they're growing in my garden!

Ugh. We picked 28 lbs. of them last week and spent all day Sat. making jam. Frankly, I'm getting a little sick of them (if that's possible!) Are you planning to can any, Stacey? And how about you, Alexander? You create the topics but are mum on the foods themselves...how cryptic of you...:-)

we don't know of anyone else that does that...

no canning here Autumn... I eat them right off the plant usually and if they ever make it to the sink for a rinse, that's as far as they ever get!

The poor innocent 'berries!

probably have the time of their life...

*laugh* you're sounding quite cheerful today! And I shall eat up the flattery as quickly as I eat up the berries!

I 'spose I could settle for two outa three...

oh my! QUITE cheerful indeed!

is this a "bad" thing?

no, no, hell no! It's FABulous!

okay, so where were we?

you were preparing to commence...

graduation proceedings?

you were commencing to grovel I believe...

grovel=placate? hmmm... (like bowing down and kissing your feet?)

or whatever you might get to first...

or in-between... or last... or...

or...

just cover up everything that isn't off limits with strawberries...

you don't like strawberries?

I love 'em...that's why the stuff that is off limits isn't covered with them...*sheesh!*

awwww... he *sheeshed* me *grin*

you're just wicked, that's all there is to it...

but in a good way, right? *grin*

sure! why not?

whew... thought someone was on to me for a moment

You kids! It's always such fun, seeing you frollick around in the sun! Warms my old cold heart...

mine, too!

two cold old hearts? c'mon guys... pop a sunshine pill

like I said in another topic...I can't afford the meds...

I think the Afrikaans word for Strawberries is nicer than 'Erdbeeren'. It's called, 'Aarbeie'. Pretty, isn't it? It sounds just like it looks.

pronounced Arby? that's a fastfood roastbeef sandwich...

NO!!! Though one can never be sure. It's pronounced like the Afrikaans word for that butt illness, where one's butt becomes all inflamed, and you can't get the cherries out anymore - not that I have experience, but I've heard of it from other people. Anyway, so that one is Aambuie. And Aambuie and Aarbeie are pronounced as Ahm-bayah and Ahr-bayah. All clear now?

crystal!

Glad to hear that.

Because we know how much we dislike confusion and misunderstanding around here...

Even though we excell at it. I think our relationship can best be described as 'centrifugal', don't you think?

*thinking*

centripital, more than likely!

ha-ha! We should write a dictionary together, Marcia - it'll be the first best seller of its kind!

I'll buy one...

COOKING HAWAIIAN STYLE ONO - delicious KAUKAU - food PIPI - beef (or cattle) PU'A - pig IMU - pit used for cooking luau LUAU - feast LAULAU - bundles of kalua pig, fish and salt pork bundled in taro leaves (edible) and ti leaves (not edible) LILIKOI - passion fruit HULI-HULI - rotisserie HAUPIA - dessert made with coconut milk (not the water) and sugar and vanilla thickened with cornstarch LOMILOMI SALMON - cubed washed salted salmon, green onion, and fresh tomatoes

Huli-Huli is a great word, and so is pu'a. Sounds like, 'pew!-a pig'!

Oh, here are those words in afrikaans - not a poetic language, I admit. Try not to laugh out loud, okay? HEERLIK - delicious KOS - food BIEF - beef VARK - pig PARTYTJIE - feast (like a tiny party!!!) VISTROS - bundle of fish and those other things we haven't even given names yet!

Ree, I love your pronouncuiation of pu'a = pig and the way you put it all together. *lol* Unfortunately, it is the European vowel in use in Hawaiian so the sound is more like Poo'AH = pig. But, I liked yours better! Huli-huli is a great word. It sounds like what it is and little kids who rolls off of a bed, also huli over. How is the V in Afrikaans pronounced? Strawberry in Hawaiian is 'ohelo-papa meaning flat-spreading berry. The native species growing here on the mid slopes of the volcanoes is white when ripe and makes (as I have mentioned elsewhere) a particularly nasty-looking Jam and Pie. Food coloring is recommended. It tastes just like a ripe red one, but it is just about half the size of wild strawberries elsewhere.

How weird! The V and the F in afrikaans is pronounced like an english F.

So what do you need the letter V for?

Well, we use the V in the first half of a word, and the F in the latter half. But, of course there are exeptions. It is such an easy language; I guess it's the only thing the Afrikaners could come up with to confuse people. How about the language you speak over there - Hilo? Is that difficult to learn? Do you speak it all the time, or are there many English speakers like John and yourself around?

Interesting question. Just about everyone who has been in America for a while speaks some sort of English. Usually pidgin...a very flexible and colorful patois which gets right to the point with the fewest words. Very few speak English very well, unfortuantely. Older generations speak Japanese, Filipino, some version of Southeast Asian, Chinese or other dialects from that general area. Native Hawaiian speakers are rare. However, on one island, Niihau, only Hawaiian is spoken. There is a resurgence in teaching and speaking Hawaiian on the elementary school level, but it is not widespread in every-day life. It is full of glottal stops and vowels - I have not tried very hard to learn it, though I can sing several of songs in it.

ah ha! but can you sing those songs with STRAWBERRIES in your mouth?!

Strawberries are proof that there is a God! Lucky Mickey Rourke got to eat them off Kim Basinger in 9-1/2 Weeks. If I'm not mistaken, I believe pig or pork is actually pua`a (does have the "okina" or glottal stop, but one more "a" and it is in between the double a. Hawaiian has double and even triple consonants, but no double vowels. Took two years of it at the University, but am far from a conversational speaker. Am good enough to get by on radio without little old Hawaiian ladies calling to riticize my pronounciation. Here are the words to a Hawaiian song (first stanza and chorus only). Written by (Rev.) Dennis Kamakahi, about a young Hawaiian boy secretly spying a good looking blonde woman taking a shower in a waterfall on the island of Moloka`i. Wahine Ilikea (White-skinned woman) Pua kalaunu, ma ke kai, Oho no uliwai Wahine ilikea, i ka po lio 'O Moloka`i, no ka heke Nana wale no, na wai lili uka, o hina, o ha`a, o mo`o loa, Na wai ekolu, i kaulu wehiwehi, O kama lo, i ka malie Pua kalaunu, ma ke kai, Oho no uliwai Wahine ilikea, i ka po lio "O Moloka`i no ka heke For all but Marcia, this probably belongs in "Silly Song Lyrics," but when Dennis Kamakahi sings this, he's got the women where he wants them!

could you translate please?

My translation is more than a tad rusty...but here goes: Flower of the money tree where the stream flows into the sea there is a white skinned lady in the warmth of Moloka`i I see her as she bathes in the falling waters Of the goddesses Hina and Haha and the god Mo`oloa Their waters which nurture the beautiful breadfruit also enhance her beauty.

Very Nice, John...and no, one never sings with the mouth full. I had forgotten that song for the moment, and you are right about the effect it has on women... (It is good to have another person conversant with Hawaiian here!!! *hugs*)

Speaking of which, I'm enjoying a poke bento from Ka`upena (Hilo's only Hawaiian restaurant) right now. Lomi salmon, ahi poke (raw yellowfin tuna with limu seaweed), ho`io (a Hawaiian fern shoot Japanese call "wanabe"), somen noodles and boiled sweet potato. 'Ono (tasty) and low in fat.

OK, where is the sour poi? Gotta have lots of that to mix with the lomilomi salmon...you gotta go to Food 37 - What I Ate Today...post it there!!!

I love poi, but it doesn't come with the bento. I figure the sweet potatoes are enough starch.

You're right, of course, but I stuff everything I can get my hands on in my mouth and I am still two-dimentional...who said life was fair?! I had Hawaiian at Dotty's the other night and along with the Haupia (I have posted the recipe) there was some stringy yellow sweet potato flavored to taste like pumpkin pie. Ever had that?

Yes...my mom used to make sweet potato pie when I was a child...if she told you it was pumpkin, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference (I thought it was better than pumpkin). And no, life isn't fair (Rule #1). Still, even though I still have another human being to lose, I have lost 60 pounds since last December (another 145 to go). Who would believe that in 1989, I was under 200 pounds? Part of my weight gain was dealing with the loss of love the last poem I posted was about. Not her fault--MIN for taking comfort in everything I could shove into my god forsaken pie hole.

Damn YAPP...I meant "MINE"

60 lbs gone is quite the achievement John! Congratulations!

60 lbs??? WOW! That's really IS gutsy. I l-u-u-u-v that about people.

Now, how did you do that? (lose 60 lbs.)

I have a long way to go...but a variation of Dr. Terry Shintani's famous "Hawaii Diet," which here in Hawaii is called the "Waianae Diet." I do continue to eat raw fish in larger quantities than is called for and am not exercising as much as he would like.

John, I am so proud of you - cannot wait to see you this weekend =)

Get him naked, maybe you'll see exactly where the 60lbs went!!! �grin�

*cackle* *snort*

I still have quite a ways to go, but am slowly moving in the right direction.

You go, Mister! You ooze guts. Yum yum.

If diet and exercise doesn't get me there, maybe I'll try liposuction. Then I really WILL ooze guts!

Among other things!!! People say liposuction doesn't REALLY work though. Most people put the weight on again. Anyway, what's wrong with being a bear?

Nuffin'

I want live to be at least 50. It's not that far away, but I've had more than one doctor say that I probably won't make it. I want to give myself the best chance possible.

Do you have heart trouble?

Not that I am aware of, and I go to the doctor quarterly. I do have sleep apnea which worries both my physician and me.

Wow! You mean like a kind of grown-up 'cot-death'? Can't you use something similar to the device they use with babies?

O'O has had it ever since I have known him and it terrified me. He refused to do anything about it - but recently saw a doctor who suggested surgery. Nothing doing, he said, so I expect to awaken any day with a dead O'O...which is scary indeed! Interesting thoughts about John running around in my head at the moment...*grin*

Nuffin wrong with bears, for sure. This little person adores bears, and O'O is one, himself. As to the other suggestion, if I could just get John to sit down and talk with me would be nice...as to the other, well, he knows where I am!

Nuffin wrong with bears, for sure. This little person adores bears, and O'O is one, himself. As to the other suggestion, if I could just get John to sit down and talk with me would be nice...as to the other, well, he knows where I am! Liposuction does work You are born with X number of fat cells. They enlarge and grow and accumulate fat. I got lots fewer than John did. If they remove them they do not grow back!

It's getting better as I lose weight. I also refuse the surgery, because it's done on the throat (my living). I've tried the machine, but I toss around and throw off the mask at night anyway. But as I get closer to the weight God intended me to be, the problem gets less severe. As for the allegedly "ungentlemanly" comment I made (re: screwed...jb), it wasn't meant to be ungentlemanly. It was an honest observation. I can't remember the last time I've had a conversation with a woman who wasn't unavail ble. Strangely enough, even at my weight, I've had the occasional schoolgirl crush directed at me, as have most male teachers which, in a way is flattering, but isn't good at any level and not a life possibility and the occasional woman who doesn't know me try to hit on me on the station's request line, which I don't use for a dating life (remember Play Misty for Me)?

(closing your italics for you) Your integrity is intact, and that is one of your greatest strengths. I shall not die alone, either, and will have better conversations for it. Now, just to do it!!! I'd be delighted to see you sometime this afternoon. Till then - I'm gone again to the Civic for more being whacked by errant volleyballs (three so far!)

Sounds like fun!

I'll see Marcia there in about an hour. As for now, I'm eating another poke bento...same as described above...and drinking Diet Coke.

We made $2147 selling T-shirts..."we" meaning the Athletic Department (I was just the means to that end)...and I did see John and talked-story with him. We had a great championship match between rival Honolulu Colleges and the fav of ours won! Yea ...!!!!

Congratulations!! Do you do sports yourself, Marcia?

Congrats, Marcia! I wish we would get that kind of sales-volume with our merchandise... Currently only shirts (orange longsleeve, red shortsleeve), but if I find event-sponsors, we might have more products.

Yes, Marcia...helluva job...especially considering the anemic crowds I saw. Then, I'll bet most of the shirts were bought by athletes themselves. Our poor Rainbow football team still stinketh like goatherds. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 62 HAWAII 7

?!

I am a hiker and small boat sailing racing crew if you consider thost sports. Akron was worse than University of Hawaii...Penn State beat them 70-24. I am sore tired and it is 5am and I can't sleep. Oh well, I will crash later. Answers to your email a little later, ALexander. And, yes, alsmot exclusively the sales of the T-shirts were to visiting athletes.

I bet the boat never sinks with you on board - you look so tiny.

During one race our boat capsized. My son's single-handed boat came over to rescue me. He hauled me into it and went to help his father right our boat. Another helpful sailor came whizzing past, plucked my boat's line out of the water and rolled the boat over dumping me back into the water. Earlier, there was a shark following our boat which was about the same length as our hull - about 15.5 feet (4.73 M), so I was not all that thrilled to be in the water again! We had to carry a sack of sand to mak up for my lack of bulk to make the handicaps fair.

(excuse me while I turn down the volume in here) BTW, there are two campuses of the University of Hawaii. Hilo does not have a football team. He campus in Honolulu does, and theirs is the one which plays so pathetically.

ELDERFLOWER AND STRAWBERRY BOMBE In this recipe, the elderflower concentrate gives the ice cream a delicate, fruity flavor, but 1 teaspoon vanilla stirred into 1/4 cup additional milk makes a delicious substitute. For elderflower ice cream 2 cups heavy cream 1 cup whole milk 2 large eggs 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup elderflower concentrate For strawberry sorbet 2/3 cup sugar 2/3 cup water 3 cups strawberries, hulled 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice Garnish: strawberries, some halved if desired Make ice cream: Have ready a large bowl of ice and cold water. In a saucepan bring cream and milk just to a boil. In a small bowl with an electric mixer beat together eggs and sugar until thick and pale. Add 1 cup hot cream mixture to egg mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Whisk egg mixture into cream mixture in pan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until thickened slightly, just coats back of spoon, and a candy thermometer registers 170� F. (Do not let custard boil or it will curdle.) Pour custard throu h a fine sieve into a bowl set in bowl of ice water and stir in elderflower concentrate (or vanilla mixture; see above note). Cool custard. Chill custard, its surface covered with plastic wrap, at least 1 hour and up to 24. Freeze custard in an ice-cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and in freezer harden until firm. Ice cream may be made 1 week ahead. Make sorbet: In a saucepan bring sugar and water to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Stir in strawberries and lemon juice and cool 10 minutes. In a food processor pur�e mixture until very smooth and force through a sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on solids. Discard solids and cool pur�e. Freeze pur�e in an ice-cream maker. Transfer sorbet to an airtight container and in freezer harden until firm. Sorbet may be made 1 week ahead. Assemble bombe: Let ice cream and sorbet stand at room temperature until softened, about 10 minutes. Into a large bowl scoop alternating cup measures of ice cream and sorbet. Make 2 figure-eight swirls with a large metal spoon through ice cream and sorbet and pour into a 7- to 8-cup mold. Freeze bombe, covered with plastic wrap, at least 4 hours and up to 2 weeks. To unmold bombe, dip mold in a bowl of hot water 1 second and invert bombe onto a serving plate. Garnish bombe with strawberries. Makes 8 servings. Gourmet April 1997