Ramblings from March to May 3, 2010 with a recipe

3/31/10

We watched Julie and Julia last night, which has inspired me to start blogging again. Since we returned from New Zealand earlier this month, it has been a whirlwind, so in reality, there has been very little time to sit and write. I still have tons of things to do that have been pushed aside until now.

We had a couple of days, after we got home, before Brian, our older son, flew in to help celebrate my Uncle Irwin’s 90^th birthday. My sister, Karen, drove over from the west coast of FL, and our other son, Steven, came up from the Kendal area; so, we had a houseful that 1^st weekend home from our seven week trip. 

The party was wonderful, from the music to the delicious food served. We ate, laughed, and danced. We got to meet May’s (my uncle’s lady) three sons from the Boston area, who were all in FL for the party. We look forward to seeing them again.

Brian stayed for the week, but Steven went home on the Monday, while I drove over to the west coast for a visit with my sister and good friend Reggi, at whose house we stayed. We had a great time talking and beading and exploring. Of course, much of the time was spent on food, talking about it, buying it, or preparing it. We went to the Whole Foods Market in Naples on our way home, to be sure we had organic food to cook. Reggi was away for the first couple of days, so we were cooking for only two, not that three makes a big difference, especially when you have two working together prepping and cooking, it takes no time at all.

04/20/10

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, and probably again, that it’s unreal how fast the time goes by. I really meant to write my blog on an almost daily basis but if you’re looking at the dates, it’s been close to three weeks since I last added anything. It’s been three weeks of walking in the mornings, yes! I’ve finally started to walk with my neighbor, Phil. We used to walk four or five times a week before my last surgery, but had stopped at that point, and now we’re back at it. It feels good to be up and out in the mornings. Walking with a buddy makes the time go quickly then too.

04/29/10

I got up from the computer to get a glass of water, and didn’t get back to this blog until now.

05/03/10

OPPS. Certainly didn’t write much on the 29^th, did I? I must have be distracted for the moment. Have you ever read about AAADD. Here it is, so you’ll know what I’m talking about:

AAADD

KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.....PLEASE READ!

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder.

Somehow I feel better, even though I have it!!

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. -

Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden. 

As I turn on the hose in the driveway,

I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage,

I notice mail on the porch table that

I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table,

put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,

and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back

on the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think,

since I'm going to be near the mailbox

when I take out the garbage anyway,

I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table,

and see that there is only one check left

My extra checks are in my desk in the study,

so I go inside the house to my desk where

I find the can of soda I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks,

but first I need to push the soda aside

so that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The soda is getting warm,

and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the soda,

a vase of flowers on the counter

catches my eye - they need water.

I put the soda on the counter and

discover my reading glasses that

I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk,

but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter,

fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.

Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we watch TV,

I'll be looking for the remote,

but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,

so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,

but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers,

but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table,

get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to

remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

the car isn't washed 

the bills aren't paid

there is a warm can of soda sitting on the counter

the flowers don't have enough water ,

there is still only 1 check in my check book,

I can't find the remote,

I can't find my glasses,

and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,

I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,

and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem,

and I'll try to get some help for it,

but first I'll check my e-mail.....

Can you relate? I can. This must be what happens to me. This is NOT an original, although it would be nice if I had written it. It was in an email sent to me and then I found it again on the internet in a joke site.

I find that I’ve started spending more time on writing my cookbook, so maybe I should just post that writing, starting with a recipe. Although, I’m working on the intro to the book, not recipes at the moment, but…..

Here’s one I’d love to share:

Ginger-Almond Spread

I use this as a base for a sandwich on a rice wrap, and then I add sliced cucumber, tomato, and avocado. Sometimes, I thin it down a bit and use it as a salad dressing. It’s delicious on steamed broccoli too.

½ cup almond butter, organic

½ teaspoon Real Salt or other Sea Salt

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated

½ teaspoon dehydrated organic onion

1 lemon, juiced 

1 garlic clove, chunked

Filtered water

Put all the ingredients, except the water, in a food processor and blend well. Taste and adjust the ingredients (sometimes I add more lemon juice or dehydrated onion). It will need to be thinned with some filtered water. Add a bit at a time, as you want to keep it thicker so it can be spread, and when needed, it can be thinned to use it as a dressing.

Bon Appetite.

March 7-9

Once again several days have passed, and we’re now sitting in Fiji Airport, at 8PM on the 9^th, waiting for our connection to LA and then Miami, where we will arrive at almost midnight on the 9^th. We’ll have traveled over 31 hours in total, from when we left this AM for the airport in Auckland.  It will be good to be home with memories of such a magical trip.

March 7

We were up early again as we had a lot of territory to cover on this our next to last day before traveling home.

Our first stop was at Cape Reinga, an amazing spot. It’s the only point I know of where two oceans meet, The Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. We have pictures showing waves coming from two different directions meeting and crashing against each other. Wow!!! The walkway you followed was lovely to walk, with signs explaining about how the Maoris view this place. They believe that it’s where their spirits go before going beyond. The flora is different and a bit stunted due to all the salt water. There’s a lighthouse at the point which isn’t very tall in relationship to others we’ve seen, but on this point, it doesn’t need to be, as its light can be seen for miles around.

Once we returned to the starting point, there were a few Maoris asking/selling the planting of about five different types of plants, to help keep the soil from eroding and some had fruit for the birds to eat. It was a package deal of the plant you chose actually planted, a postcard of Cape Reinga, a card with the exact longitude and latitude of your plant, and a pen, all for 20.00 NZ, about 15.00 US. So, after planting the plant we went to our car and found a flat tire. One of the Maori men helped us change to the spare, a donut type thing. It was on Sunday, mid afternoon, and no place was open by the time we could get down to them to fix it, so we had to deal with that tire until Monday. Luckily not a big deal.

Given that, we still went exploring. We stopped at Spirit Bay where we had a picnic lunch. It was a beautiful bay with a gorgeous beach; I found some treasures for my bead embroidery.

On the way down the Cape, we also took a road which lead to the starting point of the Ninety Mile Beach tours, which drive along the sand dunes. It wasn’t at the beginning of the dunes, as you could see sand in both directions for as far as you could see. Quite impressive!

Our drive down to the Ferry across the Hokianga was a very pleasant one. The ferry holds up to about 27 vehicles and takes about 15 minutes to cross. On the crossing, we were parked next to a couple from Montana. Good conversation – this was their third trip to New Zealand.

The views on the road down to Kaihu, where we were staying for the night, were beautiful. Such eye candy all over the place, from the gorgeous water views to the peaceful pastoral ones. It just never stops. No internet at that stopover.

March 8

WE had driven past the Waipou Forrest the night before. Our original plan had been to stop there on our way south for the night, but due to the flat tire, we didn’t arrive at our destination until close to 8PM, so we hadn’t had time to stop to see the Kauri trees. Our goal was to see Tane Mahuta, considered the granddaddy of the Kauri trees there. Talk about massive. In the parking lot, we met a young Israeli man whose camera had broken and had wanted a photo of himself in front of Tane Mahuta. So, now we have to email him the photos we took of them.

Another stop in the forest was at the Four Sisters, four Kauri trees whose bases have grown together but whose trunks are separate. We walked all around them, as it started to rain.

After going north, we then had to go south to have the tire fixed in Dargaville. It was a nice town and it didn’t take as long as I had thought it would to fix the flat, which was due to a nail we had hit.

By that time, it was around 2pm and we wanted to go to Gulf Harbour to see the marina there; it’s a 1000 slip marina. Immense!!!!!!!!

Finally, we arrived back where we had started, with Meryl and Michael, our ATC hosts in Northcote, just north of Auckland. We went out for dinner in Takapuna, about 8 minutes away. The restaurant we tried had a special on Mondays all day, a kilo of mussels done is one of five ways. So, we had one order of mussels and one order of a lamb shank, last chance for NZ lamb. Both were delicious.

March 9

So, today. We had packed last night for the most part, but still needed to tweak it a bit. I travel with my own packer, who is amazing – great spatial vision. We were up early to finish up and then left after breakfast by 9AM, as the airline required that we arrive three hours in advance. We’ve been traveling ever since and still have hours to go. At least this leg is at night, about 11 hours, so we should be able to sleep.

See you soon. We’ll talk.

FIJI at Last

This was written on January 26th, and now it is January 30th, the first time I've been able to upload from my computer.

OMG – we’re in Fiji!

The flight took almost 11 hours, but I slept off and on for about 5 ½ hrs of that time. Got to watch a movie, Bandslam, which was entertaining if not the best movie I’ve ever seen. I also read and finished an easy read book, nothing great or I’d tell you about it. What can I say about airline food? I’d ordered a gluten-free meal and my dinner was smoked salmon on two rice cakes with a leaf of lettuce. I took the salmon off the white rice cakes and put it on one of my millet, brown rice, flax seed crackers from Sami’s Bakery, which I order on line. They have great pizza crusts and a nice spinach wrap I use too. My breakfast then consisted of eggs with a bit of chopped tomato and a bit of chopped spinach and was tasty, much to my surprise.

We arrived at 5:15AM at Nadi Airport in Fiji. Our hotel, Club Fiji, sent a van to pick us up. By 6:30AM we were in our room, Bure 4, (a bure is a small place, some have walls and some don’t) as I had booked our room for the night before, so we could have early check in and have a place to put our heads down for a bit before the day really started. We slept for another hour and a half, got dressed, and went on a ½ day tour, which took us to the Sleeping Giant Gardens, which Raymond Burr, who played Ironsides, had planted. You can’t imagine the colors of all the orchids. Art snapped photos of maybe two dozen compositions I’m going to play with when I have time using my Chinese inks and brush painting. Then, the tour, we were in a taxi for two, took us to Laukota, a small city, to the market. It was really two markets, one fresh veggies and fruits, and the other handicrafts. I was impressed with the food but not the handicrafts. Not that they don’t have beautiful hand made items here, but the market was really small and I saw very little that was of interest. Although, I did like the tapas which were made from tree bark; we just don’t have anywhere to hang one. We also stopped at First Landing, which is now a resort, but is the place where Captain Cook first landed in Fiji, at least I think it was Captain Cook. They’ve developed the small island, just of the mainland of Fiji, into the shape of a left foot. Very picturesque to see. Glad we stopped. Back to the hotel for lunch, where there was very little on the menu for me to eat, so they made me a piece of grilled MahiMahi and some salad on the side – wonderful.

We had made reservations for massages on the beach for late afternoon. It was so peaceful and there was a lovely breeze under the bure (here it was open with a thatch roof). And best of all, it was relaxing. After my massage, I went first, I went back to our room and took a nap. Traveling is tiring. Art came back after his and we both slept a bit more, showered, dressed and went in for dinner. The main area of Club Fiji is all open. You first go to the reception area in the front and to the left is an area with a wide screen TV for sports or to watch DVDs. Next to that is the restaurant. The chairs are really comfortable and each has a bolster cushion to lean against. Many of the views are of the beach, water, other islands, and the sunset, which was a bit disappointing after the spectacular sunset we saw from Brian’s kitchen our last night in LA. Here, there were a lot of clouds and no fabulous colors; in LA, the oranges had a touch of pink to them and then as they started to dissipate, the orange intensified and so did the pink to a deep fuchsia, which I’d never seen before. We did not get a photo of it, I’m sorry to say.

WE ordered only Fijian items for dinner. I had two appetizers for my meal – one was Kokoda, which is a local white fish marinated in coconut milk and lime juice with a bit of spices and raw vegetables in it; it was served cold and was wonderful. My second item was Palusami, which consists of tomatoes, onions, and spices wrapped in taro leaves and steamed. I envisioned these packets of leaves folded around the inner ingredients, but it was a soft mixture of the steamed items, almost a mush but a nice texture, served with white rice. This was very tasty too, and Art liked this item better than the marinated fish. He order a dish called Ika Vakalolo, which was also the local fish cooked in coconut milk with lots of vegetables in it, served with fried cassava on the side. It was extremely flavorful.

After dinner, we checked out, as we have to leave for the airport at 6AM tomorrow morning and reception will be closed. We’re now back in our room, Art is sleeping, and I knew if I didn’t start writing things down, I’d never get to it. So, off to bed for now. I’ll write more later, as I can’t post this until I have an internet connection.

Reminiscing about LA:

Our last night at Brian’s was a delicious one. I was feeling really tired, so I took a nap, and he cooked dinner by himself, which he usually does with Grace as his sous chef, except I usually work with him when we’re visiting. He made my lemon Chicken recipe, so easy and delicious – I’ll write it down at the end of this blog entry. With it he made broccoli rabe in olive oil and sliced garlic – wonderful, and I love the flavor of a bit of bitter in the greens. Then, I had roasted an eggplant earlier in the day, and Brian made a pasta sauce, as he had a friend over who was vegetarian, of eggplant, zucchini, onion, red peppers, and fire roasted diced tomatoes which he served over my rice pasta; I can’t think of the pasta brand, but it’s very good as it doesn’t get soggy. I’ll have to add the brand at a later date. Dinner was yummy.

On Sunday the 24th (we flew out at night on a 9:20PM flight), we met our oldest friends for brunch. It's been so long since I wrote that I may have already written about this, so I won't again.

Wednesday, the 27th

We flew on that early morning flight to Auckland, a three hour flight; after our other flight, this one felt as if it went very quickly. Luckily, it was uneventful, the best kind.

We were picked up by our car rental company and it proceeded to take 2 hours to get our car. We went through three before we were satisfied. The first had a wet trunk and we felt it wasn't a good idea to travel that way. The second one wouldn't start so they changed the battery, and it still wouldn't start. Not an auspicious beginning. Finally, the third car came and it's fine. I do have to tell you - DON'T RENT FROM QUALITY CAR HIRE, as their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.

Finally, we were on our way to Meryl and Michael Hartshorn's home. They're members of ATC (Affordable Travel Club), a  good group to join., which allows you to stay with people for up to 4 nights at 20.00-30.00/night. Our hosts were lovely and spent a great deal of time helping us deal with the issues of finding a cell phone and planning out our trip. Although we're still winging it, they made lots of suggestions. When we first got to them, we were too tired to do any sightseeing, so we rested a bit and then went out for dinner by ourselves. They provided breakfast both mornings we were with them.

Art and I really like staying with people. We've been members of an organization called Servas since the early 90s, which was first formed after WWII, to promote peace around the world. Servas members are either hosts or travelers, and you don't have to be one in order to be the other. Joining them allows you to stay up to two nights in people's homes; no money is exchanged, and they provide two breakfasts, one dinner, and you either take them out for dinner or cook for them in their home. It's a wonderful organization. We first joined when we were going to Italy and we were travelers. We had such a good time that when we came home, we joined as hosts and have been host ever since. For the last 3 years we've been day hosts and haven't had anyone call. Oh well. Hopefully they will this year! Staying with people really gives traveling a whole different flavor, one we really love. Some of our most treasured moments were because of Servas hosts making suggestions of what to see and our changing our plans to follow their suggestions.

I'll write about our first sightseeing day in Auckland a bit later. Off to bed for now.

Traveling

Our first day of travel, Miami to Los Angeles, was a relatively easy one. Early morning pick up so we arrived at the airport before 9:30AM, not bad traffic. Our taxi driver was from Haiti, luckily from Gonieves, so he didn't have family in Port-Au-Prince and hadn't lost anyone close to him in the recent earthquake. We're still waiting to hear from our supplier down there about how he and his family are; no news and the waiting is painful.

Going through security at an airport is always a treat. I made a delicious salad for my lunch and brought salad dressing, Organicville's Tarragon Mustard yummy, with me. However, in this case, I forgot about the no large amounts of liquid with security. I offered to just pour a bit on my salad and throw out the rest, but they wouldn't let me - this isn't a cafeteria, I was told. They wanted us to put our shoes back on, go all the way around, back out of security, pour whatever I wanted, and then come back through. I decided to forgo my dressing, as I had also brought a lemon and would use the lemon juice on the salad. Oh well. Somehow, it's gotten turned around and it's politically incorrect to target someone who looks like a terrorist, but salad dressing, where I was going to put it on my salad and eat it, is a threat.

I know it's not true for everyone, but, for me, food and eating are among the great pleasures in life. Having had cancer has opened up a whole new world in learning about different foods and trying out new recipes, or tweaking the ingredients in ann old one to suit what I'm choosing to eat. It's all a choice - no one had told me I couldn't eat such and such, although recommendations have been made about what inhibits the growth of cancer cells and how to have a more alkaline body. I get choose what I want to do for myself! It's important to realize this and KNOW that it is a choice. It makes it easier to not eat chocolate, because if I choose to have a piece, I will, but I usually choose not to, due to the caffeine and sugar contents.

One the first things we did after dropping our luggage off at Brian's home was go to Whole Foods to pick up some alkaline water. At home, I have a filtering machine which separates the alkaline from the acid water; it's the Jupiter brand and works really well. While at Whole Foods, since it was dinner time, and Grace wasn't suppose to be home until close to 8PM, we had dinner there. I discovered raw falafel - delicious. Too bad there wasn't a soup there I chose to eat, due to cream, sugar, or something else I'm not having. It's really cool here, 55 degrees when we landed and rainy, so something hot would have hit the spot. However, the falafel and salads were good too. We finished our shopping and went home to find Grace got there earlier than expect. Great to see her too.

I'm finishing this Wednesday morning, as I was too tired last night. Off to have breakfast.