Tea shops in Hawaii

One more post about Hawaii that I almost forgot to share....

Not only are there great places to have a cup of tea in Hawaii, but I was really surprised and a little jealous by how many places I passed that sold tea and tea cups.

One evening while heading to dinner we passed a store called Royal Selection.  I had seen another one earlier that week, but wasn't sure what it was so I didn't go in.  This store had some tea cups in the window so of course I had to go in, and wow.  I could not believe the amount of beautiful dishes they had.  I was so memorized by everything that I spent a good while just looking at everything and completely forgot to take a picture.  If you are in Waikiki and see one of these stores you have to check it out.  They had dishes I have only read about online and have never seen in person before.

Here is a picture from their website to give you an idea of what fun this store is...

Royal Selection Kings Village

The next store I just have to share with you is Lupicia at the Ala Moana Center.  I saw the store from a distance and had no idea what it was, but it looked interesting so I went in.  I was happily surprised to find it was a tea store that sells more than 200 kinds of fresh tea. 

At this point I was in complete heaven and the hubby was being a smart ass saying "see??"...  The store is located on the lowest level outside of the mall, you walk out of the store and you are literally in the parking garage.  It's a very weird setup and when you're in the mall this end looks a little grungy and not very inviting because well its sorta in the garage.  I was going to skip this area and turn around, but the hubby insisted we walk down there just to take a peak and see what stores were on this outside edge.  Well I'm so happy I listened to him.  

Along one wall is the a long line of teas for you to look at and smell.  Once you know what teas you want you can either grab that tea from a display if it's out, or take a piece of paper from the sample area up to counter where they will retrieve it for you.  

I had the hardest time deciding which teas were going home with me.  There were so many yummy ones I wanted to try but only so much room in my suitcase....

I finally narrowed it down to five:

• Muscat Oolong- Full-flavored tea is exquisitely accented with sweet muscat grapes.
• Cookie- Black tea scented with an image of freshly backed caramel cookies. Best served with milk.
• Chocolate & Strawberry Puer- Decadent with chocolate on the nose finishing with the juicy tart flavor of ripe strawberries. 
• Rosé Royal- A black tea with enchanting aromas of sparkling wine and sweet strawberries.  This is their signature tea.
• Thé Au Chocolate- Black tea scented with dark chocolate.  Blended with cocoa nib and cocoa powder

They all sound and smell so delicious.  I can't wait to try them and share with you if they taste as good as they smell

Tea Time in Hawaii

Where ever I go on vacation I always look for some place to have afternoon tea.  It's one of my favorite things to do and I always look forward to it.

So we started the trip with afternoon tea at The Kahala Hotel.   The tea was very enjoyable, but I felt it wasn't quite as good as the afternoon tea I had experienced at the Moana Surfrider during my last trip to Hawaii.  Don't get me wrong it was a nice afternoon tea, our server was wonderful, and you simply can not beat the view.  That being said I have had better and thought since it was The Kahala I would be blown away.  The interesting thing is my mom, who had tea at The Kahala last year, seemed to have had a much tastier tea.  So maybe I just simply didn't like the current menu.  Either way here are a few pictures for you to decide....

The Moana Surfrider tea a few years ago...

I give the Moana Surfrider extra points because they served loose leaf tea and The Kahala simply put one tea bag in my pot.  Also the Moana Surfrider started the tea with soup and ended it with ice cream, I have never had that else where so bonus points to them.  

Now on to tea at The Kahala...

It is pretty hard to beat the view, one direction you have the ocean, the other dolphins.

The desserts looked pretty, but the chocolate tart was the only one that tasted good.

This was the salmon, which was good, but not great.

Now here are the pictures my mom took of her tea at The Kahala....

Now this looks like a delicious salmon sandwich....

So like I said, the tea I had was very nice, I just didn't love it.  This is just my personal opinion and I know most places change and rotate their menus so I might have just been there at the wrong time.  If you are there though do not pass it up.  This is a lovely way to spend the afternoon.  

My Trip to Hawaii

It's been a little bit since my last post, because the hubby and I took a little trip to Oahu, Hawaii.  We had such an enjoyable and relaxing time, I can't wait to go back.  We stayed at The Kahala Hotel & Resort  and I absolutely loved it.  The hotel has a very luxurious feel to it but in a laid back kinda way, which I think is the perfect combination for a Hawaiian vacation.

A few years ago we took our first trip to Oahu and stayed right on Waikiki Beach at the Moana Surfrider.  The hotel was lovely but Waikiki was just too crowded for us.  So this time we chose the The Kahala because it is only about a 15 minute drive away but so much quieter and calmer.  An added bonus of staying at The Kahala is that they have dolphins, sea turtles, and stingrays right on site by the pool.  I spent so much time just watching them swim around and play every day.

We ate breakfast every day and a few other meals at the hotel and they were all delicious.  Every evening they serve dinner and cocktails at The Veranda accompanied by live music.  The music was great and while the menu was pretty limited the food was still very tasty.  

We ventured down to Waikiki a few times for meals, shopping, and to check out the Honolulu Festival.  We stopped by the craft fair, watched a couple performances, and then stayed for the parade Sunday evening.  The parade traveled down the entire Waikiki strip and was very entertaining and different from any parade I have seen back home.

 

There really is a lot to do and see on Oahu including tea! Yes, there is tea to be had all over Oahu, but this post is getting a little longer than expected so I will have to save the best part for another day...

My Doggie Cupcake Recipe

Today is my boys' 6th birthday and when I say " my boys' " I am referring to my furry children Morty and Leo.  These little guys are quite the handful and have gotten in more trouble than I care to remember, but my life would not be as wonderful without them.

Every year I give them a special treat on their special day which I normally buy.  This year I wanted to bake them something myself so I can control what the ingredients are.  I read a few different recipes for dog treats and cakes and did a little research on what they can and can't have and here is what I came up with...

Doggie Cupcakes

1 egg

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla 

1/3 cup raw honey

1 cup finely chopped carrots

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 Paper baking cups or 8 cupcake liners

Glaze/Frosting

1/2 teaspoon raw honey

1 tablespoon peanut butter

1 egg yolk

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Combine peanut butter, oil, vanilla, and honey in a large bowl.  These ingredients especially the peanut butter and oil may be close to solid depending on their temperature so pop them into the microwave for a few seconds.  
• Add the egg and blend. 
• Chop or shred the carrots, I put mine in a food processor to get them very small then stir into the mixture thoroughly. 
• Fold in the flour and baking soda.  
• Spoon batter into paper baking cups or cupcake liners.  They will rise slightly so don't fill all the way to the top.  I used paper baking cups which are about double the size of average cupcake liners.  I was able to get 4 cups with just a tiny left over with this recipe.  
• Bake in preheated oven for 20 - 30 minutes, depending how big your cupcakes are.
• Whisk glaze ingredients together in a small bowl.  If they are too solid just heat in microwave for a few seconds, then continue whisking.
• When there is only a few minutes to go spread the glaze on top and then finish baking.
• Let cool for at least 10 minutes.
• Once cooled the glaze will be firm and have a nice shine to it.  

I have to say these cupcakes smell delicious and they definitely passed my doggies taste test.

Happy Birthday Boys! 

How to get off 3m Command Hooks with a broken pull tab...

Have you ever hung something up with those 3m Command Hook thingys because they look so easy to hang and to get off?  I use them all the time and they always go up quickly but every so often I fail at getting them off.  Actually, this happens a lot.  So much that my husband always reminds me that I am not allowed to take them off myself.  For some reason I always fail at pulling the tab straight down and the tab breaks on me.  I then have to wait for my husband to rip the thing off the wall for me.

Well this year for Christmas I used one my pantry door in the kitchen and of course I broke the tab and have been waiting for my hubby to get it off ever since.  It is now the beginning of the Easter season and that hook needs to come down.

I did a quick Pinterest search and I was in luck.  Of course every thing looks so easy and awesome on Pinterest so I quickly grabbed my supplies and got to work.

Pinterest told me to heat the hook up with a blow dryer then slide floss behind it and voila!  

I heated it for a few seconds then slid my floss between the hook and the door.  It was super easy and the hook came right off...only problem so did some of the paint. 

So if you need to do this, the hook will come off, but expect to do a little painting.

My Dorothy Draper Nightstand and Treasure Hunting Fun

How did I end up with this really cool Dorothy Draper nightstand?  By waking up early and going treasure hunting! Early bird gets the worm! ...and just being really lucky.

(please ignore the mattress without a bed, my room is under construction)

I absolutely love a good find.  You know that feeling when you have scored something so wonderful for such an amazing price? Well that feeling gets even better when you have to hunt for that special item.  I really really enjoy going to garage sales, estate sales, flea markets, in some cases others peoples garbage on the curb... If there's old stuff or quirky stuff that other people want to get rid of, I am there digging through it.  You never know what you might find.  Half the items in my house I purchased at normal stores, but the other half are treasures that I had to work for and was lucky enough to find.

A while back I was at an estate sale with my mom and she was on the hunt for a piece of furniture to store her drawing supplies in.  Everything in the house was pretty cool but very pricey so I was on my way back to the car in a hurry, but on the way out I walked past the casita which had a few items in it and no people.  I decided to take a little peek and noticed nothing was priced and that most people saw nothing was priced and turned right around and headed into the house.  I lingered longer than most and waited for my mom to join me because there were two pieces that I liked and thought she could use.  One was an old shabby chic butler's desk that needed some work and the other was this interesting nightstand.  I say it was interesting because it was made very well and I loved the hardware and the slate top, but it was the ugliest color ever.  Then when you opened it the inside was a hideous bright orange, but this was nothing a little paint couldn't fix and the design was great.  My mom and I were both thinking they would want a lot for both pieces, considering what they were charging for the other items inside the house, but it was free to ask so we did.  We brought the lady running the sale out to the casita and showed her the items and asked for a quote.  She said the family wanted a decent amount for the butler's desk but agreed that it needed work and brought the price down for us and the night stand was so cheap she was practically giving it away.  So I told my mom to buy both and see which she liked best and I would buy the other piece from her.

So of course she chose the butler's desk.  It was gorgeous and perfect for all her drawing supplies.  I took the nightstand and it worked out wonderfully because I needed one for the other side of my bed.  I decided to paint it with Annie Sloan Versailles to match my chair in my bedroom.  

Now I am the kind of girl that jumps both feet first into a project, I grab a brush or hammer and go.  Sooo...I'm painting away getting rid of the ugly beige and orange and I come across a stamp on the inside of one of the doors...Heritage.  Interested in this stamp I took a break and googled it.  At first I found nothing, after about an hour of searching I found it!  My exact nightstand and it was by Dorothy Draper!  The more I read and researched the more I realized I had the real deal and I was painting it...When I showed my husband a couple for sale online he almost died.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.... Oh well, I had no intentions of selling it and it looks great in my bedroom and that's all that matters.

This past weekend it was gorgeous out and I hit a few estate sales with my friend and here is what I scored:

I love old books! and the suit cases came from a garage sale a couple years back...

Sewing machine drawers, there are so many possibilities for these..

Soon I am going to be selling some of my treasures...where?  No idea yet I am still working that out, but in order for me to keep up this treasure hunting habit and to keep my house from looking like I am a hoarder, I will have to be selling some of these items....I will keep you guys posted. 

TWG Tea and Banana Oatmeal Cookies

This week I have a couple new teas to share and I tried a pretty tasty, healthy cookie recipe...

The Mr. occasionally travels for work and lately he's been going to Hong Kong and Macau.  The Mr. shares my love for tea.  So while he was there right before Christmas he sat down to a Holiday Afternoon Tea, and boy was I jealous.  I wish I could have been there.  Here are a couple pictures he took, they even served sipping chocolate with the tea.

On his most recent trip he brought me home some TWG Tea.  The two tea flavors he brought back were Tea Party and Moments Tea.  I had my mom over today to try them and the banana oatmeal cookies I made.

Tea Party is from their Haute Couture Tea Collection, which means what? Its extra fancy and they can charge more?  It's a black tea infused with candied sweetness and bright yellow blossoms.  Not much of a description for such a fancy tea, I think the bright yellow blossoms are Marigolds, as I have seen those in other teas before,  but not sure what else is in it.  It is very tasty though and has a sweetness to it.  It definitely reminds you of a tea party and the yummy goodies served.  

The Moments Tea is a special tea created exclusively for the Sheraton Macau Hotel and is a mix of green and black tea with sweet flower blossoms and ripe tropical mango.  Again I am left wondering exactly what's in it, but the smell is very intense and it is very tropical and fruity.  They are both delicious but I think I prefer the Moments Tea.  

Now on to the other yummy part of this post, the cookies!  I have to start off by saying these cookies are pretty simple and healthy so don't expect them to taste just like oatmeal cookies.  My mom had in her mind that she was having oatmeal cookies so she was quite surprised when she took her first bite.  We both agreed these were tasty but would be even yummier with chocolate chips, but then that is adding more sugar.  She even had the great suggestion of turning these into bars to take with you for a snack instead of buying granola bars.  

I found these cookies on pinterst which led me the blog The Burlap Bag.  Her site has the full recipe with other great ideas.  I tweaked the recipe a bit and used Strawberry Shortcake Oatmeal instead of quick oats and it turned out great.

All these cookies have in them is 2 bananas and 1 cup of oatmeal.  Smash everything together and bake at 350 for 15 minutes on parchment paper.

They could not be any easier and I don't feel guilty about sitting down and eating 3 at one time.  I think tomorrow I will make another batch but this time with chocolate chips, just a few won't hurt right?