The Big Island + Curried Vegetable Soup

Monday morning we had an early flight to Hilo, Hawaii, the big island. I haven't quite figured out why they call all the islands Hawaii and that's also the name of one of the islands, not even the capital, which is on Oahu, another of the islands.

I had made our flight plans before figuring out where we were going to stay. It would have been closer to our place if we'd flown into Kona, on the other side of the island from Hilo. Oh well. Our drive to Hawi, where we're staying was lovely, although it took a bit over two hours to get here. I guess it easy to say that it's the journey, not necessarily the destination, that's important. I again found a studio cottage on an organic farm, called Lokahi Garden Sanctuary. The grounds are beautiful and there are grapefruit and Meyer lemon trees outside our door. Their garden is incredible. I had no idea how kale or collards grew; the plants are beautiful. They're also growing edible flowers and lots of other veggies and spices, including tumeric, basil, mint, and lemon grass. They have a whole load of chickens, free-range, so they sell eggs as well. No roosters, so no crowing in the early AM, a good thing. I didn't get to see their sheep, as they keep them well away from their garden, in a far part of their 10 acres.

While there,  I was still having ear problems. The acupuncturist I saw, suggest no raw salads and to use Indian spices, such as cumin, coriander, and tumeric, which are warming. I had those spices with me. This was the result of that suggestion.

Curried Vegetable Soup Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 large carrot or 2 smaller ones, diced

2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thickly, so the pieces can be removed from pot when finished cooking

Lemon Grass, optional

1 tablespoon Cumin

1 tablespoon Coriander

1 tablespoon Tumeric

1 tablespoon Bragg’s amino acids

1 quart organic vegetable broth

1 15-ounce can organic Coconut Milk

½ bunch Dino Kale, sliced crosswise

½ bunch Collards, stems removed and sliced crosswise

1 large or 2 small Baby Bok Choy, sliced crosswise

½ bag of Kelp Noodles (or you can use rice noodles), well rinsed and cut into 3 inch lengths

Instructions

1. Have all of the vegetables cut and ready to put into the pot.
2. Put oil into a large pot and add onions. Saute until they start to brown.
3. Add the carrots and seasonings, including Braggs, and stir. Cook for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the vegetable broth and coconut milk and stir well.
5. Add the greens and cook for 15 minutes
6. Taste and adjust the seasoning
7. Add the kelp noodles for 5 minutes more, stir well.

This can be served immediately or left to sit a while before reheating. It’s even better the second day, if any is left over.

Our first night in Hawi, we had dinner at a restaurant called Sushi Rock; I was totally off my diet and had a fabulous dinner; the owner/manager, Peter, is from New York, LA, and now Hawi for the last 20 years. My favorite was a roll called Tropical Treat - ahi, seasonal fruit (Mango), mac-nuts, & cucumber.We highly recommend this place for its ambience as well as the food, a real treat. ............................. ..........
Yesterday, we walked around Hawi, a small and charming town with some excellent restaurants, several galleries, and a bead store. I bought a small carved turtle for my April BJP goddess pin; look for the turtle slightly under her hula skirt.  Finally finished it and here it is:

The scan isn't the best, so I'll redo it when we get home. The owner of the bead store on Maui showed me how to make the hula skirt.

Hawi resonates for both of us.We liked Hana but it's too remote, however Hawi is a place we could return to and spend some time.

That evening, we drove down to listen to John Keawe, a native Hawaiian and local celebrity, who was playing from six to seven at the King Shops, close to Kona. We enjoyed his music enough to buy a couple of his albums; it's been great driving around listening to him play and sing.

We're now on the southeastern part of the big island, down in Kehae, in the Puna district. We're in a 1-bedroom cottage, and our hosts, Mark and Richard are terrific! We spent last evening at the Kilauea Iki Crater in the Hawaiian Volcano National Park. We saw the most beautiful sunset of our trip, and it was even more special as it had been totally overcast and rainy for the whole afternoon until about a half hour before sunset. Thank you Mother Nature.

Our trip to Hana + recipe

Thursday, the day before we left for Hana, after visiting the new offices of Energy Arts, Bruce's, our Chi Gung teacher's, business, we drove around the north-west part of Maui. It's a drive that takes at least two hours, as there are lots of windy roads and beautiful scenery, much of it the Pacific and bays. Bruce moved his whole operation and his home to Maui, a place he's been visiting for twenty years and obviously loves. A bit after stopping by the offices, Mountain called us and invited us to dinner. He and his wife, Jen, were having a few friends over, all involved with Energy Arts. It was a lovely evening in spite of my not really being able to hear the conversations, except for whomever was seated next to me. I'm still dealing with my ears. Today, Saturday, I had a small breakthrough, as my right ear popped a bit, so I'm hearing a little better with that one but still am completely clogged with the left; so, I'm headed in the right direction, although slowly, very slowly.

We decided to spend the night in Hana instead of going there and back in one day. We left our condo relatively early on Friday, as Paia is about 30 minutes from where we're staying, and Hana is a two hour trip, with no stops, from Paia. We stopped at Mana Market in Paia to see if anything appealed to us. I had already cut up a salad and brought along some goat cheese and crackers for lunch. At Mana's, I found an eggless egg salad made with macadamia nuts to help fill out our lunch menu.

I looked online and found this recipe which sounds like it could be the one we had. I'll try it at some point and let you know how I liked it. If you try it, please let me know the results!

INGREDIENTS

Thanks to RAWvolution cookbook
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp turmeric
2 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 tsp salt or sea salt
1 1/2 cup raw macadamia nuts
2 or 3 scallions
2 or 3 stalks of celery
1/2 bell pepper (any color – I used red)

1. First, chop the scallions, celery, and bell pepper until you have at least a cup of chopped veggies.

2. Then, blend the water, lemon juice, turmeric, garlic, salt and nuts until smooth.

3. When this nut blend is done, it looks a lot like the inside of a deviled egg. Pour this mixture over the chopped vegetables.

4. Stir well. Done. The whole process takes less than half an hour, including chopping time. The final product looks very much like egg salad.

This eggless egg salad is shown here on cut pieces of Ezekiel bread with a sprinkling of paprika. It’s delicious and fun to eat like this, but it’s also good on celery or lettuce leaves. My guests last week liked it plain, and ate it with a fork from a bowl like potato salad. Anyway, no matter how you eat it, it’s quite filling, so even though macadamia nuts are currently one of the more expensive nuts, it’s worth it because this recipe will go a long way.

We started the trip to Hana, knowing that it would take us about 4 to 5 hours to get there. The road trip passes many waterfalls, State Parks, bays, and stands of one sort or another, many selling fresh vegetables and banana bread. It also is an extremely curving road with many one lane bridges. Art loves to drive curvy roads as he learned to drive while in college in KY; hairpin curves are a favorite, and we got to experience several of those, of course in each direction. The pace was slow, which was perfect, so one can stop to admire the scenery. We had purchased a tape, which included a map of the road to Hana. The tape has songs/music in between each piece of information about each suggested stop. It was very entertaining, informative, and fun to listen to. 

One of our favorite stops was half way to Hana. We drove down a narrow road to the small town, only a few buildings but included a ball field. FYI, there were great public bathrooms there. They had stands selling banana bread, a big item here, and mango bread. Art opted for the mango bread for breakfast. The scenery was spectacular, wonderful lava rocks on the waters edge with fabulous wave action, almost like blow holes, as wave after wave hit the rocks and spewed up many feet into the air. Art took lots of photos but hasn't downloaded any of them yet.


We arrived in Hana after about 4 1/2 hours of driving and stopping. Online, I had found a studio in the Hana Maui Botanical Gardens. The grounds were beautiful;  the studio was named the Marine Studio and was decorated with a marine motif. What a surprise? It was more than adequate, as it had a lovely kitchen space. However, they had a leak in the toilet, which we couldn't fix. So, every time we went to use the bathroom, we got wet feet. I get up 2 to 3 times during the night, and it was very uncomfortable having wet feet. I left a towel outside the bathroom, so I could dry them before going back to bed, but.....


After we settled in, we drove over to the Seven Sacred Pools, even though we weren't going to go to them then, just so we'd know where we were going the next morning. It was a lovely drive, with more beautiful waterfalls along the way. The next morning, after Art had his mango bread and me my green shake, we headed off again, driving around Hana, going down to the bay and some side streets, exploring; then onward. Once there, we changed into bathing suits and walked to the pools. They're on several levels, mainly surrounded by lava rocks, supplied with water from waterfalls. We climbed over the rocks, transversed one of the pools by walking through the water, to get to the one closest to the waterfalls. Art swam over to the falls, but I was still nursing my ears and didn't want to get any water in either. So, I dunked and walked in the water a bit, and sat on the lava rocks and talked to other swimmers, some tourists and some natives. It was so peaceful there. Great energy.


After our water play, we had a picnic lunch on the grounds. They had some picnic tables in various places, all in the shade. Really thoughtful of them. By the time we finished lunch and got changed into our clothes, it was almost three PM. Time to start back to Kihei. Again, we stopped at waterfalls we had missed on the way down, including a place called Twin Falls. Love those waterfalls! We stopped in Paia to have a bite of dinner, and then went back to our condo. It had been a great trip. A must do if you ever visit Maui.

Still Maui + Recipe

We've been in Maui for several days now. It's a lusciously green island with much tropical flora, most of which I'm familiar, but not all. Have you ever heard of an apple banana? I hadn't. I haven't tasted one, but I'm told that it's hard to go back to the typical bananas after eating one.

Both of us are still under the weather, so we've been taking it slow and easy with the sightseeing. On Friday, we were getting our sea legs, so to speak. We had lunch at a nice restaurant and then walked on the beach nearby. The beach was beautiful fine sand, with large black lava rocks dotting it. We walked above the water line in one direction and then along the water's edge/in the water on the way back. We stopped at a small health food store in Kihei, near where we're staying, to see what they had. Not a bad selection at all for so small a place.

Saturday had us up relatively early and out by 7:45am. We had contact a friend of a friend and he sold his produce, avocados, flowers, and eggs, at this Farmer's Market. I described Art, beard, moustache, pony tail, glasses, and a hat; Craig said, "That's me." So, he was easy to find and it was a small market but the produce was nice. We hope to get together with Craig again. After we left the market, we went to visit the Surfing Goat Dairy, where they make goat cheese and truffles stuffed with goat cheese. It was a fun place to be and the "kids" were adorable. They loved to be petted. The actual location was decorated with surf boards, whole ones and some in half, which were used at the end of each parking space. It was so colorful. We went to the tasting they had, and their cheeses were delicious and unusual. One was flavored with horseradish and another with sun-dried tomatoes, while another had key lime juice in it. Unfortunately, none were raw, as it's not legal in Hawaii to have unpasturized cheeses. Next we were going to go to the Lavender Farm and then their one Winery. However, we decided not to do either and we turned around and headed for Paia for lunch. Paia is on the east coast and on the road to Hana; it is an old Plantation town, very charming. After a lunch of grilled harpooned swordfish, we walked around the town. They have a great health food store, called Mana. We do spend a lot of time shopping for food, but it's not all about food; it's about enjoying life and food is an important part of that enjoyment.

On Sunday, we drove to Lahaina, as they had a craft's fair in the town square, where their famous banyon tree is located. It was nice but not great; the jewelry artists were disappointing and there weren't any potters. Lahaina was the first capital of Hawaii. The architecture is charming and it was fun to walk around and window shop. I almost bought a t-shirt colored with the red dirt they have; they were called red dirt t-shirts; however, it wasn't comfortable, very stiff, and too long, with a tight neckline. Oh well.

On Monday, Art decided that he really needed to be checked by a doctor, as he wasn't feeling better but worse. I thought my seeing another doc was a good idea too, as I was almost finished with my antibiotic and I still felt like I was under water. Luckily, Art doesn't have strep and with the prescription he got, he's feeling much better today.

On the other hand, turns out I'm not so smart. You know how when your ears are clogged it usually works to hold your nose and blow; so, that's what I've been doing daily. However, since both eardrums had been ruptured, by holding my nose and blowing I was continuing to keep the perforations open and not letting them heal. Clever, huh? Anyway, I now have three new medicines and my hearing should improve within the next few days. I have my fingers crossed.

Today, we went on a Whale Watching Tour. It was wonderful. We followed a calf, mother, and escort (a male whale, not usually the father) for about 45 minutes. The calf kept pounding his fluke (tail) on the water, and the mother and escort were following him as he moved around. Then, we went on and saw several other whales. This is the end of the whale season; most have left already for Alaska but there are still many who are gearing up and teaching their calves what to do during the migration north. Apparently, Maui is a favorite birthing place of the humpback whales. Lucky us. There are loads more around during January through March. By the middle of May, they'll all be gone for this year, only to return next.

So, we've been doing a little each day and enjoying it all.

As for a recipe, one night I made this dish:

Squash and Greens

We were in a condo in Kihei, HI, and I wanted to make an easy dinner. I had been able to go to the Whole Foods in Kahului from the airport before driving to Kihei and our condo. A few of the supplies I had picked up were a Kabosha squash, Maui onions, and a head of tatsoi, a wonderful green I had been using in salads at home. I’d also bought a few spices and coconut milk, so I was ready to go.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 onion

½ of a kabocha squash, cut into chunks

1 head tatsoi, cleaned and cut into pieces (or other greens such as collards, mustard greens, or kale)

2 tablespoons olive oilsquash

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1 teaspoon tumeric

1 can organic coconut milk

Instructions

1.  Peel the onion, cut it in half, and then slice each half

2.  Put the olive oil in a medium to large sauce pan and add the onions. Saute for about 10 minutes until they start to brown.

3.  Add the squash and all the seasonings. Mix well.

4. Add the coconut milk, stir, and cover the pan.

5.  Cook on a medium heat for about 15 minutes.

6.  Stir and then add the tatsoi or other greens and stir again.

7.  Cook for 10 minutes. Stir and taste. Adjust seasonings as needed.

8.  Can be served over quinoa or brown rice.

Hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Finally MAUI + recipe

Tomorrow morning early, we're finally leaving LA for Maui. We were suppose to leave on Monday morning, but last week I developed laryngitis and had no voice for three days - no pain at that time but it all developed over the next few days, sore throat, pain in both ears, drippy nose, and cough. On Sunday, we were having a few friends of Brian's over for brunch. We've been staying with our kids, Brian and Grace, who have been wonderfully supportive. I'was concerned that we had overstayed our welcome, but we were assured we hadn't. Unfortunately, Grace has developed some of the same symptoms.

It's now Friday. Brian also started to develop some symptoms before we had left. Grace had the great intelligence to go see her doctor immediately for an antibiotic, so by yesterday she was feeling a bit better if not 100%. Hopefully Brian will too. It was so wonderful staying with them. Art is feeling under the weather too. I haven't been good to those I love.

MAUI, we're here. We had to get up around 5am yesterday to get the car back and be two hours early for our flight. We had a quick bite at the airport. I had called American a couple of days before to see if they were serving any food. l was told they were and I ordered a Vegan meal, closest to what I usually do. However, once on board, we were told that they would have snacks for sale. I hadn't brought any food as I had ordered some, so it was a bit difficult. The airlines are really something these days - what a a difference from when we traveled in the 70s: free baggage, pillows and blankets in coach, meals served and could be ordered, to name just a few changes. I love to travel, so I need to just accept the changes, which I do. I usually bring my own meals with me, but due to the misinformation, I hadn't this time. It was very disappointing.

We arrived safely with only a somewhat bumpy ride to remember. Any safe arrival is a good trip! My ears were fine but are still clogggd. Hopefully, they'll both clear by the next flight on the 18th. Our first stop after picking up our car was a Whole Foods, directly across the street from the car rental. We were both tired, so it was a short shopping, just stuff for breakfast and lunch for the next day/days.

Our rental condo is cute, a one bedroom with full kitchen. However, I went to make my morning green shake, had all the ingredients in the blender, and the blender didn't work!!! Luckily, there was a couple across the way who were sitting on their balcony. I walked over with my unblended shake and was able to use theirs. I called my contact for the condo, and we should have a new blender by this afternoon.  Since I use it almost every day, this is a very good thing.

We have a few people to contact, friends of friends and also our Chi Gung Teacher, Bruce K. Frantzis has recently moved here. I hope we get to see them all. We're also looking forward to seeing some of the people who work with Bruce who also moved.

There is so much to see and do on Maui. Since we want to relax a bit and recuperate, we'll need to pace ourselves.

I'm reading a really good book, the third in a trilogy, Sunrunner's Fire, by Melanie Rawn. I really like her fantasy novels, which include dragons and a type of magic. I brought beading with me. When I complete my April BJP (Bead Journal Project) I will post it here for you to see. The shape has to be the same for for each month. I chose a goddess doll pin, and she's small. I've really been enjoying creating them. Here's January's doll, just to give you an idea of what I'm doing:

A fast recipe:

We had roasted veggies at Brian's one night, served over quinoa.

The Quinoa -

Brian added grated lemon and orange rind, some mint and cilantro, and a touch of olive oil, sea salt and fresh pepper, all after the quinoa was cooked. (A 1-2 combination of quinoa to water). It was delicious.

The veggies -

whatever amounts you choose

brussel sprouts

sun chokes (I'd never used them before and can't imagine why not)

onion

fennel

carrots

fresh garlic cloves

touch of olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and basil

Roasted at 425 for 1/2 hour.

So, that's it for now. Hope you are all enjoying your day whatever you are doing.

Life's an Adventure 2011 with a couple of recipes

Okay, so I haven't exactly kept up with my blogging, but I'm determined that will change, starting now.

I have a three month window before my next CAT Scan is due. It's not easy living in three month increments, but that's the way it is for right now. Luckily, we can take advantage of the time for travel, one of my favorite things, and it nurtures me. I had another surgery this past October and I've healed well, but it has taken more out me than the previous ones did. My stamina is not as great as it had been and will be again, so I find that I need to rest most afternoons. This trip to Hawaii will provide that. We're renting condos or small cottages on the different islands, where we can take our time with sightseeing and still get plenty of rest. That's the premise for this trip, as verses our one to New Zealand last year, where we were always on the go, two nights in one place and three or just one in another. Not this time.

03/24/11 I'm in San Francisco at the moment, ensconced in a warm bed (cool outside of it) in a wonderful craftsman type house on Mississippi St in the Potrero section of the city. I love being a member of both ATC (Affordable Travel Club) and USServas, two organizations which enable us to do this at a low or no cost. We've been a member of USServas since the early 90s, when we traveled to Italy. We came home from that trip and signed up as hosts; so, we're both hosts and travelers, but you don't have to be one in order to be the other in Servas. As a member of ATC, you need to be both; however you can say "no" to a request if the timing isn't good for you. We've met people from around the world who have stayed with us and vice versa. I have lots of those stories I could share, but that's for another time.

Going back to 03/22/11 -
I flew into San Francisco on Virgin America to meet up with Art, my husband, who had already been there for five days for a workshop with our Chi Gung teacher, Bruce Frantzis. Art had a hiatus of 3 nights before his next weekend workshop. I really like Virgin America. Not only do they fly out of Ft. Lauderdale instead of the madhouse of Miami, but the seats have more leg room and the rates are usually really good for flying to the west coast. We've flown them a few times and it's always been a pleasure.

However, I bought my own dinner, as my diet has remained restricted, self-restricted. My doctor told me that I should continue doing what I'm doing, as it's working. Yes, I've had four surgeries, but they have all been for localized and encapsulated tumors. The type of cancer I had is called MMMT (malignant mixed mullerian tumor) or carsinosarcoma. By any name, it's not pretty - it's a rare and aggressive type. My doctor told me, at my last visit, that with this type of cancer, the prognosis is one to two years; my original diagnosis was over three years ago and I'm still here! So, yes I have a self-imposed diet that isn't always easy when we eat out at restaurants or friends' homes, but it seems to be working for me. We're all individuals and as such each case is so totally different.

For this dinner, I made myself a delicious big salad of mixed greens, shredded carrot, jicama, clover sprouts, cucumber, radish, a hard boiled organic egg, and some home make roasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds, with a dressing I've recently worked on. Here is the dressing recipe:

Yummy Dressing for 3 - 4
1/4 cup Flax Seed Oil
1/4 cup fresh Lemon Juice
1 tablespoon Bragg's Amino Acids
1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon Umboshe Plum Vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Agave
Sea Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Any other herbs can be added. I've used Greek Seasoning Blend (The Spice Hunter), and at another time fresh basil or oregano.
Mix all together and serve. It keeps for several days in the refrigerator.

I arrived after 11:30PM and we stayed at the Hotel Whitcomb, an older hotel, nicely located with a very comfortable bed. Of course, by the time we got into the bed, it was after 4:00AM Florida time and I was exhausted. Not a good thing but easily remedied with sleep.

03/23/11 -
We slept late, had brunch at the hotel, and then walked to a Farmer's Market close to the hotel. We had stopped to buy an umbrella first, as it was drizzling and looked as though it would get worse, which it did. The market was small but nice. I bought some veggies for my morning shakes for the next couple of days and discovered a new fruit, Shingli, something like a Chinese Pear but a bit sweeter, We had a taste each but didn't buy any then. Hopefully, we'll see them again. Always great to find something new.
After the market, we went to the Asian Museum right near by, and saw their Bali exhibit. By that time, I was feeling tired again, so we headed off to our ATC host's home. Once there, we both took a nap. Art had had a vigorous several days at the workshop, not to mention the time we went to sleep the night before, so he was a bit tired too. Out host recommended a local organic restaurant called Aperto. The food was delicious; I had the plank-roasted salmon with steamed greens, delish, and Art had one of their specials, a Quail dish. I can't believe all the restaurants near our host's home, many of them either vegetarian, vegan, and/or organic. There's even a Japanese organic one. Why can't we have more vegetarian, vegan, and organic restaurants in our area of SE Florida? Why???????

03/24/11
I made myself a vegetable smoothy for breakfast. Jo, our host, made breakfast for Art, as that's part of the ATC deal - accommodations and breakfast for $20.00/night. Not bad. My Shake:

Green Breakfast Shake for 1
12 ounces filtered water
1 teaspoon phION Super Greens (or any powdered greens)
1 gourmet cucumber, cut into large chunks (you can use just part of a larger cucumber)
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
bunch of sprouts
1/2 avocado
some sort of greens - bok choy, collards, dino kale, and spinach are greens that I've used alone or in combinations - whatever you have on hand
Put all in a blender and blend. Chew your shake as you drink it.

A bit after breakfast, we ran a few mundane errands, such as dropping Art's dirty clothes off at a local laundromat and a stop at Whole Foods for filtered and alkaline water. Then we headed off for lunch (I know it sounds as though we ate lunch directly after breakfast, but it was a good 3-4 hours later) to Yank Sing, the best gourmet Dim Sum restaurant I've even been to in the States. I've had better but only in China. They are a bit expensive but well worth  the splurge, especially since I was almost totally off my diet. I didn't have pork, beef, or dairy, but lots of wheat in the dim sum skins and a bit of sugar in some of the sauces. Taking a break from restrictiveness for a special meal is all part of the plan.

After lunch we went to the CA Academy of Sciences. It was wonderful. I think it's mainly for kids, but aren't we all kids at heart. It had a rainforest inside a huge bubble and you walked to the top on a spiral stairway abound the perimeter. Butterflies and birds flew freely. As a matter of fact, they checked you for errant butterflies before you were able to leave the enclosure. Then we toured their aquarium showing both the local and foreign coral reef eco-systems. The museum closed at 5:00PM and we went back to our host's home for a late rest before dinner.

Dinner was great at Herbavore on Valencia St, not too far from where we were. They were so accommodating it was wonderful. I ended up have a vegan grilled vegetable basil pesto pasta using rice noodles. I'm hoping to get the recipe, although I was told they didn't give them out, and I'll add it to the cookbook. Yummy, yum, yum!!!

03/25/11
I'm sitting in the San Francisco airport, waiting for my flight to Los Angeles and the kids. Art left for his workshop which will start around 6:30Pm tonight and go through Sunday evening. It's been a nice day so far. More or less leisurely breakfast and we met a friend and her 8 month old son at his swimming lesson, called Le petit baleen, the little whale. He loves the water and it was such fun seeing Dorothy and Evan. Another friend from our Chi Gung group who is doing the weekend workshop too, is out staying with Dorothy. Once Dorothy and Evan had to go home for lunch and a nap, we drove Craig to pick up his rental car and then we three went to lunch. Again, to a vegetarian restaurant near our original hotel. We had seen this place on our way back after the Farmer's Market but hadn't been hungry. I had hoped we'd have time to try it and it's funny how things work out. Craig's car rental place was only about 3 or 4 blocks from the restaurant. So, we had a lovely walk over. I had steamed veggies (perfectly done) over brown rice with a tahini lemon sauce. I hope to get that recipe as well. It was light and lovely.

So, this brings me up to date. See you soon.

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.