Kakimochi is also known as Japanese rice cracker. It’s a teriyaki crunchy cracker and yes, there are some Hawaii bakeries that put them in cookies. The cracker kind of acts as a replacement for nuts or cereal, anything crunchy. Don’t knock it til you try it!

When I saw HEART SHAPED kakimochi in Hawaii, well, I just couldn’t resist and I knew I had to make up my own version of this old skool snack…

ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 /2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup crushed kakimochi (arare) + more to decorate if you wish
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep baking sheets with silpats.

I have NEVER come across kakimochi in this shape except for in Hawaii. It is so cute I can hardly stand it.

You can use any shape, of course since hearts are pretty hard to find. It hurts to crush up these cute little kakimochi hearts, but it has to be done.

In a freezer bag, place the kakimochi and crush them to pieces using a rolling pin, your hands, your full aggression. Hello anger management. Set aside.

In a small bowl whisk together the flour and the baking soda. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and the brown sugar. Add the egg and the vanilla.

Add in the flour/baking soda mixture until combined.

Personally, I love mini chocolate chips. They add a lot of flavor in very little bites.

By hand, fold in the crushed kakimochi and the mini choco chips into the batter.

Spoon by teaspoonfulls onto the prepped baking sheets. Make them rounded and press them down slightly. Since the heart were SO cute I also placed one on top of each batter ball before sending it into the oven. You don’t have to do this, but I thought it looked adorable and added even more crunch.

Bake for 8-10 minutes until brown. Let cool on a wire rack.

For people who may have only eaten kakimochi as a snack, this is a new and interesting take that is worth trying out!

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Well, you knew this was coming. With the start of Kinder for the Baby, it’s time for…school lunch! The Baby got a brand spankin’ new IRON MAN lunch bag and now we can check in and see what he’s eating every week.

WWIMeat: King’s Hawaiian Rainbow Bread!

You can tell from my recipes that I LOVE King’s Hawaiian products, and since the bakery is L.A. based, I have the opportunity to get the bread FRESH, baby!

Rainbow bread is an old skool Hawaiian staple – I just wish it was sweet bread, but no matter, it’s still yummy and SO fun to see in your school lunch! The Baby is ALL ABOUT MEAT, so this was simply rainbow bread and ham. No cheese. No way. He’s the opposite of the Kid, remember?

Look through last year’s archives of ‘WWYE: WHAT WOULD YODA EAT‘ for fond memories…

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Shoyu is the Japanese word for soy sauce, and Shoyu Pork is a Hawaiian plate lunch staple. This is a version that I put together for my crock pot ’cause I had many important things to do. Like sit on my couch and watch Cake Boss…

The smell that fills your house will bring you joy forever. Well, for a few hours anyway.

ingredients:
one 3-4 pound pork butt
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water
4 slices of ginger

In a small bowl combine the soy sauce, mirin, brown sugar and water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and set aside.

Butcher down your pork into pieces, I’d say about 2-1/2 to 3″. Keep some of the fat to cook along with the meat, you’ll take it out before you serve it.

Cut your ginger into slices, about 3-4 is all you’ll need and sliced about 1/4″ thick.

Place the pork in the crock pot and pour the sauce over it. Add the ginger slices, pushing them down into the mixture. Set the pot on low for 6-7 hours.

The pork will get a very dark brown as it nears the end of the cooking time, it should be tender and fall apart. It is GREAT served with hot white rice and some mac salad – voila, my own in-house plate lunch!

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While *I’m* not a fan of cream cheese – my cheese lovin’ son IS. And since breakfast is also his fave meal of the day, I made up some pancakes filled with sweetened cream cheese. The touch of lemon zest adds just a little kick of freshness. The perfect send off for the first week of school.

ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
2 Tablespoons cream cheese
1 Tablespoon softened butter
1-1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup cream cheese
2 Tablespoon powdered sugar
1 Tablespoons lemon zest

In a small bowl stir together the cream cheese, powdered sugar and lemon zest. Set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add the egg, butter, milk and vanilla until just combined.

Set your pan to medium high and add touch of butter. Watch the heat, you know how *I* am about my pancakes!

Ladle out the pancake batter. Add a dollop of the cream cheese mixture into the center of the pancake…

then top with more batter.

Once the bubbles start to pop, carefully flip the pancakes and cook the other side.

You can top these with syrup or strawberries, and you’ll be please to find a creamy center to brighten your morning!

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Today is my birthday.

If I were to plan and cook the perfect meal it would look something like this:

Root Beer Pulled pork sandwiches

Pasta Salad w/Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Coffee and Donuts cupcakes
Hey, it’s my birthday I can have TWO desserts in one!

Now, to get someone ELSE to cook it. Kids…where are you going?

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I write a lot about Hello Kitty food experiences here: the VIP party for the 35th anniversary, the Hello Kitty Kawaii Tea, etc. So I thought I’d tell you where I went recently…

Last week I went to Hawaii and instead of spending time with my family and freiends, I drove straight to the Sanrio Cafe. Ok, not exactly – but I was pretty excited. I love Sanrio and try to regularly make Hello Kitty cupcakes, chocolates, Hello Kitty oreos all on my own – but here, the Cafe was doing all that an more.

Located in the Pearl Ridge shopping mall, there isn’t much around here. At first glance you’d think it was just a regular ol’ Sanrio store, but right on the corner is a tiny storefront.

When I say tiny, I mean this place was TINY. No tables or chairs, just a walk up register. There were sandwiches and coffees, but of course the desserts were the first thing I looked at. So many cute things!

Hold on to your horses, I took a lot of pictures for you…

These desserts were just the right size, TINY. Just the way I like them.

Could you die? Little chocolate Keroppis – just like the Hello Kitty ones I attempted! These were so cute, I need those molds!!

Cutest brownies ever!

OF COURSE the mochi caught my eye – you know I love mochi - I wanted to take some back to L.A. but seeing as how it had a very short shelf life, I knew it wouldn’t make it home. ~sigh~ Next time.

Instead I went for a little dobash cake. So tiny and cute. The cafe had a great array of desserts, I wish I could have tried them all. And here’s a tip for people who follow my blog – the Cafe has lots of neat hard to find Hello Kitty cookie cutters/kitchen items! So all those cupcakes I’ve made…yeah, there’s more to come for sure!

I went back a few times during my trip (how could I not?!) and the desserts seemed to change every day which was pretty neat. This is a cuteconcept that I think would do great in other cities across the country. Hopefully they’ll open one on the mainland!

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I think you know I live and die by root beer. I drink it, I cook with it, I bathe in it…no, wait. Even if you don’t love root beer (what’s wrong with you) the root beer just adds to the flavor of the chicken and doesn’t overpower it. Plus it gives a nice caramelization when the chicken is baked.

ingredients:
8-10 chicken thighs
1 cup root beer
1 cup ketchup
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon minced ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pepper

In a bowl combine the root beer, ketchup, lemon juice, orange juice, maple syrup, minced ginger and garlic.

Put the chicken pieces in a large freezer bag and pour in the marinade ingredients. I always put marinating meats in freezer bags in ANOTHER pan, you never know if that thing is going to leak! Let the chicken marinate in the fridge for 4-8 hours, however long you’ve got.

Drain off the marinade and lay the chicken pieces in a baking pan. Don’t reuse tainted marinade people, ew! Salt and pepper the chicken to season and then cook at 375 degrees for 30 minutes covered in foil. Take off the foil and cook for another 25 minutes.

This is a nice sticky chicken with a lot of good flavor. Really easy to make when you’re in a hurry!

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This is a great quick dinner that you can throw together in the morning and come home to without a care in the world. Warm and flavorful, you’ll look forward to dinner being fully prepared!

ingredients:
8 chicken thighs
1 onion, chopped
6-8 tomatoes cubed
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
14 ounces chicken broth
1 cup water

Fresh tomatoes straight from the garden make a world of difference. I know not everyone has access to that – but wow, the flavors are amazing. Luckily a little Fairy dropped off an abundance of them on my doorstep.

Place the chicken thighs in the bottom of the crock pot. Add the diced onion, minced garlic and then the tomatoes.

Sprinkle the onion powder, salt, pepper and oregano on top.

Pour the chicken broth and the water along the side of the crock pot wall, carefully not to disturb your spices too much.

Cover and cook and low for 8 hours. Serve this over rice.

The smell of this cooking all day will fill your house with deliciousness. My kids love the fact that the chicken is so soft and moist. A great meal with virtually no prep or clean up!

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In my old Hawaii cookbooks I came across a recipe for ‘Ono Chili’ only it didn’t give actual measurements for the ingredients! ~sigh~ so I cobbled together my own version and you know what – they weren’t kiddin’ it turned into some ONOLICIOUS chili! (I’m sure using three meats has a lot to do with it…)

ingredients:
4 slices of bacon
1 Portugese Sausage
1 pound ground beef
3 stalks of celery
1 medium onion
1 bell pepper
1 28 oz can stewed tomatoes
1 14 oz can tomato sauce
1 can kidney beans
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 Tablespoon water

Hold on to your heart attacks – 3 different kinds of meat? Yes. Chop the bacon into small pieces – (I like to do this raw so I don’t have to chop it afterwards – up to you) cook in a large stock pot until crispy, set aside and drain.

Drain off the fat from the pot, then in the same stock pot, brown up the Portuguese sausage – this is a Hawaiian staple and will add so much flavor. Brown the Portuguese sausage, then drain and set that aside.

Drain the stock pot of excess fat AGAIN, then go ahead and brown the ground beef until no longer pink. set THAT aside – there’s a lot of setting aside going on here.

Drain off the excess fat from the pot just one more time. Add the celery, onion and bell pepper. Cook until soft.

In a small bowl combine all the seasonings so you can just throw them in evenly later: bay leaves salt, pepper, chili powder, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, stir together and then set aside.

Now if you are a fool like me and bought whole tomatoes by accident – the simple solution is to 1) read the labels more carefully or 2) get a clean pair of kitchen shears, shove them in the can and cut away. An easy fix for chopping. Now – back to the stock pot – to the onion mixture add the stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Stir.

Add the seasonings you’ve mixed together, as well as the three meats: bacon, Portuguese sausage and ground beef. You can see how it’s starting to get some really nice flavor combinations going already. Cook on a low simmer for 1 hour.

Make a thickener using the cornstarch and water. Stir it together until it’s well combined. Add that to the stock pot – stirring it in well, and also you can now add the kidney beans. Simmer for another 15 minutes and you’re ready to serve!

This is a longer recipe than I’d like, I usually like to make them simpler to follow, but all these steps lead to a really fantastic tasting chili that is well worth the chopping and setting aside – great for cool summer nights!

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Everyone makes Rice Krispy treats, sure. But I like to change it up sometimes and the colors of the “berries” (yeah, right) in the Cap’n Crunch make this treat pretty festive.

ingredients:
1 bag of large marshmallows
2 Tablespoons butter
pinch of salt
6 cups Cap’n Crunch Crunch Berries Cereal

Grease a 9″x13″ pan with melted butter. Set aside.

In a large pot heat the marshmallows and the butter. Once it starts to break down and melt, add the pinch of salt. Stir up this sticky mess and once it is all combined fold in the cereal, careful not to crush it.

Once the cereal is coated in the marshmallow mixture, pour it into the prepared pan. Push down to even it out flat, and let sit to cool. Cover with plastic wrap until you are ready to serve. Then cut into squares.

These are definitely sweeter than your traditional rice cereal treats, but they are a yummy colorful alternative!

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