College Throwback: Hawaiian French Toast

I've been having some writers block. I've been cooking simple meals every day, but nothing of significant effort, or accurate measuring. So I'm referring to some posts that I wrote last year... yes last year around this time. I saved them up in hopes of having a "college throwback" week, but my writers block is just as good of an excuse. So here we go.

I didn't start cooking until the end of high school. By that time I got over my fear of burning down the house thanks to years of Food Network exposure, courtesy of my mother. Even still, cooking was still incredibly foreign to me. Since I was stuck eating cafeteria food and missed all the home cooked meals, College was when I started to get interested and passionate about food and cooking.

So in order to start some kind of week-long theme, we're going with College Throwback. This week I'll be making all the foods that I made in my dorm and the foods that kicked off my love for cooking.

When I first met Boyfriend, my food preparation experience was limited to rice in a rice cooker, cookies and omelettes. But I did manage to pull off impressing him with my mad breakfast skills. The first thing I ever cooked for Boyfriend was Hawaiian French toast.

I love breakfast and I love French toast, so to step it up a notch I used Hawaiian sweet bread. I originally used a loaf of Hawaiian sweet bread, but we're trying to watch portions lately, so I'm going to use the individual mini loaves. 

Hawaiian French Toast

4 rolls of Hawaiian sweet bread

2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt
1 tbsp butter

Cut rolls in half horizontally, so it looks like two slices of sandwich bread.

Mix eggs, cinnamon, and salt. Dip both sides of the bread in the egg mixture to absorb the egg.

On a griddle or nonstick pan, melt butter and brown the sweet bread rolls on both sides until cooked through.

Enjoy on it's own, or with butter and syrup. I chose to go without either. Since the bread is already sweet, I didn't want to overload on sugar with the syrup.

You could also make a breakfast sandwich by layering ham, bacon, cheese, a fried egg or whatever in between the toast. Delicious! Enjoy.

-Akemi-chan

A Hawaiian Week in April Part 3

This final post from Hawaii is all from one day: our last full day. Boyfriend and I spent most of the day by ourselves roaming the North Shore, and for those who are familiar that that part of the island, you know there are no shortage of picture opportunities. 

Yeah, I had cake for lunch

Geo-caching our way through the North Shore

People jumping off the Haleiwa bridge

Nom turtle nom

Walking the trails at the Pu'u o Mahuka Heiau

Waimea Bay

Rockin' graffiti 

Making fun of Instagram

After a long day of driving, hiking and walking on rocks, we were hungry! Historic Haleiwa town used to have a restaurant called Rosie's Cantina. My family and I frequently visited this Mexican joint for our weekly post-beach dinner. What is it about the beach that makes you crave Mexican food? Sadly, Rosie's closed a while ago and has been replaced by another Mexican/ Latino restaurant that Boyfriend and I decided to investigate.

I have so many vivid memories of Rosie's: the chips, the salsa, the decor, etc. I couldn't believe how different the current restaurant, Luibuneo's, was, despite it's familiar feeling. The bar was moved and completely redone, the decor was casually sophisticated and the menu was impressively creative.

Dinner at Luibueno's, GUAC!

Boyfriend's Blackened Ahi burrito

My li hi mui margarita

My paella

Shrimp as big as your head

After dinner, we went from a sunset stroll around Haleiwa. As any local will tell you, Haleiwa is known for it's shave ice. I repeat SHAVE ice. Not shaved ice, not Hawaiian ice, not  snow cone... shave ice. The most famous place is Matsumoto's, visited by celebrities and locals alike. I remember being a kid, coming back from the beach and getting the biggest shave ice I could possibly hold. Minutes later my arm would be dripping with colorful syrup because I couldn't consume it fast enough and the heat took its toll on my sugary treat. But the thing I remember the most is that there is always a ridiculously long line. Luckily there are other options available. 

Aoki shave ice is another popular option, visited by locals since it has the same casual North Shore feel without the excess hype and not so long lines. Unfortunately I found out from my local friends' Facebook feed that Aoki's will be closing up shop after 32 years. Boyfriend and I stopped in for our last chance to show our Aloha for Aoki's before it closes in May of this year. Of course, I had to get the Rainbow flavor (Starwberry, Lemon and Pineapple) with vanilla ice cream. Plus, I didn't have to worry about drips thanks to these new "flower" holders/ catchers, genius!

A North Shore classic is closing. One last hurrah at Aoki's Shave Ice

This may be the longest time I've spent at home since I moved to Illinois: eight whole days. I'm so glad we were able to come back, even though it wasn't originally part of our plans. I'm really happy we got to spend time with friends and family. We originally wanted to spend some time on a neighbor island, but I think we made the most of this vacation. 'Til next time.

-Akemi chan

A Hawaiian Week in April Part 1

It feels like forever since I've posted anything and I suppose 2 weeks really is a long time. I took a week off in April for vacation to celebrate both my birthday and Boyfriend's. However, we did something for both of our birthdays closer to the actual days. We went to Chicago for a few days (Day 1 and Day 2) for my 26th and hosted a sangria party for Boyfriend's 27th. I am officially older than a quarter of a century. Ha!

So when it came down to planning a "birthday vacation" for the two of us, we were exhausted and unprepared. We were contemplating going to the Pacific Northwest to visit Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. Then we were thinking of taking a road trip in the Southwest through New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado. Of course, there was always the option of eating our fill in New Orleans or reliving childhood memories at Disney World. But like I said, we were unprepared and a week before vacation, I was almost immobile from party-planning and road trips.

A few days before my vacation time, we decided our best financial and social situation would be to head back to the islands. We were heading to Hawaii again. Boyfriend and I met at the University of Hawaii in my junior year and his senior year on student exchange. Plus, Boyfriend hadn't been back to the Aloha state since Fall of 2011. It seemed like a perfect combination of family time, hanging out with friends, good food and relaxation.

I know, it must seem incredibly ridiculous to think a week long vacation to Hawaii is more financially approachable than the Southwest or New Orleans, but when you have friends and family like ours, who needs to book hotels and cars? First world problems.

Here's some snapshots of where we went, what we saw and what we ate.

Impromptu birthday celebration at Farrell's

Tofu stew at my favorite Korean restaurant

The jet-lag is getting to him

Local style breakfast: Loco Moco, eggs, fried rice and Portuguese sausage

View from my towel at the beach

Trying to get our tan on, silly Midwest dwellers

Acai bowl and smoothie from Haleiwa Bowls. So refreshing.

Playing tourist at Dole Plantation

Gettin' my Dole Whip on!

Getting our caffeine fix at Green World Farms

College flashbacks. University of Hawaii at Manoa Japanese Gardens

Calamari, drinks and Ahi tacos from Mai Tai's 

Just some poke for lunch

Sandwiches, burgers, iced coffee and halo halo from Pineapple Room

How do you celebrate 4/20 when you're a foodie? You eat, duh! Okay, now that I've recovered from my 90's lingo flashback, let's continue. Though I've never partaken in the reefer (and no I'm not just saying that because my mother reads this), I am no stranger to pigging out when the mood strikes me. As far as I'm concerned I could've been a sub-par athlete, a clumsy doctor or a stuttering public speaker. Instead I focused on what made me happy and what I was good at, EATING!

I spend most of my time on vacation eating like I've been fasting for months and so what? That's what vacation is for! I just have to work out like a fiend once I get back home. Therefore my vacations are contributing to my fitness habits, or at least that's how I justify it. More Hawaii to come..

-Akemi-chan