Women Artists of Kauai Art Studio Tour 2012

1st Annual Artist's Studio Tour 2012

 

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Come join 11 artists at 7 locations from Princeville to Waimea town for the Women Artists of Kauai 1st Annual Artists' Studio Tour! Admission for this event is free and 20% of all sales will be donated to the Zonta Club of Hanalei's Scholarship fund. The self-driving tour is on Saturday Feb 25th and Sunday Feb 26th - times vary according to individual studios.  The group would like to thank our generous sponsors for making this event possible: the Midweek, the Zonta Club of Hanalei, Savage Pearls, and Na Pali Properties. We hope to see you in our studios! 

Making Sushi - Kauai Style

Every now and then we get a craving for some sushi, so I've been trying my hand at making my own. Here on Kauai it's easy as most of the ingredients are readily available. I shop at Ishihara Market in Waimea, Kauai on my way home from my studio. They have a great selection of Japanese products as well as fresh fish and many varieties of ready made poke. Ono!!!

The first thing you need to do is to prepare the rice. I usually cook about 3 cups of rice with a rice cooker and use California calrose rice. It is the short grain variety normally eaten in Hawaii. Then once it's done cooking, I let it cool down for about ten minutes with the lid off the rice cooker. Next, I transfer the rice to a large bowl and using a rice paddle I sprinkle a few tablespoons of sushi seasoning over the rice and cut lines in the rice instead of stirring. You have to be delicate here or your rice will turn to mush. The sushi seasoning is basically a mixture of vinegar, sugar and salt. You can usually find it at the store already prepared.

Next, I cover my bamboo rolling mat with some plastic wrap, lay down a piece of nori, and spread out a thin layer of the rice.
Here's some fresh spicy poke (pronounced "po-kay") that I purchased from Ishihara market. I love to use this to make sushi as it is made from fresh ahi tuna, green onions, seaweed and a spicy sauce that is delicious.
Next, I cut up my vegetables. I mainly use green onions and fresh avocado, but you can also use carrots, eggs, or whateva!
Next, I sprinkle dry Japanese rice seasoning that is a mixture of sesame seeds, seaweed, and some other ingredients over the rice.
Then, I flip the whole thing over and lay out my main ingredients on top of the nori.
And, it's time to roll! This is the hard part for me as I never get it quite tight enough. It takes practice, practice, and practice!After using a sharp knife to cut the roll into 3/4 inch pieces, I lay them out on a plate. I could have made the roll tighter here, but oh heck, it all tastes the same ;-) This is an inside out roll.Here I did the same thing, but didn't flip the nori over. This is a regular roll.Lastly, while I was making my sushi, my hubby made some of his own. He calls this cone sushi and the outer part is a thin, deep friend pocket of tofu. You can get this at a Japanese market. He basically, just cut the tofu in half diagonally and then stuffed it with the left over rice. I also made some miso soup to go on the side.

Hope you have enjoyed this little tutorial. I am in no way a sushi expert. I'm just a gal having some fun making some food on the island of Kauai!

Aloha and Mahalo,
Marionette

Plein Air Painting Day

Yesterday I was invited to paint with the Plein Air Painters of Hawaii during their special Kauai event! I had a pretty packed day planned already (teaching art classes), but I got up early and headed out to their first location, the Waimea Plantation Cottages. Somehow I managed to carve out two hours during the morning to set up and create a plein air pastel painting of this lovely cottage:

This is my set-up.

Here are some of the materials I used - Rembrandt pastels, charcoal pencils, and of course some "Aloha Passion Orange Juice" to keep me going!

Watercolor Class - Works in Progress

On the first and third Tuesday of the month, I teach a watercolor class at the beautiful Waimea Plantation Cottages from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Look at the lovely paintings these students have created of the cottages! It is always a fun class in a very peaceful, colorful environment! Many Mahalos to the staff at the Waimea Plantation Cottages for hosting my classes!!

Marionette's Art Class Schedule

While Visiting Kauai, My Favorite Things

I often receive emails from visitors to Kauai looking for personal recommendations on things to do while on island. Here are some suggestions.

There is a lot of natural beauty on Kauai to explore! I recommend driving all around the island (one day the north shore, one day the south shore, and one day Waimea Canyon on the west side). By renting a car and driving around the island you will see a lot of great sights relatively inexpensively.

Here are some of my favorite things to do starting on the north shore: Ke'e beach or Tunnels beach, having lunch at Bubba's in Hanalei along with some shopping, Hanalei Bay (this is a lovely 2.5 mile crescent shaped beach with majestic mountains with waterfalls in the background - you might have to pinch yourself to believe you're not in a dream), Kilauea lighthouse and nature preserve (not open on Sundays), and Banana Joe's fruit stand.

East side: Blossoming Lotus restaurant in Kapa'a (great vegetarian food and world known), Smith's Tropical Paradise Luau in Wailua, Smith's boat tour up the Wailua river to the Fern Grotto (you will be serenaded by live Hawaiian music and hula dancers), Coconut Marketplace for shopping, Eggbert's for breakfast, and Dinner at Duke's Canoe Club restaurant at Kalapaki (great salad bar, fish, chicken and reasonably priced for an 'ocean view' restaurant).

South and west side: Poipu Beach, Lunch or dinner at Brennecke's (wonderful food, good prices, and ocean view), Spouting Horn, the "Keiki" Hula Show at the Hyatt (free, usually on Tuesday & Saturday eve, call first), Brick Oven Pizza in Kalaheo (best pizza I've ever had - closed on Mondays), Kukuiolono Park and Golf Course (breathtaking views of surrounding area), Kauai Coffee Visitor Center (free coffee samples of all of their varieties, self-guided tour of the coffee process, largest coffee plantation in the US - Harvesting to start in mid Sept.), Grinds restaurant in Ele'ele for breakfast, lunch or dinner (affordable), Salt Pond Beach, Waimea Canyon (all the way to the Kalalau Lookout), Waimea Plantation Cottages for lunch or dinner (brew pub and walk on their lovely grounds to the ocean), Polihale beach (bumpy road to get there and hot, but very picturesque), and of course a visit to my Waimea art studio, Painting Paradise :-)

Also, I recommend taking a boat tour to see the island from the ocean. I personally do NOT receommend a helicopter tour (there have been too many fatal crashes). The helicopter tour is nice because you get to see the whole island, but it is risky. Also, be very, very careful in the ocean. I am sick of hearing in the newspaper about people who get swept out to sea and drown. This happens all too often. Swim in protected areas, be aware of the current, and talk to a lifeguard before going in, if possible. Kauai is paradise on earth, but accidents still happen.

You can get more info about the island by reading the local newspaper: http://www.kauaiworld.com/ , or http://www.kauaipeople.com/ .

If you need to book a tour I recommend http://www.kauaivacationtours.com/
(I know the ladies who work there. Tell them Marionette sent you.)

If you want to shop for local products made on Kauai, check out the "Kauai Made" website at http://www.kauaimade.net/ . This program was created by the County of Kauai to officially represent the products made on Kauai by Kauai people, using Kauai materials.

If, after all of this, you are a little tired and sore and in need of some TLC, then I recommend Tropics Day Spa http://www.tropicsdayspa.com/ located in Port Allen.

If anyone has more suggestions of activities, sights to see, or restaurants, please list them as a "comment". I'd love to see what your favorite things to do on Kauai are!