haute new resort wear boutique

On October 1st a fabulous new boutique opened at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea. Cabana is a concept store by Seaside Luxe, the company behind Four Season Resort Hualalai's exquisite Luxe boutique. The store is beautifully furnished with tables and shelves piled with gorgeous fabrics making up colorful Pucci robes, Indah scarves and Vince tees. Glass cases with white coral feature glittering jewelry of semi-precious stones and gold.

While Cabana definitely caters to Resort guests and price points run slightly higher than what you would find at an outside store, the store carries many brands that can't be found else where on Maui. Some of my favorite fab finds include Sachin + Babi tunics, Nili Lotan dresses, Joie blouses, Diane Von Furstenburg cover-ups and jewelry by Dezso.

Cabana primarily features clothing, jewelry, accessories and shoes for women, however they also have super cute kids clothes with finds by locally local designers Coral & Polyp and girls tunics by Letarte, as well as a mens section with golf and beach wear. Shelves are well stocked with sunglasses for men and women by Tom Ford and custom James Perse fine knit tees.

Looking forward to the opening of Ports, a casual sundries and logo wear store, and 22 Knots, which showcases exclusive luxury designers this December at the Four Seasons Resort Maui.

pasta puttanesca tonight

Feeling like a little bit of Italia for dinner, I whipped up a quick batch of puttanesca, a lovely tomato based sauce with some spice. I especially like the combination of basil, kalamata olives and capers. The best part is that it only takes about 10 minutes to prep and 40 minutes to cook. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• 8 anchovy fillets
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• Two 28-ounce can whole peeled Italian tomatoes with their juices, crushed by hand
• Pinch of sugar
• 2 basil sprigs
• 1/4 cup sliced kalamata olives
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

In a large saucepan, heat the oil. Add the garlic, anchovies and crushed red pepper and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the canned tomatoes with their juices. Stir in the sugar, basil, olives and capers. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Simmer the sauce over low heat, stirring occasionally, until it thickens, about 30 minutes. In the meantime prepare pasta of your choice. My favorite pasta with this sauce is penne.

Feeling like a variation of the puttanesca sauce, here's a great recipe for vodka sauce that's just as easy to prepare:

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 ounces pancetta, diced
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/4 cup vodka
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• Two 28-ounce can whole peeled Italian tomatoes with their juices, crushed by hand
• Pinch of sugar
• 2 basil sprigs
• Salt
  
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions

In a large saucepan, heat the oil. Sauté the pancetta, garlic and crushed red pepper over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes. Deglaze with vodka. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the canned tomatoes with their juices. Stir in the sugar and basil, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Simmer the sauce over low heat, stirring occasionally, until it thickens, about 30 minutes. Add heavy cream and simmer for 5 minutes.

happy birthday tibbee!

On October 31st my furry, four-legged companion celebrated his 11th birthday with presents, homemade organic dog treats, and an enormous jack-o-lantern.

his first present was a stuffed sock monkey toy


Tibbee with his toy and homemade organic sweet potato treats (recipe below)

Tibbee with his birthday jock-o-lantern the cyclops

Sweet Potato Dog Treats Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup Okinawan sweet potato, steamed, peeled & mashed
1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup organic honey
4 1/2 cups organic rolled oats
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups whole wheat flour

Instructions:

1. In a large mixing bowl mix both flours and the rolled oats
2. Incorporate the sweet potato, oil and honey
3. Add water gradually while mixing until the mixture holds together and can form a ball
4. Divide the mixture into four balls
5. Flour a surface and roll out the ball to a 1/8" thickness
6. Use your favorite cookie cutter or a cup about an inch in a half in diameter to cut circular cookies
7. Repeat with all four balls of mixture
   
8. Bake at 375 degrees until the treats are golden brown and crunchy
   

Makes about 120 small circular treats.