I have never thought of myself as a foodie, but I do love to cook. I always have. I grew up around women who loved to cook. Just like my mom’s Sundays and holidays, mine were often spent at my grandma's or great-grandma's eating meals that took days to prepare and made the whole house smell amazing.
Recently my love of cooking has really become an obsession. After a visit to my mom's for my 40th, which included lots of dining out at gourmet restaurants, I came back to Kauai and realized I wanted to rededicate myself to my passion for remarkable food. I ordered an array of new cookbooks, plus a few great new pans and decided to learn something.
It is nearly impossible to completely follow a recipe here on Kauai because it can be difficult to track down ingredients. I always have to modify recipes according to what's available on the island. As for produce, you have to get it at the farmers market or health food store. The vegetables and fruits in the few large markets have little flavor after being picked far too early and then traveling thousands of miles to get here. And, why would anyone ever want to pay for that shipping when locally grown veggies are cheaper!
I always keep a few fresh herbs growing in pots around the house as they can spruce up almost any dish. My husband and son fish most weekends, so I often have to create meals around the weekend catch. Can't have that go to waste! The point is, you have to get creative here based on what you have readily available without sacrificing taste and quality. It's the way most people I know here shop for groceries and prepare their meals.
One day I was reading a book I purchased about the slow food movement and I thought “this is exactly how my Mom lives. She grows almost everything she eats. She's gotta write about it. Her garden is amazing!” I called her and told her she had to start a blog about “the farm” as we call it. She pointed out to me that I too was a foodie—all of that cooking from scratch, going to the farmers market, shopping at the little boutique health food stores, and eating the fish the boys catch. That's all part of the picture as well.
Now it is the time to plant my own “farm.” I've asked my husband to give me a garden for Christmas. I think this will be one of those rare presents I’ll cherish forever from him; even a bit more than all the great goodies he’s given me from Barney’s, Saks and Balenciaga!
It’s not always easy to make it to one of the two farmers markets we have each week in Hanalei. In the meantime I'm looking for ways to connect with local farmers. So far I have found a CSA to join and have a lead on a lady who delivers local eggs, bread and goat cheese. My part of this blog is a diary of my cooking and gardening adventures as I commit to increasing the amount of locally grown ingredients I use.
Now I'm off to figure out what to make with some of the 17 Mahi and 1 Ono my boys brought home yesterday. Most will be given away or sold to friends and neighbors but I'll still be doing fish tacos one night and I'm thinking seared Mahi with creamy roasted peppers, greens, homemade black beans, and homemade tortillas. Sound yummy?
Debbie
You can learn a little about my island by going to: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanalei_Bay
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