Too Many Tomatoes

By Lori Powell

Tomatoes are dropping in my garden…literally. My garden includes everything from heirloom varieties to the humble cherry. So, when burdened (gifted) with the luxury of gorgeous home-grown tomatoes, I say, let the salsas begin!

With infinite salsa variations possible, I change it up, given the offerings at the farmers’ market or what’s in my fridge. You could add beans, corn or grilled veggies, to name a few tasty options.

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Returning to My Roots: A Visit to a Living History Kona Coffee Farm

By Sandy Hu

Last week, I stepped back in time and into my childhood at The Kona Coffee Living History Farm in Captain Cook, Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii. This living museum chronicles the life of immigrant Japanese coffee farmers from 1926 to 1945 through the original farmhouse and seven-acre coffee farm of the Uchida family. Their life mirrored that of my grandparents, Iwaki and Kitsu Honda, and their nine children.

While the farm is historically accurate to 1945, so much of that lifestyle continued well past it, to my own childhood, when, living in Hilo on the other side of the island, we would visit my grandparents, aunts and uncles, all coffee farmers at the time. As kids, we picked our share of coffee, too, during peak coffee season.

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Thinking Pumpkins; Anticipating Fall

By Lori Powell

I have never had a pumpkin patch...until now. When I moved into my rental house, there was a raised bed with rotting pumpkins.

Agreed, it was not so pretty, but thought, wow! How cool would it be to have pumpkins? Well, those pumpkins became compost over the winter and their seeds produced offspring.

First there was a small green one, which is becoming rather large. And then a small orange one popped up, and now a white mini pumpkin. They are literally taking over the garden so I had to take out a couple of plants and steer the vines to the outside of the box to protect the rest of the herbs and tomato plants that were about to be overcome by the big beauties!

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Sweet Summer Corn

By Andrew Hunter

Growing up in Michigan, sweet corn was as much a part of summer as swimming and humidity. I remember going to our local farm market called Leverett’s for corn so sweet that it satisfied my candy cravings.

Mrs. Leverett, who was also our source for pumpkins, Christmas trees and all things seasonal, taught me the quicker you go from stalk to pot, the sweeter the corn will be. I learned as a chef that the natural sugars change to starch after corn is picked, so while she probably didn’t understand the science, Mrs. Leverett knew enough to put a burner and pot of water in the field she was picking to capture that sugar before it escaped.

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Avocado Soup – to Celebrate the Simple

By Lori Powell

It has been hot and super-hot in most of the country, not to mention what it going on with our economy, the world and the markets...not so hot!

Try to keep in mind that the simple things in life are not to be overlooked. We still have lots to be thankful for and if you have your health…well put simply, it does not get much better than that.

So much these days is out of our control but being thankful for what we still have and rewarding ourselves with good food is a good thing.

Make yourself something delicious, invite some friends and celebrate the simple! Here’s a refreshing soup for four to start you on your way.

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