Monthly Archives: February 2011

Pray for Mangos or How to bake a great Mango Bread

Madeline Awong’s Mango Bread Recipe

Whistling from the kitchen a tuneless song, my mother in law would happily cook and bake. I remember the Portuguese soup with lots of kale, baking with large chunks of fruit inside her upside down pineapple cake and brown mango bread with large pieces of orange mango to contrast.

In her memory I would like to share this recipe for Mango Bread. I believe the secret to its greatness was the fact that she never diced the mangoes but crushed them so that with each bite you would get a wonderful taste of the fruit.

Mango Bread

2 C flour sifted

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup sugar

Mix and form a well in center

add

3 well beaten eggs

3/4 Cup oil

2 Cup Mangos mashed

1 tsp vanilla

Nuts and raisins are optional

Mix and pour into greased pan and Bake at 325 for 1 hour

The Great Freshwater or Kawainui Marsh

In ancient Hawaii islands were divided into various divisions. One of the divisions was called an ahupua’a. Ahu meant altar and pua’a meant pig. The ahupua’a boundaries were marked by the head of a pig placed on an alter.
If you can imagine a boundary going from the top of the mountains  and continuing down to the ocean you would be able to envision an ahupua’a.

On the island of Oahu  an ahupua’a existed on the side of the island called Kailua. There was a fish pond in this area. It required the whole community to clean the pond.
In a 60 to 70 acre pond it could require up to 10,000 people to work on it.
The Kailua pond was 850 acres so you can well imagine the number of people it took to care for it.

In time foreigners took the land from the Hawaiians and started growing rice, pineapple, and sugar cane and  drained the ponds and filled them in.
Not wanting to work  on the plantations, Hawaiians left to work cutting sandalwood to fill the demand of the foreigners.  Disease also played a part in culling the population.

Today this area has been brought back to life by individuals, school groups, community and Hawaiian cultural groups, and natural resources managers.  Kawainui Marsh

Pathway along Kawainui Marsh

It is worth the early morning drive to arrive at the marsh when the clouds are lifting. The walk along this path is about 3 miles round trip I believe.
It’s not the ocean nor the typical sunset that so many people envision when they think of the islands. There is a botanical garden  and a taro patch, and lots of fowl to watch along the way.

If you arrive early enough there is also a good chance of catching a golden sunrise. I caught this when I accidentally turned down the wrong road to the Marsh which took me along another road that was a large field but with a great view.
Along with the gardens and water plants and pathway, this is also a restored habitat for all water birds concentrating on indigenous fowl.

This is a black crowned heron (below) or Auku’u. According to what I read at this site the Adult “Auku’u doesn’t recognize its own young and will sit on any one’s brood. I guess it could be  called the on call baby sitter of the Marsh.
 


Here is a map if you want directions: Kauainui Marsh . Be early and be patient the sunrise and birds are worth the wait.

JUST ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE

As the sirens blow outside my window I am reminded that it is the first working day of the month. Every Month at 11:45 the emergency sirens are tested. It’s just another day in paradise.

It reminds you that there is always a possibility of a hurricane, a tidal wave, or the worst case scenario, another Pearl Harbor attack.

I remember being on the island of  Hawaii, or as we call it “The Big Island,” on business when Iniki hit. Hurricane Iniki, the 3rd most dangerous hurricane in US history hit the tiny island of Kauai in 1992. http://www.drgeorgepc.com/HurricaneIniki.html

Though we were 65 miles from the Hurricane it still did a lot of damage. The little Church in Kona town floated out to see in the large swells that carried it away. Some paddlers canoed out to it and with rope brought it back. The Stained glass windows were still in tack and only miner damage was done.

I mention this hurricane because  many of my friends think my life is sun and surf and I always seem to be the envy of many  who don’t live here. There is always a possibility of a natural disaster such as the tsunami that hit the Big Island in 1946 on April Fools Day. It killed 24 children and their teachers when it hit their school. Eyewitness Account

I knew somebody who had a  brother that was caught in it. He saw a huge wave building in back of him as he tried to catch fish that were floundering on the waterless ocean floor. He could not outrun it so he just held on to a rock as the wave went over him and pulled back again out to sea. She said her brother stuttered right into his adulthood as a result of that day.

So keep these accounts in mind when I share with you a typical morning for me here in the islands.

On most mornings when I drop Nico off at his school this is the view I have of Diamond head. It’s amazing how the colors change in a matter of minutes. As I walk up the long winding path to his class I can look down and watch the day begin. Much of the time it will be heading into the high 70’s by 7:30 AM.

When I get to the top of the path there is another beautiful site that I just love to look over at.

This is just to right of Pearl Harbor. Its a good thing that none of the classes face this way otherwise this school would be full of daydreamers. If you double click on the photo, and look at the large golf ball like Sea-Based X-Band Radar that sits on a platform on the horizon, you can see more detail of it.

It is based in Alaska but spends more time here in Pearl Harbor. If you want to read more and see photos please go to this site; SBX

Even in Hawaii a little rain must fall and I sometimes have to go to the doctor. This is the landscape where the hospital and labs are located.

So as the day ends and I head up the hill to my house even the sun has to set and I have to do my chores. What can I say. Just another day in paradise.