My Trader Joes Weakness

One of my dear friends came back from Vegas and brought us a box of these Dark Chocolate Edamames.

It's really candy when you get right down to it. However, I've justified eating it by saying it's dark chocolate.  Isn't dark chocolate good for you?  It's edamame which is soybeans and it's got 7 grams of that soy protein.  Then again, is it GMO soybeans?

It wouldn't be bad if I could stick to just eating a few beans, but there's something about that little crispy crunch in the middle of the dark wonderful chocolate that makes me lose all will power.

Oh well, at the rate I'm going I'll be finished with this carton in no time.  It's a good thing we don't have Trader Joes in Hawaii.

GMO Papayas

I don't know what to believe about GMOs anymore.  GMOs are Genetically Modified Organisms.

In the 1980s a ringspot virus was threatening to devastate the papaya industry in Hawaii.  The University of Hawaii developed a new genetically modified papaya that would be resistant to that virus.

I attended a class at Kapiolani Hospital and the speaker was against GMO products.  We were careful about avoiding GMO papayas for awhile, but then gradually forgot about it.

Recently, I've heard more advisories from friends about GMO papayas and looked up which varieties are GMOs.  However, they say 75% of the Hawaiian papaya crop are GMOs.  Japan is now OK with importing GMO papayas but Europe is not.

One of the NON-GMO papayas I've heard about is the Kapoho Solo.  However, they tell me that sometimes there's cross pollination, so what do you do?

There might be a sticker number on the papaya showing how the papaya was grown:

• Conventionally grown: Four numbers, for example — “1034″
• Organically grown: Five numbers, starting with the number 9 — “90123″
• Genetically Modified: Five numbers, starting with the number 8 — “80123″

We eat a third of a papaya every morning because we thought it was good for us.  We also drink soy milk which come from soybeans that could be genetically modified too. Then there's corn...

Arrrghhhh!

POSTSCRIPT:  I just talked to the owner of Honda Tofu where we buy our tofu every week.  He told us that all tofu made in Hawaii are from NON-GMO soybeans.

Pretty Glass

I confess that I used to have this little fascination with shiny things... crystal, diamonds, cubic zirconium, glass, glitter. I collected glass and crystal vases, cups, etc. when I was younger.  When we moved to Hawaii, much of it was sold, donated or given away.

Recently, my aunt's friend was downsizing and my mother was drawn to a set of glass plates.  She was convinced my nephew's wife would love it.  As it turned out, she didn't want them.  Neither did anyone else.  I told mom I didn't want them because we already have too many dishes that we don't use.  As you know I'm now into practical dishes like Corelle or Corningware.

I brought them to our Tai chi class and no one wanted them until finally somebody offered to take them if nobody else wanted them.

I had a set of beautiful china at one time that I ended up leaving with our daughter, Tiffany.  They're tucked away somewhere and unused.  I'm thinking beautiful china that you can't put in the dishwasher is becoming a thing of the past... just like these glass pieces.

Broccoli Salad Memories

Isn't it funny how certain recipes will bring to mind the beautiful person who shared it with you?

Mrs. H and Jonathan

Mrs. H was introduced to us about 30 years ago by Dina of Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo.  Mrs. H had once been Dina's teacher and they became family to each other.  Our children loved going to Mrs. H's woods.  Mrs. H had planted thousands of daffodil bulbs in her woods and she invited us to go and pick them in the springtime.  Mrs. H loved sharing nature and all she knew about it with her friends and neighbors.  Mrs. H died last year and will be sorely missed.

A couple of days ago I made the broccoli salad that she brought to one of our dinner parties in Illinois.  Everybody loved it.  I remember when I first tasted it and asked if she would teach me how to make it.

"Oh... but it's very difficult," she said with twinkles in her eyes.

Here is the recipe:

Broccoli Salad

From: Mrs. H

3 bunches of broccoli (raw and sliced)

1/4  cup red onion  (diced)  I leave this out.

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup water chestnuts (sliced)  I don't usually use this either.  The stems of the broccoli are similar to the water chestnuts so I just use that.

Sauce:

1 cup light mayonnaise   I use either light or regular.

1 Tablespoon sweet and low   or just plain ol’ sugar

1 Tablespoon vinegar

Now whenever I make this recipe, I see those twinkles in Mrs. H's eyes and it makes me smile.

Moving Furniture for Mom

Mom's old koa furniture had springs that were sprung and fabric that was deteriorating.  I managed to sell it through Craigslist and we took mom out furniture hunting.

After sitting on sofas in storeroom after storeroom, mom decided this one was pretty comfortable so we bought the set using the money from the koa furniture sale and then some.

After some time, she did not like it.  She said it was actually too fluffy, the seat was too high, the back was too far and it made her slouch and her neck hurt and... 

"It's for tall people," she insisted.

We bought her a stool to put under her feet but she still didn't like it much.  I finally asked her if she wanted to trade it for the sofa set we have in the living room.

I thought this sofa and loveseat were a different color but discovered it was probably the nap and the sunlight.

Mom jumped at my suggestion and couldn't wait until my brother came to help move the furniture from her family room to the living room.

Unfortunately, the sofa and loveseat are really heavy, huge and could barely get through the doorway.

After a lot of measuring doorways and removing the legs on the sofa, we managed it.

Mom was so excited.  She could hardly wait to put the dark brown bed sheet I bought to cover and protect her "new" sofa and loveseat. 

The living room is a bit more crowded now with the oversized sofa and loveseat, but that's OK.  Now I don't have to feel bad every time I sit on the other fabric sofa and cause the sheets to wrinkle which drives mom nuts.  On the other hand, if guests come with a rivet on their back pants pocket which could scratch the leather, mom just might... just might make them sit on a chair instead. 

Naming Our Children

I've heard that countries including Germany, Denmark and Iceland have official rules about what a child can be named.  There was an article in the paper about a 15-year-old Icelandic girl who was granted the right to legally use the name Blaer that her mother had given her.

The Reykjavik District Court ruled that she could use it even though the Icelandic authorities said it was not a proper girl's name.  Up until now, the girl was listed as just "Girl".

Apparently names in Iceland have to conform to grammar and pronunciation rules.  You can't be named Carol or Carla because there's no "C" in the Icelandic alphabet. Iceland is spelled Ísland by the Icelandic people.

Jonathan and Tiffany

After naming our daughter, Tiffany, it was fun to see all the different ways people had chosen to spell it.  Among many variations, I've seen Tifany, Tiffani, Tifani.  You'd think my son, Jonathan's name would be standard until I had a student named Johnathon. 

After moving back to Hawaii, I've seen long, long, long names for babies in the newspapers. I understand the most popular names in the U.S. for 2012 was Aiden for a boy and Sophia for a girl. I have no idea what I'd name the kids if I had them today.  I remember wishing I'd used the name Jessica in 1977.  Do you have a favorite name you'd choose now if you could do it over?

Watercress Nostalgia

When I was growing up, mom says watercress was very cheap and that's why we often ate it.  I remember her stir frying it with bacon, a little soy sauce and I don't know what else.  She doesn't remember either, but my brother and I loved it.

Watercress is best bought at the farmers market in Hawaii.  It seems fresher than what we see at the regular market.  Our Hawaiian watercress looks like a different variety than what we got on the mainland.

Mom and I eat it by dabbing the leafy stalks into a plate of mayo and soy sauce.  Art eats it plain.  I used to chop off and discard the stems, but Art insisted they would be great to eat alone.  I didn't believe him.  However, when we had sandwiches the other day I ate the stems with him and it was wonderful!  It was better and healthier than eating chips.  Really.  It was surprising delicious.  It added just a touch of crunch and spicy flavor to the sandwich.  Yum!

Happy Mother's Day!

We celebrated Mother's Day a little early like we always do to avoid the crowds.

My daughter, Tiffany couldn't figure out what her grandmother would like to have for Mother's Day so she commissioned us to take Grandma to Sears to buy the blouses that she loves.  I confess I teased mom about only liking this one style but then remembered that I do have a secret number of those Target C9 V-neck t-shirts that I love in every color.

After settling on these two blouses we were off to Roy's in Ko'Olina.

I'd won a $25 gift certificate to Roy's restaurant at my 45th high school reunion last year.  I was looking forward to using it.  Roy's is right next to a gorgeous golf course.

 

Mom enjoyed having a very peaceful luncheon overlooking a pond of ducks and black swans.

Yes, it was very good.  We were so full that we had no room left for dessert.

To all of you who are moms or love moms or had a  mom, Happy Mother's Day!!!

Filipino "Candy"

Growing up in Hawaii, I was introduced to foods from many different cultures.  There was Portuguese bean soup, sausage, breads, Chinese saimin (noodles) and manapua (char siu bau), Korean kim chee and kalbi, Japanese sushi and everything else my mother made, Filipino chicken adobo, lumpia and something my brother and I loved when we were kids... kankanen.  One of my Filipino friends said kankanen just means candy.  I've also seen it referred to as biko.

You can sometimes find kankanen at farmers markets.  Often times it's wrapped in banana leaves.  I e-mailed my classmate, Helen who now lives in New Mexico and she gave me this recipe:

Cook 5 cups sweet rice (sometimes called mochi rice) in a rice cooker.  When cooked and cooled, mix with 1 pound of brown sugar and 1 can of coconut.  Then bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.

Five cups of rice is a lot and Helen advised me to check online.  I learned that the basic ingredients are sweet rice, brown sugar and coconut milk, but there were tons of variations.  Some people got really fancy and used fresh coconut milk and even grated coconut.

I opted to modify some recipes and went with this:
Two and a half cups sweet rice cooked in the rice cooker
2 cups water
2 cups brown sugar
4 cups coconut milk (I didn't measure.  I just used two cans.)
1/2 tsp. salt.

 

I mixed the brown sugar, salt and coconut milk together and stirred constantly until it thickened.  Then I added the cooled cooked rice and stirred on low heat until much of the liquid was gone.

Technically, this should be wrapped in banana leaves, but I'm going to forgo asking my neighbor for leaves from his banana tree.

As for taste?  Well, we tried it with mixed reviews.  Mom thought it was too sweet.  Art thought the consistency wasn't quite the same.  And I'm thinking this sounds like my quest for the perfect elementary school shortbread cookies. Nothing seems quite as good as when we were kids.

Something You Should Know About Kitchen Fires

Someone sent me a forwarded message about kitchen fires that shocked me.  We have a fire extinguisher in our kitchen, but I have a feeling mom will forget how to use it or just plain forget where it is.

The forwarded message showed how you could buy this StoveTop Firestop that you can hang in your vent hood with that magnet.  It costs about $50.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't work with our type of vent because it would look rather unsightly.  The concept is great though.  There's a wick under the can.  If a kitchen fire ignites the wick, baking soda type chemicals would drop down to put out the fire.

Another method proposed to stop a kitchen fire is to put on a tight lid, or even a sturdy cookie sheet over the burning pot/pan which would deprive it of oxygen and die out. However another website said it may not work if the seal is not tight enough.

One thing you must remember above all else with a grease fire is DO NOT PUT WATER on it.  It will virtually explode on you and cause horrible burns.

Another thing they tell you is DO NOT MOVE the pan.  You will be panicking and could dribble burning fat over the floor causing more fires.

TURN OFF the stove if there's a fire.

Keep flammable things away from the stove.

One fire station recommended not using the fire extinguisher because it might be too powerful and spread the fire.

The only sure fire (sorry for the pun) method seems to be having that Firestop device.

I just talked to mom and showed her a video of what happens if you put water on a grease fire.  She said we shouldn't worry about her because she would never leave a pan unattended and she already knew about the lid to deprive the fire of oxygen.

OK... fine.

But I'll bet she still doesn't know where the fire extinguisher is.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

In the last year or so Art suddenly developed Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Disease or LPR.  It's when stomach acid travels up your throat.  It's annoying for him and he's under some medication.  It may be hereditary since his sister also suffers from this.  

It is recommended that he eat smaller meals and stay upright for three hours after a meal.  It's also helpful to use a wedge at bedtime.  

Tiffany sent this wedge but it's a little hard and not quite as high as Art would like.  Therefore he's been using an extra pillow over the wedge and another one to raise his head up a little higher.  The only problem is that the pillow is not quite wide enough.

We went to Walmart just because I don't know where I can find reasonably priced material around our area.  

They had a good selection for us to choose from.  We got 1 5/8 yards of this slightly thicker, but soft material.  It fit perfectly on the wedge.

I also bought this four pound bag of non-allergenic, polyester fiberfill.  I created channels in the pillow so the filling would not move around too much.  I had Art lie down on it until he was satisfied with the amount of fiberfill I put into each channel.  I ended up using the entire bag.  Once he was happy with the feel, I sewed up the ends.

And finally, I made a cover for it.  I bought 2 yards of this soft, sturdy material that Art chose.

I tried lying down on it too and it's very comfortable.  

Art really likes it, but it is a bit strange to have to always look up at him now.

Something like this would never work for me since I sleep on my stomach.  This might bring me to another post someday about sheet marks on my face...

Gardening Shears Thief?

Art called me to the kitchen where mom was standing upset and agitated.

"I don't know where my gardening shears are," she said remorsefully.  "I had them yesterday, but they're gone today."

Art and I scoured our yard and all the places outside where she might have left it.

"I think I might have put it in my little trash bucket and thrown everything into the yard waste bin," she suggested hopefully.

Art and I looked at each other.  The bin is full of two weeks of yard waste.  We sighed and went through it... twice... but couldn't find her shears.

"It's my favorite shears," she said.  "It cuts the best and the handles are soft and I use it all the time...."  I think she was attempting to emphasize just how crucial a problem this was for ALL of us.

Art and I circled all the places she normally walks and then realized that mom was suspecting some thief had known how good her shears were and had made off with them.  Or perhaps... just perhaps... one of us had used them and not put them away properly.

Just as I was wracking my brain to see if indeed I might have borrowed them, Art called mom.  He took her shoulders and stood her next to the lemon tree that she often enjoys trimming and pointed her in the direction of the stone wall.

"Make a surprised face, Mom!" I told her.

She was so happy that she was willing to do anything.  

Now where's that notebook I was looking at when Art called me away?

The Newest Hot Thing in Hawaii: Korean Scrubbers

Last Christmas one of my Zumba buddies, Irene gave all of us these dish scrubbers.  They were so pretty that I didn't know what it was at first.

I thought it might be a hot pad or a doily.    What a surprise to learn they were dish scrubbers.

When I used it I found that it took just a dot of dish soap to create a whole LOT of bubbles in the pad and could almost wash a sink full of dishes.  Then you could rinse out the soap very easily.  

We tried looking for more of these beautiful pads at craft fairs, but couldn't find them.

One night, I mentioned these incredible pads to my friend, Diane.  She is a teacher and said she'd received these from one of her parents.

Diane very kindly gave me one of them which I'm loving.

When I mentioned how much I loved the scrubbers, Irene said her sister-in-law crocheted them with a special Korean yarn and sold them at 3 for $10. The yarn is unavailable in Hawaii.  She has to rely on people going to Korea or purchase them herself when she travels there. 

Guess what Tiffany and Jonathan will be getting for presents soon?

Idea for Iced Coffee Lovers

Someone sent me this coffee idea that I thought was pretty wonderful. 

I'm thinking of doing this for my morning mocha... maybe.

I always add chocolate milk to my coffee in the morning.  Art makes a pot for me every few days that I keep in the fridge so I have a ready supply for my mocha every morning.

The ice does melt and dilute my mocha so this might be good to do.

I also freeze lemon juice to add to my carbonated water.  It adds a bit of zing to my water.

I tried freezing chocolate milk too, but that didn't turn out quite as well as I'd hoped.  Hmmm.... So what else can I freeze?

Boys' Day

 May 5th is traditionally Boys' Day but has been changed to Children's Day in Japan and is a national holiday.

I got the following from Wikipedia:

Until recently, Tango no Sekku was known as Boys' Day (also known as Feast of Banners) while Girls' Day (Hinamatsuri) was celebrated on March 3. In 1948, the government decreed this day to be a national holiday to celebrate the happiness of all children and to express gratitude toward mothers. It was renamed Kodomo no Hi.
Before this day, families raise the carp-shaped koinobori flags (carp because of the Chinese legend that a carp that swims upstream becomes a dragon, and the way the flags blow in the wind looks like they are swimming), one for each boy (or child), display a Kintarō doll usually riding on a large carp, and the traditional Japanese military helmet, kabuto. Kintarō and the kabuto are symbols of a strong and healthy boy.

I admit we didn't do much in Illinois.

We ocassionally hung up a carp for Jon, but that was pretty much it.

He has a beautiful traditional doll his grandparents gave him which is packed away carefully for his son... someday.

We enjoyed seeing carp swimming in the wind around our neighborhood today.

And as for our son, Jon who we named for the adventurous, pushing the limits seagull (Jonathan Livingston Seagull) ... he's given us more gray hairs than I can possibly count.  From joining the Peace Corps, to being a firefighter, to traveling the world on a dime and a crossed finger, he's kept our lives interesting.

We celebrate the excitement and pride he's given us and wish him a happy day... hopefully with his feet planted firmly on the ground and not scaling some high mountain where he could make my hair not only turn more gray, but fall out.

We love you, Jon!

Vatican Message to Buddhists for Feast of Vesakh

Dina of Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo sent me a link to a Vatican message for the Feast of Vesakh which is the Indian name for the Japanese Hana-Matsuri celebrating Buddha's birthday.  It really started my day off with a smile.

Dina is a dear friend I met in Chicago who then moved back to Israel.  Her daughter and mine were elementary school buddies.   Dina is also the person who got me started in blogging, gave me an understanding of the Jewish religion and renewed my hope in all faiths coming together.

The link she sent me was for a Vatican message calling for friendship among Christians and Buddhists. (Click on the link for the entire message which is much longer.)  The introduction showed me why I'm liking Pope Francis more and more.

"Pope Francis, at the very beginning of his ministry, has reaffirmed the necessity of dialogue of friendship among followers of different religions."

 I remember a Buddhist friend of mine here in Hawaii whose brother had converted to Christianity.  She asked him if there could be a dialogue of understanding between her temple and his church.  His church absolutely refused to consider it since they felt their way was the only way.  It was disheartening. The closing paragraphs of the Vatican message are uplifting and gives me hope for the future.

“As we all know, in spite of these noble teachings on the sanctity of human life, evil in different forms contributes to the dehumanization of the person by mitigating the sense of humanity in individuals and communities. This tragic situation calls upon us, Buddhists and Christians, to join hands to unmask the threats to human life and to awaken the ethical consciousness of our respective followers to generate a spiritual and moral rebirth of individuals and societies in order to be true peacemakers who love, defend and promote human life in all its dimensions.”

“Dear Buddhist friends, let us continue to collaborate with a renewed compassion and fraternity to alleviate the suffering of the human family by fostering the sacredness of human life. It is in this spirit that I wish you once again a peaceful and joyful feast of Vesakh.”

 I'm so happy!

The Shot

My name is Gutless Wonder. 

I don't like needles.  For almost a year in Chicago I used to have to prick my fingers to draw blood when I was being coached to watch my glucose. I think I watch my pre-diabetic health just so I won't have to do this on a regular basis forever.

When my health manager, Kathy told me I should get the cortisone shot for my shoulder, I balked.  I tried to convince her that I didn't need it.

When I asked my Zumba buddies if it hurt, several had gotten the shot and said, "YES!  Of course it hurt!"

I decided to ask Bert, my physical therapist.  Since I'm getting physical therapy I held out the hope that he would tell me I wasn't bad enough to need it.

"Get it," he said.  "It will help the bursitis inflammation."

"But will it hurt?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.  "But you'll feel much better in a day or so."

Sigh...

I phoned the hospital to schedule the shot this morning.  They'd called a couple of days ago when I wasn't home to schedule an appointment and I hadn't called them back.  When you pronounce my name the emphasis should be on Gutless.

The receptionist told me that I wouldn't be able to get the shot until I was evaluated by the orthopedic doctor and the earliest appointment for just the evaluation was in June. 

Awwwww...

And  you know what?  He might say I don't need the shot.  Right?

iPad for Travel?

Several people have been telling me that instead of bringing a heavier, bulkier laptop with them on travel you should just bring a tablet.  I like the idea of carrying something lighter when you're traveling, but I'm still dubious that a tablet can take the place of a laptop.  For one thing could you upload photos from your camera to your iPad?

Turns out that YES, you can!  However, we did encounter one problem.  Art bought a 5 in 1 card reader on Star Advertiser Hot Deals ($10), but after waiting forever for it, found out it was the wrong one.  It was for the iPad 3rd generation or older which had a 30 pin connector.  Our iPad 4 has a Lightning connector.  Annoying!

Double doggone it!

That's OK.  Our son, Jon is very happy to get what we can't use.

So off we went again and just bit the bullet and paid the $30 for this very expensive Apple Lightning card reader.  The salesperson said it would be a while before there would be paraphernalia for the iPad 4 made by other manufacturers (knocks offs) because of that new connection.

I'm still not convinced that we can do without our laptop on our travels.  I guess we'll find out some day.

Segregated Proms in 2013?

I read an article in the newspaper about a segregated prom that's been going on at Wilcox County High School in Georgia since 1971 when the schools were desegregated.  Because school events could not be segregated these proms were organized by the parents.

Recently a group of four students, two black and two white came up with an idea to have an integrated prom.  Therefore this year, after decades of separate proms for black and white students, they were able to raise enough in donations to rent a ballroom and get food and gift bags for every couple who registered to go.  They received a lot of support from people around the country.

I'm in shock.

This is 2013.  We have a black president.  And still there are places in this country where parents are feeling the need to segregate?

We are so thankful that we lived in a  community in Illinois where people tried their best to be accepting of everyone.

Granted it wasn't perfect in 1974 when we first moved to Illinois from Hawaii, but I was glad to see everyone working hard to gain harmony and acceptance.

Remember that song from South Pacific, You've Got to Be Carefully Taught?  Thank goodness some of those kids didn't tolerate the bigotry and prejudice of their parents.

There's hope.

No... No... Not More Needles!

When I was asked if I had any pain during my last check-up at Tripler, I did mention my sore shoulder.

My nurse practitioner, Kathy sent me for X-rays, an MRI and physical therapy.

I didn't really want to go because I don't like X-rays, and I don't much care to be put in a tube for almost half and hour and besides... the pain would probably go away on its own without the PT.  Right?

Kathy sent me immediately to Radiology for the X-rays and then I was called to get the MRI and I got the letter to get myself over for physical therapy.

Sigh....

It's a good thing I like Bert or I'd be an unhappy camper and besides I figured my aches were just part of the ahem... aging process.  Isn't that what they always say?

Sigh...

I just got a call from Kathy.  My MRI results had come in and no, it's not nothing.

1. Supraspinatus tendinopathy and partial thickness tear.
2. Subacromial subdeltoid bursitis.

So now Kathy says I need to go get a shot for the bursitis.

Sigh...