the pan, and let the flavors infuse for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together the stout and molasses. Bring to a boil and turn off heat.

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the yolks, sugar, and vanilla extract. Whisk in a few tablespoons of the hot cream mixture, then slowly whisk in another 1/4 cup of the cream. Add the remaining cream in a steady stream, whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.

4. Stir the beer mixture into the cream mixture. Cook the custard over medium heat, stirring often with a wooden spoon, for 6 to 8 minutes or until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon.

5. Strain the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Process the custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Makes 1 quart.

6. Eat a lot and stumble!

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Hamster and Snake make friends


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060118/ap_on_fe_st/japan_hamster_and_snake
I'd never thought I'd see something like this but life is full of surprises. Having had hamsters as pets I could never have a snake and use hamsters as snake food but I guess I'm not the only one who shares that thought!

Tuesday, January 17, 2006



I thought that we had seen big waves at Christmas, but I found this tonight and was so amazed that I had to share

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Zach and Sharon's Blog Home

Yeah! Zach set up a fishcam! Actually he was trying to set up a webcam so my friend Mandy and I could chat online but instead came up with the fishcam. Oh, well at least all the aquarists who come by the blog will enjoy the fish.
To Mandy: Zach's still working on getting the webcam working the way we want it to.

Hawaiian Silversword


Argyroxiphium kauense (Rock & Neal) Degener & I. Degener
This is the latin name for the Hawaiian Silversword. The picture here is of the one growing in the garden of our apartment complex. Check out the link:http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/carr/akau.htm for more information.

Sunday, January 01, 2006



Merry Christmas to all

More Pics from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2005




Images in order of appearence: 1) Waianae Range with pineapple fields below. 2) Zach looking for Humpback Whales in the National Sanctuary. 3) Our Christmas Dinner after we'd dug into it. 4) Anna with her Grandmother who came all the way from England to see her!

Christmas Day 2005 in Hawai'i





Zach and I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2005 in Hawai'i. On Christmas Eve, we took Mingxiao on a trip around Oahu to see various parts of the island that she had never seen before. Our goal was to see if we could catch a glimpse of the visiting Humpback whales and maybe some sea turtles. Unfortunately we saw neither but we did catch some really cool waves on the North Shore. Man! Ok I'm not a surfer but I definitely see the appeal. Waves reached at least 20ft and made a booming noise when they crashed. We even stopped by the Dole Plantation so I could get my pineapple float fix. Oh man is that good. Cold pineapple juice with pineapple ice cream. Dang it! Now I want one!
Zach and I made Christmas dinner on Christmas eve repleat with baked ham, green bean cassarole, macaroni and cheese, Hawaiian King rolls, and cranberry sauce. On Christmas Day, we went to a party at Anna's house where we stuffed ourselves on turkey, ham, Jim Bean flavored yams and other goodies. Thanks to Anna for inviting us and for letting us hang out with her and her family.

Great White Shark seen off the coast of Oahu


On Wednesday a dive tour group out of Haleiwa (on the famous North Shore of Oahu) spotted a 18-20ft Great White Shark while in the water. Check this link out to an article by one of the local TV news stations, KGMB: http://www.kgmb.com/kgmb/display.cfm?storyID=6925. Cool stuff!

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Problem Cake #2


If you remember from our first posts in the summer, I tried to make a chocolate cake that just did not look edible. Well here is cake nightmare number two: burnt and cracked rose cake. Zach bought me a silicone rose-shapped cake mold to make bundt cakes. The picture shows my second attempt. The first one looked better but was still unpresentable. At the time, I thought maybe the modifications that I had made to the first cake recipe had been the problem. Now after two tries both Zach and I seem to think the oven is the culprit but we're still investigating. Zach made some powdered sugar to try and make the second cake look better but I wasn't impressed.

More Christmas decor



I found some gift bags in the shape of christmas stockings with the Hawaiian saying "Mele Kalikimaka" to hang on the backside of our kitchen cabinets along with christmas cards from family and friends. Zach also decorated the lanai railing with rope light and lighted garland.

Cookies, Mochi and Candy



I forgot to take a picture of the buffet table before we ate and before I cleaned it up but I realized that I still had some cookies, mochi and candy that I could show. The top picture is of the candy that Mingxiao brought for us to try: Pineapple sandwich cookies and jelly filled Burger Mallows. The bottom picture shows the different cookies and mochi we had to eat. Clockwise starting at the top: chocolate mochi (made from rice flour), butter mochi (tastes just like pound cake!), Walnut topped stuffed sugar cookies stuffed with Keebler fudge mint cookies, Anna's three cookies, and last Zach's Peppermint pinwheels.

Our First Real Christmas Tree

Past Christmases we have always had an artificial tree but this year we decided to get a real tree! We got a Noble Pine from Home Depot and decorated it with a candy cane theme. We like it and thought everyone else might want a gander.

More Christmas Pics





More pics of us wearing funny hats!