Light Summer Salads

Not every night in Hawaii is as temperate as I'd like it to be, especially if down in our little valley we aren't getting a breeze though our apartment. Last night was one of those nights, and we were having company (Hi, Elise!) so I decided that a sampling of cool summer salads would be a good idea. I haven't done a recipe post in a while, so I thought I'd share some of the goodies with you over my next few posts (don't worry, I'll get a hiking post in there somewhere, too, for you view junkies out there).

Here is what our dinner and dessert spread looked like:

Mmm...cheesecake and cookies for dessert with iced coffee!

The menu was Caesar salad, potato salad and garlic bread from Elise, and I made edamame salad, macaroni salad (my Grandma's recipe), cucumber goat cheese salad, and a pear and mango salad. I'm back on a new recipe kick, so I'll try to share as I find or create fun new food combinations. Happy cooking!

Shawn and Kris part one

So before the wedding can happen you have to rehearse, right? Here are some photos I shot of the rehearsal for the wedding. It was super casual and lots of fun:

The Bride's Party

The groom's party

The rest of the bride's party and Amy on the right. She was the officiant.

Excited bride-to-be with dad and flower girl

Of course the pre-wedding festivities also needed to include the bachelor and bachelorette parties. I have no record of what went on at the bachelor party, but I know that they went on a bar crawl down St. Pete Beach, just like we did. Joe and I kept in communication so that we didn't run into each other. As of midnight, Shawn wasn't allowed to see his bride until the wedding. I do have record that we girls had fun:

Kris with her sister, and Matron of Honor, Lauren.

At the Drunken Clam

Kris with her lovely bridesmaids!

That's not the only partying we did in Florida, but more on that later. I also hope to have some wedding photos to post soon. Until then, trust me, it was a beautiful event.

Food trip!

Joe and I went back to Florida for a week at the beginning of this month for Shawn and Kristin's wedding. What a whirlwind of a trip that was! More important though, is the food that we ate while in Florida. I never thought I'd miss Tampa restaurants so much.

First stop: Three Coins Diner! Tampa people, if you don't eat there regularly, shame on you! When we first stepped in the door we were greeted with a huge hug, asked how long we were visiting, and they remembered our usual drink order. It's nice to still be a "regular" even when you live on the other side of the country.

Please ignore my hair. I'd been on a plane for 19hrs and went straight from the airport to the diner.

The chicken souvlaki never disappoints

Other delicious food opportunities: Publix Subs, crappy chinese food (they try to serve you the real stuff in Hawaii), Chick-fil-a and Liang's Bistro.

While visiting with Chris, Abby and Bennett, we hit up Origami Sushi, a favorite of yours (and better than most sushi we've found on-island, but don't tell the locals I said that).

There are now more Moores than when we left Florida the first time...and the littlest isn't interested in sushi.

My last night in town we went to Beef O'Brady's and instead of wings, Joe and I got pizza. Let me explain about pizza. It costs an arm and a leg and your first born child to get pizza in Hawaii. A demonstration: Pizza Hut, Anywhere, USA.....Pizza Hut, Honolulu. At the time I am writing this post, the large cheesy bites pizza is $11.99 anywhere on the US mainland, and $16.99 on my island. Which is why we looked this excited eating pizza in Tampa:

This didn't cost $200!

Food exploits aside, we had a lovely though exhausting trip. More FL fun in upcoming posts!