Why Dogs and Food?



Why Dogs and Food?

It's simple. Write about what you love. And what is better than dogs and food? If you are anything like me - and millions of other people - you will relate to and understand the unwavering love I have for my dogs and my passion for cooking - and eating - great food. I hope you will enjoy reading about my day to day experiences with good food and a couple of very special dogs.

Thanks for visiting.

Saturday, July 07, 2012

Vacation without the boys

We came across this wonderful  hidden beach



"Hawaii is not a state of mind, but a state of grace." ~ Paul Theroux













Brian and I recently took a trip to Hawaii sans dogs (or cat for that matter). We spent a glorious week on the island of Kauai - the Garden Isle and the Island of Beauty.  We have been to the Big Island and to Maui but this was our first visit to Kauai.  Kauai was spectacular.

We rented a little condo right at the edge of Lawai Beach, where the surfers jump off the lava rocks onto their boards to do their dances on the waves.  It was quite the show every day as we sat in our yard or on the patio, watching the ocean.

View form our backyard
Surfers push off the lava rocks

They put on a show every day


Lawai Beach is a favorite spot for surfers and snorkelers and sea turtles make their home here.  It is a great spot to watch the sunsets from the Beach House Restaurant.





Sunset view from the Beach House
We ate dinner at the Beach House one night and it was delicious.  I had the biggest Mai-Tai I've ever seen.  We ordered a watermelon salad served with caramelized red onions, Gorgonzola cheese, toasted macadamia nuts and drizzled with a raspberry vinaigrette.  I ate Macadamia-crusted Mahi-Mahi (lots of Macadamia nut recipes in Hawaii!) and Brian enjoyed an excellent Angus Filet Minion steak.  For dessert, we shared a yummy banana-puff pastry dessert.


Puff pastry with bananas, caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream
(Oh my!)



Coconut Shrimp from the Shrimp Station
Because we had the condo, I would prepare eggs for breakfast and sandwiches to go when we headed out for day trip the beach or park.  A couple of times we stopped and picked up some coconut or garlic shrimp to go from the local restaurants.  Everything tasted so fresh and delicious.

Garlic Shrimp from the local Food Truck in Koloa


We also had a lovely dinner of fresh fish and roasted vegetables at the Tidepools restaurant in Poipu Beach.  The restaurant overlooked a lagoon filled with Koi fish.  I was naughty and tossed a piece of bread in the water and the fish went into a frenzy.  Bad Lizzie.  But Brian got a bunch of really cool shots of the fish with the iphone!  Check it out:

Colorful Koi in the lagoon 

We took an amazing sunset sail along the Na Pali coast.  They served us spinach lasagna and beer and wine but we didn't care what we ate.  The coast was so incredibly stunning, it was mesmerizing.  Check out some of these photos:

Jurassic Park Location


Have you seen this in movies?

Water fall inside the cave

Romantic cave

Gorgeous coastline

The sunset part of the sail!


I could post hundreds and hundreds of photos from this trip.  It's hard not to be camera-crazy!

We sure missed our boys while we were gone.  I would awaken in the middle of the night and imagine them lying on the floor next to the bed.  It's strange how they seem to be with us even when they are 2500 miles away!  

When we got home, we took them for a swim in the bay and all at once, everything was back to normal for all of us.


Henry back in the bay


Even Walty goes in!



8 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Liz!

Thanks for sharing the pictures and the details of your beautiful vacation in Hawaii. We spent a week in Kauai several years ago near Hanalei Bay and I fell in love with the place and have always wanted to return. We were there in February and it rained a lot, but the result was hundreds of waterfalls surrounding us each morning. Now I am inspired. Great pictures and the food!!!!

Colette

Liz Berry said...

Hi Colette - we stayed on the South Shore but drove up to the North for a day. It is a beautiful Island! We will definitely go back! We just loved it.

Cafe Fashionista said...

I have honestly never seen such exquisite photographs of Hawaii. You just gave me a serious case of wanderlust - I want to go! :)

Susan Campisi said...

Oh, Liz. It looks stunning! And the food - wow! I'm salivating thinking about it! I have got to get to Hawaii one of these days. I'm so glad you went and had a fantastic time.

Sorry I'm so late in reading and commenting. Crazy busy as usual. Have a great weekend! Love, me

Liz Berry said...

Cafe - thank you! There was a lot of salt on my camera lens so the photos are mistier than I would have liked but s you can see, the beauty still shines through! Kauai is such a gorgeous island and so laid back. We just loved it. Thanks for stopping by!

Liz Berry said...

Sue! Good to see you here! Yes, you must take trip to Hawaii some day. California has its own beauty for sure but it's always nice to have a change of scenery and away from our day-to-day! The food is yummy, too!

kkshaw47 said...

Hi Liz

Hi honey! Oh my word Hawaii! It is a very very special placle isn't it? So glad that you took so many photos and were able to really soak up all the local people, flavors and fun!

Not to mention the huge waves, paradise like gardens and laid back attitude.

Hawaii is right in the backyard of CA so you go all the time.

Gotta love it lamb. Glad you got out of that summer fog too. Keep it coming.

Love
Krissy

Liz Berry said...

Yep - so lucky to have Hawaii just west of us. We re going back to spend Christmas there. It does something good to our souls. Magic.