Buon Natale Christmas Dinner 2010

Every Christmas, we try to have a different theme for the Christmas gathering of our family. We've had an Ohio Christmas complete with succotash, a Southern Christmas with jambalaya, an Israeli Christmas with matzo ball soup and kibbutz salad, a Hawaiian Christmas with homemade laulaus and poi. This year, my bright idea was to have an Italian Christmas dinner.

Of course, the Italians have a Christmas Eve dinner so there is not a lot of red meat in the menu. But I tweaked the menu and served the meal on Christmas day. A friend of mine (who is not Italian) told me that the Italian meal takes about six hours. When she married into a large Italian family, she did not realize that the pasta course was just one of the courses. "Warn your friends and family to pace themselves through the meal," she advised.

So, I published the menu and sent a flow chart to my family members identifying each part of each course, when it would be prepared, who would work on preparing the item, and how it would flow. My hiapo Cathy and her husband worked on games to play between courses. We brought down a croquet set in case some people wanted to work out between courses. Everything all set, we embarked on our Italian adventure.

Preparation started on Thursday as I started the stock for my minestrone and took out all of the serving platters and labeled each with a post-it note on what would go on it.

Friday, my daughter Becky and I started on the various items. This continued on Saturday. We left the house at 11:00 after we loaded our truck with the food, the chairs, the coolers, and the many pots filled with food. This must be the life of a caterer. THE MEAL would begin at 1:00 pm.

And we served:
Antipasti - Appetizer
Plate of salame, mozzarella rolls with salame and proscuetto, muenster, provolone,
and sharp cheddar cheese, Plates of tomatoes with mozzarella sprinkled with Rocking H seasoning, olive oil,and balsamic vinegar; Bowls of olives; Chunks of bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Salad Course
Caesar salad with homemade dressing and anchovies on the side; Marinated vegetables with olives (and the most delectable Applewood smoked green olives!!); Chunks of bread with replenished olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Soup Course (People could choose one or the other but many people sampled both)
Homemade minestrone with zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, garganzo beans, and pasta; Cioppino with calamari, mussells, shrimp and scallops, More chunks of bread to sop up the soup.

Pasta Course (People could choose one or the other but many sampled both)
Marinara with garlic and mushrooms on spaghetti or Clam sauce on spaghetti

Entree
Rosemary and balsamic pork loin roast with mango chutney;Grilled salmon with grilled peppers, asparagus, zucchini and yellow squash

Desserts
Panettone;Layered Jello; Cheesecake with a choice of cherry or blueberry topping; Cake; Fudge.

Aperitif
Dessert wine; Coffee; We had a fruit and cheese plate ready to go but people were too full to even look at it.

Red and white wines flowed throughout the meal although the wine drinkers were very few.

The meal ended after 8:00 in the evening and someone said, "Some of the courses were rushed." Hello, we did not want our meal to end at midnight!!

It was fun because we all sat down at several long tables, passed the food around, talked, laughed, ate, drank, and groaned at how full we were until the next course. It seems to be an oxymoron but I did not feel overstuffed as I have felt at some dinners. Perhaps eating throughout seven hours!! gave us time to digest. The effort was well worth the time AND MONEY since we were together, talking and laughing over those many hours.

I would not do this meal any time soon. In analyzing what dishes really worked, I'd say, I liked the bread with oil and balsamic vinegar, the salmon was great, the cioppino was less frightening to make than I had thought, and I loved the Caesar salad with anchovies...what a treat!!

As a cook, it was wonderful to watch people try new food (a cultural exposure for some members of our family), to see some people take seconds and thirds, and to see the family working together to move the meal from course to course. Those are the intrinsic payoffs for working so hard. As for caloric intake...each person has to struggle with their own demons so it's not my problem.

Now, what to cook for next Christmas? By the way, the croquet set never go set up and sits in its brand new plastic bag in the garage. Bon appetito!!

Ain't it a ripoff when anticipation is greater than reality

My all-time favorite thing to eat is Kentucky Fried Chicken, Original recipe, if you please. Not the emasculated version when the corporate eggheads decided to change the name to KFC. Chicken fried in oil or even lard, seasoned well, crispy skin...heaven in a mouthful.

Alarmists have persuaded me not to give way to temptation, to avoid the oil, cholesterol, plaque inducing artery cloggers we know as Kentuck Fried Chicken. Instead of eating it once a month, I now eat it maybe twice a year...accompanied by mashed potatoes and fake gravy, and coleslaw.

Last week Friday was the second day of the year to have Fried Chicken, Original recipe of course. I bought the 8 piece meal deal with mashed potatoes and mushed corn on the cob. I don't like drumsticks...my husband loves them. Like Jack Sprat, we share the treasured pieces...drumsticks for him, thighs for me.

Corn on the cob, already cold from the take out ride from Hilo to Glenwood. That piece of corn must have been around since last week...totally mushed out and absolutely flavorless. Strike One!!

A dip into the mashed potatoes with fake gravy...Right texture but I have my tastebuds standing on end with the chemical aftertaste of fake gravy and thickener. Strike Two!!!

Onward to the best part of the meal. I peel off the skin and leave it on the side to savor later. The thigh meat is stripped out. It is cooked through yet still tender and moist...unlike the petrified chicken at Safeway and Sack N Save. Good so far!! After the bones have been stripped of chicken, I eye the skin on my plate. So bad for the health but so delicious. My saliva glands are pumping out some major waterworks.

I take a bite. Hmmm crunchy....Good so far...until my tastebuds tell me that the skin is oversalted. Bleaghhh. Ruined my twice a year experience!!! Strike Three!!!! It will take me at least six months to recover from the devastation of my glorified anticipation. Will I remember my disappointment or will the visions of crispy wings and thighs overcome the flawed memory and urge me to plunk down money for more Kentucky Fried chicken? Only time will tell!!

November Aphorism

Don't grumble that your lawn needs mowing when neighbors are crying for rain.

October Aphorism

Never fear change. It may be better than what you have now.

Is vegetarianism the answer?

Am reading Ruth Ozeki's book, My Year of Meats, and learned about DES which was given to chickens and cattle to speed growth but resulted in very harmful effects for the people who ate the animals. E-I-U!! I am just wondering if vegetarianism is the answer to safe foods.

As ranchers, we support beef protein in the diet of people. Of course, our cattle are grass fed without any hormones. They are raised in a low stress environment and the cattle adore my husband and show their devotion by calling to him and following him around. News of steroid use in cattle is the reason I stopped eating calf's liver. Again, greedy farmers trying to make money fast. But what rancher using ethical and safe cattle production practices is making money? The current going price for weanoff is 67 cents a pound. Checking the price of beef in the supermarkets I know that someone is making a killing $$$wise, but it sure ain't the ranchers.

I think that people need to go back to the old fashion method of bartering so that ranchers can trade their beef with farmers for vegetables, fishermen for seafood. This way, we know who the growers are and can insure food safety. Much aloha goes along with the trading and this way we can keep eating beef, and have our vegetables and seafood at the same time.

We are omnivores for a reason. Moderation in all things.

Is Vegetarianism the Answer

Am reading Ruth Ozeki's book, My Year of Meats, and learned about DES which was given to chickens and cattle to speed growth but resulted in very harmful effects for the people who are the animals. E-I-U!! I am just wondering if vegetarianism is the answer to safe foods.

As ranchers, we support beef protein in the diet of people. Of course, our cattle are grass fed without any hormones. They are raised in a low stress environment and the cattle adore my husband and show their devotion by calling to him and following him around. News of steroid use in cattle is the reason I stopped eating calf's liver. Again, greedy farmers trying to make money fast. But what rancher doing what is ethically and safely raising beef cattle is making money. The current going price for weanoff is 67 cents a pound. Checking the price of beef in the supermarkets I know that someone is making a killing $$$wise, but it sure ain't the ranchers.

Food for thought...A word

Hesed....lovingkindness!!

Keep that thought in your mind for the month of September. Not just loving. Not just kindness....but lovingkindness!

Food for thought...A word

Hesed....lovingkindness!!

Keep that thought in your mind for the month of September. Not just loving. Not just kindness....but lovingkindness!

Golf Course...Restaurant...Meeting Place

On Wednesday, I went to Oahu for a meeting and the location was the Ko'olau Golf Course. It was an adventure trying to find the place which was set in the back of the jungles of Kaneohe. Some places looked like the road to Kapoho with the canopy of tall trees overhead.

When we finally got to the location, we were surprised by the beautiful buildings. We found our way into our meeting site which had the most fabulous view of the Ko'olau Mountains. What a pleasure for the eyes!!

When it was lunch time, we walked to the luncheon area were surprised to see a 6' cross suspended from the glass roof in the atrium. It became clear that this area was a multipurpose area and one of the users was the congregation of the Presbyterian Church. It was a good sign because the food was heavenly.

At the beginning of the line, there were four salads: tossed salad with four kinds of dressing, a pasta salad with real parmesan cheese, macaroni salad slathered with mayonnaise, and a fresh corn, tomato, and pepper salad with parsley. A great meal right there.

The entrees included grilled chicken with chantrelle mushrooms and a light gravy, and fresh fish cooked in coconut milk with a topping of namasu like cucumbers, carrots, red onions. Yum.

I am not much of a dessert eater but our waitress informed us that the bread pudding was the signature dish. I took a small serving and indeed, indeed...it was heaven.
Light, pillowy slices of bread swimming in a sauce that was not too sweet but definitely rich!! The blueberry cheesecake was delicious, according to someone on our table. Really good food and it was a location worthy of searching for. What a beautiful place to have a wedding!!

August Aphorism

Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.

Benjamin Franklin

If only we knew all we know now, when we were young!!

Garlic Mania

If you hate garlic breath, do not go to Aloha Luigi's on Keawe Street in Hilo!! Don't eat Luigi's caesar salad! Don't even breathe in the funky. brightly colored, and most likely crowded little restaurant because you will breathe in garlic fumes!!

But...

If you love garlic, you have to go to Aloha Luigi's. My all-time favorite is his Caesar Salad, reeking of garlic and yummy flavors. I had a small Caesar salad, a bowl of tomato Florentine soup with orzo, and two small slices of homemade bread. All for $6.95. I am a terrific soup maker but Luigi is giving me the rub. The soup was light and yet full of flavors...tomatoes, beans, basil, fluffy pasta..complex and over the top on the yummimeter!! Although bread is my enemy...the small slices of homemade bread because my public enemy #1. Chewy, yet soft and pillowy in the center. I had a cream of Shiitake mushroom soup at Luigi's which was also a killer. So I must say that he is my favorite soup maker.

If this description tempts you, go to Aloha Luigi's but don't forget to bring some gum or breath mints if you are still working and have to meet some clients. Garlic haters...stay out and make room for us garlic lovers!!

Fat is bad...but is it?

Did you ever notice that all the yummy things in life are full of fat...ice cream, lobster drenched in butter, scrumptious pumpkin pie with a crust made with lard, donuts fried in oil, potato chips...Fat, fat, fat, fat, fat, fat, fat.

Fat is bad so they say and yet my Chinese aunt with the porcelain complexion swore that eating kau yuk (seasoned fat) was the key to beautiful skin.

Fat is bad so they say and yet scientists say that fat feeds the brain.

Fat is good in moderation...when the food is savored...when there is a special occasion.

Fat is 8, the sign of good luck.

Perhaps there is hope for fat.

15 minute kim chee

When you cook barbeque meat (Korean style - pulkogee) or Japanese style (teriyaki), serve it up with red or green lettuce and kim chee. Take a piece of meat, place it on the lettuce, top it with kim chee and eat it. A tasty bundle of heaven.

15 minute Cucumber Kim Chee
2-3 crisp Japanese cucumbers, washed, sliced in half lengthwise, and sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 thin slice of ginger, minced
1 t Hawaiian salt
1 T Kim chee no moto

Place your cucumber slices in a bowl and sprinkle Hawaiian salt (about 1 tsp)
Let cucumbers sit for 15 minutes.
Rinse cucumbers with water and let drain.
Pour the kim chee no moto, garlic, and ginger over the cucumbers and mix well.

Eat it and enjoy!!

July Aphorism

He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.

Lao Tsu.

Health and Money

Have you ever wondered why it is so expensive to have a healthy diet? Fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meat, fish, wholesome wholewheat bread all cost a lot.

Why is it that unhealthy foods are such cheap ways to feed a family...$1 McDouble sandwiches.

You either have to be dirt poor and need to grow, forage, or hunt for your food (these people are probably thin because of the exercise expended to feed themselves) or very rich, retired or rich and retired to have the time to grow a garden to have your share of healthy foods.

People who are morbidly obese and unable to work, complain about their lifestyle. But they didn't get fat without help and without opening their mouths. In the meantime, the poor schleprocks are working their butts off to make ends meet, pay their taxes to support these individuals? Something is desperately wrong with this picture.

If fat people had to grow, forage, or hunt for their food, they would either get thinner or starve to death. There is some logic to living a dirt poor life.

June Aphorism

What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expect generally happens.

Benjamin Disraeli

Enchantment, A Twisted Classic Fantasy

Just got through reading Orson Scott Card's novel, Enchantment, billed as a classic fantasy with a modern twist. While I loved Card's novels, Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, the pace of this novel was too slow for me. There were some interesting twists but it is difficult to weave a story that spans from 900 AD to modern times without getting tangled up. The feel of the novel is old and yet one is jolted into an abyss of anachronistic non-sequitars.

If nothing else, this does suggest the possible linkages of ancestral memories and how some people seem to be gifted with ancient memories and practices which do not seem to be logical. While this novel makes a point for time travelers, there are still instances of people who have demonstrated ancestral knowledge with no seeming reasonable rationale. The mystery remains about the plausibility of certain people's contact with the ancient times, ancient knowledge, and old perspectives.

Southern Comfort for Breakfast

All of you sweet talking Southerners...found the perfect comfort food to start of your Sundays. Go to Hokulani's Steak House for Southern Style Biscuits, with sausage patties and sausage gravy.

Wow!!! A huge platter with two biscuits, buttered and put on the grill to be browned and crisp, 2 sausage patties and an ample amount of rich-thick-yummy sausage gravy. Although I think I can eat a lot, could only eat half of the portion and had to put half in the eat later at home box.

The coffee is also good. The biscuit, sausage, and gravy platter cost $5.95. A winner indeed.

Food for thought - Acronyms

If people really knew the meaning of the acronym, SNAFU, they would not be using it so frequently.

Buth then, perhaps not!

Japanese Gothic Tales

Living in Wakayama, we were often reminded of the presence of Koya San, a mountain in the region. In Izumi Kyoka's book, Japanese Gothic Tales, one of the short stories is "The Holy Man of Mount Koya" provides a new view of this prefectual landmark. Indeed, as the long short story progresses, strange events occur. The monk is a traveler who is rained upon by blood sucking leeches. Once he gets out of the forest, he finds a secluded mountain cottage. He finds an odd looking person peering at him.

"His mouth hung open, his upper lip curled back. His nose was flat and his forehead bulged. His hair had grown out and was long like a cockscomb in front, flipped all the way back to his collar and covering his ears. Was he a mute? An idiot? A young man about to turn into a frog? I was surprized by what I saw."

This is among the many bizarre sights the monk experiences. It is not until he meets a fellow traveler, an old man walking along the path does the holy man learn how he escaped a hideous fate. An odd story with undertones of personal feelings that I had heard a similar story from a different cultural perspective.

One of many short stories with surprising twists...Perfect for the bedtime reader whose eyes fall shut within 15 minutes of jumping into bed.

May Aphorism

The worst soliture is to be destitute of sincere friendship.

Francis Bacon

New Generation of Hawaiians

I observe my grandson's work: his artwork, his inclusion of Hawaiian thought, his take of different issues, and I am grateful for the work done by others to revive the Hawaiian culture and pride. I love listening to the children at Punana Leo preschool chattering with each other in Hawaiian. When the core of Hawaiian revivalists started, things must have been very bleak and backbreaking. To have moved a generation of people toward this new perspective is nothing short of a miracle!!

I give thanks to all who labored in their various fields, to all the parents and grandparents who shared stories and skills; to the teachers who took on apprentices, recorded their knowledge, and shared with others; and to the leaders who kept their eyes on the positive forward movement of our people. It begins with small things and encompasses the globe. What a marvelous undertaking!

Mahalo, mahalo, mahalo. The work is still not done. We can all help in our little ways to support this movement. It begins with one household at a time. Ho'omau, ho'omau, ho'omau me ka ikaika.

Good Read, A Different Kind of Island Life

"After promising never to write to me again, Adelaide Addison has sent me another letter. It is devoted to all the people and practices she deplores, and you are one of them, along with Charles Lamb." in a letter from Juliet Ashton to Dawsey Adams

The story takes place on Gurnsey Island located in the English Challel off the coast of Normandy. The time is World War II and the Nazis are occupying the island. A surreptitious roast pig dinner is the catalyst for the establishment of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. Written as a series of letters between Juliet Ashton, the society members, the Gurnsey Island inhabitants, and some of Juliet's friends, many plots twist and turn with tidbits of information given to tease and lead the reader to read more.

This first novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and her niece Annie Barrows gives us a very good picture of what was happening on the island. The Times (London) describes the book as "Cooked perfectly a point: subtle and elegant in flavour; yet emotonally satisfying to the finish." Read the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.

April Aphorism

Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life. Sandra Carey

Aholehole, Korean Style

During Merrie Monarch, Seoul Station Restaurant as selling $5 bentos which were so full of food, the containers were almost sagging...cucumber kimchee, konbu namazu, takuwun, meat jun, and barbeque chicken was one sample. Since we were vendors at the Merrie Monarch Invitational Craft Show decided to try their lunches out. We ended up buying lunch from there for three days!!

We also got to see the new location of the restaurant. It is located behind the Sportline Store at 47 Kalanikoa Street in Hilo (Across from the Kanaka'ole Stadium). Although the entrance looks small, there is enough room for over 30 diners. What was intriguing me each time I went to the restaurant was their Aholehole and menpachi specials.

As if eating Korean food three days straight was not enough, on Monday, we went to Seoul Station and I ordered the aholehole. The fish was deep fried and presented on a bed of cabbage. There was a sauce which was made of a mixture of vinegar and red pepper flakes. The taste of the sauce was subtle with an acidic taste and an undertone of heat. Excellent dipping sauce. With the meal, we also had seven (7) side dishes: won bok kim chee, cucumber kim chee, shredded potato, fishcake strips, spinach, soy bean sut chul namul, and tiny iriko (anchovies). My husband had a combination plate with meat jun (barbeque meat dipped in egg and friend) and spicy pork. His portion would have been enough for two people. For appetizers, we ordered a plate of mundo (Korean Potstickers) with a light dipping sauce. There were 10 mundo for $5.50.

Our entire meal cost less than $30 and we left with the residual taste of garlic, hot peppers, and vinegar to remind us of the feast we just had.

For those who are Korean drama fans, they also serve spicy rice cakes and black bean noodles if you'd like to try some on the dishes you see the actors scarfing down with relish on the various episodes.

Seoul Station...machiso (delicious)!

Kurosawa Rocks in Black and White

For some reason, TCM channel has been having a Akira Kurosawa fest...Seven Samurai, Yojimbo. It is amazing how that fellow could get the audience engaged, despite the lack of color, special effects, and grand band music.

I loved his takeoffs on Shakespearean plays...Throne of Blood. To see the play from a Japanese perspective. Wow!! Food for thought, food for the eyes.

It seems that often, his films show landscape that is so dusty, dirty, and windy. Although I lived in Japan, I never saw such places. It lends a sense of desolation and desperation to the scene.

We cannot leave off the handsome Toshiro Mifune, a fellow who awakenend women's interest in oriental men during the 1940-50s. Much of the acting hinged on the language of the eyes, and the profound nodding of the head. Mifune played some of the goofy roles well and quite a contrast to his serious Samurai characters of later years.

Good movies like good novels withstand the test of time and engage us as human beings with the struggles of the characters on the page or the screen. We need more stuff with substance.

March Aphorism

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Thomas Alva Edison

Sky Garden Restaurant Noodles

One of the best places for fresh and healthy foods in Hilo is the Sky Garden Restaurant at the 'Imiloa Astronomy Center on the University of Hawai'i at Hilo's campus. The restaurant has an awesome view of Hilo to entice the diner.

Their lunch buffets are fabulous. Don't let the small table for salads fool you. You can find some wonderful tidbits to fill your plate again and again. More than a bowl of tossed greens, there is sweet potato salad, sprouts, tofu, crunchy toppings, and a variety of delicious dressings.

Their hot entree line is filled with really yummy items. I like their salt and pepper shrimp, and their mapo tofu is bombastic. For the tofu dish, you really need to take a portion of rice since it is quite spicy!! The items change from time to time but everything is very flavorful and they do a good job in refilling the items on the line.

Went to the restaurant this past Saturday for a book club meeting. We discussed Carolyn Mones' book, Last Chinese Chef. So we decided to order some appetizers to nibble along. We had fried squid, potstickers, green beans with garlic, spring rolls, minced chicken with lettuce cups, and beef noodle soup.

The beef noodle soup was a winner with thick chunks of beef that looked like they were marinated in shoyu, ginger, and garlic. The noodles look like flat Japanese udon noodles. They also added slices of mustard cabbage for color and crunch. The sauce was dark and flavorful!! Really worthy in light of the many options one can choose at the Sky Garden. Will try to replicate the recipe at home.

Food for thought

I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes. (Read this somewhere)

Why is it that there are people who exercise a lot who still die of heart attacks?

Why is it that there are vegetarians who are fat?

Why is it that an unhealthy, fast food diet is so much cheaper than a diet filled with fruits and vegetables?

Why is it that it costs so much for fish when we live on an island?

Why is it that there are rich people who are so unhappy?

Why is it that there are poor people who are so happy?

Life is indeed a quandary.

Food for thought

"Sunamei had not yet learned the language of the eyes. She did not yet know the secret of the planned accidental meeting."

From Bai Hua's novel, Remote Country of Women.

February Aphorism

The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense.
Tom Clancy 1997

Value of a Woman

It is true that the freest people are those who are poor. Just finished reading Philippa Gregory's book, The Other Boleyn Girl. I was amazed how women were pawns in the society and were manipulated by the men in their families to gain land, riches, titles, and rank. Gowns, balls, jewels, and adoration aren't all they are made out to be. I am sure within the circles of women, there was power and control but there is the sense of hopelessness of women to be able to have some control on how they would live their lives.

Though we may think that others live a "fabulous" life, there may be trials and tribulations that are beyond our understanding. The price of fame. The burden of affluence. The sorrow of loneliness. The devastation of illness.

Live a life and live it well. Fill it with love and positive energy. Be gracious and generous to others. Be thankful.

Living off of the land without being a farmer

Some many people are bellyaching about how they don't have money and yet I see people buying cigarettes at over $7 a pack. I see people racing back and forth up and down the hill by our house in gas guzzling turbo engined vehicles. I see people in Starbucks drinking beverages over $3 a pop.

If you don't have money, economize...hello!!?

Cheap Living Tip #1
Go to the farmers market and buy a chayote (pipinola)and instead of cooking it, lay it on the ground and let the shoot develop. Set up a place for the vine to grow on. We used two bamboo poles (free from our yard) and a piece of wire that they use for concrete forms (which was lying around our yard). This served as the area for the chayote to grow. You can eat the fruit like a squash in stir fry dishes, soups or stews. I hear tell that you can also slice up the fruit and use it in an apple pie recipe. I like to use the fruit when it is green and young. You can also pinch off the shoots and steam them or use them in a stir fry. I like it steamed lightly and eaten with Best Foods Mayonnaise.

You can use the same process to grow sweet potatoes (you can also eat the sweet potato shoots), potatoes.

Cheap Living Tip #2
Turkey is cheap at Safeway this week...29 cents a pound. On the day you are off, roast the turkey. After it is cooked, remove the turkey from the bones. You can separate the meal into dark and white meat portions. Put meal size portions into freezer ziploc bags and freeze the turkey. You can use the cooked turkey for meals on busy days...sandwiches, turkey corn scallop, turkey vegetable soup, curry.

Take the carcass and bones and cover it with water. Add some salt and chopped onions and let it simmer until all the meat has fallen off of the bones. If you wish, you could add in one ham hock with the turkey bones. Remove the bones, skim the fat off the soup. You can use the stock as the basis for your turkey vegetable soup. Or you can add one cup washed uncooked rice, 5-6 water chestnuts, the stem ends of mustard cabbage (chopped), and let simmer until the rice has exploded. This is the Chinese rice soup called Chuk or jook. When serving, you can add in finely chopped green onions, the leafy portion of the mustard cabbage (chopped fine), or chopped lettuce. Condiments to spice up the rice soup could be sweet chili sauce, kochujang - Korean pepper paste, miso - Japanese soy paste, chili pepper water, or shoyu. Choose which condiment best fits your taste.

Cheap Living Tip #3 - Beef Stew or Soup Starters.
When making stew, instead of buying stew meat which is over $3 a pound, buy soup bone. If the butcher did too good a job of removing meat from the bone, buy a family size package of chuck steak that is on sale or reduced in price. In a soup pot, saute a round onion (chopped), and add in the soup bone and the chopped meat chunks. Brown the meat. Lightly salt the meat in the cooking process. Add in water to cover. Add in chopped celery and a bay leaf and let simmer merrily about an hour. Skim the oil off of the soup. Adjust taste by adding salt, coarse black pepper, worcestershire sauce. Do not overseason. Let the soup cool. Remove the soup bone and give it to your dog to gnaw. Portion out the cooled soup into freezer ziploc bags, dividing up the meat chunks into each bag. Make sure that the bags are sealed. Identify the contents and date by writing on the bag. Freeze in your freezer by laying the bags in a baking pan. Separate bags with a piece of newspaper between each bag. When the soup is frozen, remove the newspapers and baking pan.

Things to add to your Stew Starters
Potatoes, carrots, stewed tomatoes, or wrinkled, neglected tomatoes from your refrigerator drawer, leftovers such as assorted cooked vegetables, leftover chili. spaghetti, pasta etc. Try adding frozen bags of mixed vegetables or spinach or taro leaves. You can change the stew by adding curry mixes. Adjust the flavor accordingly. If you have little kids, make your vegetable soups fun by adding in alphabet pasta.

Have fun saving money and time.

Food for thought

Scarcity brings clarity.

January Aphorism

An aphorism is a short sentence expressing a wise or clever observation, or some truth.

The trouble with bucket seats is not everybody has the same size bucket.

Travel to France on Keawe Street

In a Hawaiian town, Oriental, American, and Hawaiian cuisine reign supreme. Our first journey for 2010 is to France for some crepes at Le Magic Pan. The small restaurant is right off of Waianuenue Avenue in a location known as Roussells in the past, another French restaurant that came and left. It is difficult for "exotic" ethnic restaurants to survive in Hilo

The lunch menu offered salads, soup, crepe entrees, and dessert crepes. The soup of the day was tomato with roasted red pepper soup. I had the Spanish Flamenco half crepe with salad. The crepe had shrimp, spinach, avocado, cheese. Half a crepe was quite enough as those little things are quite filling. The green salad had a big gob of ripe avocado and artichokes. The salad dressing was quite good. It is too bad the first serving of salad had a strand of hair in it. My salad was replaced by another.

Earlier in the week, I had the La Provencal crepe which I thought was more tasty than the Spanish Flamenco. The La Provencal is a chicken crepe which was quite cheesy and rich.

I had a glass of lemonade which was quite a good complement to the meal although wine would have been great. This place does not have a liquor license so if you wish to have wine, bring your own...there is no corkage fee.

We ended up with the Waimea strawberry dessert crepe. I did not like it because the syrup tasted like commercial strawberry syrup and the strawberry sauce did not look fresh...more along the bottled variety. There were also thin slices of bananas in the crepe. Although it looked very pretty, it was not up to par for the $8 it cost.

The half crepe with salad cost $11. My total bill was over $22 for lunch. I left the place very full but must admit that on the flavor meter, I would say I would rate the lunch at *** out of *****.

The best thing about the restaurant was that there were very few patrons so we were able to sit at our table and have a leisurely lunch in a quiet setting. As we were ready to leave, more people came into the restaurant so it was a perfect time to exit left.

Setting: **** Parking can be a problem
Cleanliness: **
Wait Service: ****
Deliciousness: ***
Cost: **

Overall Rating: ***

Am willing to give this place a chance and perhaps visit it in the evening and bring along a good bottle of wine.