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Beautiful Dessert

A beautiful dessert to finish off an incredible meal at a restaurant in Peru.

Cranberry Cream-cheesy Bars 

(otherwise known at Starbuck's as Cranberry Bliss Bars)

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I have been waiting FOR.    EV.    ER.   to make these things.  Well, maybe not that long, but definitely for a long time.  I discovered them about 5 years ago when I first began frequenting Starbuck's on a fairly regular basis, especially when in Hawaii where there's a Starbuck's on every other corner.  They only sell them during the winter a little before and a little after Christmas.

They are Amazing!!!  Like, over-the-top it's a good thing these are so expensive or I'd buy and eat many more amazing.

Then a friend of mind, actually a friend of my daughter's who used to come to the house when they were in high school, began posting that she was making and selling these scrumptious bars along with other goodies, as a fund raiser for their adoption efforts.  

Of course I purchased some and oh, my goodness, fell in love with them again.  I'm not sure it's the exact recipe that Starbuck's uses, but it's close enough to call it a SCORE!!!

Over the years I've thought of contacting the girl to see if she'd be willing to share the recipe and finally put feet on my dreams this year.  Last night I made them.  Now....I don't usually cook, bake or do anything else constructive/productive at night because, well, I'm a morning person as I mentioned in a recent post, and once noon comes & goes I'm pretty much off the clock.

But I really wanted to try these bars.  Really wanted to as in "I'm going to make them now even though it's 7 pm and I'd rather be sitting on the couch editing photos".

And really....they are as scrumptious as I thought they'd be.  So now the struggle begins:  do I eat one every time I get the notion?  do I eat just half at a time?  do I resist 3 out of 4 times?  or do I just eat them and not make them again for a long time?

Well, the verdict is out on that.  I'll get back to you about it sometime, or maybe not.

Practice

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I've been reading a book about food photography, so today I finally decided to do some practice.  The book has some great suggestions that have enabled me to work without having to schlep all the equipment and props outside, only to deal with wind/bugs/uneven light.

It was fun.  Now I just have to get motivated to do some cooking so I can have some subjects to photograph.  That will be the hardest part!

Back to Haleiwa

Okay, okay, so I'm in a rut. Haleiwa, turtles, turtles, Haleiwa. But they're irresistible. Yesterday Jackie and I went to Haleiwa, just for something to do. Then we headed up to the beach. Once again, no turtles for her to see, so we hung around for the sunset. It wasn't spectacular, but nice and it gave her something to practice on. Of course, just being on the beach at sunset was spectacular in itself!

Then, yep, you guessed it, back to Haleiwa for a light dinner. We decided to go to Cholo's--much more on that in my post for today. (this is my post for yesterday, Sunday) When we got our table outside, I decided to take a few shots to show Jackie the zooming technique. So I pointed my camera inside the restaurant and this is the result. The only one that I like, but I'm happy with it.

Then, instead of dessert, we went over to the Coffee Gallery and while Jackie was ordering, I started playing around with the different scenes in the store. It was dark by then, so the shutter speed was very slow, but I did manage to get a couple of images I like.

Another sign I love. I just might take Phil's suggestion and make a collage of all the funky signs I'm finding. I know a few people in NY who would probably love to have this sign in their house, or on their garage door. Fun!

So come back later. Cholo's will be the main topic. I'm headed out the door right now to drive up there. We got permission to go in before they open, so we can photograph with our tripods without interfering with their customers.

Posted on Mon. for Sunday, Mar. 1, 2009