LizKauai: July 2009

West Kauai Rotary- Deee-licious!

Yesterday's Rotary meeting was a treat for the mind, the eyes and the palate!

President Kelly called for a business meeting and our members dove into the agenda with enthusiasm and ideas for the upcoming year. District Governor-Elect John Steelquist was a welcomed surprise guest at out meeting.

Our seating location was on the lanai of the newly remodeled Waimea Brewing Company at Waimea Plantation Cottages.

Renamed The Grove Cafe, we found the food to be delicious and attractively served. This initial pupu menu was also VERY REASONABLY-PRICED!

And not all the dishes were on the table... ha ha!

So if you are in the neighborhood on Tuesdays at 5:30pm, please come and join us for friends, fellowship, food, and service above self!

Best meal in weeks!

Fresh fish tastes best at my girlfriend Margaret's house.
Her hubby is home after months overseas and a week or two on the mainland where he must travel for work. Of course we had to bring the fish over for the first dinner of the new season. He was delighted. "Best meal in weeks!" he proclaimed.

I cleaned the fish at home - see dinner fork for scale- and then added a bit of Hawaiian salt and iced them down for the 1 minute drive to Margaret's house.

Her hubby was taking a nap (still on east coast time) so we eschewed the wok and she fried the fish on the stove- where she already had a mango bundt cake baking project in full swing.
She friend up enough for our families for dinner and we divided the rest of the fish up for another day.
MMM, MMMM, GOOD!

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LILU WATCH:
My granddaughter demonstrates the musical gene:

Hanapa'a!

After a long "drought" of fresh fish, the halalu and akule are finally back at one of our favorite fishing spots.

I went last night with #1 son Aaron and got almost a bag of fish- mahalo, Aaron!

Last night #3 son Byron came with me. The fish started to bite at dusk.

And we caught enough for ourselves and others until 3AM. The above shots are 2 sides of the same bag. We caught several halalu and the larger akule.

Tonight, we have fish for dinner!

You Have Diabetes

Hmmm. What a difference a year makes.
So I have a new primary care physician. She is leaving no platelet unturned. The good news is that I have 6 months to drop 17 lbs and get my cholesterol and all the other stuff in balance before she starts buggin me about pills and such. The bad news is that I have to start poking my fingers with needles and take readings.

Since this is probably a common problem for us baby boomers, I'll share with you what I am doing- for better or worse.

Day 1 (today) - took a bag of long-grained brown rice to work and cooked it up in the microwave to have with homemade cucumber/yogurt/dill salad and leftover grilled eggplant and zucchini. Noted that I did not feel sleepy after lunch today!

Went shopping at Star Market in Lihue where they carry stuff like kale and collard greens for $5/bunch (egads!) and all kinds of Indian food in cans and packages. Also got some boxed quinoa and quinoa or brown rice pasta. Note to self: time to start that hydroponics garden to grow our own greens.

Here is my collection of new foods to try- veggies must have flavor, after all! The greens are collards and kale.

I also got a spaghetti squash and some sweet potatoes for variety and snacks.

My son Byron said he would eat what I ate so I made enough for both of us plus lunch tomorrow. I sautee'd some chicken in olive oil, seasoned salt and curry powder for taste. Then cooked the chopped greens down in a little water and topped with the can of Delhi Saag to heat it up.

Oops- forgot to set the macro- this is a blurry side of cucumber yogurt salad.

Tomorrow I am starting the day with Coach's Oats. Breakfast of champs!

Meanwhile, back at hale Lilu...

Summer up in the Dixie Mountains with Lilu:

That's my poi girl!

Up! Down! Up!

Deer and wild birds in the yard. Lilu's sandbox. TV watching and eating blueberries with dad.

The musical gene carries on.

Outdoor wanders.

Busy Saturday!

After a relaxing day, things picked up on Saturday night!
We started with dinner at son Aaron's house.

Auntie Kim and families are visiting from Canada. Grandma Chris was delighted to be surrounded by family! Jamison taught the kids how to use chopsticks to try the various Hawaiian and local foods- like poke, laulau, grilled miso butterfish, kalua cabbage, poi and lomilomi salmon. They liked my homemade gimchi too!

Kimmie's dear friends Rose dropped by... and Aaron and Craig shared travel stories. Aaron and Kimmie take a picture in front of one of his paintings- still there from Lilu's visit!

After dinner, wafan and I went to catch WillieK at the Sheraton Block Party. Thousands of people enjoyed the food and free music!

WillieK, of course, is Hawaii's finest.