SuzySushi

Really? Wow! Neat! I buy spices in bulk (plastic bags) and reuse some of these small spice jars to hold them. I just tear off the old labels. I look them up by shape, color, smell and taste. Drive my wife nuts. But hey... who owns the kitchen? ← Oh, I recognize them by sight, color, smell, and taste too. But my husband doesn't. Once he grabbed an unlabeled bottle of cumin thinking it was cinnamon. . .

Thanks, Bruce! I cook Indian food sometimes -- so many cuisines, so little time. Up until two years ago, it was exceedingly difficult to find ingredients for Indian food in Hawaii, except for the few products carried in health food stores. Then a small Indian market -- appropriately called The Indian Market -- opened in Honolulu, so we're in luck now.

I know! Christmas in Japan is KFC and Christmas cake! That's not done here, despite the Japanese influence. Spumoni ice cream is an Italian-style combination of three side-by-side flavors: chocolate, rum (with pieces of chopped candied fruit), and pistachio. I'm told that the colors are meant to resemble the colors of the Italian flag -- red, white, and green -- with the chocolate standing in for bright red. Pistachio ice cream topped with chocolate syrup was my favorite (rare) treat as a child; the flavors of this come close. It's a seasonal thing, a private-label product from Safeway (a mainland-based supermarket chain). They put it out during the Christmas season, again maybe because of its festive colors.

Good morning! Leftover pie for breakfast, along with iced green tea. Today's a good time to show you around my kitchen and do the requisite refrigerator and freezer shots. This isn't the smallest kitchen I've ever had (that would be the one in the studio apartment I used to own in NYC), but space is pretty tight and the countertops are poorly laid out. There's only one spot large enough to hold the microwave oven, for example, and the counter to the left of the range is so narrow that it's almost useless. The kitchen obviously was designed by someone who doesn't cook -- but we don't have the money for a complete renovation. The sack with the chile motif hanging from the pantry door handle is to store plastic bags. BTW, a neat trick I learned from my stepson in California: use black kitchen towels. They don't show stains. A few weeks ago, there was an eGullet thread about the food art decorating our kitchen walls. This is mine. The painting was the cover art for a trade magazine I used to write for (the cover story was about Brazil). The porcelain plate at the top left is a gift from a company that dealt in exotic reptile skins during my days as a shoe designer (hey, I've had a checkered career). It features a spoof recipe for "Cobra a l'Indienne." My spice rack, mostly organized alphabetically. Everything from ajwan seeds to zaatar. On the counter is a glass cutting board with a sushi motif. I wish I could find it in a larger size. Most of my magnets are food-related. I try to pick one up as a souvenir everywhere we travel. The refrigerator is more packed than usual today, but more organized than it was just before the party. It's always stocked with a combination of mundane and exotic ingredients: butter, margarine, cream cheese, eggs, yogurt, milk, orange juice, a pitcher of Crystal Light, diet sodas, sugar-free chocolate syrup, sugar-free mock maple syrup, sugar-free jams and jellies, peanut butter, salad dressings, the usual condiments, Bisquick, panko (Japanese bread crumbs), canisters of kasha and polenta, capers, the horseradish I forgot to serve yesterday, furukake (a Japanese topping to sprinkle over rice -- this one contains nori flakes, sesame seeds, and salt) several kinds of Japanese pickles, miso, chutney, reduced-sodium soy sauce, fish sauce, ponzu sauce, soba sauce concentrate, oyster sauce, hot sauce, tamarind concentrate, pomegranate molasses, tahini, and four kinds of mustard. At the moment, the cheese drawer holds a slab of Gruyere, a piece of Mimolette that Daniel brought as a gift, some Kraft extra-sharp cheddar, a coil of Lebanese string cheese from Karoun Dairy, a tub of crumbled Amish blue, the Chavrie goat cheese, and a large package of the cheese sticks Wendy eats for breakfast. We usually keep fresh fruits and veggies like New Zealand apples, locally grown lettuce, carrots, a chunk of fresh ginger, garlic, and fresh cilantro, as well as dried fruits like raisins and dried mango on hand. Right now we also have two kinds of grape tomatoes, lots of clementines, and the package of purple chiso from the farmers' market. Left over from the party are a jar of olives, whipped cream, and half the apple pie. The bottom drawer on the left is where Michael keeps his extra insulin and other medications that need refrigeration. The freezer door. Frozen vegetables, frozen berries, coffee, a big bag of chocolate chips for cookie-baking, extra butter, and shredded Parmesan cheese. The interior of the freezer. A jumble of breads -- raisin, rosemary olive oil, German black bread, bagels, hamburger buns, Indian paratha. Raw meats, poultry, and fish -- steak, hamburgers, chicken breasts, salmon, shrimp, the pastele sausage from the farmer's market. Fast foods -- taquitos for Wendy and her friends, locally made wontons, half a Japanese oden fishcake set, unagi kabayaki (teriyaki eel). And a few leftovers -- cornmeal-crusted catfish, and meatloaf. This is the pantry. It's narrow but deep, so it holds more than is obvious at first glance. The top shelf is for baking ingredients along with glucose tablets to treat low blood sugar reactions. Next down are grains: rice -- only two varieties at the moment (short grain sushi rice and jasmine rice), orzo, couscous, rice noodles, rice paper wrappers, several types of soba. . . Am I missing anything? Grains that spoil easily, like kasha and polenta, are in the fridge. The bottom part of the pantry. Pastas, canned goods, oils and vinegars, dog food, packages of Japanese dry groceries like nori and katsuobushi (the dried bonito flakes used to make dashi or sprinkled over foods as a topping). Part of my cookbook collection. I have two six-foot-tall bookcases filled with cookbooks in the bedroom, partly because of lack of space elsewhere in the house, and partly because cookbooks are my favorite bedtime reading. I find them very relaxing to read, I can absorb them in small bites (sic), and they always have happy endings! I need to get going now for the day's adventures. More later!

Dinner is over; the guests have long gone home, but the warm memories remain. This is what Christmas dinners are supposed to be. While I caught a short nap this morning (I got very little sleep last night -- that's how excited I am to be blogging on eGullet!), Wendy and Daniel finished decorating the gingerbread house. They substituted small sugar-free candies for the ones that came with the kit, and used very little of the sugar-laden royal icing, but here’s what else they cooked up: A gingerbread. . . mouse?!? And another view. . . It's a gummi pet rat made by Jelly Belly. When our friends arrived, they were minus their older daughter -- I didn't catch whether she was working today, or out with friends. So we were eight for dinner: our family, our friends Mike and Ginny, their younger daughter Nikki, and Ginny's mom Soledad. Soledad is returning to the Philippines tomorrow after a six-month stay here. The white wine ended up functioning as an aperitif while dinner finished cooking. Here's a toast to everyone at eGullet! Nikki is trying some appetizers -- golden grape tomatoes and pimiento-stuffed green olives Here I am in the kitchen cooking the side dish while the roast beef rests under a foil tent. Tomatoes, sauteed with capers and bread crumbs. The finished dish: Green beans with grape tomatoes and capers. The roast beef turned out tender and flavorful. Would you believe I did forget to serve the horseradish? The Yorkshire pudding. I hadn't noticed the heart shapes till I saw the photos! They were unintentional -- that's just the way it puffed during baking. Our groaning board. The high countertop is made of koa wood, something our house's previous owner put in. The buffet spread from another angle. If it weren't for the kitchen sink in the background, the feast would look positively Dickensian. Mike carving the roast beef into smaller pieces. We were afraid the paper plates would cut through if we used steak knives. Nikki and Wendy on the sofa, waiting for dinner. Mike said I could quote him as saying "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!," then plaintively asked, "Could I live here?" Daniel gave the meal a "thumbs up." Ginny and her mom are taking seconds. There were very few leftovers. Tuffy is jumping for joy at getting a tidbit of roast beef. A sugar-free apple pie for dessert from that new bakery I mentioned, Sweet Nothings. The owner has diabetes. Mike and Ginny also brought a sugar-free chocolate cream pie from the same bakery, but my photos came out blurry. The girls demolished the gingerbread house for dessert. After dinner, we exchanged gifts. This is ours to Ginny, a "cocoa pot" (actually a pottery teapot, but Nestle filled it with instant cocoa mixes). When I saw it in the store, I was charmed by the incongruity of a snow family in Hawaii, and by the sweet verse that reads: Friends are like a cup of cocoa. They keep you Warm on a cold Winter’s day. That's how I feel about the warmth and coziness of our friendships. Mike and Ginny gave me one of those One-Step Pasta Makers that "cooks" pasta in a pitcher of boiling water. This photo makes me feel I'm in a television infomercial. Since we'd forgotten to put on our Santa hats when we gave out the gifts, we took turns posing in them for photos. Nikki and Wendy pose by the tree We adults got a little silly. It wasn't the single glass of wine we each had -- I swear! I put my Christmas tree headband on Tuffy. It was a little too big for him, so I had to hold it up. Even Soledad -- who's usually ladylike and sedate -- got into the spirit of the season by dancing with the dog.

Thank you, Klary! Coming from you, the compliments are a real honor. I consider you and Lucy the queens of bloggers!

Yes, that's what we were thinking. It makes us think about sitting around the hearth, in the absence of a fireplace in Hawaii. Hooo-wee!!! The whole process of blogging in real time is giving me a whole new appreciation for eGullet bloggers! It's hard to experience the events, take and upload photos, write everything up, and post the links all in one day! Kind of like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time!

Thanks, Ellen! You got me thinking about my own lack of holiday traditions growing up, and how it's so important to me to make my own. My parents were atheists, and we didn't celebrate any holidays except Thanksgiving. They also did very little entertaining. Consequently, the concepts of baking cookies to distribute to friends, having people over for big holiday dinners, etc. wasn't even on my radar screen until I was in high school and got invited to friends' homes. I remember one Christmas dinner at a Black friend's house. The living room was elegantly decorated with a tall, shimmering aluminum tree. Her parents served roast pork and homemade eggnog laced with brandy -- yes, to a group of teenage girls. Another time, I was invited to a Polish friend's house where I don't recall what we ate for dinner, but the kitchen table was laden with all the baked goods her mom had made. When I was single and living in NYC, I began hosting Thanksgiving dinners for "waifs and strays" -- friends who had no family in the city, my ESL students (English-as-a-Second-Language, which I tutored as a volunteer). I usually got invited to other people's Christmas celebrations. My husband's experience was entirely the opposite. His parents were big on semi-formal Christmas dinners, standing rib roast and everyone gathered around the piano singing Christmas carols. So over the years, we've been forging our own family traditions.

1) Not that I know of! However, they do grow coffee on Oahu's North Shore. I hope to try some for this blog. 2) Well, "sushi" is my middle name -- and my husband and I got together partly because he likes sushi, too. (The full story will come out later in my blog, when I have more time to write.)

Mele Kalikimaka! That's the Hawaiian pronunciation of "Merry Christmas," there being no "R" or "S" in the Hawaiian language. Mele is also the Hawaiian word for "song." It's a fortuitous homonym because "Mele Kalikimaka" is the title of a holiday song that was made popular by Bing Crosby in 1950, recorded again by Jimmy Buffett a decade ago, and just released again by Bette Midler (who was born in Hawaii) this Christmas. Another of the Christmas displays downtown. The phrase Hauoli Makahiki Hou means "Happy New Year." You know, when I was walking Tuffy this morning, I took a good look at the reindeer display on the condo complex lawn and the sleigh is now facing forward. Someone must've commented about it to the management. Here's the proof! You can choose which one to remember Hawaii by. Our guests will be arriving about 1:30 pm for Christmas dinner. Family friends: a couple with their two daughters, and the wife's mom, who is visiting from the Philippines. On today's menu: Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with gravy. The beef is from a recipe I got off epicurious.com: Roast New York Strip Loin with Garlic-Herb Crust. Before breakfast this morning, I prepared the rub, and the roast is now resting in the fridge. It will be served with a side dish of sauteed green beans with capers and cherry tomatoes. I hope I remember to set out the horseradish! I was going to bake an apple crisp (sweetened with Splenda and spiced with candied ginger), but our friends emailed to say they’re bringing three (count 'em!) sugar-free pies from a new bakery called Sweet Nothings that recently opened in midtown Honolulu. The beverages will be Martinelli's sparkling non-alcoholic cider, Hansen's diet sodas, diet Pepsi, and a bottle of Havermeyer Piesporter Goldtrophen Riesling Spatlese. Yes, I'm aware that white wine doesn't complement roast beef. But most of the people who will be here today are not wine-drinkers, and this makes a small glass palatable. My breakfast this morning is a bagel with Chavrie goat cheese, and iced Bigelow green tea with peach flavor, eaten while sitting at my computer. Everyone else is still sleeping. We were up late last night, opening our family gifts. Wendy scored really big. One of my gifts was a much-wanted copy of The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I'll respond to a few posts, then will try to catch a nap before the roast needs to go in the oven.

Whoa, what a lot of questions to answer! Yes, I love the farmers' markets, but I still miss the one on Union Square in NYC, especially the fresh peaches and apples, which -- as you know but readers from other places may not -- aren't grown here. When peaches were in season, I used to be able to smell their fragrance from two blocks away! I'm glad to see more variety coming into the farmers' markets here. They've really blossomed (sic) over the past few years. Hmmmmnn... local foods I won't eat. You mean like Spam? My cooking has changed over the years, but I can't really separate out the "being in Hawaii" part from the changes that come from being married with a family rather than single, or the general culinary evolution that's taken place over the years. I've always been interested in "foreign" (and particularly Asian) foods, ever since I was a child. I sometimes joke that I must've been Japanese in a previous life. I was imbued early on with a love of Japanese culture. My uncle studied Japanese art back in the 1930s, and I grew up hearing family tales of his exploits. My dad taught me how to use chopsticks when I was eight years old, and I've had Asian-American friends since grade school. So I'm delighted that so much Asian culture is available in Hawaii, and I try to take advantage of it.

Just checking in before I go to bed. This has been a l-o-o-o-o-ng but productive day. I got the gifts tied with ribbons and the rest of the cookies baked and packed up for gifts. . . The cranberry orange shortbread The canisters of home-baked cookies awaiting their recipients Daniel and I assembled the gingerbread house, from a pre-baked Wilton kit. Would you believe this is the first gingerbread house I've ever made? Daniel is putting on the roof of the gingerbread house. Yes, that's a real candy cane he's wearing as an earring. (He's a professional tattoo artist and body piercer, in case you're wondering.) Daniel and Wendy in the kitchen. You can get an idea of how tiny it is -- more about my kitchen later this week. Dinner tonight was just the four of us, sitting in the living room around the electric wok, eating Swiss fondue. That fusion would horrify both my Asian and my Swiss friends. I told you we're not traditional! Here I am stirring it in a figure 8, the way a Swiss friend insisted one must do Wendy wanted to be the first to take a bite Tuffy came in to join us at dinner. He thinks he's a person. (No, he’s not eating fondue, just tidbits of bread.) Either he's following the conversation intently, or he's watching every bite! Here's Daniel again And Tuffy getting an after-dinner hug. How can you resist a face like that? For dessert, we had store-bought fruitcake from Costco and fresh clementines. Happy Holidays from Our Family to Yours!

I'm so glad it's YOU!!! We haven't had any Winter yet, so it's not sun-dep, but the thought of all those flowers and mountains and the GREEN of it---what a treat!!! Perhaps it's the farawayness of Hawaii, or something to do with the lack of snow, but those reindeer on the lawn are having a TERRIBLE time trying to pull that sleigh backward through the grass---no wonder they're straining every muscle. Is that just a snowless Christmas thing? ← You know, it never occurred to me to take a closer look. Ya' see what living in Hawaii will do to you?!? I'm sure the maintenance guys who assembled it have never lived in a cold climate, and it's entirely possible they've never seen snow!

The biggest holiday attraction is "Honolulu City Lights," a month-long extravaganza downtown. Now in its 22nd year, this year's celebration kicked off December 2nd with the official lighting of the city's Christmas tree (a 70-foot Norfolk pine cut from a private yard in my neighborhood!) and an electric light parade with 35 floats and 15 marching bands. The tree And at dusk Here's the humongous barefoot Santa dabbling his feet in the fountain outside Honolulu Hale (pronounced HAH-lay), Honolulu's City Hall (hale means "house" in Hawaiian). He's making a "shaka" sign -- a local gesture that means "hang loose" -- and is accompanied by his muu-muu'd wife Tutu Mele ("Aunty Merry," "aunty" being a fond term of respect for any older woman in the Islands). View of Honolulu Hale Penguins relaxing in the fountain with a cool drink. They were here before the movie "Happy Feet." Here’s the entrance to Honolulu Hale The lobby of Honolulu Hale becomes a "Santa's Village," forested with trees trimmed by city employees in an annual competition. Other large outdoor displays also dot the municipal area downtown: Da (the) First Noel And, back in my neighborhood, reindeer on the lawn outside my condo complex A single-family house in my neighborhood

Okay, the dough for the cranberry-orange shortbread cookies is mixed and chilling in the fridge. The directions said to roll it into a log with the help of plastic wrap or waxed paper, so of course the first thing I thought of was shaping it with the bamboo mat used to roll sushi! LOL! Necessity is the mother of invention. . . I need to set up the gingerbread house in 3D before Wendy and Daniel can decorate it, but my mixing bowls and beaters are going through the dishwasher. Meanwhile, I thought I'd take you on a tour of some of the Christmas decorations around our neighborhood and in downtown Honolulu, which is the focal point for holiday displays. (I actually took most of the pictures yesterday, because I knew I wouldn't have time today. Is that cheating?) Hawaii might not have white Christmases, but we go all-out with Christmas decorations. Life here is like living in a big small town. For instance, high school football games are covered on TV! One of the favorite holiday pastimes is driving around the island to admire the local Christmas lights and displays. Before the holidays, the newspapers even print neighborhood-by-neighborhood lists of which street addresses have the best ones. We love to drive through town with the windows down, the whole family singing Christmas carols at the top of our lungs. Traditional ones like "Jingle Bells," "Deck the Halls," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," and "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Kids' songs like "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus." And my personal favorite, "Christmas is Coming" (sung the way I learned it in a minor key): Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat. Put another penny in the old man's hat. If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do. If you haven't got a ha'penny, God bless you! This year, Wendy taught us another carol she learned in school (sung to the tune of "Jingle Bells"): Dashing o'er the foam In an outrigger canoe, You go so far from home To see what you can do. You swim upon the surf, You sail upon the sea. You come back feeling very fit To the beach at Waikiki. Oh, kani kani pele, kani kani pele Kani kani all the way. Oh what fun it is to say "Aloha" every day! Kani kani pele, kani kani pele Kani kani all the way. Oh what fun it is to have A tropic Christmas day! [Edited for typo]

As long as you asked: Don't Bogart That Joint is a song from the 60's movie Easy Rider. Bogart, as a verb has taken on have several meanings, all roughly associated with the above. SB (remembers it well ) ← Huh! It's been so long since I've seen the movie that I didn't remember the phrase!

I'm running behind schedule in my annual cookie-baking assembly line. I intended to make three types of cookies to give out as gifts, but am scaling back my ambitions since I got a late start. I’m going to sign off for a while so I can take care of some household chores and make the pistachio cranberry icebox cookies that Candy Wong (aka ComeUndone) wrote about here in the Christmas cookies thread. I'm substituting candied orange peel for the pistachios because Wendy is allergic to nuts. My presentation won't be as fancy as Candy's, either. Maybe next year! Meanwhile, to whet your appetites, here are my famous chocolate crinkles sitting out to cool last night. Back later! Hope those of you in earlier time zones are enjoying a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! Merry Christmas!!!

The farmers' market is held every Sunday morning in the parking lot of Mililani High School, and co-sponsored by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture. There are about 15 vendors, not all of them there on a weekly basis -- and to tell the truth, neither am I! (I like to sleep late, or at least go back to bed after walking Tuffy, eating breakfast, and digesting the Sunday newspaper.) Here's the setup Some of the vendors specialize in local prepared foods like bottled sauces and dressings. There's a honey co-op; North Shore Cattle Co., which sells locally ranched beef; and even a lady who makes beignets on site (the latter two sellers weren't here today). But I mostly go there for the fresh produce. First up, Ho Farms. They grow colorful super-sweet cherry- and grape-tomatoes on Oahu's North Shore. They told me today that the local Costco will soon begin carrying their produce. Bravo! A lot of vendors participate in the farmers' markets to introduce their products to consumers and build demand that will translate into retail sales. One of the supermarket chains has also begun carrying Ho Farms tomatoes. Kukui Sausage Co., from Honolulu. I hadn't noticed them before, but today they were offering samples of locally-made sausages: spicy kimchee sausage; pastele -- Puerto Rican (yes, there is a Puerto Rican community on Oahu) sausage made with pork, bananas (plantains??), tomato paste, and achiote; and Portuguese sausage (there's also a Portuguese community). Fresh vegetables. A bin of bittermelon sits next to bags of locally-grown corn. And bunches of herbs. . . Isn't the cilantro gorgeous? This red bin has fresh mint and Thai basil. Here's that honey I was telling you about. One of my favorite stalls is 'Nalo Farms. They own a farm out in Waimanalo (an area of East Honolulu, whence comes their name) and grow fancy lettuces and herbs for Oahu's top restaurants. I like their mesclun-like salad mixes and, when they have them, baby romaine lettuces -- which were a revelation the first time I tasted them: romaine lettuce with flavor! I'm too late for the baby romaine today. Ba-Le Bakery is a Vietnamese-owned bakery and sandwich shop chain. They make great French bread and banh mie for sandwiches. They recently started selling artisan breads at the farmers' market. Today they also had macarons!!! The view walking back to my car in the high school parking lot. Can you tell why I love Hawaii? My haul today, clockwise from the upper left: A bag of red chiso from 'Nalo Farms, cilantro, a bunch of apple bananas (smaller than regular bananas), pistachio macarons, pastele sausages, and orange grape tomatoes.

As some of you know, both my husband and our daughter have Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes. Although my husband has been managing it for more than 25 years, it was still a shock when Wendy was diagnosed a little over a year ago, and it's made a vast difference in our lifestyles. Everything revolves around the demands of her insulin schedule: what time she wakes up in the morning; what, how much, and what time she eats; what time she goes to bed. She does fingersticks to test her blood sugar five or more times a day, and needs an insulin injection before each meal or snack, as well as at bedtime. My husband pretty much eats what he wants, and adjusts his insulin to cover his carbohydrate intake, but Wendy is on a more restrictive diet because she can't afford the carbohydrates of "empty calories." For example, a typical snack for her should contain no more than 15 grams of carbohydrates, which means just one regular cookie. I try to keep mostly healthy foods in the house, and I've been able to cut back on carbs in some recipes by switching from sugar to Splenda. Still, holidays are hard because of the preponderance of goodies and the temptation to cheat.

When I got back to the house, my daughter, who was fast asleep when I left, greeted me with, "Mom! I was starving! Did you forget about my breakfast?" My daughter's breakfast. She's a creature of habit. Except for the occasional weekend brunch, she eats the same thing every morning: Cheerios with milk and banana, a glass of chocolate milk, and a stick of string cheese. Note that the cereal must be topped with chocolate syrup, but the chocolate milk must be made with Nesquik. (Both are sugar-free.) At age 10, Wendy is just coming out of her "white food" stage. In the last few weeks, she’s discovered that she likes avocado (only in sushi, however) and fondue. She still freaks out if foods touch each other on the plate, however. It's been very frustrating to my husband and me because we're such adventurous eaters. The funny thing is, Wendy has always been receptive to "foreign" foods like sushi, dim sum, pho, and even curry, and she’ll leap for all the baby corn, water chestnuts, and straw mushrooms in a stir-fry. The other day, she grabbed all the squid curlicues from a Chinese seafood dish -- not something most picky eaters are known for doing! My breakfast is different each morning. But I'm not a big breakfast-eater and today I sampled so many things at the farmers' market that I wasn't really hungry when I got home. Usually I start my day with coffee or iced coffee -- decaf espresso, brewed strong in a one-cup filter -- with a splash of skim milk. Lion Diamond Head Espresso is my favorite brand. Sometimes, instead of hot coffee, I add evaporated milk and a heavy dose of Splenda to make mock Vietnamese iced coffee. My coffee My husband likes to sleep late (and usually has that luxury, since he's semi-retired). His "breakfast" is more like my lunchtime. He compensates for this by going to bed after midnight, and will fix himself a late-night snack to serve as his supper. Daniel usually isn't with us during the week. When he is here on weekends, he raids the freezer for his own breakfast – bagels, raisin bread, rosemary olive bread. We always have a good stock of bread in the house.

Lovely! I am in Vancouver visiting my family and it's freezing. Thanks for the ray of sunshine. I remember doing a project on ancient Polynesia in grade 6, and I served poi and fake Hawaiian food at the end of my presentation (toothpicks with canned pineapple, honey ham, and a maraschino cherry skewered on them.) Guess which one everyone liked... ← Maraschino cherries are NOT Hawaiian!

We'll probably have some ahi poke later in the week. . . How long did your wife live in Honolulu? To make a long story short, how I wound up in Hawaii is, my husband was living here when we first met. (He's originally from L.A.)

Now I'm off to the weekly farmers' market at the local high school, before the pickings get slim. Back later.

Well, I know we're going to get to the North Shore. Don't know if we'll make it into Waikiki this week, but I'll try. . .

{{{{{{Hugs}}}}}} "Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!" back at'cha!