Jack Johnson-Role Model of Eco Lifestyle

 

What is not to love about role model, Jack Johnson with his catchy melodies that inspire a low key way to live and love your neighbor as well as our planet. It is quite fitting that he and his wife, Kim were presented with the "Kuleana Award" as part of Kanu Hawaii's birthday celebration. Kanu Hawaii is a grassroots movement that draws on "island strengths" to make Hawaii a model of "environmental sustainability, economic resilience and compassionate community." The award was presented to six individuals who have "inspired change in others and their community through their own demonstrations of Kuleana" which is defined by the non- profit group as "courageous acts of responsibility and leadership by example."

"As a team, Jack and Kim model stewardship, compassion, and living lightly on the earth.  They live a simple lifestyle, eat from their own garden, and devote lots of quality time to their children and their North Shore community.  Jack's music has introduced people around the world to island values of environmental stewardship and aloha, and profits from his tours support local and global environmental work.  Kim has worked tirelessly to build the Kokua Hawai'i Foundation into a local institution that is committed, as she is, to positive, empowering approaches that educate keiki and build a more eco-conscious community." (Statement issued by the Kanu)

 

                       

Thank you Jack Johnson for being such an inspiration to us all. 

Post author for Globally Gorgeous

Tamara Wallop

Hawaii Farmers Market on Oahu

One of the most refreshing and visually interesting activities in Honolulu is a morning visit to the local farmers market.  Offered several days per week in various locations around town, the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation sponsored Farmers Market is a feast for all the senses.   On Saturday Mornings in Honolulu just around the back side of Diamond Head at Kapiolani Community College the market is a fantastic way to start the weekend. Work up an appetite with a run along Diamond Head Road and take in the early morning surf action at Light House, a popular local surf spot at the base of Diamond Head. Then head on around to the Farmers Market.  The Culinary Institute of the Pacific has some great chefs on hand cooking up a broad assortment of good eats for Breakfast or Lunch.  From 'Plate Lunch Specials' to gourmet delicacies, there is something for every taste.  .After you've sated your hunger pangs, shop for organic veggies and beautiful flowers to help you prepare for your 'cocktails and pupu' partry or to dress up your dinner table.  This farmers market is also co-sponsored by both the Department of Agriculture and the Culinary Institute of the Pacific, so you are certain of discovering unique and unusual preparations of fresh, green and sustainable foods.  

Beautiful Sun ripened fruits await you ....delicious gourmet foods.

Plate Lunch heaven, your gourmet choices are all extraordinary

Cooked to your liking, or prepped for you to take home and cook later, 

it is literally a 'one stop' shop.

Fresh cut flowers or blooming orchids......exotic, colorful and this is every week!

Check out the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, a group founded in 1950 that includes over 22oo island farmers and supports sustainable farming and local produce growers throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Their website features each weeks schedule and vendor information as well as information on the other Famers Markets on Oahu and on the neighbor islands throughout the week.  This is one weekly event not to be missed!

‘Blue Latitudes': Adventuring In The Pacific

http://www.tonyhorwitz.com/

Link to the Book on Amazon

How much do we really know about Captain Cook?  What school has taught us might be that
he was an English Explorer, or that he was killed in Hawaii.  Why should we care?  I was blissfully unaware of so many of
his contributions to the knowledge of the world and its peoples and his great
skills as a map maker, navigator, diplomat, envoy, explorer and sailor.  Three multi-year voyages throughout the
Pacifc Ocean and around the world tours bringing him home to England, one
starts to realize that this man, Captain James Cook, was nothing short of
extraordinary when reading Pulitzer Prize winning author Tony Horwitz's book.

After visiting Alaska and seeing his stamp on the
place,  Captain Cook, Hawaii, as
well as sailing through Tahiti on The Paul Gauguin, one realizes that to be the
first visitor to these locales in the 18^th century was an astounding
accomplishment.  I became
fascinated to learn more about him. 
What Tony Horwitz does in Blue Latitudes, is to retrace many of Cook’s
footsteps with an Australian sidekick and at times a historian or two,
interspersing the history with real time experiences, centuries later. 

Trying to piece together the life and voyages of one of the
greatest adventurers of all time, one realizes what an extraordinary impact
this man had on the world as we know it. 
Merely look at the styles and trends in art and design in the 18^th
century in England, their awareness of Polynesia, and tropical flora and
fauna….this all came from Cooks voyages

This humorous and entertaining read is chock full of
history, past and current cultural phenomenon and a big dose of reality that we
know so little about such an extraordinary and intrepid explorer.  Kudos to Tony Horwitz, this book was
just a joy to read.

Inadvertently, we have traced Cooks steps on three separate trips, one to Tahiti on The Paul Gauguin, in Hawaii snorkeling in the very bay where he was killed, and in Alaska where Cook had some of his greatest weather and navigational challenges.  We have been so lucky to see these places in our lifetime, it is just amazing to think what it must have been like to be the very first European visitor to most of the places Cook explored in the 1700's.  

Cook's Cove Moorea, Tahiti

The Paul Gauguin off of Moorea in the Tahitian Islands

The Big Island, Hawaii, Kealakekua Bay the place of Cook's Demise

We like the Four Season's Hualalai

The rocks where Cook was murdered

Anchorage, Alaska on the Cook Inlet

Winterlake and Winterlake Lodge  a short Float Plane Flight from Anchorage

The mode of transport around the environs of the Winterlake Lodge is Helicopter

The only way in to Winterlake Lodge is via Float Plane or Ski Plane 

Captain James Cook

Adventure & Environment - Have Fun and Teach the Keiki

Eia Mākou Mālama Maunalua

Eia mākou Mālama Maunalua! (We are Mālama Maunalua)

People of the ‘āina and ocean, those who dwell and care for beloved Maunalua

In the Kona district of O’ahu of Ali’i Kākuhihewa

Maunalua, where the ‘iwa flies above the clouds

‘Elepaio (native flycatcher) chatter and flutter among the koa

The twin feathers of the ‘auku’u (Black-crowned night heron) are tossed by the beach wind

And the schools of ‘ama’ama (mullet) swim below

From Kawaihoa (Portlock Point) where Kāne brought forth life-giving water

To the crashing waves of Kūpikipiki’ō (Black Point)

Kuamo’o-o-Kāne’apua (Koko Head) and Kohelepelepe (Koko Crater) are majestic

Maunalua extends to the cliffs of Pu’u-o-Kona (of Kuli’ou’ou) and Pu’u Lanipō (of Wai’ālae Nui)

To the reefs built by coral polyps, our kin, and the sandy flats where the sea grasses dance

Cherished is the fishpond, Ke’ahupua-o-Maunalua, its companion is Ka’elepulu (in Kailua)

Laukupu, a mo’o, is the guardian of Maunalua

The sea of Koko is for ‘Ouha, the akua manō (shark god) who stands guard

In honor of the akua (gods), our ‘aumakua (family gods), and kūpuna kahiko (ancestors)

We take on this kuleana to learn, share, laulima (work together), and persevere

Our spirits fly high like the ‘iwa above, our intentions, true and deep as Kanaloa’s seas

We will protect, honor, and mālama Maunalua to the last breath

Eia mākou ‘o Mālama Maunalua! (We are Mālama Maunalua)

Lance “Mahi” La Pierre, Maunalua, Kona, O’ahu, May 9, 2008

A remarkable effort led by just a few our friends and neighbors and a small core group of donors led to a partnership with The Nature Conservancy and to an award of Fed Stimulus Money (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) specifically for this Alien Algae Removal Project as reported KHON2 News. This grass roots local group put a grant proposal together for what really is a "shovel ready" project. We can personally attest to the fact that there is no wasteful or ambiguous allocation of funds going on here. See News video.

Be Green 2: Fed Stimulus Money Going to Algae Removal Project - KHON2.com. The stimulus money is specifically for a removal of invasive alien algae project that is under the  direction of Mālama Maunalua. MM still is a under funded organization that operates on a shoe string. Here is a link to their site where donations can be made to this fantastically effective non-profit group. Mālama Maunalua, in association with The Nature Conservancy and NOAA MM is really making a difference in the restoration and preservation of this Beautiful Bay.

Alien algae have been recognized as one of the top threats to our oceans’ health and recovery, in Hawai‘i and elsewhere. This threat is exacerbated by sedimentation from land-based sources which helps invasive algae get established and grow on reef flats. Compounding the problem, fishing pressure has dramatically reduced populations of plant-eating species like parrotfishes (uhu) and sea urchins. Once established, invasive algae drastically alter the seabed by smothering and killing corals and seagrass meadows, and overwhelming and destroying habitat for other reef life.

View of Maunalua By from our Lanai at our Black Point Property.

Aerial Photo showing a "Patch" of removed alien algae and it is not coming back!

Algea is removed like this, pick it up and stick it in the bag after inspecting contents for sea life.

Bags are transferred to Canoes or Kayaks then brought ashore and weight and carted off for bio reuse, such as mulching.

Teaching the Keiki (children) is a very important aspect of the community outreach. Getting them to the beach to watch and participate leads to an understanding that they will inherit this responsibility. Understanding the relationship between the Makua and Makai (the mountains and the sea) is something that Keiki need to learn early. Here Congressman Neil Abercrombie Representative of Hawaii's 1st District, instructs Keiki for a photo op.





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The Perfect Lychee Martini Depends on Your Mood

Two of our favorite restaurants in Honolulu that serve great Lychee Martinis are Indigo for eurasian / Dim Sum and Mongolian food and Alan Wong's Restaurant (click link for menu) for Hawaii regional cuisine.





Lychees on Line is the perfect place to decide what type of lychee you want to prepare for a martini recipe, fresh, frozen or canned. For two very different recipes check out these two at foodnetwork.com, or at epicurious.com. If your in the mood for something a little more labor intensive but delicious, the epicurious  recipe is the same served at Kittichai at 60 Thompson in Manhattan. We love Kittichai, the hotel and their martini, however we honestly prefer our abbreviated version which we have perfected over and over again when we are in Honolulu.

Our Martini:

Martini Shaker

Ice

8 0z Belvedere Vodka

1/4 tsp White Vermouth

1/4 tsp lychee syrup (from the can) or 1/4 tsp powdered sugar

Shake...pour and garnish with 2 lychee fruit skewered on a great toothpick.   Note:  Lychee may be found in the asian food section of the grocery.

This is a great drink, not sweet, but very flavorful and the essence of the tropics....Aloha!





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Kane Hula - Male Hula Dance

Hula dancing evolved from the ancient Hawaiian dancers who performed the dance as part of religious ritual.  It was a uniquely Hawaiian dance, unlike other styles of dance that were imported from other Pacific Islands.  Performed by both men and women, the Hula told the story of people, places and nature.  The Hawaiian culture did not have a written language and all of their history has been passed down from generation to generation through song, dance and 'talk story'. The Hula is a celebrated art form that thanks to King Kalakaua, was resurrected from near extinction in the 1800's as missionaries forbade native islanders from performing this 'devilish' dance.  Each year, the Merrie Monarch festival in Hilo on the Big island of Hawai'i, is the focal point and catalyst that supports and draws together an extensive network of instructional hula studios, hula masters, instructors, researchers, professors of Hawaiian studies and students of all ages who are committed to the perpetuation and advancement of the Hawaiian history and culture of dance.

"Hula is the Language of the Heart and therefore the Heartbeat of the Hawaiian People" from 

Merrie Monarch Festival Website.

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Hawaiiana and Vintage Hawaiian Art

Vintage Hawaiian Art is one of our favorite things to source here in Honolulu when decorating our Honolulu period era properties in a traditional Hawaiiana Style. Here is a link to a site that has an amazing amount of Hawaiian "stuff" or 'Hawaiiana' as it is known by in. This site has inexpensive and reproduction goods mostly, but it is a fantastic gift source, or can give you decorating ideas from a Kid's Room to a 1960's style Basement Rec Room...to get you through the cold winter days. Of course we like the real stuff, vintage and authentic but it is much harder to find in good condition. This link to Hawaiian Days will give you huge inventory to choose from, ranging from prints to furniture and lamps.   Plus its a great idea site if you don't know what's available.  Its all here. We'll be doing an "Art"  post on each of these Hawaiian artists later.  

John Kelly

Eugene Savage

Gill

Frank Macintosh

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His Final Decades in Hawaii: Jean Charlot 1897-1979

Although he was born and raised in France, Jean Charlot spent the final decades of his prolific career in Hawaii. In fact a 1966 retrospective exhibition of his art was held at the Honolulu Academy of Art. We have collected Charlot original prints and incorporated the collection into the decorating of our Home in Montecito.

Jean Charlot, 'LOEA HULA', Oil Painting of Iolani Luahine

Image Courtesy of  Charlot Collection at the University of Hawaii at Manoa Library

Jean Charlot studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris before serving in the French Army during World War I.  His mother, with her French, Mexican and Jewish lineage, introduced him to Mexico in 1920, where he sketched for archeologists excavating Mayan ruins.  He became enthused with his Mexican heritage, as evident in a series of mural paintings in Mexico City assisting Diego Rivera and other members of the Syndicate of Painters and Sculptors.  Charlot is credited by Rivera for reviving and refining the fresco technique that he used.  After working from 1929 with lithography printer George Miller in New York, Charlot began a lifetime collaboration in 1933 with Lynton R. Kistler, master lithography printer in Los Angeles, reputedly making the first stone-drawn color lithographs in the United States.  Charlot devoted himself to themes of family and the working class, revealing the universality of human nature. Bio from,  Toby Moss Gallery, Los Angeles.

Jean Charlot, "The Spear Thrower" Original Silkscreen, 1974

During his career Jean Charlot received major awards from the Guggenheim Fellowship and Yale University. In 1966 a retrospective exhibition of his art was held at the Honolulu Academy of Arts and in 1968 a similar exhibition took place at the Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City. Today, major collections of Charlot's prints are found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Smithsonian Institution, the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts and at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Jean Charlot, LAUHALA, KAPAKAHI STREAM, KAAHALA OAHU, Serigraph, 1978

Jean Charlot, 'Hala Grove, Kahuwai, Hawaii', serigraph , Hawaii State Art Museum

For Additional information on Hawaiin Art.

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Crazy for Coconut ! Halekulani Coconut Cake with Chocolate Sauce

We are going to the Halekulani Hotel tonight to see  Kanoe Miller Hula Dance at House Without a Key. Then we are having the Hotel's famous COCONUT CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE SAUCE!!!!  Tomorrow I'll be climbing Koko Crater for a butt burner, but it will be worth it. I called the hotel and Chef gave us the recipe, included below.

I found this great article by the by the New York Times 36 Hours in Honolulu and this beautiful photo of Kanoe MIller by Cory Lum for the New York Times...

HALEKULANI COCONUT CAKE 

with Chocolate Sauce





8 Servings

INGREDIENTS AND METHOD FOR THE SPONGE CAKE:

3/4 cup Cake flour

1/3 cup Sugar

1 tsp Baking powder

1 pinch Salt

2 Tbsp Salad oil

1 each Egg, large, whole

2 Tbsp Water

4 each Egg whites

1/4 cup Sugar

1 pinch Cream of tartar





- Preheat oven to 350°. In a small bowl, sift together the cake flour, 1/3 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Reserve.

- In a separate bowl, combine salad oil, whole egg and water. Add to sifted ingredients to form a batter, and mix until a smooth consistency is obtained.

- In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar and continue to whip until a stiff meringue is formed.

- Fold meringue into the batter and mix thoroughly.

- Pour the batter into an ungreased 9" spring form pan and bake for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove cake from pan, cool upside down on a cooling rack.





INGREDIENTS AND METHOD FOR THE PASTRY CREAM:

1 1/2 cups Milk

1 each Vanilla bean, split in half

1/3 cup Sugar

3 tbsp Flour

4 each Egg yolks

1 1/4 cups Coconut flakes





Method:

- Bring the milk and the split vanilla bean to a boil. Reserve and let cool.

- In a mixing bowl combine the sugar, flour and egg yolks, whip together.

- Remove the vanilla bean from the cooled milk and add 1/3 of the milk to the egg mixture, mix well.

- Pour the egg mixture into the pan of remaining milk. Over medium heat, continue stirring until mixture begins to bubble and thicken.

- Remove from heat, cover with aluminum foil and stir occasionally to prevent crusting. When completely cool, add coconut flakes.





INGREDIENTS AND METHOD FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM:

1 ½ cups Whipped cream

3 tbsp Sugar

1 ½ cups Coconut flakes





- In a mixing bowl, combine the whipped cream, sugar and 1/2 of the coconut flakes.





Half of this mixture is to be folded into the pastry cream and the remainder is to be used to frost the cake. The remaining half of the coconut flakes is to be used for coating the frosted cake.





INGREDIENTS AND METHOD FOR THE CHOCOLATE SAUCE:

1 cup Milk

3/4 lb Chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup Heavy cream

1 tbsp Butter

1/4 cup Sugar





- In a sauce pan, combine the milk and chocolate, bring to a boil. Add the cream, butter and sugar and again bring to a boil. Remove from heat and keep warm.



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TO ASSEMBLE & SERVE:

- Cut the cooled cake into 3 layers.

- Spread pastry cream atop the bottom two layers, assemble the cake.

- Frost with the whipped cream and sprinkle with coconut flakes to finish.

- Slice the cake into desired portions and serve with warm chocolate sauce.