Kauai Coffee is really tasty!

I'm sitting here at 6AM in Hawaii drinking coffee, really tasty coffee. Its vienna roast from Kauai Coffee Company. I wrote about my trip to their retail store at the "Are you going to buy that?" blog:

Kauai Coffee Company Retail Store Review on Kauai, HI

but the beans I got need to be ground. Thankfully, the new hotel we've been staying at the past few days (Marriott Waiohai Beach Club) has Kauai Coffee for free, so I'm living it up.

Pemmican Beef Jerky

We bought some Pemmican Beef Jerky and it was much better. Yum! Still not the best I've ever had (the best bought at a gas station somewhere in the middle of America) but still pretty good.

Pemmican Beef Jerky is made by ConAgra Foods.

Pemmican Beef Jerky at Amazon for $39.50 ($49.50 minus $10 off)

Jewel Bako Restaurant in Manhattan, New York, NY

Forgive me, this post is a little late. My buddies Jeremy, Conor, and Al took me out to sushi for my bachelor party in NYC. It was awesome. We ate at Jewel Bako in Manhattan and it was a very impressive restaurant. They had sake, and we all ordered the chef's special, which included a tartar appetizer, a warm dish of either salmon or mushrooms, a large sushi plate, and a desert.

One amazing thing about the restaurant was the interior design. It featured thin wooden slats forming a semi-circle ceiling. Very cool!

Genki Sushi Restaurant Chain

Check out my quick review of Genki Sushi over at the Are you going to buy that? Retai blog.

Ling Hing

My wife and I trekked to "Sweet Pia's" the other day where I tried ling hing for the first time. It wasn't bad. Definitely like nothing else I've ever tried before. I tried another item which I forget the name of, which was supposed to taste like black licorice, but it was even stranger than ling hing.

Hawaiian Warrior Beef Steak Jerky

Got to give this one a thumbs down. I bought this jerky in lieu of the other options as I figured while I'm here in Hawaii I would support the products they produce here. The jerky isn't terrible, but its not representative of all that is good in beef jerky. I'll eat it, but I won't recommend it.

Oatmeal versus Granola

This morning for breakfast at the buffet at the Grand Hyatt in Kauai, Hawaii, I had both oatmeal and granola. It seems strange to me that granola is more expensive than oatmeal, they are the same thing, aren't they?

I have to make some granola soon. I like both oatmeal and granola, but granola, once prepared, is so easy to consume. If you have a good recipe, let me know!

My Review of Boston Market @ Are You Going To Buy That?

Just wrote about this on my retail marketing blog:
http://chainstoremarketing.blogspot.com/2006/08/boston-market-review.html

I don't like skim milk.

I have bought skim milk for several years based on the idea that its no different than other milk, but with less fat. Boy was I wrong. My in-laws use 1% milk and it tastes so much better. I've since bought a couple half gallons of 1% and I do indeed like it better. It seems to stay fresh longer too.

I'm eating my last bowl of cereal with skim milk right now. No more skim milk for me!

All About Tilapia

In researching a tilapia recipe, I came across this interesting page about tilapia:

http://sarasota.extension.ufl.edu/FCS/FlaFoodFare/Tilapia.htm

I knew that they were easy to farm because they can eat algae, but I had no idea that they could survive in salt, brackish, or fresh water. That's amazing. I think I will eat more tilapia because it packs a nutrious punch and is easy to farm, like bananas and soy.

Asian Tilapia Recipe?

Background:
I have a pound of tilapia filets in the freezer that just asked me to cook them. The Phantom Gourmet rated Kikkoman Soy Sauce the best, so I bought some to try. Can I achieve both in one meal?

Let's find out! This may be a recipe for cooking food, or it may be a recipe for disaster! HAHAHAH!

This definitely appears possible. I've read a few recipes on the net and I think I'll steam the tilapia, and create a sauce for it out of soy sauce and ginger (and a little red pepper). Yum.

Of course I'll steam some rice and try to find some vegetables to go along with it all.

Update:
The tilapia came out pretty darn good. I was surprised that plain old steamed fish tasted good. I think this was a very positive lesson for me for preparing fish. I also reduced the soy sauce in a pan with garlic and ginger, then mixed a piece of the fish in with it. It was too salty but delicious. You can tell Kikkoman sauce is good quality by the way it reduces.