Poetry Friday: A Vacation Memoir

Happy Poetry Friday everyone!!!! Its been ages since I wrote a poem. My poety self disappeared for a bit there under knee x-rays and layers of homeschool curricula. Am back and am not to be beaten down. Feeling very inspired by all the determined women who made office during the recent election. If they can all manage to accomplish political careers and break glass ceilings then I will battle to squeak out a poem on Fridays. Huzzah!

This week I am thinking of our recent trip to Hawaii. We spent some time visiting A's brother Miq and his wife, the inimitable  Penny (visiting family is a good excuse for trips to exotic locales!) and then we also took half the vacation to island hop about on our own and explore. We came to Hawaii for our honeymoon ten years ago so we were returning after a decade to not only enjoy the tropical breeze but also to remember where we started and celebrate having made it this far, back in a kind of grand circle. It was kind of a family vacation/second honeymoon/relative visiting trip...just a little of everything in there.

It was fun to go back as a painter. I feel like it changes the way I see so much of life...I notice amazing colors, the way light glows along an edge, and the soft quality of the air in a vista. One of things that really has stayed in my mind was the fruit. Its a beautifully agricultural and lush place so there's no shortage of ripe, juicy, glistening fruits everywhere. The fruits we have here are equally lovely really, there's just something very fresh about things you don't have where you live. This is what I am remembering now as the weather crisps and blusters outside our house and December looms large.

A Ripe Visit 

Staying in their teak, jungle bungalow
Was beautiful, like the breakfast papaya:
Glistening crescents of spoon-soft gold;
Florals melting into the walls of your mouth. 
They smiled easily and shared their croquet set,
The balls rolling into a dip under the banana tree.
Life there was warm and soft, rippling onward.
We stripped magenta ramubutans slowly and read
Languid stories to the children about dragon gold.
I got up one morning with the roosters and
Watched dawn rise over corrugated metal to the
Nutty snap of a longan skin between my teeth.
We made outings like good vacationers do 
To Chinatown for highlighter pink dragonfruit
To a local farm stand for starfruit with a song
Like a raspberry catching the crest of a sunset.
And to the pineapple plantation where the fruit
Rises like trophies out of a vast plain of thorns.
We picked guavas in a baking crater and ate them
Dripping juice on the gearshift in the front seat.
We found one wild lilikoi, plump and dangling from
Vines tangled with lipstick, wild fuchsia blooms.
That night when we sawed it open at the table
And passed around sips of the jellied seeds
They told us about a friend's newborn daughter
Improbably named after the passionate little fruit.
On the last morning of our visit, hustling for the plane
We ate breakfast together standing in the kitchen
Scooping up avocado flesh with spoons
And then hurling dripping mango into our mouths.
Desperate to eat up paradise before our flight.
We drove out of their bouncing lane and
Saw them framed by an enormous santol tree
Wrapping his arms around them in the sun.

Our host today for Poetry Friday is Amy over at The Poem Farm. Please drop by and savor some of the other contributions if you find yourself sitting with a mug of tea on Saturday morning in a quiet hour. A little poetry does a body good.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Virtual Cooking Lessons: Eggplant Curry

Image via Wikipedia

Cooked quinoa

Thought I would share today a recipe from another blogger that I think is terribly delicious. Since we're vegetarian this month (reference this post for the details) the recipe I am featuring is obviously meatless.








Generally, I am striving for a main dish with substantive protein content (hello quinoa!). If you're doing the same (as I know many of you out there are joining me in my Veguary adventure) then you might consider serving this curry over quinoa or adding chickpeas for a little dose of protein-ating fuel.

Eggplants are scary to me. I didn't grow up eating them, and intimidated, yea even a little worried about the whole idea of experimenting with them. I had no idea how to cook with them until about a six months ago. I am still very much in the learning stage, trying to figure out what in the world to do with them and how they are prepared. This is a great step on the road.

Curry, however, is my friend. A recent friend but, one I now feel quite cozy with and part of my go-to repetoire for recipes. They are easy to throw together and like stir fry, are elastic in their ability to encompass any number of ingredients. Usually the curries I make have either a yogurt base (Indian) or a coconut milk one (Thai). This curry has Indian flavors and spices but, is dairy-free...a boon to those of you who are lactose intolerant. At first the idea of a curry with no creamy base sounded off-putting but, I got over it as soon as the onions were browning away in the small mountains of fragrant spices. Curry is fantastically easy, very forgiving and just the thing to add a little zip to your winter menu.

It feels like stew, from the tropics!

Eggplant Curry
Like most curries this recipe keeps well, and actually improves with time. If you have leftovers simply reheat the next day, re-check seasoning, adding more salt if needed and serve on freshly steamed rice. I like to use ghee (see recipe below) in curries for the authentic flavour it gives. It is lactose-free, but if you avoid dairy altogether simply use a neutral oil. I like to use whole cumin seeds, but by all means use ground cumin if that's what you have. Make sure you use regular brown onions in this recipe, red onions have a higher sugar content and tend to burn too easily in curries like this, where long, slow cooking is required.  Serves 4-6

2 medium eggplants 
3 Tbsp ghee/olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
2.5cm (1 inch) piece of fresh ginger, grated (I keep a jar of ginger puree in my fridge...look in your produce department near the jarred garlic or else over near the veggie trays.)
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds/ground cumin
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne or a small pinch of chilli powder
1 tsp sea salt
 1 14oz can chopped tomatoes
a small handful of fresh cilantro leaves to garnish (optional)

Wash eggplants and dice into 1 inch cubes.

Heat ghee/oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring carefully for about 10 minutes until a deep golden brown colour. (Be patient and don't be tempted to rush this stage).

Add the ginger, crushed garlic, fennel and cumin seeds. Cook for about 2 minutes until garlic and ginger are fragrant. Add ground coriander, turmeric, cayenne/chilli powder and salt. Cook for 30 seconds. Add the diced eggplant and stir well to coat evenly with spices. Pour in the can of chopped tomatoes, give it a big stir, then place the lid on and continue to cook over low-medium heat for about 10-15 minutes. Check and stir a few times to ensure it's not catching on the bottom. Turn temperature down a little if need be.

When the sauce has thickened and the eggplant is meltingly soft, check the seasoning once more. Serve sprinkled with coriander/cilantro leaves over rice. Enjoy!

(this recipe is lifted almost exactly from the beautiful blog, my darling lemon thyme...a dizzyingly delicious place to visit if you have a moment)

Related articles

• 5 High Protein Vegetarian Recipes For Christmas (mademan.com)
• #1 Grain According to Readers is Quinoa! Check Out These Recipes. (eatdrinkbetter.com)
• Quinoa: versatile superfood (canada.com)