KCCF seeks cupping competition entries
Submissions for the 2022 Kona Coffee Cultural Festival Cupping Competition Coffee are due by 4 p.m. Oct. 31. All coffee entered into the competition must be 100% Kona coffee grown in the district of Kona.
Bright lemon balances richness of one-pot pasta
Tomatoes may get more attention, but throughout Italy, lemon also often finds its way into pasta.
Maple syrup recipes and tips from Pennsylvania’s Hurry Hill Maple Farm
Maple syrup is famously made in spring, when below-freezing nights followed by warm days cause the sap stored in a sugar maple’s trunk to flow up and out of the tree and into buckets or plastic tubing for boiling.
To keep salmon succulent in a skillet, baste then sauce
For weeknight cooking, we love seared fish since it usually cooks in half the time as chicken or other proteins. But it’s a fine line between cooked and completely dried out.
Gorgeous gourds are fall decor favorites
Fall decor has arrived, and with it comes the most gorgeous gourds!
On Gardening: Mini Me Watermelon is a magical new coleus for 2023
Just when you thought the gardening world would be content and that we didn’t need another new coleus, Mini Me Watermelon is rocking scorecards in university trials. Mini Me Watermelon is part of the ColorBlaze series. It will be making its debut in 2023 and is climbing the must-have plants chart.
A world without palms would be poor indeed
Members of the International Palm Society are here to study the palms of Hawaii in cooperation with the Hawaii Island Palm Society. They have come to educate, protect and promote the use of palms in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate regions. If you wish to join the HIPS or get involved in some of their activities, visit HawaiiIslandPalmSociety.com. There are some upcoming tours of private gardens you may like to see and it is a great opportunity to get acquainted with palm enthusiasts.
Regrow vegetables from kitchen scraps on a sunny windowsill
Interested in reducing food waste and saving money on produce? You might consider regrowing vegetables from kitchen scraps. Take celery for example. You can cut 3 inches off the bottom of a head of celery and then slice a sliver off the very bottom of the 3-inch segment. Place it right-side up in a shallow container and pour in 2 inches of water. New growth will sprout from the center in just a few days. Similar methods will work for beets, scallions, leeks and romaine lettuce. These methods aren’t likely to produce plants that will grow well in your garden. But they’re fun on a sunny windowsill and are likely to yield a side dish or two.
Wildfires, fentanyl and mass transit top WCA town meeting
An array of hot topics — from wildfires to smuggled deadly fentanyl to Hawaii County’s Mass Transit plans — will top Waimea Community Association’s Virtual Town Meeting agenda from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday.
Gretchen’s table: Vermont apple cider doughnuts
My granddaughter, Greta, and I have a lot in common: We’re both always moving, easy to smile (if occasionally cranky) and love to be outdoors in the sunshine.
Spiced beef, salty cheese fill Turkey’s top street food
Outside the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, a woman in a headscarf slaps a ball of dough between her formidable hands and stretches it over the dome of a large saç griddle.
This is how to make a real Italian beef, according to the culinary producer of ‘The Bear’
In addition to star Jeremy Allen White’s months of training at restaurants, including Santa Monica’s Pasjoli, much of the realism so many have attributed to TV’s “The Bear” is due to the culinary supervision of chefs Courtney Storer and Matty Matheson, who also played handyman Neil Fak on the show. The culinary producers devised on-camera dishes for the FX on Hulu series and also served as inspiration and sounding boards within the writers room.
Pumpkin Spice Martini? Autumn cocktails can get creative
Apple pie! Pumpkin spice! Buttered rum! This is how we embrace autumn at our home bar.
Plant of the Month for October: The kiawe tree
In this column, I usually write about a plant you might want to grow. Though I don’t want to encourage growing a plant that can be invasive, the kiawe tree has an interesting story and many useful properties, that I’d like to share.
Global warming means palms in surprising places
We are still in Italy but soon to be home. Visiting the Amalfi Coast south of Rome made us homesick mainly because it looks tropical with lots of palms, bananas and other plants that create a tropical ambiance. It just goes to show that one can create a feeling by the plants used in the landscape.
Free Grab-&-Go Ocean Learning Kits to be distributed
One thousand kits will be distributed at Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary-sponsored distribution locations on Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii Island this weekend with fourth graders on Lanai and Molokai receiving their kits via school.
Quick Fix: No need for constant stirring with this ‘risotto’ recipe
This mock “risotto” takes only 10 minutes to make and doesn’t need constant stirring. Instead of using traditional rice for the risotto, I use orzo, a rice-shaped pasta, and a large nonstick skillet for this quick meal. The orzo has a creamy texture when cooked this way. Using a large, nonstick skillet instead of a saucepan increases the surface area so the orzo cooks faster and doesn’t stick. There’s no need for constant stirring as with a rice-based risotto.
For chewy Japanese noodles, borrow an Italian technique
Japanese udon noodles are all about the chew, but it’s hard to replicate the texture with what’s available in American markets.
Gretchen’s table: Creamy poblano pepper pasta
Poblanos are most often used in Mexican and Tex-Mex cooking — they’re terrific stuffed — but because their heat is relatively mild, they also make a fine addition to chili and soup. They’re also wonderful roasted and blended into a cream sauce.
3 knives every cook needs. And some they might just want.
There is likely no kitchen tool purchase as important as your cooking knives. And it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the variety of styles, prices, sizes and materials.
