When my husband and I went to Hawaii, we discovered a few stands selling banana bread by the side of the road. We were told that Julia’s was “the world’s best” banana bread. I always thought of banana bread as something you make to save extra bananas from going in the trash. That was [...]

      I’m not sure “Aloha Cookies” is the best name, but it was the best I could come up with.  It was that or “Pineapple Coconut Macadamia Cookies”…and I ran out of breath trying to say it. :)  I went on a baking frenzy today and decided to come up with something new.  Hence this [...]

      When I was in Hawaii last September, one hotel we stayed at served tiny mango smoothies with breakfast every morning. They were delicious; I wished they hadn’t been so small. I found some beautiful mangoes while shopping at a farmers market last week and decided to try making my own. Ingredients: 1 small mango, [...]

While in Kauai, we discovered this place called the Shrimp Shack. Its appearance lives up to its name. I was a bit skeptical about eating anything from this place, but thank goodness I got over that! They make the most amazing shrimp tacos! I made this version about 3 weeks after tasting the ones in [...]

I’m back from Hawaii, and, as promised, I have many island-inspired ideas to share. Almost every restaurant we went to had some version of this dish. It’s easy to see why it’s a local favorite. Here’s my interpretation using Alaskan salmon, though it works well with almost any fish. 1 pound salmon filet, cut into [...]