Lilikoi-Lime Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies ~ #CreativeCookieExchange

#CreativeCookieExchange is baking Cookies for Tea this month. As a big tea drinker and a cookie lover, this theme is perfect for me. The only trouble I had was narrowing it down to just one cookie. There are so many great cookie recipes out there waiting to be baked.

I'm Back from the Land Down Under

Actually I have been back for a few days but jet-lag always hits me on the trip back, so I have been sleeping a lot and getting gradually getting back on track.  I had a wonderful time and got to visit with my eldest daughter who is attending university in Sydney, and catch up with other family members too, including my two wonderful sisters-in-law.

I thought I would share a couple of photos from our trip to the mountains before getting back into the regular recipes.  It is Autumn (Fall) in Australia and the weather is starting to get colder.  Although it can get down to the low 30's in the morning during winter, it does not snow in Sydney.  Growing up I did not have central heating in my house so it was a mad dash in the morning to get into a warm shower and get some winter clothes on.  It was a sad day if someone had beaten you to the shower.

Some of the teapots at Bygone Beautys

On a cold, rainy day there is nothing better to warm you up than to have a Devonshire Tea by a fireplace.  To achieve this my daughter and I headed to the Blue Mountains, which are located about 90 minutes west of Sydney by car, to a wonderful tearoom located in Leura.  Bygone Beautys not only serves a wonderful Devonshire Tea, but also boasts the world’s largest private collection of teapots.  We started with the Soup of the Day, which was a sweet potato-pumpkin soup, and followed it with a Devonshire Tea - home made scones with jam and whipped cream, served with tea or coffee.




As you can see the grounds are beautiful, but the star is the scones, jam, and cream.




The leaves changing color was quite stunning too.  I had forgotten how beautiful they are since I don't see them very often.




We also visited a wonderful old hotel called The Carrington which was opened in 1882.

And a final few photos.  There was a fine rain falling for most of the day and I was amazed at how it delicately clung to the flowers, and even a spider's web.



And the spider's web.

To Market, To Market - Part 2 (Flowers)

This is Part 2 of my trip to the Farmers' Market at KCC.  This time I am focusing on all of the stunning flowers at the market.  I don't even know if I can really do them justice, since by this time, my daughters were reaching the saturation point with all of my photo-taking so I had to hurry.  Also, I realize that the photo above is actually a rambutan, which is not a flower, but I just really liked the photo and how flower-like it is.  OK, on to the real thing.

The sun rising at the Kapiolani Community College over the cactus garden.  Diamond Head is on the other side of the road.

The Cactus garden at KCC

 Orchid "Phalaenopsis"

Orchid "Phalaenopsis"

Pink Anthurium

Orchid

Oncidium "Heaven Scent Redolence"

Orchid "Lady Slipper"

Orchid "Lady Slipper"

Orchid "Cattelya Aurantiaca"

Orchid "Cattleya Willette Wong"

Protea "Pin Cushion"

Parrot's Beak Helconia "Sassy"

Yellow Parrot Flower
















Heliconia "Rostrata"






















Red Ginger (this one is from my backyard)

Hawaii - The Saturday Farmers' Market

I love visiting Farmers' Markets. When I am lucky enough to travel I always try to find out where the local farmer's market is and add it to our plans.  It tells you so much about the neighborhood.  There is just something special about all of the incredibly hard workers who make up the market.  Besides the goods they are selling they all have a story to share.

My local Farmers' Market is The Saturday Farmers' Market at the Kapiolani Community College, just a few minutes drive from Waikiki.  It is co-sponsored by the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation and the Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Kapiolani Community College. It is the largest Farmers' Market in Hawaii and the only one featuring all Hawaii grown and produced foods and flowers.  Vendors selling their goods at this market have extremely strict guidelines to follow regarding the origin of their goods. Some of the guidelines include:

• Fruits, vegetables, and flowers must be grown in Hawaii. 
• All ready to eat, processed and value added food products must be made in Hawaii in a certified commercial kitchen and Hawaii grown ingredients should be incorporated into the product whenever possible (the greater the percentage of Hawaii grown ingredients used in ready to eat food products may determine a vendor’s participation in the markets).
• All beverages sold  need to be bottled or produced in Hawaii.  This applies to soft drinks, bottled water, tea, coffee and other items sold in the market. 
 

There are some wonderful vendors at this market.  Most of them are there every week, although sometimes a new one comes in to fill in a spot for someone who is sick.  Each week there is a Tip Sheet produced so that you can check out exactly who will be at the market on Saturday.  You can also follow the market on Twitter @HNLFarmers for market updates, specials & pictures.



I saw so many things that I wanted to buy.  Dean Okimoto's Nalo Farms has some of the best greens.  Nalo Farms supplies approximately 130 restaurants with over 3,000 pounds of their tasty greens each and every week, including Roy's.  I always stop by the Hawaiian Fudge Sauce stand. Seriously, you will think that you died and went to heaven after tasting the samples.  It is very hard to walk away with just one jar of fudge sauce.  I recommend you buy a few because this stuff is good right off the spoon, so you might need another jar for your ice cream. I tried some samples from Honomu Jams and Jellies - Passionfruit Butter, Passionfruit Ginger Jam, Tahitian Lime Ginger Jelly, Sugar Free Waimea Strawberry (made with blue agave).  They were all excellent and the taste of the fruit really shines through. I found it hard to choose, so I picked two, and will go back in a few weeks to try a few more.




After visiting the market I drove down the road to Diamond Head Market Grill.  Their blueberry scones are legendary and on the weekends they also have banana scones (Fri-Sun).  These scones are different from your average scone.  They are so moist and cake-like, and have a very light vanilla glaze on top.  They also have a wide range of prepared foods that make this the perfect place to stop before you head out for a day at the beach, or you can enjoy one their breakfast or lunch plates.  They may not have a view but their food more than makes up for it.  And if you do need a view the beaches of Waikiki are a few minutes down the road, and so is the beautiful Kapiolani Park.