A-Lo-Ha 2013!

I know I snuck in a few posts prior to this one, but I just want to extend a Happy New Year to all, filled with beauty, originality, uniqueness, creativity, inspiration, health, happiness and everything good!

The day before I left to return to Maui, we had a small gathering of friends at my parents' house. I decided it would be fun to have an interactive dinner - not one where I cook and we all sit down to eat. Rather the guests participate in creating their own contribution to the meal.

So I decided to have a sushi rolling party.

I prepared all the fillings and the rice, and in turn each guest made their own sushi roll. I'll leave it at that, and allow the photos to tell the rest of the story.

The Menu listing the choices for the sushi fillings.

I used a combo of traditional and nontraditional ingredients

Here my sister Dana and our niece Emma making Peep sushi: Pink peeps with their heads cut off (there is a reason for this which the explanation eludes me at this moment) rolled in Rice Crispy treats and a red (cherry? strawberry? raspberry? snozberry?) fruit leather wrapper

Emmas was the first to roll sushi. I taught her what to do and then stepped aside as she now became the sushi master. Here she is showing the roll my best friend Danette created

Emma's mom Carmen was next, and this shot only shows her hands, but I liked it since it showed the ingredients all laid out on the table

My sister Dana doesn't do seaweed, so she did a reverse rice only roll

Here's my dad doing his roll. We watched several YouTube videos on rolling sushi and he was a pro! His fillings included egg sheet (omelette), cucumber, crab stick, shrimp, carrots and wakami (seaweed) salad 

Here I am

Giving the roll a good, tight squeeze

Getting a helping hand from Danette

My roll containing fresh mozzarella, mango, roasted red pepper amongst other things

All the rolls laid out on the serving board. Some have been finished with a spicy mayo, and here I and squeezing Honey-Coffee-Teriyaki Sauce to decorate the "plate". Frizzled red onions and toasted mac nuts were also added as garnish to the presentation

A final shot of the sushi before we jumped in and enjoyed the fruits of our labors!

Happy 2013

I thought I'd share a quick post. A new year... new beginnings... old, dearly loved friends.

This is what happens when you share the love and allow your friends to see you for the person that you truly are -- extremely tolerant and understanding.

Orange isn't even this year's color!

That tongue even scares me... and it's MINE!

Mr. Crumb's Saturday in the City

Yesterday my sister and I took a bus into the city for a day of looking at some of the festively decorated sites and to meet a friend for lunch. Here are some of the photographs I snapped while meandering through the streets of Manhattan. 

We also brought a friend - Mr. Crumb - the little gingerbread man made from my Gingerbread fabric, a coordinate in the Gingerbreadtown collection. 

Outside the MOMA entrance

The marquis for the home of the Rockettes

Alongside one of the entry barriers

Twinkly lights on the trees lining the walkway along the skating rink at Rockefeller Center

A star ornament encrusted with Swarovski crystals

Lights on the tree at Rockefeller Center

Silver and gold lame flags fluttering in the breeze (it was getting windy and colder but it hadn't started to snow yet)

Mr. Crumb in front of the tree

The tree at Rockefeller Center

Candles in the entry of St. Patrick's Cathedral

Christmas wreaths were on every pillar

Incredibly ornate stonework in one of the many niches

A stained glass window depicting the Nativity

A magnificently adorned tree in the cathedral

Windows at Sachs 5th Avenue

Snow globes on shelves that rotated to shake up the frosty scenes inside

Books that opened and closed to reveal the pop-up snowflakes inside

Video screens that appeared to be animated chalkboard drawings

Laptop computers ever shifting kaleidoscopic snowflake patterns

An MTA public service reminder that made Mr. Crumb very sad

Mr. Crumb on the uptown F train platform at West 4th street. That's the stop I would use when I lived in NYC

Crisp, brightly-colored apples at the Union Square Market

An assortment of specialty potatoes. The ones on the far right are called

 Rose Finn potatoes. We bought some to try for NYE.

Snow coming down as seen through the window at the B&N on 17th Street

Cadiz shell lights at Elmo - for me are very nostalgic

Mr. Crumb with his take-home from Elmo

Christmas lights showing through the newly fallen snow upon our return to New Jersey

Let It Snow

And it did -

Big, fat, fluffy flakes that seesawed lazily back and forth as they descended without care from a stormy sky.

It snowed late afternoon so by the evening, the frozen precipitation took on the gay colors of the holidays as festive string lights shown kaleidoscopically through the soft, newly-fallen blanket of snow.

I included a photo of the table setting I made for my mother's gift out of fabric from my Gingerbreadtown collection (shown in the sidebar at right). It includes the table cloth, six place mats, a runner and eight reversible napkins. I'll be sure to include closeups of the pieces so you can see the detail in the work and hopefully inspire you to create a modern heirloom of your own!

Hope everyone is enjoying themselves during this season of goodwill and cheer despite whatever happens around us.

Mark

Orchids

Orchids grow like weeds here in Hawaii... well, not literally but their abundance is amazing.

They grow wild along the side of the road. They cling to trees attached to the soft, spongy bark or nestled in the V-shaped crevices created by jutting limbs and branches.

They dangle decoratively in baskets suspended from the eaves of houses, swaying lazily in the tepid tropical breezes or in pots and planters in the garden.

Growing up in the East coast orchids are houseplants. My sister has had luck getting orchids to bloom. My mother has orchids blooming almost year round.

I've tried. No success. Even here on Maui. They are splendidly adorned with flowers when I bring them home from the nursery (I like to buy interesting varieties and colors of flowers) and afterwards, indoors I was gifted with lots and lots of green keikis -- new green shoots and leaves for years -- but alas! not a single spike or bloom.

So, recently I decided to clean house and put the few plants I own on the potting table or nestled into other planters outside the front of the house.

Weeks go by. Leaves fall off, now burned from the more direct exposure to the sun... and then silently without fanfare or warning... one day...

And then about two months later...