Mixed Plate: One Crazy (lazy) Summer

...And we'll have fun, fun, fun till the winter takes the sunshine awaaaaaaay... That's what the anthem should be for summers in the Pacific Northwest. For all the rainy, gray days we have, when summer's in full gear, it's perfection and everyone takes advantage of it. This week's post isn't about a particular dish or restaurant, it's just about savoring the flavor of summer. 

Daaaaaamn, Pacific NW, you so fine! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

OMG a Recipe: Farmers Market Finds and Yes, Everything's Better With Butter

Farmers Market Fever is in full effect, yo. Which is to say, you may spend several trips to the market, fully bedazzled and bewildered by all the amazing fresh, local produce, and somewhat stymied over what the heck to do with a bouquet of baby artichokes, or a bag full of doughnut peaches. At least, that's how I roll when I visit the market: Dazed and Confused. Seriously, I can't decide what to get, because it all looks good and I know it always comes down to too much culinary potential, too little shelf-life freshness. But a recent trip caught me on an odd moment of laser-focus -- I picked two things, one favorite familiar and one exotic item, and it allowed me to come up with a most delicious, singular meal: penne and spinach in cream sauce, topped with herbed oyster mushrooms, toasted in butter. Ooh, la-lah, bitches.

Do you prefer clams or oyster (mushrooms)? - Photo by Wasabi Prime

FoodTrek: Island Vacation in a Day

Cloudless blue skies above a water view... a chilled, frosty beer covered in condensation sweat from the sun... a tall, ombre tropical drink with a wedge of fresh pineapple... I made a summer trip to the Island, but not the one you're thinking of... 

Being on Island Time for a day - Photo by Wasabi Prime

...No, not Hawaii, but Orcas Island! Yes, we stayed within our own state to get a taste of Da Islands. It had been something I wanted to do, visit Orcas Island for a day and just see if it was doable, since the San Juans aren't exactly a quick hop, skip and a jump away. Generally the challenges behind going to the San Juans for just a day is the travel time. You have to drive up to Anacortes to catch the ferry -- that's at least an hour drive -- and then you wait in a long line of cars, hoping you got there early enough during summer's peak season to make sure your car makes it on that boat. The ferry ride varies depending on the island you're trying to get to, Orcas takes about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on conditions. We left early in the morning, so the boat had to slow down when we hit a big fog bank. We thought we would be clever by doing walk-on for the ferry, which loads you super-fast and you don't have to arrive super-early to get your car in position, but the trick is always the ability to be mobile once you're on the island. There's a shuttle bus that goes around Orcas Island, but the problem with that is, if the ferry schedule is off (and it often is), the bus leaves without you and you're stuck for a while, since the shuttle pickups to take you from the ferry terminal to Eastsound are infrequent at best, with wait times being as much as an hour if you miss your pickup. Boo. Despite the good idea of the Orcas Island transit bus, I would say skip it and bring your own car, in case of ferry late-ness. We were stuck renting a car for the day (round trip cab ride to Eastsound was about as much as a car rental), negating the money we saved by doing a ferry walk-on, and it was a grumpy way to start the day, but whatever! I would not let our day trip be scuttled by a morning hiccup!

Orcas Island Saturday Farmers Market - greens aplenty! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Day trip or not, Orcas Island is amazing year-round. And Eastsound, the most popular city to visit on the island, really blossoms during summer, since that's the busy season. The last time I was here, it was mid-season, so the weather was more unpredictable, rainy one moment, sunny the next -- status quo for island living. In the summers, the Orcas Island Farmer's Market sets up shop on the Village Green in Eastsound, which was a treat to visit for the first time. I was tempted to get a bunch of things, but didn't want to haul fresh produce around for the day. But I did admire the goods -- I saw beautiful little artichokes, plenty of fava beans and sugar snap peas, and over a grill, I saw the most enormous oysters on the planet being cooked up. They were locally harvested and the size of a pro-wrestler's fist. Pretty dang big. But we saved our appetite for an early midday snack at Rose's Bakery and Cafe. I love their baguettes. Not too big, not too small, just the perfect size to get one to go, which I didn't mind hauling around with me in a reusable shopping bag. I got a package of Lesley Stowe's Raincoast Crisps (the cranberry ones), which are pretty much my favorite crackers in the known universe. I know it's a bakery and I could have gotten some of their bread, but to avoid the indulgence of eating a whole loaf of bread in one sitting, I saved our fresh baguette for later and went with a small package of crackers that I shared with the Mister, along with some cured meats freshly sliced from Rose's deli to fuel us for the day.

Allium for a deck-side lunch and cocktails - Photos by Wasabi Prime

One of the nice things about the day trip was being Indy-free. I know that must sound heartbreaking to hear, but as much as I'd love to bring the fuzzy mutt with us everywhere, having a dog with you makes it difficult to browse shops and go where you please. We could tie her up outside of every store, but that makes her whine and be miserable, which in turn makes everyone miserable. Plus it was hot, so tying up a dog in the sun, especially one covered in black fur, would just be cruel. Indy got to spend the day likely sleeping on our bed while we were gone and I took advantage of being Indy-Free and shopped around Eastsound, getting all manner of crafty, beautiful and locally-made jewelry, cards, soaps and the like. Those were all intended as gifts for others, but I picked up a big bag of coffee roasted on neighboring Lopez Island for ourselves, which was a nice treat.

Another nice treat was visiting Allium Restaurant again, and saying "Aloha" to chef and owner, Lisa Nakamura again. Busy as always, especially with ice cream shop Lily downtstairs, we showed up early, before the dinner rush, to have a late lunch from their afternoon snack menu. It's a nice thing to visit a popular place during off-hours -- no waiting, it's late enough in the day to have cocktails without anyone giving you a judgmental stare, and you'll likely have your pick of the best seats. Of course we sat out on the deck. Sunny, beautiful and even more vacation-like when you have a tropical drink. So relaxed, you just wanted to kick back and never leave. All that leisurely wandering got our appetites up, so we had some of the marvelous goat cheese crostini, a hearty salmon salad and the buttery-rich truffled gnocchi that I know would probably make better sense on a chilly day, but their gnocchi is out-of-this-world good. We felt like we were going to roll down to the ferry terminal, we had such happy, full food bellies.

Tell me about the rabbits, Orcas Island - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Speaking of the ferry terminal, in my best Lenny impersonation from Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, I have to say: "Tell me about the rabbits, George." We made sure to leave Eastsound and return the car in time to wait for the late afternoon ferry to slowly whisk us back to Anacortes and we were met with Late Afternoon of the Lepus. Seriously, the grassy park near the ferry terminal was rabbit-palooza; I had never seen so many bunnies lounging since the Playboy Mansion. They were adorable wild rabbits, all looking fairly healthy and well-fed, just lounging in the shade of a tree. A flock? A warren? I had to consult Mr. Google to find out it's just called a herd, which is boring. I was rather hoping it would be more poetic and exciting like an obstinacy of buffalo, or a flamboyance of flamingos. Nope, a herd. Well, the herd of rabbits were chillin' much like the rest of the people waiting on the late ferry, its lateness just being compounded from the morning's fog slowdown. But you don't visit the San Juans with a precise military-like schedule. You really are on Island Time, and "whenever" should just be added to timepieces everywhere. We didn't bring Indy, but judging from a very sleepy retriever snoozing in front of one of the stores, not even batting an eye when I took its photo, everyone is just super mellow and laid back.

By land or sea, it was a pretty nice way to spend a summer day - Photos by Wasabi Prime

We caught our "whenever" ferry back to Anacortes, enjoying the very pretty sights on the way back as the sun started to set. And we were still in that lazy Island Time frame of mind on the drive back home, and I think that was probably the best souvenir we could have had from this whole trip, just that sense of Letting Go. We arrived with a schedule in mind, it got sort of blown to bits, but we made things up along the way and still had a really nice day trip. I'm looking forward to going back to Orcas Island again before the summer's over, this time for a full weekend, but at least it's nice to know visiting for a day isn't impossible. And dude, what is up with those rabbits? A second trip will have to determine if that's a regular thing with the ferry terminal.

UnRecipe: It's the End of the World as We Know It and I'll Have Pie

So, like everyone else, I was talking with some friends about the fever pitch over the Rapture that was supposed to have happened this past Saturday, and being a believer or not, is it really something newsworthy? I have little doubt that even if the holy heavens swept through to claim the faithful, I'd most certainly be left behind with my heathen ways, but I came to the conclusion that yes, the Rapture-fever is relevant, because then I can do a totally silly post about it. So there.

The almost-last supper - Photo by Wasabi Prime

While there's nothing particularly Biblical about a savory bread pudding, I did en-Rapture my arteries in a lot of cheese and bacon for this dish. During the week prior to the supposed End Times, I tried cleaning out my fridge like the world was gonna end, cooking with every random scrap of food we had sitting around. We always wind up with spare bits of stuff from previous dishes. I'd used some bacon for pork meatballs, bread for sandwiches, and random things that were impulse buys at the farmers market -- my fear of wasting food kicks in and then a whirlwind of cooking panic drives me to make something that uses as much of this stuff as possible. Compulsive cooking syndrome? There's a reality TV show waiting to happen there.

End of Days ain't so bad, there's dinner and cocktails involved - Photos by Wasabi Prime

As always, UnRecipe-ness rules supreme. See that random pile of ingredients? Just throw it together and hope for the best! In this case I felt fairly certain it would be a tasty pile of UnRecipe-ness. Chopped up bacon, rendered crisp with the fat reserved to saute leeks and some shallots until lightly caramelized. The leftover bread was just the stale heels from two loaves bought at the farmers market. This was a great way to use up the weird little pieces, as it's too small for a sandwich and while they would have made great croutons, their stale-ness made them extra thirsty to soak up the flavor of the bacon, leeks and creamy egg custard that brought the whole thing together. I had a little wedge of gouda, also from the farmers market (it was on sale, and I can't resist discount cheese), and the flavor is a bit pungent, so it's not something you just bite a hunk off. The cheese-wang was strong with this wedge, but crumbled and mixed into the egg batter, and it melted down in wonderful ways, seeping into the bread and making the whole thing savory and rich. The garden is finally yielding a healthy batch of herbs, so I was happy to sprinkle in handfuls of fresh parsley, sage, chives and thyme into the mix.

Savory bread pudding that just came together on its own - Photos by Wasabi Prime

You can't face your maker without dessert. Again, an impulse buy of rhubarb, likely from my impatience with our own rhubarb plant taking forever to grow edible-sized stalks, was cooked with strawberries and made into a pie. Nothing fussy with perfectly woven lattice-work, just a simple foldover of the excess dough and a sprinkle of sugary oat crumbles to make a crusty top. This was more like a "yay, the world didn't end" reward, as the day of the supposed Rapture had us getting gussied-up and going out with some friends for dinner and drinks. It wasn't to party-on through the reaping of souls, it was just good timing. But we raised our glasses after 6pm and said, yep, we're still here. And we had a strawberry rhubarb pie, with strawberry ice cream, to celebrate with on the following post-Rapture Sunday. Win-win, right?

Get fancy, have pie and ice cream, avoid the end of the world -- good weekend, no? - Photos by Wasabi Prime

FoodTrek: Farmers Market Finds and a Picnic with Pele

Where else but Hawai'i can you do a brown bag lunch with the gods? I was fortunate to visit the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park on the big island of Hawai'i, to experience the powerful mood of the Native Hawai'ian goddess Pele, within her fiery home in the active Kilauea Volcano. But one can't show up to Pele's house empty-handed. A visit to the Hilo Farmers Market yielded a big lunch of fresh local finds and ono kine grindz to power a full-day's trek through the national park, plus a later trip to the Kona Farmers Market was like another adventure in fresh food finds.

Fantastic view of Halema'uma'u Crater, home of the goddess of fire, Pele - Photo by Wasabi Prime

When you're faced with a full day of walking through a geological history of the Hawai'ian islands, you better be prepared. And by prepared, I mean know how to get your grub on. I've written about how fantastic the Hilo Farmers Market is in previous posts, and it's one of the best ways to supply you with fresh energy for a full day. Located right in the historic downtown area of Hilo, on the corner of Mamo Street and Kamehameha Avenue, it's a large open market that has a combination of crafts, prepared foods and fresh produce. Bring cash, as most of the vendors won't be able to handle credit cards or check -- don't worry, you don't need much more than $10 worth to gather a good amount of food. Little box lunch bento of teriyaki chicken with musubi rice balls, Filippino style noodles called pancit, or fried cutlets of pork tonkatsu can range from three to five dollars, and fresh fruit like whole bunches of apple bananas are as cheap as a dollar, easy snacks that travel well and come individually wrapped. There's sweet treats like butter mochi, a chewy rice cake dessert, and there are vendors that now offer things like herbed goat's milk chevre and fresh-baked breads. Get a little loaf of bread and a bottle of local honey or guava jelly and you've got the makings for a delicious sandwich lunch. Don't be shy about trying something unique like fresh starfruit which can be sliced and eaten as-is, having a kind of bright pear flavor, or the scaly dragon-skinned soursop, which once split open, the pulpy, custard-like fruit has a subtle citrus/banana like flavor. Bunches of red-maned rambutan are easily found, where all you need to do is break open its red skin, peel it away, and eat the grape-like fruit that tastes similar to lychee --  just eat around the seed. Don't forget to try the small pear-shaped mountain apples, or Malay apples, waxy red-skinned fruit that have a lightly sweet flavor and contain a lot of liquid, acting as a good hydration fruit during long hikes.

Dragonfruit, mountain apples, apple bananas, orchids, rambutan; not your average market - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Having a cooler packed with the farmers market finds, it's less than an hour's drive to the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. I've been visiting this park for as long as I can remember, going at various times when Kilauea was both sleepy and especially active. While the idea of visiting a national park may induce snore-worthy memories of family vacations gone horribly awry, the best thing about visiting the house of Pele is that she is a fire goddess that does not disappoint and it's a park who can boast that it's always in a state of flux -- what you see today, you may not be able to see tomorrow. Pelehonuamea is the legendary diva of record, featured heavily in local myths, known as much for her beauty as for her power and fury. When you come to her house, come with respect and a desire to learn about the natural history of the island. Kilauea is is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, but one of the youngest among the island of Hawai'i's family of active volcanoes, which include Mauna Loa, the largest volcano on Earth, and Hualalai, the third most active on the island. The park is set up in a way that makes it easy for people to tour the area by car, or if you choose to tour by bike or foot, there are backcountry planners and bike guides available. You can do overnight camping on the park grounds as well. The main thing is to plan accordingly -- read up on the Things to Do page of the Volcanoes National Park site, as they will have suggested supply lists, weather and air quality conditions, and the need to check in so rangers know where to locate you in case of emergency. For the $10 price of entrance into the park, it's quite a lot of activities available for the outdoor enthusiast.

Exploring the geologic and mythic history of Hawai'i with Ranger Dean - Photos by Wasabi Prime

OK, so maybe you're not ready to get down with your Bear-Grylls-Man-vs-Wild-bad self -- I spent just a day at the park, on a ranger-guided tour of the park. This was a great thing to take advantage of, as it's included in your park fee and you can call ahead and arrange for a ranger to guide you for the day. I was very lucky to be paired up with the fantastic Ranger Dean Gallagher, who pretty much knows everything about the park and its fantastic ecosystem, explaining how the park is in a constant state of activity to preserve the indigenous and endemic animals and plants of the island. I'm sure all the rangers have this incredible amount of information, I just have to give props to the awesome Ranger Dean who made the day absolutely magical. We started out at the Kilauea Visitor Center, where you get the latest weather and air condition reports (good to check with if you have any health/respiratory issues), then taking the Crater Rim Drive that takes you around the massive Kilauea Caldera that includes the Halema'uma'u Crater, the legendary home of Pele. Along the overlook of Halema'uma'u is the breathtaking view of the crater, and during this especially active time, you could hear explosions of rock from within the crater every few minutes. It sounded like thunder and was a stark contrast from previous visits I've had to the same overlook where it's been such a peaceful view of a sleeping goddess. While the active lava is unable to be seen during the day because the crater is so deep, the park is open 24 hours and you can drive out there at night; if the conditions are right, the rangers said you could see the glow of the lava reflecting off the constant billows of steam coming up from the crater. For the day I was there, I was able to see the natural steam vents where rainwater is transformed into constant fresh billows of steam, Kilauea Iki Crater, the site of a 1959 lava flow, and take a tour through an old lava tube, the Thurston Lava Tube, including a flashlights-are-a-must tour of an unlit lava tube that was as mysterious as it was sacred, as Ranger Dean described how these tubes were used for both sanctuary for the Native Hawai'ians and burial areas, to protect the mana or strength of a person's spirit that remains within the bones.

The best restaurant and menu in the world -- Chez Mother Nature - Photos by Wasabi Prime

It's a lot to take in for an afternoon, you build up a volcano-sized appetite, so that cooler full of farmers market goodies is a welcome sight. And having a ranger with you to point out all the choice picnic spots is pretty rockstar. Ranger Dean guided us to a little covered picnic area -- there's several around the park, but it's nice when someone can guide you directly. A tablecloth was laid out and all the fresh foods were spread out for what was probably one of the best picnic lunches you could imagine. They say food eaten outdoors always tastes better, and food that locally grown and produced, eaten on the edge of an active volcano is pretty outstanding. Along one of the walks, we passed by a few 'ohelo berry bushes, a fruit endemic to Hawai'i, found nowhere else. They're edible berries, tart and tiny, somewhat labor intensive to pick, but often made into jams and pies -- highly recommended if you're lucky to get a hold of a jar or baked treat.

Kona Farmers Market and fresh cacao pods!! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

It's hard to totally kick the farmers market addiction when you're in Hawai'i. Not that we don't have farmers markets where I live, it's just hard to let go of the abundance of such exotic items. Even when I was in Kona, the siren song of their farmers market located right on Ali'i Drive couldn't keep me away. Open Wednesdays through Sundays, I got a chance to do a quick walk-thru before I had to catch my flight. If I was there for a few days more, I'd have bought more of the addictive Maui Gold pineapples, which are sweeter than anything you can get on the Mainland, or fresh mango that were being sold for a pittance of what you'd pay at home. One of the Kona market vendors was selling fresh cacao pods, explaining that if you wanted to make cocoa powder from scratch, you just have to remove the seeds, dry them, and then roast them before grinding into pure cocoa powder. It sounded similar to how coffee is produced and I'm now inspired to try it, if I plan my next visit to Kona accordingly and can take over my mother's kitchen for a few hours. Another good thing about visiting this market is that it's where the locals shop. Granted, there's plenty of inexpensive souvenir stuff that's probably made in Taiwan, but look past the trinkets and you'll see an abundance of fresh flowers like anthurium, live orchids, and spiny huge protea blooms. You're literally surrounded by walls of fresh flowers. There were handmade ti leaf leis, plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and probably the item of most interest, Kona coffee. Everyone sells Kona coffee, but the pricing can vary, based on the percentage of pure coffee harvested locally. While I'm no Kona coffee stock market ticker, comparing the prices from the different shops along Ali'i Drive, the prices in the farmers market was probably the best, ranging from $13 to $15 a pound, whereas other stores were selling their coffee at $18 to $20 per pound. And again, we noticed this is where the locals were buying their coffee, and that's a good indicator of where you'll find the best prices.

I find myself back in the chill of the Pacific Northwest, dreaming of warm farmers markets and picnic lunches, but it just reminds me what's waiting for me on my next visit back to the island of Hawai'i. Don't think this tropical blog adventure is over; I still have more tales of Aloha to come, so stay tuned for eating guides meant to fuel busy days on land and sea! To continue the spirit of Aloha, please visit the American Red Cross site and donate to help the relief efforts to aid Japan's recovery in the wake of the recent earthquake and tsunami disaster.

Fun and funny stuff at the Kona Farmers Market - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Mixed Plate: Hangin' Around in Hilo-Town

I recently took some time off to see my parents in Hawaii before the mad dash of holiday travel began. For this visit, I spent the whole time on the Big Island of Hawaii, in the city of Hilo. It doesn't have the bustling energy of Waikiki or the powder-soft sandy beaches of Maui. It's a city with a deliberate slow pace, its rhythm conducted by the people who have lived there for generations and don't seek out big changes. People like my father grew up there, they often went off-Island for work or school, and in their golden years, they return because it's a place that debunks the saying that you can never go home again. Hilo is a small city built by the plantations, rebuilt from several destructive tsunamis, and continues this day to retain its sense of identity in the currents of changing times. Come along with Wasabi for an insider tour of the big little city of Hilo Town.

Fresh leis at the Hilo Farmers Market - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I didn't grow up in Hilo, but spent a lot of time with family during summers. My childhood memories wander the old streets and neighborhoods, residing like ghosts in time, awaiting my return. When I'm there, it's like entering a cocoon of emotional comfort, locked out from the distractions of the modern world, and the opportunity to reacquaint oneself with one's center. It's a place to slow down, allow the day's events to be dictated by delicious meals, and remember the importance of little things. My little things were mundane things like flossing, taking my vitamins and going for daily runs -- all the stuff that had been driven off by false needs like deadlines and the annoying buzz of email. None of that in the no-wifi-zone of my parents' house, and good riddance.

Getting to Hilo, snapshots of a journey - Photos by Wasabi Prime

The Hawaii I know is the small towns and cities of my parents (my mother's hometown is Makawao on Maui), which for the most part have been untouched by the tourism industry that the state heavily relies on. I admit to a love/hate thing with arriving at Honolulu Airport and seeing the throngs of tourists wearing loud Hawaiian shirts and plastic flower leis, being herded off to a canned, shrink-wrapped view of what the outside perception of Hawaii is. It's not just a place where you sit on a beach and order syrupy cocktails and drink yourself into a sun-baked oblivion. That's like spending hundreds of dollars to shove your head in the sand and miss the fact that you're in one of the most culturally diverse and mystical places you'll ever set foot on in the fifty states. You traveled this far to experience Aloha -- for heaven's sake, let yourself be immersed in it before renting jetskis or buying a cheap snowglobe that was made in Taiwan.

The best views and eats in town from Noris and Kawamoto Store - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Getting to know the heart of Hawaii is spending time in small cities that aren't completely invaded by national chains. Steer clear of the usual morning latte break at Starbucks and cast aside that lunch run to the Golden Arches. Hilo is full of small restaurants and Japanese-style comfort food shops, or okazuya, which all specialize in the local tastes and flavors that people have grown up with. Shoyu chicken, Spam musubi, cone sushi, saimin -- try it all, because it's delicious and been favorites of the locals as far back as the plantation days. My childhood still plays in the low tide waters of the Queen Liliuokalani Park, by the edge of Hilo Bay. I have many scraped knees from slipping on the garden's lava rock ponds while trying to gather bait for fishing trips on my grandpa's boat. We would always bring a giant bento from Kawamoto Store on Kilauea Avenue, to keep our stomachs from grumbling too much so as to scare away the fish. The original family no longer runs the Kawamoto Store, but it continues to make ono kine bento lunches that sell out before noon, so my mother orders lunch early, we pick up our box of goodies, and spend at least one sunny afternoon eating local kine grindz on the Bay. There is no longer my grandfather's boat to ferry us to the open seas, where the salt spray mixes with the food, but eating lunch with my parents, overlooking the water and a volcano sleeping in the distance beneath a cover of clouds, it's absolutely true that good food tastes even better when enjoyed outside. And please remember the SPF.

Visiting those who have passed on - Photos by Wasabi Prime

When I go back to Hilo, it's as much to feed the soul as it is to fill the stomach. While I can only be best described as a jack-Buddhist and Richard Gere will totally achieve Nirvana before I do, I try to be diligent with my parents, to visit the ones who came before us and pay respect to the loved ones who have passed on. Funerary rituals aren't anything new -- everyone has their own rites of observance. In Hawaii, it's as much about co-mingling with the dead as it is with the living; celebrations like O-Bon, the festival for the dead, interjects that need for remembrance and setting a place in one's daily life for those who have departed. It's a weird thing to say, but you'll never see a more colorful and well-kept cemetary than when you visit Hilo, or any other city in the Islands. The dead are never forgotten, and their resting places are a vibrant reminder of the life they led. We did our part to visit the resting places of family and friends, replace the withered flowers with fresh anthurium bought at the farmers market, and wash the black granite family markers so that the sun could dry them to a proper shine. At the risk of having some bad karma chase me down, I took a few photographs in the columbarium where some of my family rests. It's not a somber, depressing place. Instead, it's full of fresh flowers, hanging leis, and private notes from loved ones. It's a place where a little sadness and happiness can come together to mingle with the smell of incense, when the wisps of smoke from the sennenko rise into the air. And best of all -- the matchbooks left near the altar are all usually from Las Vegas. Because even the dead can appreciate a trip to Nevada.

Snacks, quiet morning time, folding gyoza and trips to Longs - excitement abounds! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

If food is love, then I'm very, very well loved when I'm in Hilo. I indulge in snacks I don't regularly get to enjoy, I take advantage of the sale days at Longs for local foodstuffs, and eat the best meals in town, which are always cooked by Mom. I was glad to refamiliarize myself with that magical morning ritual of morning coffee, a pastry of some sort (either a malasada or a crumpet), and the newspaper. Yes, they still make those, and there is nothing quite as heavenly as hearing the birds chirp, the coffeemaker sputter, and feeling the paper between one's hands as you take your time to get settled into the new day.

Tailgate food with Aloha plenty - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I also managed to visit during college football, and more specifically, when the University of Hawaii was playing. Happily the Warriors won their game - Go 'Bows! My parents host game viewings at their house, so UH friends gather, there's plenty of things to graze on and I got to enjoy an old food friend known as the Maui red hotdog. Alarmingly red. Scandalously red. And outstandingly delicious when topped with all the typical hotdog condiments and a hefty sprinkle of smoked pork that the neighbors brought. That addition was my own design, and I highly recommend it. Don't let the bright color scare of you off; they're no different than a crunchy, tight-skinned hotdog from anywhere else, but the bright red makes it distinctively local.

Suffice it to say, Wasabi Mom fed her little Wasabi Prime real, real good - Photos by Wasabi Prime

In between stuffing my face with too much food, I took a very belated visit to the 'Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai'i. Don't roll your eyes and think it's just another planetarium or place for space geeks to hang out. This is one of the most unique places to experience the stars and the way humans have felt the influence of the heavens drive one's destiny. It's a museum that is one part science and one part Native Hawaiian culture. And they have cool 3-D movies shown in their planetarium theater.

Visiting 'Imiloa and being blinded by science - Photos by Wasabi Prime

At the risk of sounding like an informercial -- if you're in Hilo, make it a point to visit 'Imiloa. It's part of the University of Hawaii and it's educational in both science and culture, so yes, it's wholesome family fun. It's not like visiting other astronomy museums where it's more about looking up and not looking around to see where the curiosity about the universe emerged. Their exhibits are about enabling the spirit in the heavens and how it brought people to the islands of Hawaii to make it the place it is today. I can't even point to True North, and these guys hopped in a boat and navigated their way to a tiny chain of islands.

Mosaic telling the tale of Hawaiian navigators, one meticulous tile at at a time - Photo by Wasabi Prime

And, as a bonus, 'Imiloa is probably one of the best hidden food gems in town. Their latest vendor who's handling their restaurant is bringing in the crowds for their dinner, so make reservations if you go. We were there for lunch, and their spicy beef noodle soup and signature shrimp were pretty tasty. Science, stars, local culture... and plenty ono salt and pepper shrimp? What more could a person ask for??

Visit 'Imiloa - come for the science, stay for the buffet - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Going to Hilo is never complete without a visit to the Hilo Farmers Market. There's actually several in town, but the largest main one, on the corner of Mamo and Kamehameha in downtown Hilo, is the one most people visit. I like this farmers market because it's a real working market. It's not full of cheesy tourist junk (OK, there's some of that) and the goods aren't outlandishly priced so that makes it impractical for locals to just get their weekly groceries. It's real food, locally grown and priced to sell so that it makes it on someone's dinner table that night. That's it. Nothing fancy. This is the way a farmers market should work, and it gives the national chain grocery stores that barge in their produce underripe and overpriced a run for its money.

Farmers market goodies - musubi, spicy chilis, anthurium and starfruit - Photos by Wasabi Prime

The fruits and vegetables are all things people use on a weekly basis. Staples like green onions, fresh ginger, taro root, papaya and guava. There are uniquely local items like warabi, the tall stalks of baby fiddlehead ferns that grow wild in the Hilo rainforests and are made into salads. Exotic fruit like the fuzzy-skinned rambutan or spiny dragon fruit are everywhere. Funny enough, it's the simplest things that my mom says she misses -- like a crisp apple or pear. Basics like that have to come from the Mainland, where fruit is picked too early and left to ripen in dark holding containers. It's a reminder to be thankful for what we have in our own backyards.

Warabi, rambutan, more anthurium and tart apple bananas - Photos by Wasabi Prime

But I'm still green with envy at the fact that the growing season is pretty much year-round in Hawaii and there's always a treasure trove of fresh goodies at the market. I realize that's probably why they can price out their produce so reasonably. But it doesn't change the fact that I still turn into Gollum, seething about The Precioussss every time I walk the aisles of the farmers market and ogle all the goods.

Your food brain will overload at the Hilo Farmers Market - Photos by Wasabi Prime

If you're still reading this, I applaud your patience. Or perhaps I should just nudge you, as you've probably fallen alseep by now. Hilo is little town that most visitors to Hawaii would probably overlook as boring or too far past its prime, but for me, it's the ideal place to recharge and refocus. Visiting a place like Hilo is a way to experience a genuine part of Hawaii not influenced by fake grass skirts or hokey luaus, and not a paper umbrella drink to be seen. This is a city where good local food and meals are ritual, treasures abound if you're keen to look for them, and the ghosts of the past walk freely among the living. And there's always time for coffee and the morning paper.

Mahalo plenty, Hilo - I will see you soon - Photo by Wasabi Prime

UnRecipe: The Secret Ingredient - Overripe Fruit!

One of the reasons I like cooking so much is the challenge of ingredient usage. Don't lie -- you know sometimes you open up your refrigerator, peering into its depths, wondering what will be revealed to you like a secret ingredient in an episode of Iron Chef, minus the appearance of the Japanese Liberace, Chairman Kaga. The waste-not-want-not part of you wants to make sure you use every scrap possible, not letting anything go to waste, at least that's the thought that runs through my mind. Because of the bounty of fresh summer fruit, it's hard not to overbuy thinking you'll be eating handfuls of fresh fruity-berry goodness every day. What always happens is, the fruit sitting on the counter starts to get a little soft, you throw it into the fridge to prolong its half-life even though everyone says not to, and there it sits, usually to rot. But rot not, fair summer fruit! A Mixed Fruit Crumble is here to save the day!

I crumble for you. I crum-ble for youuuuuuuuuuuu - Photo and bad singing by Wasabi Prime

Two super-soft nectarines, questionably safe cherries and an overripe plum later, I had it in my head to make mini fruit crumbles. I wasn't quite enough to make a whole pie or tart, and honestly, I just didn't feel like rolling out a crust. I blame summer for my laziness, so there. I mixed some melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and handfuls of rolled oats until this mash came together in a chunky, sticky texture. This was sprinkled over small ramekins of sliced fruit and everything was thrown into the oven until the fruit became bubbly-soft and the crumble topping turned a nice golden brown. I had enough to make four individual-sized crumbles and they were served heated with a dollop of mascarpone cheese on top, to make it into a kind of creamy, sweet, fruity mush. Sounds appealing, no? But egads, it was tasty and no fruit went un-nommed.

Farmers market fruit in its halcyon days before  languishing in our fridge - Photos by Wasabi Prime

UnRecipe: Wasabi for One

The Prime was on her own for a few days when Mr. Wasabi was off on a business trip in the faraway lands of Germany for a video game conference. Yes, they really do have those, and you can see a photo of Mr. Wasabi, aka, Brock, the third photo down on IndieGameSoup's post on Gamescom, looking very tired but smiling anyways.  As for myself and Miss Indy, the fuzzy pup, were happily remaining on the homefront. Because it's just me, myself and I, it's Dinner for One, which means quickie meals that don't require a lot of fuss or dirty dishes.

Farmers market goodies fit for roasting - Photo by Wasabi Prime

One of the easy dinner-for-one meals I do is roasted vegetable burritos. I know, it sounds bacheloriffic, something that would likely fit a college student, and maybe it is, but it's a meal where I can roast up all the vegetables ahead of time and dole it out, one meal at a time. It works for breakfast, lunch or dinner and you only need a plate to microwave it, all wrapped up in a whole wheat tortilla. I know that sounds uninspired but when I'm cooking for just myself, I don't really "treat" myself since I know any mess I make, I have to clean up myself, so the only treat is not having to do much in the way of dirty dishes.

On the plus side, the roasted vegetable burrito is a nice way to take advantage of fresh veggies from the market. Pattypan squash, aka UFO squash, as I like to call them, are both adorable, colorful and delicious. They roast up nicely and don't require much prep -- just cut off the stem, slice into chunks and roast with some salt, pepper and oil. I had some pretty thin-skinned eggplant as well, so it made for a pleasant mix of vegetables, along with some black beans and shredded cheese.

Dinner for one is surprisingly fun - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Stay tuned for more Wasabi-for-One meals, as I did several easy solo meals. A house to myself is weirdly quiet, but it's kind of nice having the space to myself for a few days. I watched girlie things like Ses and the City without shame, stayed up way too late reading in bed without a mumble to turn off the light and more than a few pasta carbonara dinners. Consider it a stay-at-home vacation to indulge in my Secret Single Behavior.

Mixed Plate: Radishes and Gettin' My Root Down

You may have seen the latest report on Wasabi Gardenwatch 2010, with the epic harvest of radishes I'm getting. Well, more like a handful here and there, so I still picked up a little bouquet of purple radishes when I was at the Bellevue Farmers Market, along with a couple of leeks. I've developed a fascination with radishes lately, mostly because they're growing in our garden and I'm trying to find different ways to use them beyond the obvious salad. Especially since the totally cracked-out weather we've been having is forcing a lot of my rooty veggies to bolt and turn into just greens and no roots. Umbrage! As the Beastie Boys would say, I wanna get my root down, yo.

Roasted radish and leek frittata - the cure for all troubles and lack of meal ideas - Photo by Wasabi Prime

When in doubt, make a frittata. I think that could be the title of my cookbook, if I were ever to write a cookbook. Book publishers out there, if you're listening, this would be a great recipe book for the kitchen-challenged. Refrigerator crisper drawer full of random crap on the stage of wilting into a dirty, brown sludge? Make a frittata. Or the opposite -- bare fridge save for a few eggs and maybe some random sticks of string cheese? Make a frittata. It's the perfect answer for everything. Socio-economic troubles amongst the nations? Meteor hurtling towards the planet? Make a frittata. It's better than what the Magic 8 Ball would say, that's for sure.

But back to my umbrage with my radishes bolting. Can you not tell I'm unhealthily fixated on this? So the crazy weather that's been happening, which includes ten minutes of sun, then ten minutes of rain, is clearly giving my vegetable garden a case of the Whatchoo Talkin' Bout Willis?! We're beyond winter's frost, which is good, but we're on that weird cusp of chilly spring and somewhat warm early summer. I put in radishes early and was able to get a few nice ones, but lately I've been using them more for greens -- which are totally edible, even if they're a bit fuzzy and pokey. Again, the cure for the world's problems come in and I chop up the greens and cook them down in a frittata.

Roasted radishes - crazy? Possibly.  - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I wanted to see how the radishes would do being roasted down, wondering if they would develop sweetness or anything interesting. I cleaned and halved the radishes, tossed with melted butter and salt, and put them into the oven, along with two split leeks to get roasty-toasty. They looked great when added to the final cook-off stage of the frittata when I let the broiler add a final bit of char to the top. As for taste, it was very subtle, even with the roasting which I know is supposed to heighten flavor. Brock mentioned it was more about texture than anything else, but they do well with the eggs, since both the greens and the radishes themselves provide an overall peppery flavor.

In general, I'm looking forward to a dual effort on the part of whatever our garden does produce this year, as well as being more of an active participant in shopping our local farmers markets. We've done CSAs in the past, and while they were great ways to get one's greens every week, I always felt this crazy pressure on delivery days, a little afraid over what was in the box (random obscure Dune moment: what's in the box? Answer: pain!). I always felt this pressure to use every little bit, which for the most part, we were successful, but due largely to the power of frittata-making. And meatloaf-making. There were many a green or purple-colored meatloaf, heavily doped with chopped greens or an excess of red cabbage.

Farmers market goodies -- all good with eggs! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

UnRecipe: Where's the Beef? With the Broccoli.

When I was at the store, I saw a package of pre-cut, bagged broccoli that was called "Broccoli-Wokly," which made me laugh because I thought of Brock, aka, Mr. Wasabi, and the fact that they used to call him Brock-oly when he was a kid, but then I kind of sighed and shook my head because I thought, how lazy do we have to be to buy pre-cut broccoli? Of all the veggies, it has the least hassle in preparation, plus you're not trimming off much, and it's cheaper than cheap, so buying it prepackaged probably triples the cost. I picked up my supply of plain old crowns of cruciferous goodness and brought them home to make a simple stir-fry with flank steak, which I paired with a little spring salad, courtesy of a farmers market trip.

Getting beefy and eating one's greens - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I hadn't actually had beef broccoli in a long time -- it was another one of those quick weekday meals my mother would prepare, as it's pretty much just that: broccoli, thin slices of beef, a bit of ginger and garlic, and soy sauce thickened with corn starch. It's always a mainstay at fast food/generic Chinese restaurants, swimming in a mysterious sauce and sweating it out under heat lamps all day, waiting for its special purpose as a #3 Lunch Special.  I think for something as simple and nostalgic as beef broccoli stir fry, it's worth more than prepackaged, precut veggie status and grocery store deli counters.

On my last visit to the Asian market, Uwajimaya, I picked up a giant jar of black bean paste, which gives food such a great depth of flavor and you inevitably wind up with more than you know what to do with, so I've been putting it in everything possible. It gave a nice sweetness to the sauce, but not a sugary-sweet flavor, which a lot of fast-food Asian restaurants do with their sauces. Ugh -- isn't that just the worst, where you have some sort of teriyaki dish and it's like having meat with corn syrup? Bleah. I can definitely give a thumb's up to adding black bean paste into sauces for beef, as the flavor is nice and rich, plus it's nice to have around if you're making a barbecue dish and want to give it a bit of an Asian twist. Heaven knows you'll be eager to find ways to use it, as there's no such thing as buying a small jar of the stuff.

Goods from the farmers market - Photos by Wasabi Prime

As for the side dish, I made an asparagus salad with some tomatoes and red onion. This was a twist on my mom's warabi salad, which of course uses warabi, baby ferns that are plucked from the rainy lands of Hilo, Hawaii. While we have the rainy lands of Washington State, I was pricing the fiddlehead ferns at the Bellevue Farmers Market and $10 a pound for the cute little swirls was a little steep, so I went on the cheaper side and bought a bunch of thin asparagus for $5. Same idea and actually, the asparagus was pretty close to the same flavor as the warabi. Yeah, yeah,  I know what you're thinking: "Tomatoes aren't in season yet, you fool." The ones I got were clearly hothouse grown, but the vendor had a "clearance bin" of odd-shaped overripe tomatoes, and lord knows I can't resist a sale.