You can go home again, but the food won’t be the same
I went back to Ohio, but my city was gone.
Diana Duff: Kona Sea Salt Farm
Harvesting salt from the sea is a practice that goes back millennia in Hawaii. The Polynesian voyagers likely found crystallized salt collecting in the rocks along the shoreline when they arrived in the islands around 400 A.D. They certainly collected and used it to preserve and season their food.
Tropical Gardening: Canoe plants are the foundation of the Polynesian culture
If you are looking for tough, resilient and useful plants to develop a new landscape or enhance an established one, consider the first introductions by the Polynesians. Then look forward to other introductions by each culture and ethnic group to make our islands their home.
Indigenous faithful and Christians work with environmentalists to conserve India’s sacred forests
SHILLONG, India — Tambor Lyngdoh made his way through the fern-covered woodland — naming plants, trees, flowers, even stones — as if he were paying older family members a visit.
January is prime citrus season. Capture some of the shine with these 4 recipes
PITTSBURGH — It’s pretty easy to feel blue on a dreary, colorless day in January in Pittsburgh.
Let’s Talk Food: Mexican casseroles
I have a yearning every once in a while for Mexican food and when that happens, an easy casserole usually fits the bill. It is so much easier than the authentic dishes of Mexico.
At CES 2024, tech companies are transforming the kitchen with AI and robots that do the cooking
LAS VEGAS — Chef-like robots, AI-powered appliances and other high-tech kitchen gadgets are holding out the promise that humans don’t need to cook — or mix drinks — for themselves anymore.
Volcano Watch: Where is magma stored in Kilauea?
Over the past several months, periods of increased earthquake activity and ground deformation in the summit region of Kilauea volcano indicate that magma is accumulating beneath the surface. Where does magma reside, and how do we know?
Tropical Gardening: Hawaiian paradise almost perfect, but be aware of dangers
Our islands have few dangers except for rare volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and hurricanes. Excessive exposure to the sun can be dangerous, and carelessness can cause accidents while hiking in the mountains or swimming in the ocean. Although there are few poisonous native plants, some common exotic landscape plants are toxic such as oleander, crotons and angel trumpets. Some people can experience skin reactions like exposure to poison ivy from cashew and mango trees.
Let’s Talk Food: Salads in January
In January, many folks eat salads and vegetarian items as the eating frenzy that started at Thanksgiving, and continued through Christmas and New Years has people watching their food intake for the beginning of the new year.
A healthy start: 4 recipes to help you keep those 2024 resolutions
Many of us start a new year by promising ourselves we’ll do better — save more money, perhaps, or lose those extra pounds by starting an exercise program.
California restaurant’s comeback shows how outdated, false Asian stereotype of dog-eating persists
FRESNO, Calif. — David Rasavong’s cultural pride is evident all throughout his restaurant.
Volcano Watch: Separating signals — what matters to seismologists?
Whether they originate above or below the Earth’s surface, a wide array of signals appear on the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s earthquake-detecting (seismic) data streams. Part of a seismic analyst’s duty is identifying normal versus irregular seismic activity.
Tropical Gardening: Defoliation by avocado lace bug continues to cause damage
This year’s avocado defoliation due to the avocado lace bug continues to raise havoc with fruit production. Exposed fruit are quickly sunburned and that affects the quality.
Plant of the month for January 2024: elephant bush
On a recent visit to a friend in Kohala Ranch, we talked about installing some fire-resistant plant species. A friend of hers had recommended elephant bush (Portulacaria afra), known in the Afrikaans language as spekboom in its native South Africa. Her friend, Bernard Moret, had written about his experience with this plant for the Kohala Ranch Report and gave me permission use his story here.
Quick Fix: Greek Black Eyed Pea Casserole
Black eyed peas are a staple of South American and Caribbean cooking. I was interested to learn that they’re also used in Greek dishes. They’re called in Greek mavromatika fasolia.
Let’s Talk Food: New Year’s resolution
Happy New Year! As we welcome 2024, we always try to make a new year’s resolution or two, hoping for a better year to come.
Forget lasagna, this creamy manicotti is your new favorite baked pasta
Manicotti, a large, ridged, tubed pasta, is typically stuffed with either a ricotta or meat filling, covered in red sauce and more cheese and baked until bubbly.
The readers speak: The worst food they have ever eaten
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the worst foods I and a lot of my Facebook friends — many of whom I have actually met — have ever eaten.
Classic French chicken dish embraces garlic — 40 cloves of it
It’s easy to see why a recipe that starts with 40 cloves of garlic might appear suspect. Most recipes that include garlic call for somewhere between two and six cloves, so 40 would seem like an insane amount. Trust me, it’s not.
