After a cold and snowy winter, these tulips are the sight Canadians anticipate. When so many are massed together like this, the vibrant color provides a stunning display.

In early summer, the streets of Toronto seem to burst into bloom. Each window has a hanging basket of flowers, even in the poorest sections.

Outdoor stalls have plenty of variety from which to choose.

By mid-summer, the sunflowers take over.

In Hawai`I, we take this kind of beauty for granted. After enduring the harsh winter, these become precious jewels to our Northern neighbors. Is it any wonder that Canadians take such pride in showing off their flowers?

A hui hou!

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Friends in a nearby community own a piggery. Check out my post on that before you continue reading this recipe.

During this past year, I had one of their pigs butchered and placed in my freezer. There is not much that compares with home-grown local pork. The meat cutter included quite a few packages of pork belly. In the South, it was called “sow belly.” Another term is “green bacon,” because it’s really bacon that hasn’t been cured yet.

Whatever you want to call it, I’ve used pieces of it in greens or dried beans, but when I happened to read of another way to cook pork belly, I knew I had to try it.

The picture above is not very clear because I find it difficult to get a picture of a hot dish without the steam clouding over my camera. But I think you can still see (and maybe even smell) how wonderful it turned out.

The recipe I found called for rubbing down the pork belly with ¼ cup kosher salt and ¼ cup sugar. I used half that amount of salt (sea salt), but when we ate it, it was still too salty for our tastes. Next time I want to try even less salt (it does need a little), and use brown sugar instead of white.

After rubbing the sugar-salt mixture all over the pork belly, put it in a big bowl, cover it tightly, and place in the refrigerator overnight – at least 6 hours but no more than 24.

When ready to bake, discard the liquid that has accumulated in the bowl. Heat the oven to 450 degrees F.

My suggestion is to line your pan with foil and coat it with a canola spray. I forgot to do that, but I won’t forget again!

Bake with fat side up for an hour, basting it periodically during the cooking time.

Turn the oven down to 250 degrees F. and cook for another hour or a little more. Lift the belly onto a platter and let it cool.

The recipe I read said to wrap it in foil and put it in the refrigerator until it was chilled and firm, but I didn’t do that. I cut it in half and dished it directly onto two plates with steamed fingerling potatoes and Brussels sprouts.

I discarded the juice, but people who aren’t watching their fat intake could make a gravy out of it. This is a meat dish I plan on making over and over, as long as my packages of pork belly last.

Now if I can just find a recipe for a pig’s head….!

A hui hou!

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I have been using various recipes for Irish Soda Bread for many years. About three years ago, my daughter in Idaho sent me a recipe that came from the Irish grandmother of a former co-worker. It surpasses anything that I’ve ever made before and I pass it along to you in preparation for St. Patrick’s Day this next week.

Ingredients

1 ½ cups unbleached flour
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup sugar
½ cup cold butter
½ cup raisins (she adds a bit more)
¼ cup caraway and fennel seeds mixed (she adds a bit more of this, too)
1 ½ cups buttermilk

Measure and combine dry ingredients.

Cut in butter with a pastry blender (or in a food processor).

Stir in desired amount of raisins and caraway/fennel. Stir in buttermilk.

Turn dough onto floured board and knead a few minutes, adding flour until dough is not too sticky.

Form into a ball and place in greased and floured round baking pan. Cut a deep cross on top.

Bake at 375 for 45 minutes, brush top with simple syrup made of sugar, water, nutmeg and continue baking a few more minutes.

Let cool 15-20 minutes before removing from pan.

Add a big pot of corned beef, cabbage, carrots and onions, peppercorns so you’ll think you are back in old Ireland.

A hui hou!

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I suspect I’m like most cooks. When I see a recipe that looks good, I copy it to try later with my own substitutions or additions. I subscribe to many (too many) cooking blogs where I drool and gather ideas.

One blog that I particularly enjoy includes recipes from everyone in the family. When I saw this on their blog recently, I knew I had to make it. Here is my rendition of their recipe.

In a large heavy pan, I sautéed ½ rasher of thick-sliced bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces.

Once lightly browned, I added 1 cup of diced onion and 3 diced cloves of garlic.

After this had browned 1-2 minutes, I added 2 tablespoons flour.

Their recipe called for ¼ cup sherry to deglaze the pan, but I rarely cook with any kind of alcohol and don’t keep any on hand. I used ½ cup cranberry juice, which I always do have handy.

I added:
2 cans fat free chicken broth
2 cans of whole kernel corn, drained
2 cups diced potatoes – I used a mix of fingerlings and reds
2 cups milk – I used nonfat that I always have on hand
2 canned chipotle peppers, diced, plus a bit of the adobo sauce to taste

I let this simmer on low for about 20-30 minutes, then added 1 pound of shrimp and ½ cup half & half cream.

Note: The shrimp I used were Kirkland brand (Costco), 31-40 per pound, peeled and deveined. The tails were still on, so I thawed the shrimp just enough to slip off the tails before adding to the chowder. Also, be sure to chop the chipotle peppers into very small pieces, unless you don’t mind getting a big chunk of hot pepper in your mouth. I imagine this would be delicious using a variety of fish, clams, shrimp, and other seafoods.

Thanks to the folks at Food o’ del Mundo for this recipe. It’s one I’ll make often!

A hui hou!

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DAFFODILS IN ST. JAMES PARK, LONDON

Four years ago during my Spring Break, plus a few days, I traveled to England with a friend. Although it was very cold, especially to someone fresh from Hawai’i, there was no rain for the three weeks we spent there.

These photos will be in three sections. The first group was taken in London, in and near St. James Park. As you can see above, the daffodils in England are a brilliant herald of Spring. They are some of the first flowers to be seen.

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MORE SPRING DAFFODILS IN LONDON

They were in large clumps everywhere I looked.

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ANOTHER VIEW OF THE DAFFODILS

Of course, there were more flowers in bloom than just daffodils. Tucked here and there one could find these lavender beauties.

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MORE LONDON BEAUTY

Here is another view in St. James Park with its carpet of blooms.

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CARPET OF BLOOMS

If you rest on a park bench by the river to feed the squirrels or have a cup of hot coffee and warm up, you will see the “old man willow.”

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OLD MAN WILLOW

This second section shows our drive through the Cotswolds, visiting such places as Stratford-Upon-Avon (Shakespeare country). Again, there were early blooms poking through the cold ground in little hidden spots.

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EARLY SPRING IN THE COTSWOLDS

Of course, who among us doesn’t love the romantic sight of a thatched roof? It brings back memories of “Merrie Olde England,” doesn’t it? There are a few flowers blooming along the road in front of this home.

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THATCHED ROOF COTTAGE

Mostly we drove along narrow roads lined with bare hedges, and through the narrow winding streets of the villages.

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ENGLISH HEDGEROWS

The fences were made out of the yellow limestone so common in Cotswold country.

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LIMESTONE FENCES

For the third part of our journey, we drove toward the English Channel and the White Cliffs of Dover. One of the English women I’ve come to learn about is the novelist Vita Sackville-West. A visit to her home in Kent (Sissinghurst Castle) took us through her “white garden,” even though very little was blooming. If you are interested in seeing her gardens in full bloom, go here.

The English spring daffodils were in full bloom here, too.

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DAFFODILS AT SISSINGHURST CASTLE

And narcissus….

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NARCISSUS AT SISSINGHURST CASTLE

In every corner of her gardens you are invited to rest and meditate.

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A PLACE TO MEDITATE

I love to fantasize about what it would be like to live in an English home like this one. I can imagine the novelist working out in her gardens (when she wasn’t writing), then sitting on the bench against a warm wall to view her results, cup of tea in hand.

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HOME OF VITA SACKVILLE-WEST

There are pictures of Sissinghurst in bloom on this website, as well as a different view of her home. I spied these blooms climbing up the end of her home.

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CLIMBING VINES

Sometimes you are left with the feeling that she has just paused in her planting. These beds are ready for the new annuals to be put out. Because her gardens and castle are part of the National Trust, I’m sure there are gardeners who still carry on her “white” theme each year.

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BEDS READY FOR PLANTING

Here is another cluster of color along one of the winding paths.

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CLUSTER OF COLOR

There was a moat that surrounded one area with a boathouse under the bridge. The boat was still there! In the background you can see the roof of one of the oast houses, used for drying hops to make their brew.

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MOAT

I’d love to go back to visit Sissinghurst sometime when it comes back to life in the early summer. Someday I will get to do that.

A hui hou!

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My accumulation of cookbooks started early, and I’m sure that is true of most cooks. One of my favorite cookbooks dates back to when I was a girl traveling in New Orleans with my parents. One that I didn’t mention in my post about my cookbook addiction is New Orleans Creole Recipes, by Mary Moore Bremer. It was first published in 1932. If you are interested in a copy, you can click on the picture above and order one.

I’ve used her recipe for Shrimp Creole with variations ever since I was a new young wife living in Mississippi. I like the way she gives her recipes in narrative form and I’ve always tended to do that, as well. What follows is my own version that I’ve developed over the years.

First, you make a good, rich roux, using one large tablespoon of lard and one of flour. Lard is actually less toxic than margarine or shortening.

Then you chop up two onions, two cloves of garlic, one large bell pepper, two teaspoons of parsley. Add all of that to the roux and stir until the onion browns slightly, then add a large can of tomatoes. I add a small can of tomato paste and an equal can of water.

Season with ½ teaspoon red pepper, salt, bay leaves, 1/3 teaspoon celery seeds and ¼ teaspoon powdered thyme.

You can either add two pounds of raw, shelled shrimp, or several cans of shrimp if fresh is not available to you.

Cover and let it cook slowly for an hour in an old-fashioned iron heavy Dutch oven. Any heavy pot will do. If you are using canned shrimp, you don’t have to cook it as long, and you would add the shrimp at the end, just long enough to get them hot.

Half an hour before serving, add two teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce. Serve over brown rice for a healthy meal.

I usually make a big loaf of sour dough bread to share. Add a salad and it makes a total meal, fit for any company.

A hui hou!

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Two years ago, before I started this current blog, I created another blog that was designed to talk about my life as a sailboat live-aboard. That blog didn’t last long, because it was during those few weeks of its existence that I came up with the idea for “Lava to Lilikoi.”

So from time to time, I thought I would post something about the special time my son and I had for five years of adventurous living on a sailboat.

In the late 1970s, when Flower Power and Free Love were languishing, I flirted with trading the equity in my house for equity in a new 37′ O’Day sloop-rigged sailboat. Within five months, I became a “live-aboard” with fifteen-year-old Erik, my youngest child. We christened our new home Lothlorién, for the sanctuary in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy to which the Elf King and Elf Queen transported Frodo and his friends at a critical point in their adventure.

In Tolkien’s story, it was within the Lothlorién that all their healing and protection took place, while all the dangers and threats were forced to remain outside its borders. Our Lothlorién was that haven for us, our personal sanctuary of peace, safety, and healing. We needed the storms of life to remain outside. We often invited our friends to savor that sanctuary with us for a day sail, a weekend cruise, or sometimes longer. Tolkien’s famous quote was our motto – “…not all those who wander are lost.”

Characters who don’t know much about boats always ask, “How many does she sleep?” That’s the wrong question! We sailors usually respond by saying that a sailboat will “drink six, feed four and sleep two.” There may be room enough to sleep an army by spreading people out over decks and into hammocks, but you abandon all carnal comforts in doing so. Naturally, this can depend on just how close you are with the friends you bring along, too. My boat basically was designed to sleep six, but six people really wouldn’t do that if they wanted to remain friends after the cruise was over.

One summer, I hadn’t gotten paid for about three months. The insurance company that reimbursed us for most of our clients was undergoing a major change in their computer system. None of us in the clinic where I worked were getting paid on a regular basis. My boys and I were hanging on by a thread.

So what does a girl do when the going gets tough? She spends a week moored at the Isthmus of Catalina Island with a good book, and leaves her troubles behind.

We were really living a good life, in spite of having no money. I had a bag of masa, a hunk of cheddar cheese, a few eggs, and stuff like spices. The boys were fishing and diving for abalone. What else do you really need for food? We had lots of homemade tortillas with melted cheddar and scrambled eggs, along with plenty of fresh fish and abalone. That’s when abalone was still plentiful in California.

Someone taught us how to eat raw abalone. Instead of pounding it like you need to if you cook it, you cut the raw meat into pieces like shoestring potatoes. Dip it into a mix of soy sauce, ginger, and anything else your taste buds desired, and munch! It’s a wonderful treat!!

Once, when folks from our local sail fleet had a cookout, we showed up with fresh sheepshead, abalone, and hot tortillas. Everyone else was roasting wieners and opening cans of beans. Even though we didn’t have money for hamburgers or wieners, we ate well – and were the envy of everyone else.

When I feel bogged down with Life, I sometimes think about what fun it would be to live on a boat again.

A hui hou!

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I’m trying to keep calories and carbs low, but I get starved for a good Italian marinara. One of the best solutions I know is to use spaghetti squash. You might have seen it in the store, but you weren’t quite sure what to do with it. If you’ve never tried it, you’re in for a treat.

I get two to four meals out of a squash, depending on the size. Cut it in half first, then if it’s a large squash, into quarters. Scoop out the seeds first, or you’ll be sorry! Trying to pick them out of the squash when it’s cooked is not something you would want to do twice! Yeah, I did it once by mistake!

Once the seeds are out, place the cut side down in a glass dish with a little water (about ½ inch) in the dish. Some might bake it in the oven, but I find the easiest way to prepare it is to cover it with plastic wrap (punch a couple holes in it) and nuke it for 8-10 minutes. You might want to check it because time depends on the size of the piece.

In the meantime, open a jar of the best marinara you can buy and heat it, or make your own if you have time and prefer your own. I’m usually in too much of a hurry!

When the squash is done, hold it carefully with a good potholder, because it’s HOT. With a fork, scrape out the insides. If you’ve never done this before, you’ll be amazed at the spaghetti-like strands coming out. Keep scraping until you get all you can out of it.

Cut up the rind and put in your compost or feed to your chickens!

Pour the hot marinara over it, mix slightly, and eat! Sometimes I skip the marinara and use a lot of freshly shredded Romano Pecarino. It’s absolutely delicious – and light on calories! Experiment with spaghetti squash and let me know what you create.

A hui hou!

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In Japanese mythology, Hotei is one of the Seven Lucky Gods, and believed to be based on an actual person who carried a big bag full of food and goodies for hungry people and especially for children. In the Japanese spelling of “ho tei,” his name literally means “cloth bag.”

Hotei comes out of the Chinese Taoist-Buddhist tradition and is considered the God of contentment, happiness, satisfaction and abundance. He portrays the wisdom of being content and represents magnanimity, one of the seven Japanese virtues.

According to tradition, if you want luck and health, you must rub his statue’s tummy, which is big and always exposed. Occasionally you will see a statue of him with lots of laughing children clustered around and on him.

In the early 60s, my then husband was the physician aboard a troop transport going in and out of Okinawa. He brought home the one pictured above (and next). It is 16 inches tall, made of camphor wood and even almost 50 years later, you can still smell the camphor.

That started my collection of Hotei statues. Over the years of moving around, some of them have been lost. One small ivory one was a special one I hated to lose. This small bronze figurine and bell with Hotei as the handle are among the small ones that survived.

Many times he is depicted with his hands up in an expression of joy.

This one I made out of ceramic and painted with a glaze to look like stone.

Often, Hotei is shown in a seated position. He appears to be a very contented guy, with the bag by his side.

In my four trips to Japan, I found him in every shop, in all sizes and positions. He is probably one of the most popular of the Seven Gods. Here is one more that occupies a place of honor in my home.

As you probably suspect, I rub at least one of these tummies every day. I desire the contentment and wisdom he offers. I suggest you look up more information on the internet. There is so much more to be learned about him.

~ Sayonara ~

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Yesterday was Fat Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday, more commonly known as Mardi Gras. I’m not from New Orleans, but I spent enough years in the Deep South to have this celebration in my soul.

Being able to toss beads or join in the festivities on Bourbon Street this year, I knew I had to do something to feel like I’d truly honored the day. I dug around in my kitchen and came up with the basic ingredients of a traditional Jambalaya.

Usually, this dish contains ham and/or shrimp, and/or chicken, and/or sausage. The only thing I could come up with this time was one lone sausage, so that’s what I used. Fortunately, when I added about a cup of black-eyed peas leftover from New Year’s Day, I found pieces of ham.

You can add the seasoning for your own taste, but I like spicy!

Into a slow cooker, I put:
1 can non-fat chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 large sliced spicy sausage
1 cup Jasmine Brown Rice blended with Wild Rice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 diced garlic cloves
2 diced baby bell peppers (from my garden)
½ large onion, diced
A handful of chopped parsley (from my garden)
2 broken bay leaves
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin

All of this cooked for 4-5 hours on high. The last 30 minutes, I put in the pre-cooked black-eyed peas. I think you could put it on low for 8-9 hours if you wanted to leave it all day. Any bean can be added, but somehow the black-eyed peas seemed more in keeping with New Orleans.

“Laissez les bon temps rouler” (let the good times roll), as any good New Orleanian would say, until the beginning of Lent.

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