Bi-Coastal - It's a Way of Life

Well, I suppose I'm not really bi-coastal. I have lived on one of the Easternmost places in the United States, being New York City, and I now reside in one of the Westernmost places in the US: Maui, Hawaii. But I've never lived on the west coast

So, how long of a trip is it from point A to point B? These days it is only accomplished with a stop on the West Coast, but in the days when I could get a direct flight from Maui OGG to Newark EWR it took about 11 hours non-stop. Now it's approximately a 5 + 5 hour plus layover time (barring any hassles, delays, annoyances, layovers, connections, etc.) And for what it is worth: I leave today and arrive tomorrow... because I am going against the sun. So I leave on Tuesday the 19th and arrive on the 20th bright and early in the morning. Dad's gotta be at the airport to meet me when I land at 7:30 AM. Don't worry... he'll eat REALLY well when I am there.

So here's the final post from Hawaii before I leave.

Pineapple

Green New Zealand Clams with Candied Ginger, Kula Tomatoes, Scallions, Red Pepper Flakes and Reisling; Sourdough Toasts

Yellow Summer Squash stuffed with Beans, Corn, Scallions, Goat Cheese

and Sourdough Bread Crumbs

Fillet of Opah Oven Roasted with Kula Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, Scallions; Red Pepper Flakes and Black Sea Salt finish, Balsamic Vinegar

Salad of Red Romaine, Cucumbers, Garden Tomatoes and Kalamata Olives

Mini Maui Cattle Company Burger, Yellow Tomato and Lettuce

Oven Baked Steak Fries

A Quick Note

Aloha All!

This is a quick note to say that I have been very, very... very distracted from blogging.

The reason: I leave to go back to New Jersey to visit my parents, do some work with the Michael Miller Fabrics NY office, to perhaps do some discount shopping at the outlet centers, and to get away from yes, what most would consider my "perfect" life in Paradise.

In a nutshell... a reorder on the hats - a REORDER in about 3 weeks... packing, cleaning, setting up the sprinkler so my plants outside do not perish in my absence, still finalizing the particulars of teaching... so if I don't post before I leave OMG! in a week, I'll be in touch soon.

Thanks for hanging in there with me... oh, and did mention I am taking a class on developing my own website? Maybe not but... the last class is tomorrow.

So as I said - I am not ignoring you -- I am just trying to do everything all at once.

And here's a few pics... I call these Kitten in Camo. I rushed out when Sebastian was lying in the fallen bamboo leaves as I thought the colors matched nicely... through the eye of the camera... maybe not but.............

M

Recent Projects

I've been constructing away at projects I need for a demo I'll be doing at the end of June at the Airport Sewing Center. That's where the Hula Doll embroidery originates from, in essence, and the embroidery is the focus of the art, and here it is shown with designs from the Hula Dolls collection.

Hula Doll Embroidery with Mylar Fiber Skirt shown as a Wall Hanging. The pattern can also be modified to make a 16" Pillow.

 In the side garden

Studio shot: Shown with embroidered flip-flop (bottom right) and Seed Bead Starfish pins

Standard-Size Pillowcases, Hula Dolls collection

 Origami Fabric Hawaiian Shirts

Fabric scraps torn into strips and knit

Standard-Size Pillow case using the Bottles and Hocus Pocus (glow-in-the-dark) prints from APOTHESCARY and a trim of Glow-in-the-Dark Fairy Frost

Shave Ice Bucket Hats reverses to corduroy with reverse seams

Tomatoes no more...

And the raven replied, "Tomatoes no more, no more."

Well, the red cardinals replied that at least.  Yesterday, it was overcast and drizzling intermittently throughout the day. I heard lot of chattering outside in the front of the house.  This is where I park my car and have my container garden.

Peering through the screened portion of the window in the front door, I spy a bright red daddy cardinal with his ohana (family) hanging onto the branches of the tomato plants biting off the ripened tomatoes. Now mind you these tomatoes are small; the cardinal had one in his mouth, whole as snatched it from the vine. At this point there were no ripe or even those showing the slightest blush of ripe, so I just shooed them off.

Alas poor Tomatoes, I knew them not well... I'm looking to recipes for green tomatoes - thinking about pickling them.

Sunrise, this time of year. I can see this from my bed as my headboard faces this window in the opposite wall across the room. I was actually already up when I snapped this photo.

Where Have the Days Gone?

Wow... I just looked back and saw it's been over 10 days since I last published a post and it seems like only yesterday. I leave to go back to the east coast three weeks from Tuesday and a lot of my attention has been focused on preparations for my trip: getting a new collection out the door (the group is called Beadwork), settling a few outstanding pieces of business (the sorbet being one of them), making sure bills are paid and/or are on auto pay, trying hard to remember what the weather is like back there this time of year, making sure the plants will be watered and the house looked after in my absence... you know, all the minutia associated with taking a trip.

I haven't blogged about design in a while... that's because most of what I have is in the developmental stages (new art completed and submitted to Michael Miller Fabrics this past Monday (Beadwork), awaiting strike offs for the group submitted about a month ago (called Generation Hex), recoloring some designs on fabric for the next release in early Fall) and it isn't a good idea to reveal the unfinished designs too prematurely, so there hasn't been much to show. I am working on samples for a class I'll be teaching in PA at The Airport Sewing Center the weekend of June 30th... it's my friend Sue's new shop (Sue of the amazing digitized machine embroideries I have shown previously.) Some samples are completed, most are works in progress, and as it has been raining pretty much constantly over the past few days (go figure... and we started the dry season on the 21st) I haven't had the opportunity to go outside and photograph the samples amongst the natural surroundings of the property. Also, I'm waiting for the dust to settle in the aftermath of Quilt Market in Kansas City, so I don't have any info regarding the trends and successes of what happened at the show (I'm crossing my fingers the reintroduction of Mirror Ball Dot was one of them!)

Now, as I am sure you have become accustomed to, there are quite a few "entries" in the cooking category...

Fresh New Zealand Clams in Shock Top Lemon Shady Beer with Maui Onions, Scallions, Cherry Tomatoes, fresh Ginger and Butter;
Focaccia Garlic Toasts; Lemon Wedge and Buddha's Hand Flower

Grilled Top Sirloin Steak, Baby Shiitake and Oyster Mushrooms in Ginger-Lemon-Soy Butter with Charred Cherry Tomatoes

Oven Fries with Sour Cream and Scallion Mayo

Hawai'ian Kiawe Smoked Sea Salt, Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

Roasted Beets with Fresh Lemongrass and Tangerine Peel

Tuna Hoagie: Grilled Tuna, Cole Slaw, Roasted Red Pepper, 

Kalamata Olive Mayonnaise, Toasted Komoda's Bakery Roll 

 Live Abalone as seen from the under side (above) and from the top (below)

 Fresh Ehu (Short-Tail Red Snapped) caught that morning off the shores of Maui. The fishmonger was filleting the fish as I stood there and waited at Whole Foods.

 The completed meal:
Grilled Ehu Fillet with Ginger-Soy-Lemon Butter on a bed of Steamed Beet Greens, Grilled Abalone; Scallion, Hayden Mango and Black Sesame Seed Finish, Fresh Lychee Garnish

Coconut Sushi Rice, Hayden Mango, Black Sesame Seeds; Lychee and (peeled) Mangosteen 

The cleaned shell of the abalone after the mollusk had been removed, cleaned, rinsed and prepared for grilling 

A bowl of fresh Lychees and Mangosteen 

Wild Tomatoes in my garden ripening on the vine

* And just a note on my cooking: Some have said that what I do is extremely decadent... in a sense it is, at least in the preparation, creativity and presentation. But I do "cut corners" when I cook... meaning, for example, the oven fries. This was an Idaho potato that had been parboiled, cut in batons, misted with olive oil and baked in the toaster oven. The sauce is reduced-fat (Whole Foods) mayo, fat-free sour cream, scallions and seasonings. The butter in the Ginger-Soy-Lemon Butter is actually I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. The beets again misted with olive oil and tossed with the lemongrass and tangerine peel and roasted in the toaster oven, garnished with more lemongrass and tangerine peel. So enjoy the pics because looks can be very deceiving!

Aloha!

Has it been THAT long?

And the answer is? Yes, no, and maybe.


So, what's been happening? More pictures than words, anyway...


Making samples for a class I am teaching at the Airpot Sewing Center on June 30th. Finishing up four-dozen bucket hats for Designing Wahine in Makawao. Revised SHAG (yet again!) Coming to conclusions regarding the manufacture and distribution of my sorbet(s). Answered an email that I didn't read properly, and I am sure the reply was viewed as being quite bizarre. Hopefully going to finish the new group I am designing for Fall quilt market in Houston. Getting ready for my trip east mid-June... hopefully going to go and see DARK SHADOWS this week... and the list goes on. 


I'm not attending Spring market in KC this weekend - staying here and holding down the fort, so to speak, but I'll relay anything interesting as it happens - specifically the reaction to the next group of colors for Mirror Ball Dot!


Best,


Mark

 You looking at me? Are YOU looking at me?

 You lift your right leg up...

 Chocolate-Kona Coffee Ice Cream, Burnt Sugar and Cinnamon Ice Cream

Homemade Chocolate Sauce

Small Apple Bananas

A squash gifted to my by my friends Megan and Mikel - I wonder what it will end up cooking up as...

A lovely evening about a week ago - these photo do NOT do it justice!

 The first pineapple from the property - wasn't the sweetest but it was the best as it was our own!

 The four-dozen children's bucket hats tagged and ready to be delivered 

to Designing Wahine, Makawao, Maui, HI.

 Buddha's Hand update - the flowers - all almost ready to burst and again, the fruit is the center of the flower - as they say here in Hawai'ian pigeon - the flowers are choke (many)

Barnabas Collins Has Arrived!