Sonia Tastes Hawaii

Aloha 'Oe, Hawaii...

I haven't posted in this blog in a long time...too much has happened...and now it's time to say a hui hou to Hawaii and my ohana of friends.

When I first came to the island at the invitation of my son 26 years ago, the plan was to open a kitchen shop and cooking school, similar to what I had in the mainland...but plans changed and we ended up opening a B&B with deli, gift shop, and cooking school in our village of Honomu.

The Akaka Falls Inn was a destination place for foodies traveling from the mainland who wanted to learn more about the food of Hawaii...Several years after opening the Inn, I started writing food articles for The Hamakua Times, a monthly newspaper published in Honoka'a. The column was titled Tropical Taste and I contributed to that periodical for 17 years.

After a fire devastated the Inn and our home, I self-published a small cookbook by collecting several years worth of the Tropical Taste columns...
also, during this time, I was contributing articles to the Hawaii Fishing News under the title of The aFishionado...

I was a free-lance food writer for the Hawaii Tribune Herald of Hilo for 4 years...and contributed articles to Edibles Hawaiian Islands...and for several years, my son and I wrote restaurant reviews for the Hawaii Island Journal, under the title of Table for Two. Several years later, I was a contributor to Ke Ola Magazine, writing about the abundant tropical fruits and produce available in our many farmers markets.

During all these years, I had a lot of fun organizing and judging cooking contests around the island...It all started with the Hamakua Alive! festivals in Pa'auilo...and then continued with various others, such as the Liliko'i Festival, the 'Ulu Festival...the Honey Challenge, The Hamakua Harvest and the Mango and Avocado Festivals...several of these were yearly events.

Several years after the publication of my modest first cookbook, it was included in the Best of the Best of Hawaii Cookbooks with 7 of my recipes shared in the volume, so a second printing was done.

Years later another cookbook was published...this one titled From Soup to Nuts and it features most of my favorite recipes, plus many hints and tips, as well as a manual on how best get use of your freezer.

My third cookbook is a collection of 5 years worth of articles contributed to Ke Ola Magazine and it is titled Sonia Tastes Hawaii.

I have retired from writing for media, but am still playing with putting together cookbooks...My next one is all about tomatoes, if I can ever finish it!

I will be leaving this island on the 28th, this coming Wednesday... ... This island has been my home for the last 26 years, two months, and two weeks, by the time I leave...

I have experienced much joy and deep sadness in this place...and it will always hold a cherished place in my heart.

A hui hou, Hawaii...mahalo for taking us in and making a home for us...

Reminiscing... The Akaka Falls Inn... (part 2 of 2)

It was a little bit after 9 am, on the morning of July 23rd, 20 years ago today, and the fire department in Hilo received 17 calls in succession, one almost on top of the other, from some of our friends and neighbors... a small fire caused by an electrical outlet in an upstairs bedroom of the Akita Building in Honomu, all of a sudden went out of control. 

The building was built in 1923. The walls were single wall construction and the ceilings were over 10 feet high.... Before we knew it, the whole upstairs was engulfed.

It was a nice, breezy Sunday morning...sheer curtains were dancing with the breeze when the spark caught one side of a curtain... My son smelled fire, went in to check and the curtain was already on fire all the way up to the top... He ran downstairs to grab the fire extinguisher (in the hallway at the base of the stairs), but by the time he got back up there, the smoke was too thick and flames had caught the wall all around the window...I had followed him up there and grabbed him by the waist of his shorts to pull him out.

 

 

Our friend Cathy was already working at the front making sandwiches for one of the 'People to People' summer tours hosted by the University of Hawaii in Hilo... and the bus had just passed on the way up to the Akaka Falls State Park...she knew they would be back to pick up lunch in about an hour or so...

I ran to the office and grabbed my car keys and threw them to Cathy, so she could move it from the driveway besides the building, so the fire trucks would have better access...then I ran back in the office to grab the bank deposit bag...and forgot all about the money in the cash register... By this time flames were coming down the stairwell.  

It was all over before my mind could grasp what was happening. All I could do was stand there, across the street and watch our whole world (our home, our business) go up in flames... The sound of the fire, the sound of window glass popping and the sound of crashes as things fell and broke, were terrifying and some I cannot forget. 

I had not realized it, but Anthony had gone to the back of the Inn to turn the propane off and some falling debris had burned his back... I first learned of it when I was told by a neighbor the EMT had carried him to an ambulance.  Later we learned he had 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree burns on his back.

 

Neighbor Terri went with me down the street to check on Anthony... 

Neighbors helping clear the debris from the front the day after the fire.

A few days after the fire, many people...some we knew, some complete strangers,,, came to help clear things...some braved it inside the building to see if they could salvage anything for us... A few things were saved...mainly things in the back kitchen, which fared better than the rest of the building.

(All but the last two photos were taken by a neighbor shop keeper.  The minute she heard another neighbor yell 'Fire!' she grabbed her camera and ran outside.  I'm not sure who took the last two)

Many memories were gathered in that building... many a game of Scrabble was played with neighbors while sitting in front...The Christmas Day Open House... the Sunday Brunches... The many guests of the Inn who became life-long friends...

We will never forget the generosity of friends, neighbors, and complete strangers in the aftermath of the fire... If I did not know it before, I realized then what it was to be a part of the community... and to accept their generosity with humility and grace. 

The Akaka Falls Inn was an integral part of the community and one we miss to this day.

 

Reminiscing...The Akaka Falls Inn & Cooking School - part 1 of 2

 

(Watercolor of the Akaka Falls Inn by Wanda Boyer)

E komo mai!...(Welcome!)

At Akaka Falls Inn Cooking School we are committed to showcasing the best of our Island!
We have combined our love of food, cooking, gardening and plants, and the islands' multi-ethnic heritage to offer you the best of the Big Island for a unique culinary experience.
We invite you to visit with us and " talk story " Aloha!

Up to 20 years ago, you would have been welcomed at the Akaka Falls Inn with the above words! The sentiment and welcome are still in our hearts even if the building no longer exists.

The Inn was located in the charming and historical Akita Building on the main street of the quaint Village of Honomu, an old plantation rain forest community just north of Hilo, on the Big Island of Hawai’i.  The building housed our Bed & Breakfast, Cooking School, Deli, Gourmet Gift Shop and a sustainable Tropical Botanical Garden in the backyard.

Guest from all over the world made themselves at home at our Inn while attending our cooking classes, which were conducted in a relaxed atmosphere, typical of the laid back approach to life for which our islands are famous.

 

Our principal objective had always been to stress locally grown fresh ingredients. The abundance and variety of exotic fruits and vegetable found on our island as well as the diverse Asian and Pacific Island ethnic groups,which makes for an exciting merging of cuisines which has been coined as “Pan-Ethnic fusion” 

 

 

Our island has the year around growing conditions and diversity of farmers to produce the wide range of produce needed to meet this new trend.

 

(Backyard Bounty)

"I ola no ke kino I ka ma'ona o ka 'opu" 
(The body enjoys health when the stomach is filled)
From 'Olelo No'Eau- Hawaiian Proverbs and Poetic Sayings, by Mary Kawena Pukui

 

(my son Anthony when the Inn participated in a Bridal Fair showcasing our Cooking School)

Although the Inn has not existed for many years, the spirit that drove us to serve the food we shared is the same that guides us to this day…stressing locally grown fresh ingredients and sharing the incredible abundance of produce grown on this island.

A fire in July of 2000 destroyed the old building. Unfortunately, circumstances were not auspicious to rebuilding the Inn.

(continues tomorrow)

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...