My condolences go out to Hiren, who had to put his beloved kitty Pounce down today. Pounce has been struggling with cancer. He had a wonderful life and was well loved (and spoiled happily) by his owner. Big hugs go to Hiren for the loss of his special kitty.
I was lazy this morning and didn't get up until 9am. I wasn't planning on getting much at the Farmer's market so I didn't see a need to rush. As I was getting ready to go I looked out the window and there was a kitty sunning itself on the roof overhang over the garage. I took a picture but the kitty was on the move. If you look closely below the green leaves of the trees you can see it. Why is this significant enough to take a picture? Because I have only seen 2 cats since I've been here. There are remarkably few mammals out and about outside where I am. I am sure in the country you would see more. There are no squirrels, raccoons or possums like at home. I did see a baby mongoose a week ago but I couldn't get a picture. It took me a lot of questions and looking online to figure out what it was since I'd never seen a mongoose. However, I was so surprised to see an outdoor kitty that I had to take a picture to remind myself. I believe this is a feral kitty since it seems terrified of people noticing it. My phone meowed (the notification sound) and it caused the cat to jump up and scurry away - this picture is mid-skeedaddle.
Despite my lazy start I walked down to the farmer's market. I always stop first at the bread/bakery vendor. I love this bread. I've been wanting to get some of the banana bread since I first sampled it but always convinced myself not to. So today I got 2 loaves of bread - one banana and one of the supergrain I like so much. The banana bread is made with the apple bananas which are so very sweet, it makes the bread more like banana cake. VERY GOOD. I may take some to work to share since I don't need to be eating the whole loaf. Not to mention it is just super yummy. I took a picture today of the Executive Chef/Baker for the company. He is at the market and slices the bread. He knows me by sight now and says he loves Saturdays because it is the only day he gets out of the bakery and gets to interact with people! In the picture he is slicing my supergrain loaf.
After that I wandered around a bit, just enjoying the outdoors. There was a lovely breeze and it was pleasantly comfortable. I saw some things I had never heard of before so I took pictures. Thankfully I don't have to not know. YEA for Google! So, the chico is also called sapodilla. "The fruit has an exceptionally sweet, malty flavor. Many believe the flavor bears a striking resemblance to caramel or a pear candied with brown sugar. The unripe fruit is hard to the touch and contains high amounts of saponin, which has astringent properties similar to tannin, drying out the mouth." Ok, so that is interesting. I might try it if they have it next week. The other was a luffa squash. The unripe vegetable is eaten and is much like a cucumber, the ripe vegetable is used to make the luffa sponges used to clean and scrub. Interesting. I didn't get one this week.
I made several purchases. I got some meyer lemon ginger jam from Honomu Jams & Jellies. It was super good. I also really liked the lilikoi (passionfruit) jelly and the calamondin jam. I will probably get some to take home (or will have it shipped home) or even eat while I am here! They are $9 a jar at the market, which is $1 cheaper than the website. I also got Herb'n Farmer cheese from The Naked Cow Dairy. It is a delicious farmer's cheese with herb de Provence on top. I love their butters and cheese. The naked Cow Dairy is the ONLY dairy on Oahu. As little as I eat at home enjoy getting delicious and high quality local foods to enjoy. I also got some broccoli rabe (also called rapini) which is on the left below. Choi sum is in the middle, it is a mustard type green and is good to saute or stir fry. Cilantro, also called coriander or chinese parsley, is on the right. I love cilantro but I discovered there is a small minority of people for whom it tastes like nasty soap. The human body is a mysterious thing indeed.
My special new thing for the day was from OnoPops Hawaii. I had the jabuticaba sorbet OnoPop since it is a seasonal flavor and not easy to find. The jabuticaba tastes like a cross between a concord grade and a blueberry. It is very good. I also tried jabuticaba jelly at the jelly vendor. It is very very good. This is the OnoPop I got and the vendor handing it to me. They are so very nice.
So, that is a lot of description for just a few items that I got but so much is new to me here I like to share anything new I find. I came home and will spend the rest of the day relaxing. Maybe a nap, watching some Netflix and reading.
I didn't get a photo of the box of delights Jeff sent me that arrived yesterday. Here is the package. He was kind enough to send me several Kentucky items to share including a keychain,magnets, a notepad and some Old Kentucky Chocolates. There is a nice postcard, a bag of homemade buffalo jerky (with extra salt, just how I like it) and the dried tart cherries I love. You can also see the two min bottles of bourbon that survived the trip (one didn't make it). What you cannot see if the dark chocolate bar because it got bourbon all over the wrapper so I ate it last night (hehehe such a sacrifice!). Thank you thank you thank you Jeff for the wonderful package!!!
That is all for now, I went ahead and did this blog early because the rest of the day will be spent quietly with nothing exciting. If that changes I'll certainly post updates.
Aloha!
~Melissa
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