Aloha!

About a month ago I got back from a business trip to Honolulu. It was my first time to Hawaii...

...I. Was. CRANKY. Despite all the hullabaloo about how beautiful it is and after all the "Lucky!" and "Sooo jealous!!" statements, there I sat on the plane, dreading the entire trip altogether. Not only did I have to go through the new scanners that expose you to radiation equivalent to a few hours of flight in a matter of milliseconds, but I got a VERY thorough pat-down (I'd call it second base at least!!) waaaaaaaaaay to early in the morning which I felt was entirely unnecessary since the TSA had seen through every inch of my body. I knew I wouldn't have time to sight-see. It would be 6 hours on a plane (which, by the way, I'm a white-knuckle flyer--it's not my favorite thing in the world), 6 hours back. Wake up early for work, do my thing, get back to the hotel, clean up, have a working dinner, watch tv til I fall asleep. I'd done the same thing when I went to Albuquerque a few months back, except this trip to work, eat and sleep was a 6 hour plane ride away. Raaawwwwrrrrr.

Getting out of the airport and getting the boss' rental car was the usual. First things first, we had a meeting to take care of as soon as we landed. Ok that was taken care of. Checking into the hotel gave me the first notion that maybe it wouldn't be as boring as I thought it would be. Staying at a Hilton is never a bad gig. Staying at a Hilton in Hawaii is even less so.

The "lobby" was little more than a roof and a tall granite concierge station. The rest was open to the moist warm air, the palm trees, the sound of water splashing from the pools and fountains and of course, the ocean view a mere matter of yards from where I stood.

I took this photo upon my arrival to the hotel.

Because there were no king sized beds available, the concierge upgraded me to a partial ocean view. On the 23rd Floor. Awesome.

The view from my room. Looks like something out of a travel pamphlet!!

The first night of dinner was as expected. It was a long day and I needed a drink. Never in my life had I tasted a pina colada as sweet and fresh and fabulous as I'd tasted that night. It also had fresh strawberry puree at the bottom, and the sweetest pineapple wedge balanced on the rim like only Hawaii can pick. Best $11 I've ever spent on a drink.

The second afternoon we had some free time, so I decided to make good use of it and walk down the boardwalk towards Diamond Head. Just in time to watch the sun set. I thought maybe here I'd get to see the green flash...



Took this while standing with my toes in the sand on Waikiki Beach

I went out to dinner with the boss again to a seafood restaurant. Now those of you who know me know I'm not a huge fan of cooked fish. At. All. So when I saw the Tuna Carpaccio I could not resist. It was served with a mild warm sesame oil and topped with sweet Maui onions and radish greens with a housemade chili sauce similar to sriracha. The crispness of radish and onion was the perfect complement to the delicate, buttery texture of the fresh tuna, which was only made better by the slight bite from the chili sauced which graced my plate. My mouth waters as I type.

...So as not to bore with EVERY single detail, the rest of the trip went as expected, but I wasn't cranky about being in Hawaii at any other part of the trip than before I was there. While at the Honolulu Airport, I happened to glance a cart which was selling various plants native to Hawaii to be brought back to the mainland. So I just had to stop and take a look. I found a couple really beautiful looking images of plumeria on the package and decided to take them home with me. I gave one to my mom as a souvenir, and decided to keep the other one here with me. And I barely got around to planting it yesterday. I'll post more about it tomorrow.

The SD challenge

A couple of weeks ago I was begging the bf to take me to Coronado and watch the sun set. He was initially hesitant, as he doesn't like to brave the hordes of tourists and townies alike vying for a patch of bench real estate to catch a glimpse of the sun sink into the Pacific. I explained to him that a sunset was in order, that I wanted to get a chance to see the elusive "green flash", that I wanted to --"Green flash? What are you talking about?"

"Well, the green flash is... um, at the very last moment before the sun dips below the horizon, sometimes you can see a green flash." At which point I had to pull out the 'ol smart phone to wikipedia why, in fact, said green flash occurs.

Growing up I was the most inquisitive person on the face of the planet. I would ask questions constantly about why things were the way they were and I soaked up every bit of knowledge I could. So, of course it was only natural for me to feel the need to find out while sitting on a bench with my hot Chai latte to counter the cool breezy evening.

(found this photo on wiki)

"Ok wikipedia says it has to do with the light slowing down because of the density of the air towards the horizon. The rays follow paths that curve in the same direction as the curvature. Blue and green--that end of the spectrum has a higher frequency and curves more than the reds and oranges--lower frequency light, so green light from the setting sun can still be seen for a brief moment after the red light is obstructed by the earth's curvature. Kinda like for the same reason the sky is blue I guess."

Ok so that was a total lesson physics. What can I say, I'm partial to it. I was a physics major for two years and some change, sorry for nerding out!

So there we sat, on the bench, waiting for the sun to set. Unfortunately, there were too many clouds along the horizon to catch a sunset, so we decided to escape the cold and walk back to the car.

"Next time," he said.
"K."

So it was then that I decided that we should make it a point to visit at least one point of interest in every suburb of SD. I'll post the checklist and highlights in my next post!

Rain, Rain...

...is on the horizon. The looming clouds are not yet the right shade of gray, but I can feel it in the air. The dampness in the air clings to my skin, so I know it won't be long before the rains come. I used to hate the rain, it always made for a boring day indoors when I was dying to go outside and soak up the non-existent sun. But nowadays I don't mind it as much. There's something incredibly comforting in the idea of taking shelter while the rain falls heavily outside, martini--I mean hot cocoa--in hand, snuggled under a blanket with a good book or great company. Hell, you could even throw in some freshly made kettle corn. But I digress from the intent of this post...

There's nothing more satisfying than getting inside when it's raining, changing out of your wet clothes, and having a hot, hearty meal to look forward to. When I woke up this morning and saw the clouds, my mind immediately went to "Hmmm, what should I make for dinner tonight?" Several things came to mind, but I've narrowed it down to two entrees. In fact, as I write this I'm still debating as to which one I'd rather have tonight.

First thought: pot roast. Beef slow-cooked in a rich onion soup until it's so tender it falls off the fork. Baby carrots and tender white potatoes that add depth and texture to the soup. It's pretty easy to make...

**POT ROAST**
- Beef (chuck, rump roast, etc.) I usually estimate 1/2lb per person.
- 1 pkg Onion soup mix
- Water
- Baby carrots
- Potatoes
- Flour/Cornstarch for thickening to make gravy

- Set your burner to high with a pot large enough to cover the meat in water.
- Place the meat fat-side down and let it brown. This makes your kitchen smell amazing, but it also gives a great flavor to the beef. Turn it over when it is sufficiently browned, you'll know when it's slightly past golden that it's ready to flip. Let each side of the meat brown.
- Pour a packet of onion soup mix over the meat, and then add just enough water to cover the roast. Your heat is still on high at this point, so let it come to a boil, then lower the flame to low, put the lid on and go do your thing for 1.5 hours. At this point, you may now add the carrots and potatoes, then let everything cook together for another half hour. Yes, 2 hours total. On low heat. It's not labor intensive, and is a great make-ahead meal, so don't be discouraged that it takes 2 hours. You'll find that the meat falls off the fork.
- Gravy:
In a separate deep saucepan, add some soup from the roast, tasting to make sure it doesn't need extra salt, it probably won't. Take some flour and mix it into a small amount of cold water, it should be like a watery paste. Stirring constantly so as to avoid lumps, add in the slurry. Boil until the mixture thickens. Plate your roast and veggies and generously bathe with the onion soup gravy.
******************

Ok recipe over. I try to serve a protein, a starch and a veggie at every meal, so I started thinking what to serve with it. The idea of freshly baked bread came to mind. I looked up a recipe for focaccia bread online and found one which I'd like to use. But then when I started thinking about it, I thought fresh bread and chili sound really stellar together.

So at the risk of boring you, gentle readers, with recipe after recipe I shall leave to your imagination how I make the chili and focaccia bread. But the hot chili and the warmth from the smoked paprika, rich garlic, cumin, even undertones of cocoa made me reconsider the roast idea. I like making mine out of ground turkey, it's healthier that way.

The focaccia recipe I found was simple, and I thought it would be awesome to add some chopped fire roasted green chiles (from the can!) and perhaps some monterey jack cheese on top and let it bake. Bread takes a while to make, so I think I'm going to get going on that!

Any rainy day plans of your own?

Welcome to The Littlest San Diegan's Blog!

I am excited to finally create a blog and share my inspirations and passions. "Why jump on the Blogging Bandwagon now?" you may ask yourself, but I had so many things that I care to write about that I just couldn't cram into my teeny Moleskine day planner anymore. Hence, the breaking down and setting up a blog.

A little background on me: Not a San Diego native, but a SoCal native indeed. I love to see new places. In fact, I've lived in a handful of counties throughout the years because of said quirk, but I must say that San Diego is the first place I've actually felt a great connection with. Home.

I grew up cooking--at the ripe old age of 2, I would be set up on the kitchen counter by my grandma, her primary intent of keeping me out of trouble, but it wasn't long before I was asking what she was doing and helping her stir whatever was on the stove while she reached for some extra salt or filled a small spoonful to taste-test the evening's meal. I was about 8 when I decided that it would be my lifelong dream to open a restaurant. Now I also went through the "doctor, lawyer, teacher, veterinarian, astronaut, astrophysicist" phase but my desire to one day be a chef and restauranteuse has not yet faded. It has, instead, been overshadowed by the everso financially stable engineering career path, but food is a sincere passion of mine which I intend to persue regardless of whether or not it gets me a paycheck.

This little blog of mine will be my forum, primarily to discuss food, travel and any other hobby of the moment--I find inspiration in so many aspects of life! I hope you find it entertaining.