I can't believe how quickly this year has gone and it's December again already, let alone Christmas next week. I really must get organised.
Anyway, this month we have the pleasure to meet another Debs, otherwise known as Debinhawaii from her fabulous blog called Kahakai Kitchen
Anyway, this month we have the pleasure to meet another Debs, otherwise known as Debinhawaii from her fabulous blog called Kahakai Kitchen
That's all folks....... (until 2010)
I became to know Debs through a weekly event on her blog called Souper Sundays (click here to view) where other bloggers can submit their recipes for inclusion each sunday. The recipe can be soups/stews, salads & sandwiches. There's a great roundup every week and Deb herself always adds a recipe too.
Debinhawaii must be one of the hardest working bloggers I've met so far. She is involved with other blogs too and you can read all about her and her involvements below.
So, please join me in welcoming Deb to the monthly inverview blog post.
Deb "How long have you been a blogger and what inspired you start?"
Debinhawaii "April makes 2 years of blogging for me and I am about to hit 500 posts. I started as a blog “lurker” just reading and drooling over food blogs for a couple of years before starting my own. I finally started my blog in order to be able to take part in some of the blog events and challenges I saw and also as a creative outlet for cooking and writing. I was missing creativity in my job and my blog became a way to keep me sane."
Deb "You also have involvement with other blogs too; tell us a little about them?"
Debinhawaii "There are currently two other blogs set up around blog events that I am involved in, Cook The Books and I Heart Cooking Clubs. Cook The Books is a wonderful bi-monthly virtual book club hosted by Rachel of The Crispy Cook and Johanna of Food Junkie Not Junk Food and me. We take turns selecting food related books and share hosting duties. Everyone reads the current book and cooks a dish inspired by it. It is so fun to see the amazing creations people come up with. I Heart Cooking Clubs is a spin-off of Tyler Florence Fridays where we cooked the recipes of Tyler Florence for a year. My fellow IHCC hosts (Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies and Heather of girlichef) and I decided to focus on a different chef or cook every 6 months. Right now we are featuring the recipes of Nigella Lawson. We have different themes each week and people can pick any recipe that they like that “fits” that theme. I love the flexibility of being able to choose my own recipes rather than have them chosen for me. "
Deb "You are originally from the Pacific Northwest and have been in beautiful Hawaii for almost 9 years now. Why did you make the move to Hawaii & would you go back to the Pacific Northwest?"
Debinhawaii "I moved to Hawaii in early 2001 basically for work, to join a partnership with some good friends. I have no plans to move at this time but if I did it would be back to either Seattle where I lived before moving here, or to Portland, where most of my family lives. I do love the Northwest, except for all the rain!"
Deb "Where does your love of cooking come from?"
Debinhawaii "I think loving to eat good food gave me the desire to learn how to cook it. I also like the creativity involved, how different ingredients and techniques work together. My Mom and many people in my family are great cooks but I tend to be a bit more of an experimenter in the kitchen than most of them and I think that came from traveling all over Asia-Pacific for work and being exposed to different foods and cultures."
Deb "Each Saturday you post on Simple Saturday Sippers. What inspired this & is it easy to find something new each week?"
Debinhawaii "I love beverages of all kinds--the first places I check out in any natural foods store are the bottled beverage isle and the tea isle to see what is new. I found that next to soup, the category I was tabbing the most recipes for in books or cutting out in magazines was for different drinks so SSS seemed like a great way to work through all the recipes I had and incent me to create some too. The only hard part is that I don’t often plan them out ahead so it often comes down to Friday afternoon and what I have in my fridge and imagination to create a drink. I have come up with some delicious last minute drinks though so it works!"
Deb "Each Sunday you post on Souper Sundays. Tell us more about this & how it has grown since you started it?"
Debinhawaii "Souper Sundays (now Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays) has been going on since October 2008. I started it as a personal initiative to work through the many soup recipes I had marked to make. I love soup and was making it about every week anyway so I just made it into an event. I put out an invitation for others to join in and at first it was my just friend Natashya then slowly others started sending in their soups. It varies each week; sometimes it is just a handful of people, and other weeks the “kitchen” is pretty full with lots of friends joining in. This past spring I got a lot of comments that we were getting out of “soup season” for many people. (I personally think soup is pretty season-less but I live where on average there is only a 10 degree variation in heat!), so I opened it up to the natural pairings of salads and sandwiches which has been fun."
Deb "Each Tuesday you post about 'Things I Am Loving This Week', tell us about this & what inspired you to start it?"
Debinhawaii "I am a food and product junkie—I love to try what is new and I like to share the things I love with others. Most of the time it doesn’t seem like it needs a whole post so I grouped them together once on a Tuesday into “Things I Am Loving This Week” and I got so much positive feedback, I have kept it up. All the things I put in there are things that I have purchased or were given as a gift by a friend or family member, or a recipe I have tried and loved. Product or cookbook reviews for items sent to me free by companies are always reviewed and posted separately and disclosed."
Deb "That's Saturday, Sunday & Tuesday taken care of, what do you do the rest of the week LOL?"
Debinhawaii "Great question—I usually have a Nigella recipe to do for IHCC and sometimes an event like Presto Pasta Nights, or lately I have been doing a lot of cookbook reviews which are fun but take work as I try to cook at least 4-5 recipes from each book to "road test" them. I am trying to work through my enormous cookbook collection by cooking at least one recipe from each book I own but some weeks I don’t fit that in. I need to stop buying them or I will never catch up! ;-)"
Deb "What is your favourite cuisine and why?"
Debinhawaii "I could never pick just one—I really have favorite foods, ingredients and dishes in many cuisines. Probably the two I cook most often are Thai & Indian because I love all the flavors and spices. Curries especially are a favorite."
Deb "What is your most hated cuisine and why?"
Debinhawaii "I can’t think of a “cuisine” I hate, I have dishes I like in all of them. Actually I try not to “hate” any more around food. I try to look at things I may not like or love as opportunities to find a way to like it. That being said, I have not yet found a way to like durian, uni (sea urchin), mushy cooked grains and cereals or most organ meats (except liver in a pâté) LOL!"
Deb "What is the worst disaster you've encountered whilst creating dishes?"
Debinhawaii "I was making some Fennel Frito for a blog event and was using my old chop box to thinly slice the fennel and I sliced a good hunk out of the top of my middle finger. The disaster, besides the throbbing was that without thinking I was dancing (the dance of pain!) around the kitchen holding my finger up and there were splatters of blood everywhere and I mean everywhere! The ceiling, the walls, the window curtains… So in addition to the pain and loss of dignity (plus some fennel and fingertip), there was all the clean up I had to do! I have since purchased a sharp mandoline and use the finger guards religiously."
Deb "What is the your most triumphant dish?"
Debinhawaii "Hmm…I can’t think of one particular dish. I am most triumphant when I make an original recipe, it turns out well and people really love it and want the recipe so they can make it. I think there is a little “high” when you give people pleasure through great food you have created."
Deb "Are you, or have you, ever been involved with cooking for a living?"
Debinhawaii "Not actual cooking for a living, although I have been involved in food and restaurant operations and support."
Deb "Are there any dishes you would like to have a go at, but thus far been too nervous to do?"
Debinhawaii "I have some long-standing yeast fears so serious bread baking makes me nervous. Part of it is laziness though—I don’t like to make things that require a lot of attention, detail or work like lots of kneading. I made gnocchi once for a blog challenge and although it turned out well, it was too much attention to detail for me to enjoy making it. ;-)"
Deb "Tell us a little about yourself, (e.g) hobbies & interests, lifestyle, family etc?"
Debinhawaii "I am not married and live in East Honolulu with Max the cat, my only ”baby.” My family is all in the Portland area but I have lots of good friends and “ohana” (family) that have adopted me here in Hawaii. I am on a sabbatical of sorts from my job (which was heading up Human Resources and Training for our two companies in Hawaii), trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I still have not completely figured it out yet but I started a distance learning program in Health Counseling from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in October and hope to combine my interests and passion for food, cooking, nutrition and training into a more fulfilling career. Right now the 10-month certification program, some part time consulting, cooking and blogging keep me pretty busy but in my free time I love to read, watch movies, take different cooking classes, walk, be at the beach, and just enjoy life in Hawaii."
Please join me in saying a big 'thanks' to Debinhawaii for taking the time to participate in this months interview.
Don't forget folks, you too can participate with Debinhawaii and her followers in the weekly event Souper Sundays
