Adventures with Vanilla: COOKIES!

Two posts in one day!? Actually, I've just been too busy cooking and sitting and visiting (with adults! yay!) over a good cup of coffe each morning and evening to post each day. So, the events of this post actually took place 4 days ago...

Welcome to the Hawaiian Vanilla Company!

Today, Sous Chef Megan will be showing us around the kitchen and packaging area.

The room in the back of the mill is used for packaging, labeling, sealing, and storing products that are

all made by hand and from scratch. The Mill produces and sells such products as jellies, jams, chutneys,  teas, spice rubs, baking mixes, baked goods, sauces, dressings, syrups, whole vanilla beans, vanilla extracts, and even lip glosses. All the products are hand packaged at the Mill.

Now... Time to put on an apron and get to work.

Check list: 

• Coordinating colors? Check. 
• A love for food preparation? Check. 
• Matching eyes and smiles? Double check! 

Sister chefs! Let's bake!

Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Today's adventure? COOKIES! I love cookies! Although, I do not particularly care for semi-sweet chocolate, these cookies turned out, nonetheless, quite yummy. 

So, first I followed the recipe and mixed
up all the ingredients for an enormous
 batch of cookies. Mixy, mixy, mixy!

Then I scooped dozens of cute little

 cookies onto a large pan covered 

with parchment paper and

sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

End product. We weight the
cookies and package, label, and
seal them into 8 oz. bags ready for munching!
One of the Mill's best sellers.      

 

After baking in the convection oven...

We set them on the cooling rack for a bit.

Ooooooh! Golden-brown miniature

Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cookies!

At the end of the day Missy Mu, the Mill's sweet little marbled tabby, stands on 

the steps to the back porch of the mill. See you tomorrow Mu!

Adventures with Vanilla

At The Hawaiian Vanilla company all the products - edibles, beverages, scented goods, etc, are hand-made in the kitchen. Since my sister is Sous Chef and Kitchen Manager I have had the opportunity to experience this first hand. Time for an episode of.... AVENTURES WITH VANILLA!


The walk from the Reddecopp's home to the mill is quite lovely. Down the winding, hilly, one lane road that runs next to a dense Eucalyptus forest.

After climbing the final steep slope The Mill (referring the the building which houses the kitchen, dining areas, and gallery/shop)  is visible just around the corner. The walk is only about 3/4 of a mile but it takes me almost 20 minutes to climb because of the mountainous terrain... and also because of the fact that I should exercise a little more often.

Upon approaching The Mill the back entrances are visible. We will begin here since this is were we will working today.

The kitchen is very open and specious with a huge island in the middle. Chefs Megan and Malia are busy preparing food and making products. Megan gathers the ingredients for the 'Vanilla Southwest Rub" while Malia fills 1/2 lb. bags of 'Sugared Vanilla Pecans.' Yum!

After Megan lays out all the ingredients for the rub it's my turn to get to work!








I add all the different ingredients to the food processor. Rainbow spices!

Look at all the layers of ingredients. Now.... Press PUREE!

After packaging and sealing we have the final product:

Keep reading to see what other adventures with vanilla await us in the kitchen!

Va - Va - Vanilla!

I have arrived! So to speak... After a lovely 12 hours of travel time (which really wasn't that bad compared to the usual 15 to 18 hour trip) I arrived safely on the Big Island of Hawaii last night. I think I am adjusting to the time difference very well. I haven't even been very jet-lagged this time. Hooray!

Also, I am having a great stay with the wonderful Reddekopp family! Jim and Tracy and their five children have been so hospitable towards me. They have such a lovely home in Paauilo, Hawaii where they own and operate the Hawaiian Vanilla Company. My sister Megan is Kitchen Manager and Sous Chef. Check it out! Click the link! Yummy yum yum! Click it NOW!

Hawaiian Vanilla Company

Good-bye and Good Luck

A Poem for My Farm

Good-bye cattle dogs and chickens,

Calico cat and zucchini pickin's,

Jalapeños, squash and tomatoes, 

Yellow onions and purple potatoes.

Good-bye old piano and little yellow scooter,

sunrise twitterers and late evening hooter.

Take care little beds and flowers in pots,

Strawberries, vincas, and begonias. 

Do not worry. I will return soon.

I'm leaving for Hawaii tomorrow at noon!

Apologies to my Blog and Readers

Dear Blog,
I am sorry for neglecting you. I have failed to post and update. I am sorry. I will do my best to make it up by posting stories and pictures of my exciting crafts & culinary delights. Like.... this one!

At the end of the school year the Northshore Elementary PTO (parent/teacher organization) gave all the teachers these lovely embroidered burlap totes! But, I embellished mine a bit with some buttons, yarn, and cutesy felt musrooms I made! Yay!

Here we GROW!

WOAH! My little Luna Moth caterpillars are growing SO fast! 



Okay, so I took this picture last night.
















And I took this picture this afternoon!










I SWEAR they tripled in size overnight! I am so excited! I can't wait until they spin cocoons. 

Fresh Mango Salsa

Ahhh... SO fresh! Almost all of the ingredients in this salsa are fresh with the exception of a few spices.

  
1 Large or 2 Small Mangos
2 Tomatoes
1 Jalapeño
1/2 Vidalia Onion
1/4 cup Fresh Cilantro/Coriander
3 Cloves of Garlic
3 tbls White Vinegar
5 Whole Peppercorns
2 tsp Sea Salt
2 tsp Garlic Salt
1/2 tsp Whole Cumin

Squeeze lime juice into a medium sized bowl. Chop the remaining fruit, veggies, cilantro and garlic and toss into the bowl. Add vinagar and mix. Grind salt and spices with mortar and pestle and add to mixture. Presto! Fresh Mango Salsa!

I ate mine over some white tortilla chips with melted Red Rind Hoop cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Which can lead to this. . .

. . . and eventually this.

Little Tiny Caterpillars

        A few weeks ago I caught a Luna moth. And then a few days later I caught another one! And BOTH of these moths laid a batch of eggs before passing away. I pinned, spread, and preserved each of these little pretties and left their eggs on a tissue.

       The eggs were laid in little clumps and stuck fast to the tissue. BUT, as you may have noticed, several of the eggs are, in fact, EMPTY in this photo. To my HORROR the first bunch of eggs hatched sooner than I had anticipated. Unfortunately, I only found about half of those caterpillars. So, I put them in a jar. I also un-stuck the rest of the unhatched eggs and placed them in the jar. 
        After a few days the rest of the eggs hatched. I gave them a piece of lettuce, but they hardly touched it. Once I discovered, by reading my book on Coleoptera (moths and butterflies), that Luna Moth Larvae eat only pecan and walnut leaves I marched out to my front yard and picked some young pecan leaves to feed to my little crawlies. 

        As you can see, the caterpillars have been eating with quite an appetite! It is a little hard to see the caterpillar in this picture. It is about 0.7centimeters long. This seems very tiny, but the day before yesterday they were only about 0.4 centimeters long. These little ones have newly doubled in size in the last two days! I can't wait to see how well they do in the next few weeks. They should end up being about 2 inches long before they are ready for metamorphosis. I'll update as they grow.

Pretty Pasta Salad

        Time for a creative dish. I was hungry and decided to throw together whatever I had in the house. A little of this... a little of that. And... TAD-AH!

Pretty Pasta Salad


1 cup of whole wheat penne pasta
1 tbls of bacon grease
1 tbls of balsamic dressing
2 tbls of creamy ceasar dressing
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2/ cup of fresh spinach
1/2 of a chopped gala apple
4 onces of edamame 


Boil pasta until tender - 12 to 14 minutes. Heat bacon grease and balsamic dressing in a small pan and add garlic powder and spinach leaves. Cook until leaves are wilted. Mix the rest of the ingredients and toss. ENJOY!

The Thrift Queen Scores Again!

      
        I have done it once again. Found this perfect little white framed bathroom mirror at a garage sale for $5. Now, I know what you are thinking... "Five bucks! That's a lot for yard sale junk!" But, wait! This mirror was new with the price sticker, which was marked on clearance for $14.99, still on it and the little plastic carrying handles had never been removed. So it was basically new and never been used. When I asked the seller about the condition of the item she informed me that she had, indeed, bought the nifty little mirror new and on sale and never even mounted it on a wall. What a find!

        So, I gave the mirror to my mother-in-law. She has been looking for the perfect little mirror to go on her newly re-modeled bathroom wall for about a year now. The bathroom is very simple - almost a minimalistic style, but also very vintage. Also, I absolutely love the color on the beadboard walls. It is hard to tell in the pictures, but the room is lovely, light aqua. It's like a crisp, refreshing spring fountain. I think the new mirror really adds to the room.