So, my parents went to Hawaii in March and got me a cookbook for my birthday featuring recipes from famous Hawaiian chefs. This weekend is Hawaiian meals galore! Last night I made Kaluha pork tacos with a spicy black bean side and mango salsa.  Tonight will be a Thai crispy chicken dish from the book. And Sunday will be duck breasts with a sweet potato puree from the book. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I rarely just follow a recipe. They are more of a idea guide than something I feel I need to follow religiously. This is why I am a terrible baker. I always say, I love to cook, not bake.

The pork tacos were very good, but I actually followed the recipe for the amount of salt in the pork, and I will NOT use that much next time. I then did NOT follow the recipe for the black beans and I added 2 hot peppers and it was way too hot, so I shall NOT do that again. But everything else worked out nicely.

I will update again after the Thai chicken and duck breast!

My husband always makes reservations at a restaurant in the area that I have been wanting to try for my birthday. This year we went to Sage American Bistro on North High in Clintonville. It was delish! We shared the braised pork belly appetizer. Don't do it! Each get your own! It was delectable and not very big, so really sharing it was not nearly enough. Of course this is pork belly we are talking about and we all know that health-wise we should NOT eat our own. We actually each ordered the same entree as well. If I can't decide between two items on a menu, and my dinning mate is ordering one of them, I order the same because I am afraid I will be jealous of what they have. So, we both had the Bistro Steak "filet" with braised mustard greens and sweet potato fries. The steal was perfect, the fries were awesome and while a bit salty, the greens were also very good. We also ordered dessert, which tends to only happen on birthdays. I ordered the chocolate espresso mousse and donut and my husband had the cheesecake. Both were very good. The chocolate mousse was very rich and really did not need the donut along side it, but I'm not complaining!