that beautiful land, 
that far-off home of solitude and soft idleness, and repose,
and reams, 
where life is one long slumberous Sabbath,
the climate one long summer day, 
and the good that die experience no change,
for they but fall asleep in one heaven and wake up in another. ~Mark Twain, on Hawaii
Originally hunted by the Polynesians and other Pacific Islanders, the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles are now protected by state and federal laws. They are listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
our French trained personal chef (and our local connection) went home to prepare Aloha Dinner #2. We were, after all, on vacation.The Balsamic Vinaigrette is Marcella's adaptation from a recipe she learned in cooking school. She has graciously shared it with us.
2 T balsamic vinegar
1 T water (sometimes she doesn't add this)
1/2 t salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 t Dijon mustard
2 T olive oil
1 T finely chopped shallot
1 minced garlic clove
1 t dried herbs: oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary or whatever
Put vinegar and water in small bowl. Whisk in the salt, pepper and mustard. Add the shallots, garlic and herbs and whisk. Add the olive oil and whisk until smooth.
Everything she prepared was delicious. The Opa was a very light and fleshy fish which was lightly breaded and pan fried. The Coconut rice was very rich and Marcella kindly shares her recipe. She credits the recipe to the Hawaiian Cookbook by Roana and Gene Schindler. 
is an orchid grower so that booth was exciting. Angelica and I loved 
the cut flower booths and admired the variety of fragrant and hand crafted Lei's that were available.
meats and cheeses was fabulous.
These fabulous papayas were less than 20 cents each.
We bought several, pureed them with a bit of freshly zested lime and the lime juice along with a touch of sugar, and topped our Vanilla bean ice cream with a citrusy sweet papaya sauce. Sublime.
we found gardens, we found lush green growth, we found ocean, boogie boarding too!
we found
Hawai'i blossoms, Hawai'i Flowers and Trees, Tropical Trees of the Pacific, Tropical Trees of Hawai'i, Hawai'i Gardens. Oh I've looked at a couple of travel guides too. Now we are taking the exam..... Aloha!
I have a fascination for botanical jewelry. Seeds are readily available to the local cultures and they have so many uses and so much lore surrounding them. Seeds are used for adornment, to heal, to protect, to bring good luck, to ease childbirth, as a form of weights and measures, for soap, for rosaries, for ceremony, for ivory, for fragrance, to protect from the evil eye and much more......for food, to the tourist trade. All of these uses are captivating. In addition to all of those uses, they all look so unique and this is how plants reproduce!
The locals handcraft these necklaces to trade with the ecotourists. One t-shirt = one necklace. The orange and black seed is the Ormosia and offers protection from the evil eye. The large brown seed in the middle is the Crabwood Sea Bean when rattled together they chase away spirits.
The Japanese Buddhists use peach and plum pits, The Neem Tree or China berry was frequently used as a rosary. The Holy Basil seed is sacred in India. Of course, many many people remember the Job's Tears, a popular necklace in the late 1960's. You know, Love Beads. The colored (lacquered) seed bead jewelry is usually made in China. The large dark necklace in the middle is actually rose beads made from a paste of the Rose petals. The Rose has been a native flower for 35 million years. It grows in every state and has been referred to in both the old and new testaments of the Bible. Beads for rosaries were first crafted by Christian Monks. In 1208 Saint Dominic first coined the term "rosary". Our friends at The Essential Herbal have done a blog post on making rose beads.
A treasure found at a yard sale, it came with a card listing the names of the seeds. Starting at the top: Lucky bean, Job's Tears, Sea Bean, Mauna aloa and wili wili, Macadamia, Elephant Ear and Job's Tears, Goat Eye, Hawaiian Pearl and Sand Box.
Kukui nuts make the most striking Seed Bead Necklaces. The Candlenut tree, Aleurites molluccana grows all throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Allegedly very easy to recognize (we'll verify that!) as it grows to 90 feet in height with a smooth straight trunk for 40 or so feet until it branches out! This nut was of great value to the early Hawaiians for light, navigation, fishing, tanning, dyeing, food, medicine, catching birds, ornamentation and even for the detection of criminals! Can you imagine all that? The nut provides an oil which was used for light, the oil was also used on fish nets to tan them and hinder decay. The nut and the root were used as a dye of fabric and even for tattooing. Poisonous if eaten raw, if you roast the kernels with salt and red pepper it makes a relish that was served with the dry ink bag of squid. Used for skin diseases and also as a purge for infections. To catch criminals, the Kahuna or priests would start a fire. Kernels of a kukui nut would be thrown in the fire while the Kahuna uttered prayers usually asking for the thief to be killed unless he stepped forward. Once the culprit made himself known, as they usually did, then he would be fined heavily.
A product of Art in the Age. this alcoholic delight contains anise, allspice, cardamon, cinnamon, spearmint, lemon, smoked black tea, wintergreen, clove, orange, nutmeg, sugar cane and birch bark. All those herbs, spices and tea give this beverage a Root Beer Flavor. Based on the Root Tea which was quite a popular Pennsylvania drink (still is with the old timers) and then transformed into the syrup to make Root Beer. 
Fruits stuck with cloves and then rolled in a powder consisting of cinnamon, cloves and orris root. Dried on our radiators they are fragrant and last for years and years. Orris root is the root of the Florentine Iris and is used as a fixative in pot pourri and in pomanders. A fixative helps to hold the scent and also to absorb moisture due to humidity. It won't absorb moisture if the oranges have not been dried properly. Our old Civil War Era homes have radiators which provide a great drying spot during this cold time of year. It dries the fruit and fragrances the room! If you don't have radiators the hot water heater will offer a good drying spot. Some folks string a ribbon around or through the pomander so that it can then be hung in the closet as a sachet. Pictured here are little kumquat pomanders which don't require nearly as many cloves as a large orange. You can use oranges, lemons, tangerines, kumquats and even grapefruits. We use a nut pick or a nail to make a small hole through the skin of the fruit and then it is quite easy to push the clove in.
