Let’s Talk Food: Big Island agricultural products
Kona orange is listed in Slow Food’s Ark of Taste catalog
Italy’s Ravenna: once powerful, still glorious
Ravenna is on Italy’s tourist map for one reason: its 1,500-year-old churches decorated with best-in-the-West Byzantine mosaics. While locals go about their business, busloads of tourists slip in and out of this town near the Adriatic coast to bask in the glittering glory of Byzantium, the eastern Roman Empire.
10 underrated national parks to visit this summer
National parks are incredible places for discovery, yet oftentimes we think about visiting only the most popular: Yosemite, Yellowstone, Glacier, and a few others. Yet the National Park Service maintains and protects hundreds of parks, national lakeshores and seashores, recreation areas, walking trails and more, all for you to take in and enjoy.
The cats of Old San Juan are being run out of town. Locals can empathize.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Feral cats have roamed the blue cobblestone streets of Old San Juan for as long as anyone can remember. They meander around a historic fortress that looms over San Juan Bay, hiding from the hot sun under sea grape bushes.
Tropical Gardening: Warm summer days mean fragrant gardens
Warm humid summer days stimulate flowering of many fragrant flowers especially plumeria, angel trumpets, orange jasmine, pikake, night blooming jasmine and ginger species.
Volcano Watch: Keeping up with Kilauea
Kilauea began erupting from fissures southwest of Kaluapele (the summit caldera) just after midnight on June 3; the eruption ceased just nine hours later, though lava flows continued to slowly spread for several more hours. Prior to the brief eruption, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) had been monitoring pulses of heightened seismic activity in the summit area for weeks.
Gretchen’s table: Coffee-rubbed steaks for just two are worth celebrating
When my five kids were growing up, we only ate steak on grilling holidays and special occasions such as Memorial Day, the Fourth of July or Father’s Day, because filet, rib-eye or strip steak was just too expensive for our family as an everyday meal.
Let’s Talk Food: Hoisin sauce
Hoisin sauce is a very useful condiment as well as a nice glaze for poultry, pork and beef. Its ingredients such as soy sauce gives it a tangy, salty taste, balanced with some sweetness with either honey or molasses, tang from vinegar, and umami from miso or peanut butter.
We took in Utah’s ‘Mighty 5’ national parks in one epic campervan trip
“Mom! Take my picture!” my daughter called as she led the way up sloping switchbacks to reach yet another lovely vista of Zion National Park’s Watchman peak. Crimson slickrock paintbrush flowers and prickly pear cacti framed the trail.
Notre Dame rises again … in Lego
Arnaud Gaudillat, a history teacher in France, recalled bursting into tears as he watched television coverage of flames tearing through the Cathedral of Notre Dame in 2019. “We couldn’t do anything but just watch it burn,” he said.
Rick Steves’ Europe: Medieval Erfurt’s unspoiled German charm
Long ago I gave up looking for an untouristy, half-timbered medieval German town, but a few years back I stumbled upon it in the sleepy town of Erfurt.
Volcano Watch: Beyond the lava: Mauna Loa’s deformation story
Mauna Loa volcano stands as the largest and most active volcano on Earth. With a rich history of eruptions that have shaped the Island of Hawai’s geography, Mauna Loa has captivated the fascination of scientists, residents and people worldwide. Let’s take a closer look at how Mauna Loa’s surface deformation has changed over the last several decades, focusing on its three most recent eruptions.
Tropical Gardening: Hurricane season officially starts today
What does hurricane season mean for us in Hawaii? The old adage, June is too soon, July-standby, August-a must, September — remember, October all over is no longer accurate. The hurricane season starts today, but has been extended through the month of November due to increased storm activity from global warming.
Plant of the Month for June: Bacopa
With more rain in the offing during our summer months, it might be time to consider planting something that likes moist soil. The low growing native Hawaiian bacopa is just such a plant. It can even tolerate brackish water and often grows wild in marshes or on sand or rocky banks near the ocean.
Cheesy chicken enchilada casserole spices up dinner
Growing up in Southern California, my family lived across the street from a large Mexican family.
Let’s Talk Food: Roasting or baking?
These two words, roasting and baking, are so interesting, and technically may mean the same, but there are many explanations of their differences.
Obeying the power of the Alps in Switzerland
I learned to respect the power of nature in the shadow of Switzerland’s towering Jungfrau, just south of Interlaken in the Lauterbrunnen Valley.
The Rolling Stones really might never stop
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — “This song’s for Manhattan!” Mick Jagger told the crowd on Thursday night at MetLife Stadium, before launching into a punchy rendition of “Shattered,” that agitated ode to late-70s New York City that closes out the band’s 1978 album “Some Girls.” In the ensuing 46 years, the city has changed in some superficial ways but somehow remained essentially the same — much, as they showed throughout an impressively energetic two-hour set, like the Rolling Stones.
Tropical Gardening: Hot summer days ideal for mango and papaya
Hawaii is known for our lush tropical gardens but much of our land especially on the leeward side is desert. There are many delectable fruits that actually do best where conditions are hot and dry. Figs, pomegranates, papaya and dates are just a few that come to mind, but mangoes are by far the most popular. These fruit have become part of our Hawaiian cuisine and represent the amazing food fusion of our multicultural islands.
Let’s Talk Food: Sweet sticky rice
There are two categories of rice: Indica or Japonica. Glutinous or sticky rice is in the category of Japonica and is most often used to make desserts.
