Weekend Re-cap...

Some weekends I swear I feel like I'm on vacation...This one started out with sleeping in late, then a bit of yoga in the living room while Joe went to the store and got us some provisions for a tasty home made brunch fest, including a fresh from the bakery, still warm in the bag baguette!   She brewed the coffee while I was downward dogging, and then I commenced the prep for New York eggs (or eggs in a hole, eggs in a frame or whatever you want to call it).

Accompanied by some grilled tomatoes, and a dollop of pesto on top of the egg!  PS.  It was delish...

Up next on our agenda, the ever present trip to the beach,  Joe headed to her favorite surf break and I parked my butt in a chair at the beach, book in hand, ready to chill.   There was people watching, reading of books, a nice swim out to the windsock at the edge of the reef, and a bit more of some good old lounging time...

The next random adventure took us to lunch at the Japanese department/grocery store Shirokiya, one of my favorite destinations.   Almost one entire floor is like a mini food court with every type of Asian food you can possibly imagine, all being cooked out in the open and tantalizing you with its delicious colors and flavors.  We snagged a few items, some chopsticks and proceeded to stuff our faces with delight!  There's something about being at the beach in the hot sun, and a bit of saltwater that makes the body crave a good lunch (and the air conditioning was quite nice as well, after spending a few hours in the 85 degree sun!).

Home sweet home!   A bit of browsing the interwebs, a good phone chat with my pops, some browsing of periodicals on the couch, and my Saturday "vacation" was feeling pretty good!  Earlier in the week I bought a Kabocha squash, and had been wanting to turn it into some very delicious dumplings.  My original plan was to make the dough from scratch, then was feeling lazy and decided to "squash" (hahahaha) that idea and just buy the darn won ton wrappers and make it easier.   BTW I am totally enamored with this amazingly tasty vegetable.  If you have never had it, do yourself a favor and get thee to the grocery store and purchase one for yourself.  It has the most fabulous flavor, it is naturally pretty sweet and goes really well with just a pinch of salt and if you like, something spicy like cayenne, or paprika.  I roasted mine plain with just a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt...and holy scrumptiousness it was AMAZING!   Once it's roasted simply scrape it off the rind, add a bit of liquid, ( I used some leftover coconut curry juices from dinner the night before) and mash it up.   Prepare the dumplings in their little wrappers and pan fry and steam until tender.  I made a little sesame soy dipping sauce with green onions from the garden, and viola a divine dinner paired with a spinach salad!

These are going to become a regular dinner around the commune, I've been dreaming up different variations and can't wait to make them again!  After such an awesome full day I slept like a baby and woke up to another beautiful day in paradise...see where I'm going with this "vacation" thing?    I have so much gratitude for the life I've created here, for the awesome people I get to spend my time with and the wonderful times we share together, for the sunshine on my skin and sand in my toes...All of this would not be nearly as awesome were it not for my amazing lady Joe, my fabulous old friend Chris who is also my house mate, and another amazing fellow who always provides us with the best coffee talk time on the planet and is one of the most amazingly awesome guys on the planet( you know who you are )!

Coffee time Sunday morning with my favorite crew of coffee talkers!

So here's to weekends filled with good food, good friends, sunshine, laziness, coffee talk time and some friendship appreciation!  I love you Hawaii, and all that you have brought into my life...Mahalo!

Happy weekend y'all...I'm sending you some sunshine and perfectly blue waters...(is that color amazing or what?  Ok, to be fair I did not take this, another talented friend did, and I hope she doesn't mind me using it here, it just seemed like a nice send off!)