Kona Road Trip...and Food Porn

Aloha Kakou!!

Today brings to light one of the few drawbacks to living in Hilo...I will start by saying that Leialoaha and I are new homeowners, so like many, we have found ourselves worshiping at the altar of Home Depot and Lowe's. Now I don't know about you all, but we much prefer Lowe's. Better customer service, better selection, the store is laid out much better...and much much much cleaner. What's the problem? Well, Home Depot is about ten minutes away...Lowe's, not so much. In my experience, it has always been that you can't go to either of these home store giants in any mainland city or town without finding the other brand no more then 1/2 mile away. Not here on the Big Island. Lowe's is in Kona...roughly 2 hours away from us. There are two ways to get there...up the beautiful Hamakua Coast and through Waimea, (although a case could be made to go the more northerly way past Waikaloa) or on Saddle Road:

Big Island Overview with Saddle Road Highlighted

We have done this route once...and once was enough. So, insiders tip...if given the choice heading to Kona from Hilo, take HWY 19...it may take ten minutes more, but the ride is sooooooooo much better. The ride takes you through North Hilo, Hamakua, North Kohala and Kona districts. The ride through Waimea is beautiful, and the animals all seem to smile and say hello. Lots of cows and horses and sheeps and goats and rams and wild pigs, (more on them at some other point) and of course my favorite:

This is the mongoose...how they came to Hawai'i is an interesting story, but the only two ways I ever see these guys is either flattened on the road, or as they run across said road trying to avoid being splattered. They look very cute with their two inch legs motoring a mile a minute. But I digress. For us...it is the longer route all the way. Oh...I promised food porn.

One of the millions of perks of come along with having Leialoha in my life, is that her Auntie Susie is an outrageously great cook...with an emphasis on baking. On our way back, we had to drop some things off, (Auntie Suzy and much of Leialoha's family live in Honoka'a) to her and my mother-in-law Jody. (This is very common, as if someone is heading to Kona, it is nice to ask if anyone needs anything while over at Costco) There is a dinner tonight to honor the memory of Auntie Flora, who passed away last year. I thought I should get a few pics of the deserts, (just a few of the many I should mention) so enjoy...not 100% sure what these are, I just know they smell and taste great. Enjoy!!

 And lastly, there have been a few requests for the recipe that I used for Portuguese Bean Soup the other night. Here is is:


Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 2 Hours 40 Minutes
Ready In: 2 Hours 50 Minutes
Servings: 12
INGREDIENTS:
1 ham hock
1 (10 ounce) linguica sausage, sliced
1 onion, minced
2 quarts water
4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 celery rib, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 (15 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 head cabbage, thinly sliced
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans
DIRECTIONS:
1.
Place ham hock, linguica, onion, and water into a Dutch oven over high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour.
2.
Remove meat from ham hock, chop, and return to soup. Stir in potatoes, celery, carrots, stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and garlic. Cover, and continue simmering for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
3.
Stir in cabbage and kidney beans, cook until the cabbage has softened, about 10 minutes.

Give it a try and enjoy! Oh, by the way, I left out the hock, but it came out just fine. Either way will work out nicely. The Portuguese Sausage is the key of course.

We are down to two weeks before back to work time...I'll be trying to get my vocal and steel guitar chops back to acceptable levels in the coming two weeks. Tonight? Red wine...it's a start!!


Dave