case of the mondays - lanai

today sucks. not because it's monday. but because it's dec. 14th and one of the MBA programs I applied to released it's decisions.

and i did not get positive feedback.

so, instead of wallowing about this, since it's pointless and i'll just eat a lot of food and get fat even before the holidays are here, we're going to lanai!

lanai is one of the islands of hawaii

there are only 3 hotels on the entire island, and two of them are four seasons resorts.

hubby and i honeymooned on lanai (among other islands).

we stayed at the gorgeous Four Seasons Resort Lanai, The Lodge at Koele.

and because i was so enamored with the place, i totally forgot interior pictures.

but this is part of the property in the back.

when we got there, they gave us fresh-squeeze pineapple juice. it was delicious. of course. they had fruit in the lobby and i grabbed an apple on our way out to explore.

i mean, i guess it could be said that i have a small head (but i'm kind of short, so it's totally proportional). but this apple was gigantic. i didn't stand a chance.

we drove on this red-dusted road to get to the Garden of the Gods (Keahiakawelo).

so named because to rocks bring to mind god-like images. fields of this. some had much bigger boulders.

what i loved was that from one of the small hills, you could see Molokai.

we did also visit the other Four Seasons resort and went snorkeling there. while i was resting, hubby was out trying to get close to the dolphins. yes, that speck in the middle is a dolphin.

the view of Manele Bay, where we were snorkeling. ahh, lanai was a beautiful island.

there's a lot to do on the island, tiny as it is. we didn't do it all and what we did actually partake in, we don't have lots of photos. but still, i can think back to it and see it very clearly in my mind. one particular restaurant was great (and amazingly, not connected to four seasons, though those were all wonderful too). the Lanai City Grille, part of the one other hotel on the island, Hotel Lanai. not only were the portions generous, but it really was delicious. i can still remember that i had pork chops. with a pureed vegetable. and greens. there was garlic.

for the rest of the day, i will think about lanai. the chocolate-covered pineapple spears from our four seasons resort. the dinner and music at lanai city grille. beautiful, enchanting hawaii.

case of the mondays - venice

do you have a case of the mondays?

i do.

i have a case of the mondays every monday.

i just have that kind of job. do you?

if so, would you like to travel with me?

every monday, let's take a trip.

i've been to a number of places in my short life and each monday, we'll visit a different place.

to start, let's go to venice.

ahhh, beautiful, amazing venice.

with it's gondolas

many, many gondolas

and markets, just brimming with produce. none of which are actually from venice. most not even from italy, like the pineapples in the corner and the bananas hanging up top. but a vibrant scene, nonetheless.

the swordfish head looked particularly appetizing . . .

mui mui, trying to blend with the local scene. too bad we didn't buy it. the packaging and transporting thing would have been an issue. but the guy who owned this store was great! we went back to his place several times to buy little masks as souvenirs for friends.

mui mui eating a cream puff in a square. lots and lots of squares in venice. the streets, canals, bridges, etc. are all a bit confusing. but if you are ever lost, just keep walking until you get to a square. locate the square on your map, and you are all good.

Venice's most famous square - Piazza San Marco, or St. Mark's Square. mui mui, mom, and dad, among the throngs of tourists there.

one of the things i loved about venice was that you could look up at anytime and see beautiful carved details like this

the food at this one restaurant, something with pumpkin in the title, was also very much loved. completely forgot to take a picture of the food before we started to eat. this was towards the end of the delicious meal.

Venice was a beautiful, lovely place. bye. sigh.

our thanksgiving

this year, we celebrated thanksgiving in london. so before we went, we had thanksgiving with friends. the whole spread - turkey, mashed potatoes (which sort of looks bigger than the turkey), asparagus, sweet potato biscuits, stuffing, brussel sprouts with bacon, pecan and caramelized apple pie, cranberry sauce, cornbread stuffing, gingerbread and pumpkin cheesecake with caramel sauce. mmmm, lots of food.

our friends digging in

my favorite dish of the night (almost, i liked them all actually) - cornbread stuffing with sausage, butternut squash, craisins and parsley

caramelized apple and pecan pie - it's hard to see the apple, but it's in there

gingerbread and pumpkin cheesecake

another shot of the gingerbread and pumpkin cheesecake, this time, with caramel sauce. and let me tell you, it wasn't easy to take that picture. one hand with the caramel sauce and the other one trying to steadily take the picture, all while the sun is setting outside.

green goodness

pesto couscous with veggies. very fast, very simple.

1 cup couscous

1/2 cup veggie broth

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup soybeans (edamame)

1 zucchini, diced

1/2 onion, diced

1 tsp canola oil

salt and pepper to taste

~2 tbsp pesto

bring veggie broth and water to a boil. then turn off heat, stir in couscous, cover and leave alone while you make the veggies.

saute onion and zucchini. add edamame at end to heat through.

fluff couscous with fork. add veggies. add pesto. stir and you're ready to eat!

you can add more pesto if you want it more heavily seasoned.

we also added some slivered almonds on top too.

the crunch of the almonds is a nice contrast.

this is really a very versatile dish. if you want some meat in it, add some diced chicken. i like it as a vegetarian dish though. mmm, yum.

perhaps a little ambitious . . .

but here is what i plan to serve for our "thanksgiving" dinner

it's in quotes b/c we're really having it this saturday since hubby and i will be visiting mui mui in london over thanksgiving. but i couldn't bear the thought of missing out on turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc. so we're having our own gathering with a few people this saturday.

here is the plan:

turkey (duh!)

gravy

stuffing (the kind my dad makes)

cornbread stuffing (with sausage, onion and cranberries)

mashed potatoes

sweet potato biscuits

cranberry sauce

green beans

roasted brussel sprouts (with balsamic vinegar and bacon)

caramel apple pecan pie

pumpkin cheesecake and ginger molasses cake mini trifles

and i'm doing it all from scratch. as in making the cornbread for the cornbread stuffing. making cranberry sauce tomorrow and freezing it until saturday. making pie dough friday night. nice thing about having furlough this friday - gives me time to prep.

new recipe and photos to come tomorrow. finally have time to blog and play around with editing photos again. the MBA application process is almost, almost over. so not complaining about it - having it be almost over b/c i got invited to interview is a wonderful (and relieving) feeling.

dear world, it's been too long

picture courtesy of my friend Aneesh (photo-editing from me)

hello again!

here's what's been happening: MBA applications. that's about it.

i've been writing lots and lots of essays.

spending lots and lots of money on MBA applications.

and now i'm spending lots of lots of time waiting for a decision.

just before i dropped off the face of the earth, we did manage to make it to the San Francisco Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival. we went with Lisa and Chris (btw, i'm tired of using just first initials, it gets too confusing for me) and met up with Aneesh and Jimmy. fun and yum in the sun. okay, fine, no sun. we were in SF after all.

Lisa and Chris

here's a picture of me and hubby

the Chocolate Festival was delicious. the deal with the Festival is that visitors pay a fee (can't remember the amount, this was almost two months ago, i'm a little behind on blogging) for 10 tickets. then, we visit each booth to trade a ticket for a goodie. like the ones below. (photo below courtesy of Aneesh. our camera was not working. the pictures of Lisa and Chris and me and hubby are from my iphone.)

oh, and now i'm hungry.

on hiatus

limited blogging until MBA apps are in. priorities.