books, books & tea

Coming home to Hawaii means my days can start REALLY early and finish early too. (Some stores open before 8 a.m. and some are even 24 hours! Definitely different from the stores in Japan. And I can go to bed by 11 p.m. Definitely different from my bedtime in Japan.)

In Hawaii, my day starts at about 5 a.m. , this is when I go walking. It is about a 40 minute walk from my house up and around a "block" of our neighborhood. Walking at this early hour can be a bit scary, especially since most houses have dogs. Not the cute, fru-fru kind of dogs that yip and yap, but big steam snorting kind of dogs--the kind that could probably stop your heart! They are the kind that you can hear, but cannot see (because it is still dark), they are charging and barking towards you as you pass by their house. I often pray silently that the fence or chain which is between me and him/her will hold...oh, and if the dog barks a lot, chances are he's telling his friend that you're coming their way.

You can also see many stars (and constellations...sigh...if only I paid more attention in Astronomy...) and falling stars too(make a wish!). And from where we live, you can also see the freeway all lit up with the headlights of cars making their way into town (which could be seen as beautiful to some--unless you were the one sitting in traffic...) You can also hear many roosters cock-a-doodle dooing and people waking up to start their days. (Some aren't morning people, as the ever ringing alarm clock will suggest as you pass by)...but all in all, it is a really nice walk especially since you definitely won't be getting sunburnt!

Okay, so when I ordered from Amazon.com, I REALLY had to pare down my choices. If I could, I would get EVERY choice on my wish list, but financials along with luggage weight restrictions by the airlines, made it tough for me to decide...This is because I wanted to get cookbooks, and books to read about food as well as the fiction kind, plus I wanted to get my birthday and christmas gifts for Satoshi--DVD's on baseball stuff (shh...don't tell him...unless he's reading this right now...)

Anyway, here is my latest choice..."Chocolate Desserts" by Pierre Herme & Dorie Greenspan. (Photo by Amazon.com.) (I wanted to also get the book, "Desserts" by Pierre Herme & Dorie Greenspan, but decided to go with my love for...CHOCOLATE!...maybe I'll get this one next time.)

I've read on other blogs about this book and the recipes seem a bit intense but as the back cover says "it's like taking an acting class from Olivier". I can't wait to try something from this book!

Another interesting thing that I ordered was from Republic of Tea were some of their Be Well Red teas. This is a Rooibos (ROY-boss) based tea. The two that I wanted to try were "get lost" and "get clean". "Get lost" is an herbal tea that is supposed to help you curb your sweet tooth, not only does it have cinnamon in it to balance your blood sugars, but also carob to curb the urge. "Get clean" is an herbal tea which uses dandelion, milk thistle and burdock to re-balance you when you feel the need to de-tox. Another interesting tea that I bought was their Fair Trade Certified Ginger Lemon Grass. This tea pairs ginger and lemon grass with fine green tea. They say that ginger and lemon grass help with digestion and that green tea has many healthful properties. I love the teas that I have bought from them in the past and can't wait to try these!

Yesterday, while roaming the aisles of Wal-Mart, I came across these two new types of Reese's peanut butter cups. Now, while I wish they would only make them in DARK CHOCOLATE, I was curious to try their caramel and double chocolate versions. The double chocolate was actually chocolate mixed with their peanut butter centers (no real difference)...the caramel had just a touch of caramel at the bottom of the peanut butter center, but it was WAY too sweet...sigh...a bit of a disappointment for me.

Well, the weather has been overcast with a little drizzle here and there for the past week.

Hopefully the weekend will be a sunny one here and where you are!