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November 30 Left OversNovember 27 Thanksgiving 2008: Done!4.5 hours later... the turkey is done! The glaze on top is pineapple jam (another Hawaiian variation). This is the gravy and vegetables from the bottom
Finally.. all done
Turkey (about 5% of the entire bird), stuffing, cranberry relish, candied yams, vegetablels. Here is my plate. I dont think I can fit much more.
Eat
Pie time! The sweet potato pie was still warm and the apple was made yesterday. 1 of each... with some of my $2.50 hagendaz ice cream in the middle. Heaven.
Happy Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving 2008: Cooking!The big day finally arived. I woke up around 8 and went a quick run before heading to the kitchen.
First thing was to get the stuffing ready. Cooked up the rice a roni and roasted some chestnuts.
Once the rice is done... combine with toast, onions, eggs, seasoned salt and part of the turkey liver. Then mix it up. Seal up with some bread.
Next get the turkey ready.. and place the stuffing inside.
I usually bake my turkey breast side down for 3/4 of the time to prevent it from drying out. Sounds strage, but, this really works! Put some seasoned salt and butter on the skin. In it goes.
With the turkey in the oven, I started on the yams. This is a new recipe. Start off by softening the yams in the microwave for a few mins. Then, combine them in a pot with:
-maple syrup
-brown sugar
-butter
-orange peal
-lemon peal
-OJ + lemon juice
-cinnamon
-nutmeg
-vanilla
Everything is slow cooked for 5-6 hours. Amazing!
Next, started working on the Okinawan purple sweet potato pie. First, peal and then boil them until soft.
Then mash
Add butter, sugar, cream, eggs, salt, vanilla, milk. Mix mix... Add to pie crust.
45 Min@325'.... done!
November 26 Thanksgiving 2008 Let the Cooking Begin: Cranberry Relish & Apple PieThanksgiving is my favorite holiday and it really is nice to be back home to celebrate it. Food & Football. What could be better. Tomorrow's menu will include:
-Turkey (18 pounds! Cost only $5... by far the best deal for food you will ever find)
-Carrots, Potatoes, & Onions with the turkey
-Stuffing
-Cranberry Relish
-Candied Yams
-Apple Pie
-Okinawan Sweet Potato Pie (this is a Hawaiian special... the potatoes are purple)
This is a lot of food. So much so that I needed to start cooking everything today (day before). First thing on the list to do was to make the cranberry relish. This is a pretty simple recipe that my Mom has been using for years.
The recipe starts with the zest of 3 Oranges & 1 Lemon. Combine that with sugar and 3 lbs of cranberries in a big pot.
Heat on medium and keep stiring.
Bring to a boil & it looks something like this: (sorry about the steam)
Next, add 1.5 cups of OJ (can use the 3 oranges you needed for the zest) & 1 cup of lemon juice. Also add some more sugar. Let this simmer on low heat for 5 mins. Then turn off the burner and let sit for 30 mins before placing in the fridge over night. Tada. The final color & texture looks like this. It gets a little thicker after the over night cooling.
Apple Pie
This has been a family recipe for over 30 years. I think my Mom stole it from the NY Times way back in the 70's (don't tell anyone). I have seen similar recipes on the internet... but this one really is great because it is a "cream" apple pie recipe.
Start off by pealing and then slicing 2-3 green apples. Be sure to put them in a bowl of water so they won't turn brown. Set aside.
Next, combine sugar, flour, vanilla 2 eggs, and sour cream in a bowl. Wisk this until it is smooth.
Next, get the pie crust ready. Being a lazy cook, I use these pre-made pie crusts. The recipe uses 2 which is good since 2 come in each one of these packages. USe 1 and place it on the bottom of a pie plate.
Next, pour in the apples and some walnuts into the mix. Pour everything into the pie plate. Try to even things out so the apples and filling are distributed evenly.
Next, cut the other pie crust into strips. Take your strips and place in a cross pattern on top of the pie!
Last, place some slices of butter & brown sugar on top of the crust. I used this Sugar'N Cinnamon mix and the Hawaiian touch: Maui pure cane sugar.
This is what the pie looks like before going into the oven. I've included a close up shot.
Bake for 10 mins @450' and then 45 minss @350'. Tada....
West Hawaiian Orchids: Excise Tax LicenseI got my General Excise Tax License today from the State of Hawaii. This is basically the Hawaii sales tax. Lucky for me, I won't be selling anything within Hawaii so no need to collect it!
November 25 Makapu`uAfter I tore up my board (and arm) on the reef at Wailupe, I started coming here to Makapuu to surf. Its a long drive (13km) but the water is deep and it is usually pretty empty. It is also a very short paddle. The one big downside is that waves are usually small. The bigger break is out a bit and hard to see in the pics. Check out the video at the bottom (you are seeing the nearshore break).
November 24 三杯雞MondayNovember 19 Hawaii Loa RidgeI've been meaning to hike up Hawaii Loa Ridge for a long time and Robbie's visit finally gave me the chance. This hike starts pretty high up... but was by no means easy. View near the base of the trail. You walk thu this little forest grove right away Bunch of pics of the climb up This is what the trail looks like near the top. It is pretty steep and I fell three times on the way down. (These pics were actually taken on the way down but it gives you an idea as to what the climb was like)
Saw these beautiful wild flowers growing near the top. I think they might be wild orchids again but i'm not sure on this. Will try to check this All these pics were taken at the top. You can see Waimanalo, Kailua, and Kaneohe. It was a little foggy tho.. so the view wasn't a A+. November 18 A Business of My OwnNovember 17 LeonardsBreakfastBig and complete.
November 15 Swim'n With the Turtle After our hike we needed to cool off so we made a b-line to the cove near Sandy Beach. I have a case for my camera so we took some great underwater pics.
Things were pretty boring until a big turtle came along. Robbie is the one wearing the yellow shirt and the other dude is me! We were so close to the turtle.
Saturday HikeDecided to take Robbie for a hike up the Kuli'ou'ou Ridge Trail.
Here we are at the base getting ready to head out. The ridge itself is above and to the right of the yellow gate.
Robbie took these pictures on the way up. It is pretty interesting because you hike thru a pine forest.
Took these after breaking above the treeline.
Running up the last section.
These pictures are from the offical top of the ridge... but you can actually keep going and climb another 80m higher.
Robbie took these as we climbed the last leg of the unofficial trail. This is pretty scary and you are walking right next to the ledge. A fall from here and one would have a very bad day. This is the top. 687m above the warm water below.
Took these photo stitches from the top.
November 11 Ka'ena PointRobbie is visiting so I thought it was a good chance to hike over to Ka'ena Point for the first time. This is the North West corner of the island and only accessible by hiking 2 miles from Yokohama Beach. The corner of the island is a Shearwater (type of protected bird) nesting area. These birds dig holes in the sand and sleep during the day.
This is what they look like...
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