Sonia Tastes Hawaii

Picnics and potlucks

Potlucks are a popular way to entertain or to gather a group of friends in the islands...with our year 'round climate being so nice - usually no lower than 60 or higher than 85 - potluck picnics are the way for our group to enjoy getting together...we have several favorite places, but any place near water seems to be our favorite, regardless of where it is.

Yesterday afternoon,the friends of Lili'uokalani Gardens hosted a concert in the park...several members of our hui (group) got together to enjoy the concert and, of course, food!  We're mising two of our'regular' hui members who could not be there...

 

Besides our smaller get-togethers throughout the year, our hui also hosts yearly events to which many friends and friends of friends are invited... The 'Unbirthday Party' is celebrated the last Sunday of July and our Annual Christmas Party is usually the Sunday before Christmas...all depends on what day Christmas falls...

 

Part of our hui with mutual friends...

 

Liz and Mike's youngest leaving the island after her visit home from Alaska, where she is currently living...

The above was during the "Castaways" party for Anthony's birthday a few years ago...

 

 

By the Sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea...

 

The fun of grilling at Kolekole Beach Park

 

Feeling green...

The food is always amazing and trying to be concious of our environment, we and our guests all bring our own dishes, flatware, drinking vessels and napkins... paper plates, plastic utensils, styrofoam and other disposables are discouraged.

This past March

 

Memorial day, a few years ago...

 

below

At Bird Park - Volcanoes National Park andpicnic table at the Panaewa Zoo

The Soup & Bread Potluck 

At the Wailoa River Park...

So fun to have friends who enjoy doing the same things we do...get together, enjoy each other and celebrate life with food!

Let there be more potluck picnics!

Reminiscing...

 

One of my Atlanta cousins just shared a photo of this newspaper clipping:

 

 

 

I remember Rich's, Atlanta's first department store with many fond memories...I know I had to have visited when I was 3 years old and we lived in Atlanta for a bit over a year, but my most vivid memories were when I was 12 and spent a year living at my grandmother's house with my youngest aunt and her daughter, my cousin Jan...

 

I remember going in to shop for school clothes at the end of my first pre-school summer there, and my very first 2 piece bathing suit for my return trip home in Cuba the next summer...No, not a bikini...those had not been thought up yet...this was a very modest two-piece by today's standards...and yet, it caused a bit of raised eyebrows when I first wore it back at home!

 

I remember feeling so grown up eating lunch at the Magnolia Room...Those were the days (late 40s) when ladies still wore hats and white gloves and of course, Jan and I did too.

 

 

I remember eating the chicken salad...and yes, the cream cheese and fruit salad too and I thought I was the height of cool...although in those days, the word cool meaning something or someone fantastic had not come into use yet...

 

I remember the 'Original Coconut Cake' baked by Rich's Bakeshop...even though coconut cake was not my favorite, I did like that one!

 

 

I remember on Thanksgiving night 1949, standing on the sidewalks near the Forsyth Street store's "Crystal Bridge" overpass to see the lighting of the Christmas tree...and hundreds of carolers singing the joys of the season...

 

Many years later, as an adult, I visited the store many times and much later - when I was living in South Carolina, attending a week-long cooking class held at the store's cooking school...

 

Alas, the store is no more...but it lives on in my memory.

 

 

Fathers' Day & Birthdays...

Tomorrow is Fathers' Day.  Tomorrow is my birthday.  

My birthday and Fathers' Day are always tied in my mind, since they're usually either the same day or very close to each other...most times on the same weekend.

Depending on where I was living, my birthday and Fathers' Day was also shared with my brother-in-law (his was a day after mine) or the husband of one of my cousins who shares the same day with me. One year, we had a huge celebration for all three birthdays and Fathers' Day combined.

Since I moved to Hawai'i, I haven't had a combination birthday party with other family members, (except my 60th, which was celebrated at my sister's in Miami) but I still have Fathers' Day to share it with.

My father died in an accident when I was 13 years old and I miss him to this day. He lives forever young in my heart.

Five years later I gained a stepfather.  I could not have picked a better one. He and my mother were together for 54 years.

 

None of them are still here with us and I find myself the oldest member of my family.  

I am not a daughter any longer, but I am a mom, a grandmother, a sister, an aunt, a great-aunt and amazingly enough...a great-great-aunt!

I wanted to write and share about how Cubans celebrated birthdays when I was growing up, but...thoughts of past shared celebrations kept intruding.  Ghosts of birthdays past...

So, I will just share this photo for now.  My 21st birthday - the only photo I have left of any of my birthdays celebrated in Cuba ..sorry it's so small!

Sometime soon, I will share about how Cubans celebrate birthdays...just not today.

Happy Fathers' Day to all the dads in my family and to any of my friends who are dads!

 

 

Drinking Lemon Water

 

Hydration is important. We're told our bodies can survive without food for 3 weeks but we cannot (normally) function for more than 3 days without water...

 

We've been told countless times we need to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day, and the recommended amount of water for emergencies to store is 1 gallon per person per day... If we're honest, we have to admit hardly any of us follow those recommendations, do we?

 

So we know that drinking water is good for us, but did you know that drinking lemon water is better?

 

 

Drinking lemon water on a regular basis can be just short of miraculous!

It can make our hair shine!

Helps with digestion by helping flush out toxins in the digestive tract which in turn helps cleanse our systems by stimulating the liver. Also helps eliminate bloating and reduces the chance of heartburn by eliminating those toxins.  So besides shiny hair, we can also have a radiant blemish free and clear complexion!

Believe it or not, it can help in weight loss.  Lemons have a little secret weapon called "pectin fiber"...and pectin fiber is known to help suppress food cravings that often cause us to reach for those 'no-no foods', so besides helping make our hair shine and give us a radiant complexion, lemons help in eliminating that nagging craving for something sweet.

Drinking lemon water reduces inflammation by reducing acidity levels in our body and also aids in removing levels of uric acid in the joints which is a major contributing factor to inflammation in those joints.  I know...right?  How can adding the acid of lemon juice help relieve acidity in our body?  Blows my mind!

It helps our immune system... we all know lemons are full of Vitamin C and everybody knows that  Vitamin C can boost the immune system, especially during times when we're stressed .  This is going to come in extra useful if we are stressed as it is known that when we are stressed our levels of this vitamin are going to drop, so drinking lemon water can help counteract that.

We all know that Vitamin C also helps when we have the sniffles...but if we make it a habit to add lemon juice to our water on a regular basis, we can fight the effects of colds and flu easier...and can even prevent us from coming down with a cold or the flu.

Sound body, healthy heart and a clear mind...we all want that, don't we?  Well, drinking lemon water can be a huge help with all three by providing healthy levels of potassium!  Yes, you can also get potassium from lemon juice and not just from eating a banana a day...

Do you do any kind of strenuous work or run marathons...or even work in the garden like I do?  When we do any of those things our bodies lose high levels of body salts and potassium by sweating... Drinking adequate amounts of  lemon water is going to help with that by keeping our body hydrated and replenishing it with salt and potassium, and the acidity of the lemon juice can balance out the pH levels in our body....and again...help by releasing toxins through body sweat.

So...in conclusion...if drinking lemon water can make our hair shiny, have radiant skin, reduce inflammation of joints, kick-start the liver to remove toxins from our bodies, up the levels of our immune systems, give our hearts and brains a boost and even help eliminate (at least some) of the temptation to eat too many rich and sugary treats and help us prevent getting a nasty cold or flu...shouldn't we all be drinking lemon water on regular basis?

Seems like a no-brainer to me...