Countdown to turkey...maybe not

Cranberry sauce chilling, pumpkin pie baked and ready for the big day...tonight I'll chop some veggies and then call it a day. Lots to do, but tonight I'm beat after a couple late nights/early mornings in a row. Here's the menu I've been working on for a week. (Cub wanted to help "highlight" items for me.) A few things have been cut from the starting line-up, including the turkey (gasp!). I couldn't find one small enough. Just three turkey eaters at the table tomorrow, so a big bird would just be a waste. Another year I don't cook a turkey...and another year I don't mind at all. :)

Carnival fun

Somehow despite all of us being sick for at some point during the last half of October and well into November, we pulled ourselves together and managed to get out and have a good time here and there. One Sunday after dinner we went to a weekend carnival in Kapolei. Last year we missed it, but Robbie spoke often about the Ferris wheel. When it started going up a few weeks ago (the bus drove by the lot every afternoon after school) this time he was going! The only time Robbie seemed a bit apprehensive was the first jolt to start the wheel turning. After that, the ride was smooth sailing and he loved it, not concerned at all with the movement or being so high up. Who knew? I was very happy that he did not seem at all interested in going on the mini-roller coaster. As we walked by, I heard a little girl say to her parent, "Look! The roller coaster is fixed now. Can I go?" Broken ride at a traveling weekend carnival? I'll pass!
That big, white glare ruining my picture is a ticket booth. They make a TON on these rides. It's about $3 each person, on average, for one ride, and no young kids free on anything. A sign at the front read that the rides were all "discounted" from 3 to 2 tickets (would have saved us about a dollar per ride) because it was the last night of the carnival, but word didn't get around to the ride operators, who were still charging full price. Boo!

View from the top

Here is the dusty ground below Robbie and I as we went around and around on the Ferris wheel. Noel got an out because he doesn't like heights. Cub may or may not have been too small (we couldn't really tell from the signs), so we opted to leave him on the ground and prevent the tantrum-drama of waiting in line only to be told he couldn't go just as Robbie and I were boarding. But the drama was unavoidable. In the picture, all looked calm as Noel and Cub waited and watched as we rotated by. Noel would say later, "Don't mind the straw all over Cub. When he realized he wasn't coming along, he threw himself on the ground and rolled in some nearby hay." By the time I snapped this, it was looking like nothing happened. Glad I didn't see him getting upset, it would have only made me sad. Next year!

Hey! That was my idea!

I'm not a food blogger, but if I were, maybe I would have posted this last year. Trying to think of a new twist to go with the classic pumpkin pie custard (no need to mess with the recipe on the Libby's can for me!), I thought about making a pumpkin pie for last year's Thanksgiving dinner with a ginger snap crust. I got the idea from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. She had another pie in last year's Thanksgiving issue with a crust using ginger snaps, some sort of nut, and melted butter, all processed until smooth and then baked to make a pie crust shell. Ah ha! I was going to try it. Yadda...yadda...yadda...(Yes, I'm yadda-ing out the part where I called the Martha Stewart satellite radio show with a question. It was funny.) I ended up making it with macadamia nuts and it was a hit. At least for me - I loved it. I thought it instantly upgraded the classic pumpkin pie to coffee or pastry shop good. I'm going to make this pie for many years to come.
So imagine how surprised I was to be watching Rachael Ray yesterday (she's been doing recipes all week and I'm menu planning) and her guest used MY pie crust for a pumpkin pie. Except her guest did a no-bake pie. It was still labor intensive. You have to stir a mixture over the stove top for 10 minutes straight. I don't get it. You can make a pie ahead of time, why cut corners? Just go for the classic custard if you're making one this year.
(I thought I had a picture of last year's pie in my camera roll, but I can't find it. Placeholder pumpkin above, made for Robbie with a free Paint-like iPhone app a few weeks ago.)

Farmer's Market find: Pomelo

I don't know why it works this way for me, but when I'm really sick I don't feel like eating right and I really don't feel like cooking at all. It drives me mad. If there's any time when I should be eating really well, it should be then, but it's not. I get by and get food on the table, but there's no fun in it. One day I told myself, "Enough!" I dug through the fridge and found a cantaloupe to cut into. I sliced and carved it...then got tired, lost my brief appetite for fruit, and put it all back in the fridge. A couple of days later I tried again, this time with a pomelo.
I got really excited when I saw a new-to-me vendor at the farmer's market selling these. I first tried one back when I was working here, before Cub came along. My boss had one and she said I had to try it. It was really large, fresh and ripe, and she shared a huge wedge with me. I loved it! Sweet, juicy, not too tart, seemed to me mostly like a sweeter grapefruit, crossed with a little bit orange. I've looked for them since, but no luck until a few weeks ago.
The ones I found were much smaller than the one I first tried. I didn't think much about it, but after I cut into it and realized it wasn't very good, maybe size matters! The fruit inside was dry and a little sour. Picked too early, perhaps? Strike 2 for me and fruit that week.
I hope they keep bringing them to the market, but at the same time, I hope they can keep them on the trees a little longer, too.

Let's re-do this month already

This is what the Halloween cupcakes looked like 24 hours later (left covered on the counter at room temperature). Sadly, it was a sign of what was to come! Crazy week-plus we've had. We have all been sick in some way or another, missed school and work, overall we are just dragging ourselves along. Noel and I tried to put the funk behind us and left the boys with the grandparents last Saturday for dinner and a movie. After the so-so film (I KNEW we'd already seen all the good parts in the trailers, but I wanted to see it anyway), we headed to dinner. At 9:00 PM, it was warmer outside than inside due to the air conditioning, so we opted for the lanai. We were served the worst soup I've ever tasted, they burned an entree then charged us twice for it on the bill after we asked the kitchen to re-do it, and service was really slow. While waiting, I saw a rat scurry across the lanai and go under a wall we think lead to the kitchen. We won't be going back there anytime soon!
Earlier in the week I had preschooler drop-off duty one morning. As the teacher tried to take Cub away, he tried to hold on to me with his feet. His shoe stuck to my shirt and pulled the front of my top down, nearly to my waist. So I flashed a group of preschoolers, their instructors, and a dad who was there having breakfast with his child. Highlight or low-light of the week? I'm still undecided.

Happy Halloween!

Pre-Halloween loot

Both boys came home from school Friday with enough Halloween treats and goodie bags from their classmates that they won't need to trick or treat much tomorrow. Robbie was first home and I snapped this picture while we were looking through it. His haul filled his small pumpkin. Next up was Jacob who - and I'm not kidding - had an entire reusable grocery bag full of stuff. For pre-schoolers?? I spent most of this week in a haze and regrettable didn't have the energy to put anything together for any of the classes. I've got some making up to do as the holidays approach.

Come on over for candy Sunday

No, seriously. Come on over and get some candy. We really, really need to get rid of it. We have two Costco-sized bags and we rarely have that many trick-or-treaters. I begged Noel not to open a bag one night knowing I would just eat it all. He obliged, only to see me rip into it the next evening. Not one of my proudest moments.
Everyone in the family was taken down with a whopping cold this week and we're just surfacing. Colds are miserable on many fronts, but what's especially bad for me is that I'm hungry all the time and all I want is junk food. And there's nothing that tastes better in this state than chocolate. With all the Halloween candy around, October is a horrible, horrible time to have a cold! Who needs post-holiday/New Year resolutions to eat better? I'm making mine for November 1. Or November 2. You get the idea.

Halloween countdown!

Ready or not, Halloween is nearly here. I had thought about making the boys' costumes again, but it just didn't happen. Robbie wanted to be a fireman, and Lord knows I can't pull that off with my sewing machine! At least not for the $10 bucks I spent for the costume, fire helmet included. We also found something cute for Cub at a local party store, so the issue was settled rather easily. We did get to the pumpkin patch earlier this month. A real pumpkin patch, too, on real farm land and not the corner of an asphalt parking lot. We walked through the fields to find and pick our pumpkins. (Who knew you could in Hawaii, huh?) It was a fun, quick, and surprisingly not-so-dusty morning at Aloun Farms, complete with a hay ride. Well, it was really just a small tractor pulling some passenger carts. But that's what they really are and it counts, right? Woo-woo!

Black Pearl at KoOlina Marina (Part 1)

The Pirates of the Caribbean film shoot may be over and the production teams have left the islands, but the Black Pearl remains. It can currently be found back on the Leeward side of Oahu, in a semi-secure marina adjacent to the area where it was first stored earlier this year. One of Robbie's classmate's parents tipped me off last week to its location - the KoOlina Marina. It's right there where everyone can see, facing mauka at the back of the harbor, among all the other boats. You can walk around the perimeter of the marina and get a somewhat up-close-and-personal look. While I was taking these shots this morning, I saw a tourist catamaran cruise enter the harbor, come up right alongside it, and then pull away and exit the harbor.
Not sure when it got there, or how long it will stay, but seeing that it is less than a mile from the construction site of the new Disney Aulani Resort Hotel scheduled for a soft opening in August 2011, one wonders if they will keep it around for an attraction?

Black Pearl at KoOlina Marina (Part 2)

Here are two close-ups on the front. Note the detail! I'm sure if you watch the final production when it comes out next year, you'll see a pan or two of these areas. Lots of skeletons. Very Disney-fied, huh? Especially when you consider how it looked when it first cruised into Oahu.

Black Pearl in KoOlina Marina (Part 3)

Here are two shots of the right side of the boat. Aargh! (Sorry, had to get one in!) Is that starboard or leeward? I've never understood those terms. Anyway, note the "damage" to the facade. I am willing to place a bet that there is a battle between ships in the movie. There's one every time, yes? So maybe this is the results of the skirmishes?

Cub turns 3!

Cub turned three earlier this month. We asked him he wanted to do for his birthday, and then we asked Robbie what he thought his brother would want to do. Putting the two together we ended up with a laid-back outing to ride the monorail at Pearlridge, then off to the pool for a swim, BBQ, and cupcakes with the family.
Robbie loves the red velvet cupcakes at a local sushi bar (I know, sounds weird to me, too) and I was going to attempt to make them for the birthday. I tried to cut a few corners and picked up ready-made "whipped" cream cheese frosting. An awful product! Read the packaging carefully - I didn't and made the mistake of bringing it home. From my untrained eye, "whipped" just means lighter and more airy in the container. On a cupcake, this translates to a flat, non-rich frosting that neither Noel or I liked. Yes, that's right! The birthday boy could have cared less and we ate the most. I don't think Cub even ate one.
The red velvet plan went out the window, too, as the birthday approached. I couldn't get the ingredients to replicate the sushi bar cupcake (specifically the chocolate candies on top) so I went with an easy and cheap sea theme. Aqua/blue tinted frosting and Swedish fish and other sea creatures on top of a vanilla cupcake. They didn't look that great, but at least Robbie and I had fun making them.

Fire truck says, "Woo woo!"

Yay! The first of the artwork from Cub's preschool has come home. Last week they took a field trip (walked to a downtown fire station) and after the trek made fire trucks using half gallon milk cartons, construction paper, and paint.
Wondering why the truck is not red? They're yellow on Oahu; no red fire trucks. I'm used to them from California (some cities and counties tried them out in the 80s and early 90s but the trend didn't stick there) but I've heard other military wives who say they've never seen - or heard of - them before and it has taken them some time to get used to.

PlayDoh revisited

Elementary school kids state-wide have been out of school all week. Something called "Fall Intersession," which neither Noel nor I can remember anything like it when we were kids. Only the elementary kids, too, so parents like us have to scramble for childcare coverage or are busy with activities. Or both.
We made PlayDoh yesterday afternoon. We've made it a half dozen times since the summer, and it's turned into a lesson in color creations. Robbie stands in the kitchen with all the food coloring options spread out before him on the counter and dictates to me what colors he wants to mix next. And that means he squirts the drops of food coloring into small balls of PlayDoh and I knead it. We got a lot of grey one day, which I turned into an elephant. We also usually wind up with a lot of browns and oranges, typical from a kid who wants a little bit of his favorite red in everything!
A few things that I've learned about making PlayDoh since the original post in late July. Don't follow the directions! I now have a more efficient system. First, pour the water directly into pot and start heating it (medium heat). Add the remaining liquid ingredients directly into the pot, including vanilla - but not food coloring, unless you want the entire batch the same color. (I still don't add a lot of vanilla. One teaspoon works well for us.) Pour the salt into the water and let it begin dissolving. Add remaining dry ingredients and then start stirring. With the water already heated, the mixture comes together within a minute and you're done! It takes longer for it to cool down than to make it.

What kind of lazy am I?

That's what I asked myself this weekend. I was at the farmers' market and knew I had to make a separate stop on the way home to get Robbie some orange juice. I didn't really want to; I just wanted to get my produce and go straight home. So how happy was I to see local oranges back in season and for sale? Whew! No extra stop needed! I'd make fresh squeezed juice and get by for the day. So, it's a good kind of lazy, right?
The local variety is another thing that reminds me of St. Lucia. Definitely not your deep orange, thick rind, softball-sized Mainland variety. They're smaller, have a light orange-yellow shade, a thin rind and pith, and are heavy with juice. Even the pith around the inner wedges is thin. I liked the juice we had on Sunday, but I actually think Noel and Robbie prefer the carton.

With Ua'Malie at Turtle Bay again

I'm back with the monk seal pup today. Lucky for me, we are not on the moon. She's beach side in an area we call the "Turtle Bay side of the point." Good for her because she is undisturbed; good for me because it is shady, I have soft ground to sit on, and it is less of a walk. So far this morning it's just the two of us and a lot of bugs. Ants on my exposed ankles and flies and other mini-creatures on my arms. But I'm not complaining.

Sunburst cantaloupe

Here’s one of my favorite finds this summer at the local farmers’ market: Hawaii-grown Sunburst cantaloupe. It’s a little bit larger than a softball, about two-thirds the size of the varieties grown in California and Mexico that I’m used to from home. It’s very sweet when ripe, and it stays fresh in the refrigerator for over a week (when not cut open). Two Sundays ago I asked the vendor how long the variety would be available and she replied the season is nearly over. Noooo! Just when I was being good and turning to fruit to satisfy my sweet tooth, the season for this healthy treat comes to a close. Oh well. We seem to have watermelon year-round, and there’s always pineapple.

Happy Birthday!

The conversation leading up to Sunday’s birthday went something like this:
Me: “What do you want to do on your birthday?”
Birthday Boy: “Have a good cry.”
Me: “OK, that will take about five minutes. What do you want to do the rest of the day?”
BB: “Dunno.”
Without much of a plan, we ended up with our fallback activity - a late swim and dinner grilled poolside. It was a great day at the pool with unusually warm pool temps. We were able to stay in the water pretty late and we all had the red eyes to prove it.
Pictured here is the birthday cake Robbie helped me decorate for our reluctant birthday boy, Noel, who is not as old as he feels! (I did a quick color tweak with Photoshop Express – although the color did look pretty good when served.) I had a white cake box mix, a can of frosting, and a lot of food coloring on hand, so I put this together in the couple of hours between my farmer’s market run and heading off to the pool. Super easy! I got the idea right off the Duncan Hine’s box, didn’t have to look at the website. It hadn’t occurred to me before that you could get a single cake round and enough cupcakes to make this stack from one box. Cub’s birthday is approaching. I’ll be checking this site now for additional cake and cupcake ideas. Yummy and fun!

Babysitting on the moon

One son enrolled in daycare and another back in school...what's a mom to do with her mornings? Well, four are already booked with classes and appointments, but one morning is free. Strange as it sounds, I couldn't wait to do more babysitting. For a monk seal. Earlier this summer a female monk seal pup was born just down the beach from the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore. I couldn't volunteer during the summer, but without any children in tow this month, I decided to try a shift every week. So here I am, near a rocky cove other volunteers have dubbed "the moon" due to the jagged landscape, watching a seal in a very, very deep sleep. She's found the perfect hideaway in an area carved out of sharp lava rock. Last week during my first shift, she was tucked away so well I couldn't find her. Today she is a little more prominent, in a shallow pool of water between rocky areas. She's a beauty!

Cookies, please

Someone who is trying to cut out sugar from her diet really shouldn't be baking cookies, but that's what I found myself doing this week. I've been thinking about making peanut butter cookies for about a month now, ever since I bought some organic peanut butter at Costco that I wasn't crazy about. Then one night last week Robbie brought home his daily reading, a book called "May I Please Have a Cookie." He loved it, talked about it every day, and asked for cookies. I knew that once I made them, I'd be the one eating them, and that's what happened. I even put M&Ms in a few especially for Robbie, but he's just not interested.
They're good though. I found the recipe online and pretty much made it as-is (although I highly recommend the M&Ms addition). Some comments said that the recipe didn't have enough flour. I think that all depends on what peanut butter you use. I didn't add extra flour, yet mine were almost too dense. Next time I'll reserve a 1/4 cup of of the total flour until I'm sure I need it mixed in. Otherwise, a winning recipe that I'll use again when the inspiration strikes.

School days, school craze

It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks here. The boys and I had a fantastic long weekend in Seattle (pictures coming, really!) but then it was back to the books (and reality) for us. Kindergarten is going smoothly for Robbie; let’s just say Mom is making a lot of blunders. Bus passes! Lunch passes! School IDs! Standing at bus stop in afternoon when child is not on bus! Forgetting bus schedule and child walks home all by himself! Nightly homework! So much stuff to track. But we’ve settled into a routine (first order of business: 6:45 AM bus pick-up up the street) and I think – knock on wood – we’re going to be OK.
Community colleges also started in August, and I was right there alongside the fresh-faced, young whippersnappers. I’m taking three ICS courses this term, two on the main campus, and one remote via computer/cable TV. I’m also tutoring a Saturday morning class at a satellite center. In the middle of it all, we have successfully enrolled Cub in daycare, which meant more appointments, more forms, a TB test…Moms and Dads out there, you know the drill. And I had a job interview. I’m beat.
Here’s a picture I snapped a few months ago while picking up my summer school textbook at the main campus. The campus sits on the edge of Pearl Harbor known as “West Loch.” It’s one of three Naval battleship graveyards in the country. No kidding! They had a news story on TV about it not so long ago, but I don’t recall being able to stay awake for it. The teaser said some folks think the graveyard is haunted. Maybe because of the West Loch Disaster? My untrained eye says the dozen or so rusting, listing old ships are just an environmental mess.

My culinary throwdown: Breadfruit!

Late last month I was doing my Sunday morning Farmers’ Market run when I found breadfruit on the table of one of the regular vendors. I got really excited and stopped in my tracks. It was the first time that I can recall seeing breadfruit for sale, although I see a couple of trees here and there, and read an article in the Advertiser about 5 years ago now about cooking with it. I love breadfruit, except I don’t really know how to cook it. If I cooked it successfully while on my own in St. Lucia, I sure don’t remember how I did it. I stared at it for a minute, and then challenged myself to a culinary battle a la Iron Chef. Cook that breadfruit!
I didn’t have a clue what breadfruit was until my Peace Corps time. After all these years, I still can’t believe my luck. I was randomly picked to stay with one of the best families on the island for eight weeks and Tidou, my homestay mom, was one of the best cooks on the island. True! Her sons proudly told me this, and it was later backed up by friends who loved her cooking, too. But the real proof of course, was getting to sample her food. Let’s just say that to this day I still miss it! (One of my other favorite culinary experiences? The Rasta shack on the road by Castries Harbor. 100% vegetarian and infused with Jamaican and Caribbean flavor. My my, I’m swooning just thinking about it. Oh to have been blogging back then – I would have pictures to share.)
I stumbled upon a Hawaiian produce magazine online that had a breadfruit article. Here’s something interesting about breadfruit ('ulu) history in the West Indies: History buffs will recall that the HMS Bounty was transporting ‘ulu from Tahiti when Captain Bligh’s crew, upset with conditions on the ship and unhappy about playing second fiddle to the 1,015 plants that crowded the vessel, staged the famous mutiny. Less well-known is that Bligh was commissioned to collect ‘ulu a second time and successfully introduced almost 700 trees to the West Indies in 1793.
Back to my challenge. I brought the breadfruit back home and put it on the counter for a few days. When I got around to cutting it open, it was soft and mushy. Not at all like I remember it. This wasn’t starting off well. I looked at a few Internet recipes and decided I would peel, cut into large cubes, and boil for 15 minutes like potatoes. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Challenge result? Fail. My cooked breadfruit was gooey, starchy, and barely edible. Not at all like the “al dente” breadfruit that I remember in stews and as side dishes. Through Facebook, I’ve been able to reconnect with my homestay family. I think I need to ask Tidou for a few of her recipes. Or just go visit and never leave her side while she cooks.

Pizza night

Friday nights are usually pizza nights here. But oh no, no - NOT a cardboard delivery! This is what I made for myself last night: homemade dough, marinara sauce, fresh mozzarella, local Roma tomatoes, and basil. I baked it deep-dish style in an 8-inch round cake pan. For the boys, I make a standard size, thin crust cheese pie. Thankfully they like my pizza, unlike some of my other vegan/vegetarian fare I try to get them to eat. (We're making progress though! Robbie likes my vegan pesto on spaghetti.) I use a bread machine I received as a Christmas gift in 1994 for the dough. So they do make some things "like they used to" after all.

Poor Boo

This was our big-little girl Brady (Brady-girl, Brady-boo, or Noel's fave nickname for her: Chumba Rumba), one week ago tonight. She was not doing well. After an expensive day at the vet on Wednesday, we were told that she had a strained neck and to keep her on "crate rest." Well, crate rest wasn't going to work, but she usually managed to find a corner to herself and stay pretty immobile on her own. I was really sad to find her here on Friday night, in the bathroom closest to the sliding glass door. I think she was looking for refuge from the boys and the noise, and couldn't get very far. On Saturday morning she woke me up barking like a seal, within inches of my ears. You can't get mad at her...she was just in a lot of pain.
A follow-up call from the doctor on Sunday revealed to us that an another technician looked at her x-rays and thought she might have a slight herniated disk. (I think. I normally need these updates in writing...or to write them down...to get them right. I was running out the door and didn't grab a pen.) Ouch! Not good...and can potentially get worse, yes?
I'm happy to report she rebounded quickly after we got a couple of days of pain meds and prednisone in her and is now doing well. Along with her neck strain, her chronic eye and ear problems flared up, but with a lot of attention we can get those under control. She is high maintenance! Good thing she's so sweet and much loved.

It's official!

Robbie started kindergarten today! We went in late last week to meet his new teacher and drop off school supplies. I think it helped this morning's hand-off go very smoothly. He knew where to sit, plus without any other kids around, the teacher
was able to accommodate his request to have a red pencil caddy at his desk. They have short days all week, then next week will begin the full 7:45 to 2:00 PM days.
We tried to think of something fun to do this weekend to celebrate the milestone, or his last weekend of freedom, whichever way you want to look at it, but drew blanks and just spent a late Sunday afternoon at the pool.
Teachers request that all supplies brought in are labeled, even each individual crayon. Here's what else we did this weekend!
I'm not the first, nor will be the last to say this, but the transition from pre-school to K might be harder on the parents. His teacher sent home a few more notes in the backpack that weren't covered in orientation, including this: If your child does not know how to tie shoelaces, have him/her wear shoes with Velcro. Teachers do not have time to tie children's shoelaces throughout the day.
Harsh new world.

Waikiki Pano done not-quite right

I'm relaxing in Waikiki today, enjoying "Mangoes at the Moana." It's a mango-themed event, with everything from fruit sampling and cooking demonstrations to sessions about growing mango trees in your backyard (note: it's a lot about the pruning!). Stepped outside the Moana Surfrider Hotel during a break to snap this Pano picture. Makes Waikiki look kind of like a bay and you can't make out the very crowded surf break. Not so good. But can't fault the colors. The blues are accurate. Makes you want to dive right in.

Hawaiian Monk Seals on the web

I think everyone can guess that I read Monk Seal Mania pretty religiously. If you haven't clicked through yet, I urge you to! A great daily read. :) Here's another good read: An Earthsky link to an online story (found through the monk seal blog) that provides a quick, clear summary of what is happening with the Monk Seal populations in the main Hawaiian islands as well as the Northwest Hawaiian islands. It also touches on the volunteer efforts to work with local and tourist beach goers to keep the seals protected.
This picture is one from my personal archive, err, iPhone Media Library. Poipu Beach, Kauai, back in March.

Family Sunday fun day

OK, so I know I'm not alone in the world in enjoying getting up early on a Sunday morning and going to the Farmer's Market. But I'm alone in my own family! I was going to make my usual run to Mililani and pick up our produce for the week (and be back by the time Noel and the boys stirred) but Noel and the boys wanted to come along. So we chose a market destination I've been meaning to check out - the Haleiwa Farmer's Market on the North Shore. And good news for us- this market opens a little later, and stays open until after lunch so we weren't so hurried. I checked out their website on Saturday night and decided to give it a try. Honestly, they had me with the picture of the carrots! I had to go and try to find them. I'd make the drive every Sunday if they had carrots!
Noel warned me it might not be as good as Mililiani in terms of produce vendors, variety, and volume. He didn't want me to be disappointed. It's probably for the best he tried to lower my expectations, but it was still pretty good. I couldn't find those elusive carrots, but I did manage to buy enough that I needed to make a run to the car mid-shopping and unload my heavy bags before continuing. I especially liked these onions with the "tops" still attached. I will say I haven't seen that in Mililani. One vendor mistook me for a tourist. "This is the best pineapple you will ever have!" Oh trust me, I know.

Putting my "crafty" title to the test

Cousins Johnny and Sarah, even Grandma, have quite the stash of Play-Doh on hand at all times. Robbie and Cub enjoyed playing with it in California (despite in the past showing little interest), so when we got home, I picked up a couple simple starter sets with molds, cut-outs, plastic knives, etc. But knowing me and the boys, the actual Play-Doh won't last. So off to the Internet I went to search for a good make-at-home recipe. I found multiple, among them this one:
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon powdered alum
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons vanilla
food coloring
Mix all dry ingredients. Add oil and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until reaching the consistency of mashed potatoes. Remove from heat and add vanilla and food coloring. Divide into balls and work in color by kneading the playdough.
I found the alum relatively easily at the grocery store, so I went with this version. Skipped the vanilla, but otherwise followed the directions. Next time I'll reduce the oil! It's a bit greasy for the boys, but I will give it a thumbs-up anyway. Now the food coloring-you can make that call. I think they're only batting .500 on the advertised colors. The pink and purple colors aren't as vibrant and bold in person.
A note to those who might try it. It's an arm-burner! Stirring and stirring...who needs a gym? And I didn't quite know what to make of the "mashed potatoes" in the directions. I just stirred until I got the consistency of... Play-Doh.

Pancake breakfast

Tried something new with our pancake breakfast routine - blueberry topping. I have a big bag of Costco frozen blueberries and was getting a little tired of muffins. (OK, truth be told, I was trying a couple vegan muffin recipes, and THEY were getting old. I can quickly fix this by baking a real blueberry muffin!) Not sure if the topping this morning was a success. I was going for syrup and didn't quite get the right consistency, but it was a nice change. Kind of healthy, too, except for the organic sugar heaped in the cooking pot(!). If I feel like it, I'll keep tweaking the recipe until it's better. Or maybe just puree this, freeze, and make a slushy. Hmmm....

Grandma's garden

Birthday cupcakes

Here are a few of the cupcakes we enjoyed at my sister's birthday bash. Home made and decorated with lots of love. That's a special chocolate mold butterfly, frosted, sprinkled, and perched on top of a cupcake seen in the foreground. The sunflower design is a cupcake topped with a petal-frosted Oreo cookie, complete with a red M&M ladybug - with hand painted eyes and spots. Lovely and yummy.

Party time!

Robbie, Cub, and I are in Northern California this week. Today is my beloved sister's 40th birthday and a party starts any minute. We've taken over a local park where a free concert will be held tonight, and we will have a good, old fashioned cookout. Burgers, hot dogs, watermelon, cupcakes, cake, etc. No ice cream though. This ice cream truck came by while we were setting up. I miss those in Hawaii. I was tempted to run over and treat the boys to something, but had to restrain. We have had plenty of treats since we arrived, and we will be eating treats until we leave! An "ice cream truck experience" will have to wait for another time.

Reduce, Reuse...

I saved the plastic dessert containers from the Sanrio Cafe on a hunch that Robbie could find something to do with them. Spot on! He wanted to drink orange juice out of them the following day. All day. It got a little old, so later that night I washed them and hid them out of his reach (and out of sight). But knowing Robbie, he will remember them at some random time and ask for them all over again, at which point I'll bring them out for a day and let him drink from them again.
Then hide them after he goes to sleep and wait until he remembers them again. :)

Finally! A great excuse to try...

The Sanrio Cafe! A local favorite opened at the Pearlridge Mall earlier this year. Adjacent to the Sanrio (Hello Kitty) Store, this tiny "cafe" sells coffee, teas, hot cocoas, and sweet treats with an officially licensed Hello Kitty image out of a few small refrigerated cases at the edge of the retail space. They serve over-priced, small portions and I couldn't justify treating myself alone in recent months. But out of the blue, a reason appeared! We heard on Tuesday that a friend from high school (and one of Noel's college roommates) was here on Oahu with his wife. We made plans to join them for dinner in Waikiki last night. She is a huge Sanrio/Hello Kitty fan and I knew she'd enjoy the Cafe sweets if I brought them for an after-dinner treat. So while running errands yesterday, I made an extra stop.
Here's what we shared between the four of us - a light meringue chocolate and creme cookie, strawberry and chocolate mousse mini-tower, and a berry tapioca bubble pudding. Good times.

Hawaiian Monk Seal molt (1)

Here's the seal I helped look after last Sunday. (I use the term "help" loosely. It was me and the boys alone with her for about an hour, then two other seasoned volunteers came by and handled the real work as more beach goers came out!) She is molting, or in the process of shedding her coat. This seal is about 2 years old and going through her first molt. From what I understand, seals molt multiple times over their lifetimes.
They are not more susceptible to disease during the molt, but it's a tiring process for them, so a typical seal will stay in the same general area (sleep in the same or nearby spot on an open beach for a week or two) and it is important that they are left alone. When seals molt on popular beaches, volunteers are posted near the seals until sunset, at least on the weekends. She started her molt in Ewa, then made her way west to Nimitz, where she finished her molt. I think in the picture below her molt is roughly 50%. Her new coat is peeking through and you can see how great she will look when she's clear of the old, dirty coat. It sounds silly, but the words "Shiny and clean! Shiny and clean!" kept running through my head. It's from a cartoon or a movie the boys watch...it's bugging me that I can't think of which one right now.
You can't make it out in the picture, but one of the posted signs reads: "Shhhh! Monk Seal sleeping. Quiet please!" I was talking to another volunteer when Robbie runs up to me with an iPod in his hand. Earlier in the week, I'd downloaded the free Vuvuzela app (yes, for fun!). In front of the ropes, he starts playing with the app, which makes the horn sound. Luckily, it could barely be heard over the sound of the waves and the wind. I was able to get him to understand not to talk loudly around the seal, what didn't translate was also not to play with loud, obnoxious iPod games. Oops.

Hawaiian Monk Seal molt (2)

I decided to start a sugar detox this week...

...but only after I finished this! After Sunday morning on the beach, I wanted to study for a few hours before heading to the movies to see Toy Story 3. Cub has been sick again and we both haven't been sleeping well, so I figured I needed something to keep me up during the late afternoon matinee. (I know! So pathetic, yes?) Along with a large soy cafe mocha, I picked up this yummy treat at the coffee house: a Liliko'i Mac Nut Bar. That big white spot in the picture? A blizzard of powdered sugar that my humble iPhone camera wouldn't even attempt to render any color or definition from.
Liliko'i (or passion fruit) is a fruit - and flavor - I first came to know and love in St. Lucia. The variety is a bit different here. From what I remember in St. Lucia, the passion fruit (and resulting juices and jams, etc.) is pink. The Hawaiian liliko'i is pale yellow inside and a little tart, making it a perfect substitute in the classic lemon bar. The mac nut crust didn't do much for me, but on the whole, a good indulgence. Now excuse me if I am a little cranky for the rest of the week; I've already used up my sugar quota.

My new wallpaper

I took a volunteer shift on Nimitz Beach Sunday morning, keeping an eye on a molting monk seal. The boys came along and played on the beach nearby. It was the start of a busy day! More information and pictures to follow this week.

On the train again

Seeing a snapshot like this makes me wonder if wanderlust is inherited, and if so, will the boys get it from me.

More monk seals!

One morning this week I hit the beach for a little walking exercise. And I saw a few monk seals! I recognized one pregnant seal sleeping on the sand near the waves and was able to confirm her ID due to her “bleach” (literally, a number/code bleached on her coat of fur with an over-the-counter hair product). I was so excited to see her and take her picture that it wasn’t until I was walking away that I spotted a second monk seal resting on the reef about 20 yards from her. Wow, I’ve got to get my act together if I want to volunteer with the monk seal response team! I’d be laughed off the beach if I couldn’t see a seal right in front of me.
On a return trip later that morning, I found the two seals close to each other (rising tide and stronger waves probably pushed the other off the reef and onto the sand). It’s one thing to find seals and see them sleeping undisturbed, it’s another to see other folks also on the beach smile in appreciation of these beautiful creatures and give them the space they deserve. The monk seal response team works hard to protect the seals when this isn’t the case, but it’s always nice to be reminded that there are more good folks out there in this world than bad.

Sleepers

Guess which monk seal is pregnant. ;) Yes, both are female. Coincidently, that's Rocky on the left. She had a pup in April. AMAZING to think she was just as big a few months ago!

Look closely

Here's the monk seal I nearly missed!

The end for the Advertiser

Big - yet not surprising - publishing news in Hawaii: Honolulu is now a "one newspaper town." It's been talked about for months, but on Sunday, the Honolulu Advertiser produced its last daily newspaper. The Advertiser was bought out by and merged with the Star-Bulletin to create the Star Advertiser, which launched on Monday. Lots of jobs were lost by long-time journalists and technicians, and the Advertiser web site was to be shut down by Monday.
I feel a little bad about poking fun/being critical of some of their recent work, but it got under my skin so I will share it! A few weeks ago the Honolulu Zoo hosted a Hawaiian Endangered Species Celebration, where local groups and environmental advocates were allowed to host a booth and perform public outreach about local endangered species. The Advertiser used archive photos of native African animals residing at the zoo to promote their story on the event both on the front page (pictured) and three additional pictures on the first page of the Island Life section. Who knows, maybe it is worse than I believe, maybe they are stock photos of random, non-native Hawaiian endangered species that don't even reside at the zoo. The supporting text proudly talks about the native Hawaiian species like the nēnē, koholā (humpback whale), and Mauna Loa silversword plant to be featured at the event. But where are their pictures?? Surely they have some dazzling pictures of these species or any of the other 56 endangered animals and 318 endangered plants, whether archived or from talented, local photographers?

San Jose (CA) Kidney Walk

This year's Kidney Walk is tomorrow, Saturday, June 5th, benefiting the National Kidney Foundation. The San Jose event starts at 10:00 AM and walkers will stroll 3 miles through downtown. My brother-in-law, sister, nephew, and niece will be walking. For one more year (hopefully the last, if not second-to-last!) we will be joining them in spirit and cheering them on from across the Pacific. To donate to the Kidney Foundation, click here.