RECIPE REVIEW - PISTACIO PESTO BUTTER

One Sunday morning, I turned on the television and the Food TV Network was on. Aaron McCargo Jr.  reviewed what was on the menu and the Pistacio Pesto Butter caught my eye.....Yeah, we were planning to grill some steaks for dinner and the melted pesto butter on the steak looked way too good to not pay attention.  Click here for the recipe.

This what it looked like when I put all the ingredients in the processor:

I didn't have the exact ingredients that the recipe called for...I substituted the Asiago cheese for freshly grated parmesan reggiano and toasted some pine nuts instead of pistacio.

I scooped four generous portions of a tablespoon on a plastic wrap like this:

Rolled it up into a log like this:

Chill until firm.  When steaks are ready, unroll plastic wrap, cut off about 3/4" and immediately place on fresh off the grill steak....And here it is all melted on my steak:

Yummy!  The fam liked it so much, they used it on thier vegetables and went back for more to spread on their dinner roll.  This is a keeper!

RESTAURANT REVIEW - HILO BURGER JOINT

Nothing was on our to do list this weekend so we drove 55 miles over to the east side of the island, Hilo town.....As usual, we took our short cut, also known as "saddle road" which is a route between the Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa mountains.......Here's Mauna Loa:

Here's the ever so famous Mauna Kea:

It was a clear day and if you look good, you can see the zig zag road that goes to the top:

We like to support the local businesses and hit the old "mom and pops" places for good old fashion service and grinds.  Burger anyone?:

There were a variety of burgers on the menu such as:  Kohala Kim Chee burger, nacho burger, Greek burger, fresh mozeralla cheese w/tomato and balsamic vinegar burger.....and of course the traditional cheeseburger, to name a few.  For me I had the blue cheese burger salad which is basically a huge bowl of lettuce, w/a cut up beef patty tossed in blue cheese, bacon, saute onions and mushrooms, chopped tomatoes, you get the picture:

Little B had a nacho burger which was covered in gooey melted cheese, just as she likes it, minus the hot pepper, as usual:

As far as the boys, they were done before I got to snap a pic of it....It was nice to see that Hilo Burger Joint supports local ranchers by offering local organic beef.  Ambience was nice and cozy.....Most importantly, they had a very nice bar with many selections....

On the drive back home, the VOG (volcanic haze) started to settle in and our town was not visible from the road as it ususally is from a distance......

Nice quality time w/the fam.

ANOTHER BACK PACK

Since my first back pack for Monica, my two children decided they wanted one of their own.  My older son (Big "B") just loves the classic pin stripe pattern.  Luckily I had a bunch of pin stripe fabric so I "whipped" up his back pack since he insisted he NEEDED it for school the next day.  This time, I did boxed bottoms instead.  I didn't have time to cut out a bottom as the previous back pack but I think it worked out well.  He said its "sick" so in today's world I take it that he approves.....Here's how the bottom turned out::

And here he is ready for school......I wanted to personalize it w/his name,an iron-on patch or rhinestone design but he wanted it as is....On this particular day, it was a short day for the students so with less books, he NEEDED this small back pack:

For Big B's backpack, I used interfacing for both the lining and outer bag since the fabric seemed thin for his books and school supplies.  Next back pack I think I'll use my serger for the extra support as well. 

As for my Little "B", she took some sewing lessons recently so I told her I would cut out the fabrics and she could sew one of her very own.....Of course, we need to visit the fabric store for MORE FABRIC.......Don't we always need more....I'll post her work when she completes it...

COUSIN WILLIAM "BILLY"

I just returned from Oahu to attend a funeral for my cousin, Billy.  He passed away unexpectedly at the young age of 59.  I will always remember him as a quiet, gentle, warm, polite and very down to earth person.  He was a very simple person but so rich in values.  Billy was buried at the Veterans cemetary in Kaneohe.  It was a beautiful ceremony and a beautiful day!  We will all miss you  and your visits to the Big Island, Billy.....please say hello to my dad when you see him in heaven!

In memory of Cousin Billy

August 3, 1950-August 23, 2009

Backpack for Monica

My niece, Monica, is a big fan of the "peace" symbol and when I saw this fabric, I instantly thought of her. I see a lot of drawstring backpacks in sports retail stores so I thought I'd make her one since she will be going to states in a few weeks for cross country .....The pattern/tutorial came from http://happythings.typepad.com/happythings/2006/04/the_mama_backpa.html .

I wanted to try something new and got some "bling" to spell MONICA but don't think you can see it well....here's view of it. Not quite pleased how it turned out. I'll work on this and hopefully the next "bling" will be easier to see.

Here I used, for the first time, grommets.....this hardware sure adds to the backpack...One thing about these babies is that you really have to pound hard to secure them. Not something to do late at night but these little doo hickies are sure cute!

Here I added a pocket on the inside....I think it may be a good idea to add velcro for the next backpack pocket.

And just for the heck of it, I made a label out of twill ribbon. It reads: "BB & me" on the top half and the bottom half reads: "Handmade in Waikoloa".