Anything You Want to Know on Google AI Overview About Garlic Chives

 We are having our Thanksgiving/Holiday Party next week since some family members are traveling overseas and another family member was on duty as an ER nurse.

Still... although it was not our turn to roast the turkey (my sister-in-law is doing the honors this year) we decided to go ahead and roast a small turkey anyway just so we could freeze left-overs.

I looked at my recipe book and saw that oops! I needed 2 1/2 cups of green onions/shallots for my James Beard stuffing. But you know what? I wasn't sure this would make 2 1/2 cups after I chopped it.

But then I looked at my garden which was FULL of nira (Japanese for garlic chives). Mom always said nira was actually medicinal because it is so nutritious. I know she always grew and used a lot of it in her cooking when we were growing up.

But would it be OK to substitute nira for green onions in my stuffing?

This is kind of a far out question to ask online, but I figured... what the heck! I'll try it!

Dang! 

Google AI Overview popped up saying, "Yes, you can substitute garlic chives for green onions in stuffing."

Wow!

And about that nutritional value?

Yup. I guess mom is right. Nira IS good for you! 😄

I guess you can ask anything online and AI will come up with an answer for you. Absolutely amazing!

POSTSCRIPT:

Wow! I REALLY miscalculated. I just used the black tub of green onions and it was way more than enough. Ah well... I know now that nira is OK too.

When Life Gives you Lemons, Make Lemonade - Elbert Hubbard

You can find out anything online. I discovered it was Elbert Hubbard who wrote that phrase in 1909.

Annnnyway... this is another post about lemonade. 😄 I wrote a post last month about adding baking soda to lemon juice to take out that tartness. I'm still working on perfecting it.

For one thing, it's a pain in the butt to squeeze that juice manually. My brother mentioned how he had an electric citrus squeezer that he uses. 

So I looked on Amazon and found this. It was certainly cheap enough. I didn't think I'd be using it all that much so I got it.

Our lemon tree is quite bountiful and my brother usually takes most of it and I've given some away to relatives and friends. But I was curious...

I had 4 rather large lemons and it made exactly 3 cups of juice. When Art squeezed it manually before, we'd gotten 2 cups. So this was an improvement, or maybe these were just bigger lemons. 😄

The last time I made this in October I added the water and sugar before adding the baking soda. Art suggested I add the baking soda directly to the juice before the water and sugar.

And wow! That REALLY made it bubble up like crazy!  Art also wanted to try adding 3 Tbsp. of honey instead of sugar to the water and juice. 

(OK... Art the engineer just said the last time I added 3 Tbsp. of sugar to a total of 6 cups of juice/water. This time, I actually had a total of 9 cups of juice/water soooo.... technically, we could have added a bit more honey to make it even sweeter.)

And the conclusion...

Mom couldn't tell the difference. Art says he doesn't think adding the baking soda before the water and honey made a difference. However, he felt the honey had a smoother taste. (Most of you know I've lost most of my sense or taste and just about all of my ability to smell. 😕) So anyway, it was fine either way but more fun to watch the lemon volcano.

POSTSCRIPT:

Oh gosh! I forgot to wish you all here in the U.S. a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!

And for our Canadian friends, Happy Belated Thanksgiving!!! 

Because several members are unable to come because of their job or travel, we are having our Family Holiday Get-Together next week. 😄

Missing Computer Keyboard Letters

Confession time, in case you didn't know. 

When I was in high school and let's face it, even now, I stunk at math. When I wasn't required to take anymore math courses, I was jubilant, relieved, exultant. 

However, the one thing I enjoyed most in high school was typing. I loved typing. I learned to touch type. I could type fast. I loved my typing teacher. I decided to become a secretary because I could be in an air conditioned office and type all day. But then all my friends were going to the University so I decided to tag along. University costs were a lot cheaper back then.

So anyway, when the keyboard on my desktop computer started disappearing, it didn't matter to me because I can touch type. Woohoo!

Hooowever... Then my brother stayed at our house to take care of mom when Art and I went to Illinois to spend time with our son and family who had come home from overseas.

My keyboard drove him crazy. Dennis is a genius in a gazillion other things but he does hunt and peck. Still he types pretty fast using just two fingers (if he can see the keyboard).

Well, Art and I have a trip planned for next year so Dennis will be coming again to take care of mom while we're gone. 

Then Art (who actually can touch type) said the missing letters were bothering him too.

I needed to do something. I considered getting a new keyboard.

Nah...

I considered painting on missing letters.

I saw one website that mentioned typing out the missing letters on paper and taping it on the keys that were missing letters. Nah...

But then I found this on Amazon! They had it all made for you and it cost only about $6.00!

I was nervous when it came wondering how it would work.

I saw one website that recommended cleaning the keys with alcohol before applying the letters so I did it.

I then applied the letters.

It feels just fine. I can't tell by touch which letters have the replacement letters.

However, Art just mentioned that the replacement letters are a little lighter than the others.

Oh rats!

I see from this photo that I also FORGOT to put on the letter L. 🙄

OK....

I'm pleased BUT, we'll see how long they stay on. 😏 

Happily, it is a two pack so if they come off, I can try again.

Hmmm... would Super Glue work? 

Getting Together After 50 Years

When I was in high school, the recreation center was a place where clubs could meet. I did join a club because well... my cousin (who is actually 4 months older than my mom) was the director of the center.

There were quite of few of my high school friends in the Starlighters so it was a lot of fun. Since I moved to Chicago soon after marriage and didn't return to live in Hawaii for 35 years, I lost track of a lot of those friends. 

Well, one of those friends who happens to be sort of a calabash cousin organized a get-together. Unfortunately many friends were living on the mainland, outer island, on trips or had doctor appointments. So it ended up being just eight of us.

And then I remembered that it is a custom in Hawaii that when girls/women get-together, they bring goodie bags. I was surprised the first time I went to a party and was the only one without something to share. This was not the custom when we lived in Illinois.

I asked my brother, Dennis to make a label for me. I thought it would be fun to put my high school photo and current photo on the label with a song. I suggested Hello Again by Neil Diamond which I loved. Buuut... my brother, the perfectionist said that song came out in 1980. 😏 So he came up with So Happy Together by the Turtles (1967). 

I prepared Hawaiian style boiled peanuts for everybody. Art and Dennis were very happy because they could have the extras.

The get-together was at the Waikele Country Club which is a beautiful place. Our organizer had called and reserved an inside area way in advance. However, because a bigger group signed up, we were surprised to be placed outside on the lanai (patio) in a corner. Still, once everyone arrived, we were just happy to see each other again.

I am very non-adventurous with food. I ordered what I liked some 7 years ago when I was last here with my Zumba group. This is called steamed basa which is a fish.

Our wonderful organizer had prepared a couple of games for us. One was this Thanksgiving Quiz.

This was mine. Dang! I should have known better that it would be Mexico and Central America where the first turkey was domesticated. 

Art said he could have told me Minnesota is the state that produces the most turkeys annually because when he worked for the USEPA, they oversaw the pollution caused by the production of these giant birds.

And wow! I thought I was playing it safe by saying 67% of Americans ate turkey at Thanksgiving. But gee... It's 89% That's a lot of turkeys!

And that BONUS Points question about which country consumes the most turkey per year per capita? 

Israel? Seriously? That was a big surprise!

And by the way.... 😁 I won! I had the most correct, by a hair. 

And the very fun part?

So many goodie bag gifts! 

There was that huge Trader Joes Advent Calendar, lots of really yummy Crispix snacks, delicious homemade cookies, treats from Japan (somebody had just returned from a trip) and beautiful handmade ornaments. And yes, my boiled peanuts.

All in all, it was wonderful connecting with everybody and exchanging ideas, information about caregiving, fun experiences, and just everything!

After 50 years, I discovered we were still the same. And my friends were as wonderful as ever!

Overnight Oats Assembly Line

My nurse friend, Terry recommended my making overnight oats. I'd never heard of it, but I tried it and wrote a blog post about it last month. 

I got used to it and then decided to make it with Old Fashioned Oatmeal for mom instead of her Instant Oatmeal. However, it got to be a bit of a bother, so I decided to make 8 overnight oats at one time. Then each morning I would just add almond milk to 2 of them for the following morning.

The jars are for me (they take up less space) and the  bowls are mom's. I also add cranberries, chopped apricots and prunes for both of us. Art suggested adding some cinnamon. We'd read (on the Health website) that cinnamon...

It's a palatable spice that offers a broad spectrum of health benefits for cardiovascular health, cognitive function, and the central nervous system.

Sounded good. I also added All Bran to mom's bowls for fiber.

Then I saw my doctor and was surprised to learn he eats overnight oats too, but adds chia seeds.

I found this on WebMD.

Chia seeds are a good addition to overnight oats. They contain fiber, protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants, as well as and other vitamins and minerals like magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus to support optimal health. In fact, 2.5 tablespoons of chia seeds includes 5 grams of protein, 10 grams of fiber, and 9 grams of fat — 8 grams of that are heart-healthy fats. Remember, the chia seeds will be hard unless they stay in the liquid overnight, so mix them in before my putting your oats into the fridge to sit.

So then I started adding chia seeds.

I saw another recipe on WebMD with dark chocolate that caught my eye. 

Chocolate overnight oats

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup oats (old-fashioned or rolled oats work best)
• 1/2 cup milk or milk-alternative (1%, skim, almond, etc.)
• 1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon chocolate chips
• Optional: sliced fruit

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients except for the chocolate chips in a Mason jar or other container. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Top with chocolate chips before serving.

Doesn't this sound good? 

Wait a minute... I'm running out of counter space.

POSTSCRIPT: Kathy G mentioned in the comments how she adds bananas just before eating. I forgot to mention that. Yes, yes! I add sliced bananas and fresh blueberries after I microwave it before eating.

Like Father, Like Son, Like Grandson

I wrote a blog post in 2010 called Like Father, Like Son. 

This is because I was envious of Art being able to sleep just by deciding to go to sleep. And he can sleep anywhere. And as you can see, he can sleep in any position, even with his hands behind his head. He's even fallen asleep holding his cellphone and even more amazing, doesn't drop it.

Well, our son inherited that ability from the time he was little.

I couldn't believe Keola could stay asleep with his foot propped against the wall. 

And now... would you believe Keola's son has inherited that same ability?

And our daughter? Nope. Tif is like me. We struggle to get all the sleep we need. Not sure if my granddaughter is getting enough sleep since she's in so many high school activities that it boggles my mind. 

I'm having to resort to taking melatonin although my doctor has warned against relying on it because melatonin is something your body creates naturally and if I take it too much, my body might generate less of it. 

Sigh...

Are you able to get 8 hours of sleep? Because I sure don't.

Sigh... Pogo Again

I don't normally post of Saturdays but I thought this Editorial cartoon in the Honolulu Star Advertiser was so perfect that I had to share it with you.

Sigh...

On the other hand...

Although I wasn't anywhere near in the mood to read anything about politics, Ed of Riverbend Journal posted about a website called Tangle. It's supposed to give you an UNbiased view of the news. 

I read a bit of it and it is interesting. I'll read more when my stomach settles.

Things I Love About Japan

There are quite a number of things I love about Japan. I do, of course love connecting with my mom's family who are all so very kind and generous.

But there's a lot more things we love about Japan besides the food, the beautiful scenery and historical places. 

One thing I really love is the politeness and expectation of thinking about others. This is evident in the way that everyone lines up to the left in escalators. Everybody. This allows someone to pass by if they're in a rush. 

I was also amazed to see that you were required to remove your footwear before entering a dressing room to try on clothing. It's like entering someone's home. 

And OK... let's face it. 

I really like the toilets.

It's always so clean.

Some places have an antiseptic spray you can use on a piece of toilet paper to wipe the seat before you sit on it. There are also seat covers.

The bidets to clean your front and rear are great too.

And uuuummm... if you'd rather people not hear your business, you can play some white noise to hide what you need to do.

I found many bathrooms to have one at a lower level for children and perhaps wheelchair bound ladies. (OK, I don't know what the men's bathroom is like.)

I was also surprised to find one bathroom that was even equipped with a sink for ostomate patients. It's kind of funny that they have to warn you not to use it to wash your hair. 😆

The user feedback station was thoughtful too. The Japanese words give you a choice of: Clean, OK or Dirty.

My nephew is blind so I appreciated the fact that a lot of public places we went through had these tactile guides on the ground to help navigate you to your destination.

When my mother hurt her knee just two days before we left for Japan several years ago, we had to rush and get a wheelchair before boarding our flight to Tokyo. Everywhere we went, people came to help. If a train worker saw us, they would immediately run over to help and then call ahead to the next station to look for us. Totally amazing!

And I do like this posted sign that's just a reminder to be careful and considerate.

This would be wonderful for everyone to remember in every country. It's especially true right now in the U.S., I think.

What Grows and Lurks Beneath....

We're no longer allowing mom to go out into our small back garden because she isn't stable enough and has already fallen too many times.

Therefore it's now our job to keep the weeds in check. Well... we knew these little weeds kept growing out of the gravel near the back wall. We'd assumed they'd strayed over from weeds the neighbors had before they did their backyard renovations.

But no matter how many times we pulled them out, it kept growing back so Art got desperate and dug down deeper. What a shock to find these thick roots.

Art looked online and thought it was something call Broad-Leaved Pepper tree.  I'm not so sure. 

When I looked it up on Google, it suggested Siam Weed which is supposed to be one of the world's worst weeds. In Hawaii it's also known as Devil Weed. But no... I don't think it's that either. The Siam Weed leaves are supposed to have three prominent "pitchfork" shaped veins. This doesn't.

Art is saying we should allow one of those shoots to grow taller so we can see what it will look like when a bit more matured.

So how to get rid of this invasive creature. Hmmm.. And how far have those underground roots traveled and lurking to rear it's persistent leaves through the gravel?

Celebrating Mom's 95th Birthday

Mom recently arrived at her 95th birthday. She's often remarked how surprised she is that this was accomplished after the difficulty of her younger years. Mom is the oldest of three sisters in Hawaii. Her two younger sisters here passed away a while ago. Her youngest sister and brother live in Japan. 

Mom goes to a day care three times a week and all the families of participants bring little goodie bags on their parent's birthdays. It's sort of funny because this wasn't something that was done in Illinois classrooms when our kids were growing up. It was done at birthday parties though.

The other day care families are often so creative and generous that you kind of can't help feeling like you need to come up with something fun too.

Ah well...

Art and I went to Sam's Club and got a whole bunch of snacks. I bought the white snack bags on Amazon since Walmart didn't carry them anymore and my brother created the gorgeous labels. 

And then... we had her birthday party at our house. 

Everybody brought their favorite dishes. Tiffany (from Chicago) and Keola (from South Asia) also ordered some Korean meat jun for the party. 

I usually serve mom her food, but she got her own selection while I was busy doing other party prep. Uuummm... I was rather surprised at how much she decided she could eat. Uuuuummmm... I think I ate half as much as she did.

Friends also stopped by during the party and dropped off a fun mug cake for mom to have later. That's the first time I'd actually seen one and mom enjoyed it the following day.

And then we had the birthday cake! We bought a chocolate Dream Cake from Liliha Bakery. They must have the best Dream Cake (chocolate chiffon with whipped frosting) on the island. It's loaded with chocolate flakes which the kids (and definitely mom) LOVED!

We'd ordered a half sheet that provided everybody, including us with LOTS of left overs to bring home.

All in all, it was a happy celebration for mom. And best of all is the love she can see when she looks at all the photos.

POSTSCRIPT:

And to all brave and dedicated veterans everywhere, we thank you for your service so very much.

(Trying to) Find the Goodness and Light

I'm writing this on Wednesday, the Day of Insanity.

I woke up this morning at 5:00 and was afraid to check the news to see who would be our next president. 

However, I didn't have to. I saw there were already many many text messages from friends in Illinois and Hawaii giving me the awful news.

My blogger friend, Linda Reeder in Seattle who is also a retired teacher wrote on her blog:

...A friend shared an email she got from her relative in Sweden saying, "Sad day for humanity. I'm sorry for the American people and for the whole world."

Me too...

I've told the story many times about our 2016 trip to South Korea when we got off the plane and discovered that the Chicago Cubs had won the World Series after 108 years. We were jubilant! Ecstatic! (Especially since I'm not usually a sports fan.) 

We didn't think anything could get Art or me down. But several days later people with cell connection and our Korean tour guide got the news that Trump had won. We were all shocked and just couldn't believe it. We talked to our tour guide and she said whoever is in control in the U.S. affects them as well. Her tour office was all worried about Trump. This made it especially clear to us that whoever is in the oval office can affect the whole world.

And so here we are again. 

Art just told me I should mention what I wrote to friends about my grandfather who was a zen Buddhist priest. He always seemed at peace. He was on Molokai for 7 years to support Buddhists with Hansen's Disease (leprosy) while Brother Dutton helped the Christians. He'd ministered to people in prisons. And then he was taken to a Soviet Prisoner of War camp in Siberia and came home near death. But when I met and stayed with my grandparents for 3 weeks while in college, he was totally at peace. He didn't hate anyone. He was still trying to help people find good in the world.

And I guess that's what we need to concentrate on... I suppose. 

Put aside the disillusionment. Put aside looking down at people who voted for Trump. Try to find goodness and light in the days ahead. Be glad that Kamala showed dignity and grace because you know who....

Never mind.

We can do it.

POSTSCRIPT: It's Thursday night now. We saw friends at tai chi this morning and we were all still feeling horrible. But it was comforting to see friends smiling just because we were happy to be together and commiserating about our disappointment and angst. And soooo.... as the days go by, I hope things will get better.

I hope.

How are you all coping?

Fixing a Van With a $10 Part

Most people (especially my family) are aware that I know NOTHING about cars. Nothing. I don't even drive anymore. But it was Art who said I could make this into a blog post.

Well... the other day, Art called me to help figure out what was wrong with the brake lights on the back of our 25 year old van. Yes, it's old. We bought our Honda Odyssey in 1999 in preparation for our nephews coming to visit us the following summer. We had an old Plymouth Voyager van but our son was taking it to college. So we got the Honda Odyssey after my friend, Mavis told me how much they loved their new van. And yes, we had a wonderful time with our nephews visiting the East Coast. Here we are in Williamsburg, Virginia. 

So now the brake lights would not turn off no matter what he did.

And yup. So now the van was broken. I figured we needed to take it to the auto dealer to get it fixed.

However, Art looked online and learned that Hondas and Nissans have this weird plastic thingy that can crumble and fall off which would prevent the light from turning off. The YouTube videos said you just have to look on the floor and check out whether there are tiny broken plastic pieces. Yup. There they were. This YouTube video shows you how to do this fix.

Art went to the auto parts store close by but they didn't have the part he needed. They told him he could go to the Napa Auto parts store and sure enough they had it in stock. The fellow who sold him this $10 teeny tiny part said the same thing had happened to him.

Art had me depress the brake while he inserted the teensy weensy part into that hole. It wasn't super easy but he got it in.

And I'm happy to say the van light is now off.

Phew! I hope it lasts another 25 years.

Pruning the Orchids

I wrote earlier that mom's orchid plants were getting crowded and overgrown. I figured I'd tell my brother to separate and transplant them. 

However, we 've been so busy that we just didn't have time to get to it. Eventually the plants started to tip over because they were top heavy.

I noticed that once an orchid bloomed, nothing else came from the same stalk. I was wondering if we could just chop off those heavy extra stalks.

I looked online and found advice that you should cut it off on the second node of the stem.  Okeedokee. We did it. It was kind of spooky.

A few days later, we noticed that there were more stalks we didn't see that were ready to sprout out some blooms.

Woo hoo!

I hope we did the right thing and didn't kill the plants.

Deteriorating Black Soles in Hawaii

I know. I know. I've written about this problem before. Can't remember when, but I'm sure I've complained about this in another post.

When mom stubbed her toe which caused 95% of her nail to lift up, I needed to protect her toe from losing that 5% of nail tissue that was left to keep it on. The doctor thought it could reattach itself. 

I therefore had this idea to let her use one of my bigger shoes when walking outside instead of her usual slippers. She's only 4 feet 9 inches tall so I figured my slip-on shoes which is about a half size larger than hers would be good.

When she started walking though, I noticed that slide-scraping sound as she shuffled off.

Doggone it!

It has black soles and they had completely hardened making it slippery to walk in. Good grief! I looked at my other pair and they were black soled and slippery too. 

On the other hand, the white or gray soled shoes were still flexible and supple. I don't know the words to describe it. It just wasn't slippery like the black soled shoes and worked out to be much better for mom's toe that I kept bandaged for what felt like months.

Whatever the case, I just want to show you that eventually, after all my worry over her toenail, it just fell off a couple of weeks... (maybe more) later.

And there was another toenail under it.

And speaking of black rubber in Hawaii. We got this free T-Mobile umbrella a while ago and when we picked it up to use, the black rubber handle was gooey. Yuck!

Sooo... I had this bright idea to paint it with polyurethane. And guess what! It worked! No kidding. The stickiness is contained.

Too bad there wasn't a way to fix the black rubber soles on my shoes.