on news stands now!

I am posting this on the eve of the wedding of my sister in law Iris to her fiance James. There is much anticipation in this family filled house in the New Hampshire woods. For the union of two lives, for the gathering of good folk and the delight of an afternoon and evening spent in a field with music, dancing... and the gastronomic joys we are in for are just the icing on the cake. I can not wait to tell you all about it and post photos. But for now....

Here it is, if you haven't seen it yet! Our spread in Seattle Met Bride & Groom. Our wedding coordinator thought the photos of our big day would look great in a publication, so she submitted our most intimate day to SMB&G. They thought it was something special too! 

Our photographer Tony Asgari captured the day beautifully. I did spend the better part of two years planning the shindig and the week before baking my little heart out to make the goodies. Butter Scotch Caramels, Butter Pecan Cookies, Molasses Cookies, Spoon Brown Butter Cookies, Oat Crackers, Marshmallows and the Cake.

We even made cave aged cheese! My sister in law Iris and her soon to be husband James have connections at Vermont Shepard. They were kind enough to include me in a day of cheese making. 4 months later they brought the cheese we made to be served at the wedding!

 But what really made this day special? My Groom. And the fact that I now have the honor of calling him Husband.

cake. It means I Love You

I have not been in a professional pastry kitchen for almost 3 years. That is the longest I have gone without a pastry job since I was 16. Yes there would be the few odd months when I would move or travel and be in between jobs, but this. This is serious. I have moved on. It's official.

 I grew up with a mother who decorated beautiful cakes for my brother and I every birthday. She strongly encouraged hands on learning in any situation. So naturally I had taken over the cake decorating from my mother by the time I was 5. If there was a cake to be frosted or icing to be piped, I got the honors. And I loved every moment. Unfortunately my talented mother never got to decorate a cake for us again!

 My point being, that cake is in my cell memory. Like the protein bubbles that form the crumb of a cake. Sugar, butter, eggs, flour seem to have formed the structure of my life.  At the end of the day, I feel a bit inadequate for not having produced hundreds of cookies, piles of cupcakes and at least a special order cake or two. 

  What I get to do now, is what I always said I wanted to do. When anyone would ask if I wanted to open my own pastry shop, I would always reply that that would be nice, but what I really want to do, is bake for the people I love. To have the time to cook for family and friends. Cake, it means I love you.

 Here is one of my favorite chocolate cake recipes. This came from a woman I worked with back in the good ol' days in Seattle. I think she found it in a magazine or cook book... I believe it has it's origins on the east coast, possibly a famous tavern in NY?

 Chocolate Stout Cake

1 cup cocoa - for best results use valrhona or cocoa berry 

3 cups cake flour - you can sub unbleached AP flour if you do not like the prospect of using such a  highly processed product

3 cups sugar

1.5 cup veg oil

3 eggs

1.5 Tbs soda

1 tsp salt

1.5 cups butter milk

1.5 cups stout beer

1 Tbs vanilla x

Sift the flour, cocoa, soda and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs oil. Working quickly, add butter milk and beer, whisk until fully incorporated. Then dump in the dry ingredients and stir until fully incorporated and there are no lumps. Pour into two 9" pans with parchment lined bottoms. Bake at 350 for approximately 40 minutes. This cake pairs well with fillings that involve espresso, Irish cream, whisky, chocolate, whip cream and strawberries.

I like to cut each cake layer in half, so you end up with a 4 layer cake. Anything less than 3 layers is just not impressive!

whipping up butter cream frosting

this beauty has 6 layers...

Can you feel the love?

the Yard

Today I putzed around in our new yard. The 5,000 square feet of land on Oahu that we now own is bursting with life. Of that 5,000 square feet, 1,200 is taken up by the house. Every inch that is not house, is garden. When I walk out in the morning it can be counted on that some bush needs trimming, leaves need raking or delicate seedlings need watering. 

stag horn fern

Fern fronds unfurl in the blink of an eye. Curling vines wrap themselves around frantic to engulf any thing in their path. Palms bend in an aggressive stretch to get as close to the sun as possible. I am padding around the yard bare foot. The grass is so soft, and cropped short, almost like a putting green. But the grass is sturdy, succulent and cooling my steps in the warm afternoon heat. Anole lizards trip about. Skittering this way and that from my movements. If I am still they will crawl out from cover for a meal. One will quickly catch a little black ant then spend the next five minutes adjusting it's jaw,rolling a wary eye ball around at me disjointedly in its socket,showing a red dewlap and tapping off a telegram using Morris code, up and down twitches of the head.

avocado

The glory in all of this pushing, straining, drinking, growing, tapping. The beauty is that... as I walk quietly and watch, and tend and water... A branch reaches out, an avocado on the tip of his green fingers. For me. The passion fruit blossom smiles, and if I look carefully where her curly lashes direct my gaze... she coyly shows me the freckled green orb dangling under sun dappled leaves. Fruit that will ripen to a blushing purple pink soon. 

lilikoi blossom

lilikoi not yet ripe

lilikoi ripe

As the evening sets in and the sky through the canopy overhead becomes a canvas of blue and pink with clouds back lit by the dropping tropical sun, the dusty peach flower of the tobacco plant cordially opens his buds. The tobacco thrusts out it's stamen. I crouch down to peer at his face. Dashing and brave as he protects the other pants from pests. And I see Mr. Lizard with a mouthful of spindly legs and shiny wings. A cockroach for dinner. Well done! I feel like Alice in Wonderland, and tomorrow, when I wake up I get to see all of this wonder again...

tobacco

cacao

plumeria

the Govenors New Garden

This past Saturday, Madre Chocolate (the company I now make chocolate with) participated in th Aina Ho'ola o Ma'ilikukahi or "Hands Turned to the Soil" conference.This conference raises awareness of where our food comes from, how it is grown and encourages folks to get their hands dirty doing the work that brings food to the table. We were invited to demonstrate how locally grown cacao beans become the snappy, glossy, melt in your mouth chocolate bars we consume.

Governor Neal Abercrombi and his lovely wife Nancy dedicated a new herb garden to Nancy's mother complete with a traditional Hawaiian blessing and a local, farm to table, organic, vegetarian mid day meal. Madre Chocolate was the entertainment during the meal. Nat showed the kids how to make a frothy Mayan chocolate drink. We ground chocolate on premises and poured some samples for all to taste.

The best part of the whole experience was of course the kiddos. It was so much fun to see such enthusiasm mirrored in these kids for some thing I love so much. 

Things got really hands on with the  molinillo (frothing wand used to make the delicious beverage) and the piedra de moler (grinding stone). You can see in the photo above, one young lady still going to town grinding those nibs! I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that chocolate is exciting to so many - young and old, from all walks of life. It is wonderful to see a special treat like chocolate bring people together. We can all relate to this kind of delight.

Below is a video with more information about Aina Ho'ola o Ma'ilikukahi.

Aina Ho'ola Conference 2010 from Jenna Ishii on Vimeo.

Shree-ahmp!

 Driving to the North Shore is considered something of an event. Even if we make the trip more than once in a week. The North Shore is special.During the winter a trip to the North Shore can provide hours of wave watching. Giants that roll in and break in barrels the size of a two story house. On a spring day, we will make the hour and a half drive to tail gate at a polo match or to hike Kaena Point. On this day we were headed to Puaena Point to do some sea turtle spotting. Our friends from NJ were visiting and said that if they saw a sea turtle, they would move here. So, North we go! However, as you might have guessed, we needed to be fortified(gastronomically speaking) for this mission.

 Let us stop for shrimp on the way... 

 

Fumi's shrimp to be precise. Why Fumi's? Honestly, out of the kajillion or so shrimp trucks along the Kamehameha Hwy, Fumi's has the nicest view and the prettiest shack! Such a cute wash up station too!

With the shrimp ponds right behind the kitchen, I can't imagine the little pink critters on my plate could get any fresher. Stir fried in Siracha spicy garlic sauce with a side of sticky rice and a minuscule green salad(salad? Who needs salad? We are here for the shrimp.)

 If you need a cool down after the spicy garlic shrimp, Fumi's has thoughtfully provided a shave ice shack as well.

Oh and guess how many turtles we saw? I counted 11. 

I would like to say a warm welcome to our soon to be neighbors, Neil and Christine!

Eat the Street

 Madre Chocolate decided to join the party down at 555 South Street to sell some chocolate. 

On the last Friday of every month, a few dozen of Oahu's best food trucks converge on one site to throw down. 

 This event was so much fun. Frequented by the good folk of this fair island, every one of them a localvore and, it seemed, every one a chocolate addict.  We enjoyed interacting with smiling customers all evening.

 I didn't venture to far from our tent... We had to literally "hold down the fort" because of high winds.

 Thanks to the thoughtfulness of my friends and co-workers, sustenance was provided. Abby greeted me with a delightful cool beverage. Dave, who has been teaching me the secrets of chocolate, brought me a salted watermelon and cream Ono Pop. It reminded me of feta and watermelon salad, but much sweeter. Very nice! 

When I did step out, it was directly to the Tacos Vicente truck to trade chocolate bars for tacos. A plate of tacos el pastor and another of tacos de pollo. Pretty darn authentic and !Muy Sabrosas! 

Nate rode around on his "choco-bike" or "sample cycle" doling out chocolate samples and selling bars. You can see a great shot of it here.

 The highlight of the evening was by far this little spectacle.

Yes, that is my boss fire breathing.

I love my job.

Kailua Farmers Market

 I had rumblings in my stomach and not one enticing thing in the house to eat. I also needed some leafy greens for tomorrow's packed lunch. Conveniently enough, the Kailua Farmers Market was this evening. I headed over to the parking lot at Long's Drug where the market is held every Thursday from five o'clock to seven thirty. I took a few turns around the and stalls. Dodging prams, dogs, walkers, toddlers and some bleary eyed market goers who seemed to be in zombie mode on the hunt for what I am sure must have been the Lau lau... or maybe the scent of beignets bubbling in hot grease had them in a trance. Either way, I was definitely putting my defensive strolling skills to use.

  

After purchasing some gorgeous Pink Ginger flowers, a bag of sunflower sprouts and a head of lettuce, I decided to buy an assortment of heirloom tomatoes from Big Wave Flavor Tomatoes, along with a slice of their grilled pesto and tomato pizza. Oh Boy! Their pizza is one of my favorite treats at the market. It is always delicious, with the freshest tomatoes and basil, a crispy, crunchy, olive oil soaked crust that has just a little char from the gill. You can't go wrong with a classic like that. The folks that work the booth are so kind and friendly. A few extra tomatoes always seem to find there way into my sack AFTER the nice lady weighs them.

"A few samples", she says.

 

 I find that this has not been my most productive visit to the market. Usually I come home with enough food for a week or more. Bags spilling over with herbs and greens, sacks heavy and bulging with papaya, bananas, jalapenos, calamansi limes, green variegated lemons. 

Things seemed a bit slow, less vendors and not so much of the lovely fruits and veggies that were abundant through out the winter months... But I am happy with the "'maders" (as my mom would say rather than "tomatoes") and the rumbling in my tummy is quieted... For now...

(Did you know the Pink Ginger plant was brought to Hawaii from Tahiti in 1979?)

On News Stands Soon!

My husband and I just got word that our wedding day will be featured in Seattle Metropolitan Bride & Groom Magazine. This is very exciting news! Any excuse to relive that beautiful and enchanting day makes me...drool...

Tony Asgari captured the soul of our sunny, October wedding day on San Juan Island through his artful eye with stunning photography. Look for more of these images (not JUST of what we ate) in the summer/fall issue of SMB&G, out in June!

 This is chocolate. This is Madre Chocolate.I devoured this bar last night. I found myself waxing poetic whilst eating this bar. I thought I had better snap a photo before it disappeared, and post a little tribute to this bitty piece of heaven.

I poured this bar on Wednesday after Nat had conched and refined the  cacao beans. This was an experiment, part of many batches of raw bean bars that Nat(one of the two chocolate makers who employ me) had been mixing up. I am in love with this chocolate.

When I unwrapped the chocolate from the cellophane I was hit with an unexpected and distinct waft of maple.  I love maple syrup.... Then that mellowed and what I experienced with the first bites was to me, nothing less than experiencing a work of art. A work of art I could taste and feel and ingest. How nice!

 The texture is creamy, the melt is not instant but it is quick and it creates a silk sheet like tongue feel. This is a dark chocolate and yet it was so creamy, subtle and smooth, it was as easy to eat as it is to drink a glass of chocolate milk, but still had all the complexities of dark chocolate.

The flavor is fruity jam, vanilla and some thing so earthy and yet ethereal I found myself transported to the land and the villages where I imagine this bean comes from. (Not that I have ever been to South America)... But I could smell the jungle, decaying fruit and plant matter buoyed by clouds of steamy oxygen. Mineral scents of sun warmed rocks at the base of a waterfall.Ozone and rain turning dusty roads to mud. 

I don't know, maybe you can't get this simply from a bar of chocolate. Maybe I am a hopeless romantic, especially when it comes to food - But I hope you will be able to find out for yourself soon. I hope we get to produce this special bar!

You hear food some times being described as a drug, understandably. If food is a drug, then chocolate would be Ecstasy and this would be the best trip I have ever had. (Not that I have ever been on ecstasy either!)