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| The drive down the hill to the beach was breathtakingly beautiful |
Ho’Okena has quickly become my favorite ocean spots in
Hawaii, with its sandy beaches, quiet local crowd and beautiful soft blue
waves. We spent the morning alternating between reading in the shade and
floating along with the ebb and flow of the tide. Dylan brought the extra pair
of flippers and used them to catch wave after wave, riding them until he
crashed against the soft sandy shore. We splashed around all morning, savoring
the cool ocean breeze as the sun warmed our shoulders. Compared to the heat of
the morning air the water felt cold as I first ventured in, but Dylan assured
me that after a few minutes it would feel like bathwater. He was right and I
could have bobbed up and down in that water all day, watching the light dance
along the surface and breathing in the salty sweet Hawaiian air. Dylan still
has sand in his hair from playing so hard and I managed to find a new level of
tranquility that I have been slowly building since our arrival on the island.
Ho’Okena left me feeling renewed, despite the exhaustion from a day in the
powerful sun.
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| Happy Birthday Dylan!! |
As we packed up our things and sprinted across the piping
hot sand toward the truck, we bade farewell to the dolphins, already eager to
return again. We toweled ourselves off, hopped in the truck and begun our
ascent up the winding road toward home, ready for the epic Kalama’s burgers I
promised Dylan for his birthday lunch. About a month ago, I wrote about these
burgers from the little shack at the bottom of our driveway, which left Dylan
dreaming about them nearly every day since. He dubbed them “the best burger
I’ve ever had, ever!” So to round out his 29th birthday I bought us
lunch, the first time we’ve bought any prepared food since we got here. Dylan
has been talking about these Kimchi burgers so much that my interest in eating
beef has finally been piqued. I bought Dylan his burger, a side of fries for us
to share and two dill pickles. I still ordered myself an Ahi burger, which
ended up being a giant grilled tuna steak sandwiched between a soft potato roll
with some mayo and shredded cabbage and a million times more amazing than it
sounds, but I bravely accept Dylan’s offer to try a bite of his.
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| First bite...so good!! |
Each time I have tried a new kind of meat, one I haven’t had
since I was eleven years old, the sensory experience has come flooding back to
me in a wave of familiar flavors. This burger, however, was a brand new
experience. I ate plenty of burgers back before I became a vegetarian but I had
no point of reference for this one. I have never had anything like this burger.
Perhaps it’s the pasture-raised Big Island Beef, or that the meat isn’t all the
way ground so the texture is a little more steak-like, or perhaps it’s the
sweet Kimchi juices that caramelize the outside of burger while it cooks slowly
on the grill that makes this burger a culinary anomaly. Either way, I think
Dylan’s description and admiration of the Kalama’s Kimchi burger is apt, it is
definitely the best burger I have ever tasted. I’m even a bit tempted to order
a whole one for myself the next time we treat ourselves to a Kalama’s lunch
date. We’ll see.
That night, after a burger-induced afternoon nap, we worked
on a few creative projects together at the table and snacked on some tortilla
chips and fresh guacamole for dinner since we were still mostly full from
lunch. Dylan’s birthday celebrations carried over into our Wednesday farm potluck,
a French theme of his choosing. We all decided to make it a fancy dress dinner
since French seemed to lend itself perfectly to such an occasion and it’s a
good thing we did because this was a fancy food potluck if I’ve ever seen one.
There was fresh handmade pate, a beautiful charcuterie plate overflowing with
French sausage, salamis, prosciutto, smoked salmon, olives, sliced baguette, a
triple cream cow’s cheese and a long-aged parm alongside a wheel of baked brie
slathered with honey from the farm up the street. There were wine pairings with
all three courses and entrees of salade nicoise, bleu cheese rib eye steaks,
provenciale roast chicken (our offering), and L’ognion Lyonnaise (French onion
soup).
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| I actually made them myself! |
I made coconut macaroons for dessert to accompany the
éclairs and other baked goodies brought by some friends who joined in on our
feast. Everyone agreed that it was our most fanciful farm dinner yet, although
it seems that every week we say that the bar for our potlucks is on an
ever-rising climb to perfection. Wednesday left us feeling filled to the brim
with delicious food and wonderful company. Dylan even received a birthday apron
that I know he’s just dying to show off for you the next time I photograph him
cooking. I think you’ll all come to appreciate it just as much as he does. I,
however, will bite my tongue and let you enjoy the surprise on your own. I’m
sure the wait won’t be long.
We hadn’t planned anything special for Thursday, but then a
surprise care package arrived in the mail from some of my family in Vermont,
filled with goodies from home. Among the contents was a gold box of
Buttercrunch candies from Mother Myrick's, the sweet chocolate and nut covered
butter toffee squares of my youth. It wasn’t until he sunk his teeth into one
of these tasty treats that Dylan understood the excited gasp I let out as I
pulled them from among the Green Mountain Coffee packets and mail. Noel, Dylan
has been thanking you profusely for introducing him to these treats and blames
you if he gains 50 pounds from eating them all summer while we’re living in VT.
The Dakin Farms summer sausage added new dimensions to our typical sautéed kale
and eggs breakfast as well as kicking our potato salad up a notch and we were
grateful for the variety it brought to our meals.
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| Just a glimpse of the beauty of this place. |
Before I skip ahead to our potato salad and Saturday BBQ at
the pole house, I have to tell you about our dinner date on Friday night. We
had long been planning for a Friday night out, since we’ve been here two months
now and have not once gone out to dinner. For those of you who might not know
us as well, this is a major accomplishment for Dylan and I. Following the
recommendations of just about everyone on the farm, we decided to celebrate
Dylan’s birthday with a romantic dinner at Holuakoa Café, a beautiful open air
restaurant boasting some of the best food on the Island. We arrived shortly
before sunset and snagged a quiet table in the corner looking out over the rest
of the space. The gentle salty breeze mingled with the fresh mountain air among
the light-wrapped trees and columns and the koi ponds and we selected a crisp,
light Washington Riesling to compliment our mood and all the delicious fish we
were about to order.
Over courses of Silver Snapper draped with a creamy leek
sauce, a simple and refreshing blue cheese salad, and grilled Ono atop rich
corn risotto garnished with crispy clusters of oyster mushrooms and lightly
sautéed snow peas, we debated the idea of extending our stay here on the farm.
Since I am spending so much of my time here helping get the preschool ready to
go, and loving every bit of it, Heather asked us in earnest if we would
consider staying and continue our work so that I could teach at the preschool
once it opens and Dylan could get more into cooking here. We have certainly let
ourselves imagine staying before, it is so beautiful here and we’ve melted
nicely into the framework of the farm and the families that have brought it to
life, but our musings were just that. We both joked about this happening before
we came out here but never did either of us consider the fact that we might be
convinced to stay. After two months, it is quite easy to understand why so many
people we know here arrived on the Big Island with temporary intentions and
years later cannot imagine life anywhere else.  |
| Sunset over the ocean from the front house porch |
It will be hard to leave here, to start over yet again,
especially knowing that we still have another temporary stay ahead of us in
Vermont before we finally settle in Maine. But after much and serious
discussion, we both knew in our hearts that as hard as it will be to say
goodbye to paradise, it would be harder to stay and leave behind our families, friends and dreams of Portland. I did not expect to fall in love with this place
as much as I have, but in doing so I have come to appreciate New England all
the more, for no matter where we go it will always be our home. So no need to
worry, we will be continuing with our plans as we originally intended, despite
how much we will miss this farm, this island, and all the people who have made
our experience here so memorable already. These next few weeks, though they
will likely fly by, will be savored and treasured for a lifetime to come. I am
just glad that I became aware of the impact this place has on me while we still
have so much time left to enjoy and appreciate it.
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| Potato salad topped with parsley & our jar of homemade mayo! |
Well, now that the heaviness of that conversation is in the
past, I can get back to our Saturday BBQ at the pole house, which is what we
call the big brown house behind the main garden where we gather every week for
our potlucks. We call it this because the ground floor is mostly open air, with
large poles supporting the two-story house above it. Brenna and Daniel and
their infant Eva live on the first floor and work here on the farm while Chris
and Jodi rent the house upstairs. Heather and Paul, our hosts, live in the main
house at the front of the property with Karuna, their daughter whom I work
with. A few weeks ago we all got together to watch the pilot episode of the
short-lived series Firefly, Ever since
we’ve been dying to watch the follow-up episode but other things kept coming
up. So to make an occasion of it, Chris and Jodi bought some local beef and
invited everyone to join them for a BBQ and Netflix night. Dylan and I made
potato salad, including homemade mayonnaise using the eggs we collected from
our farm chickens. I had never seen him do this before and it was quite the
treat. I tried another bite of Dylan’s hamburger since the beef came from the
same farm that supplies Kalama’s. This one was spiced with our homemade hot sauce
and stuffed with blue cheese and Dylan and I both agreed that it was equally as
tasty, leading me to believe this burger phenomenon has more to do with Big
Island Beef than anything else.
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| Plumerias at Ho'Okena Beach |
It will take a few weeks for the drink to ferment but I am
fiercely excited to try it. Ginger ale is and always has been my favorite
sparkling beverage. I’ll let you know how this project progresses and in a few
weeks we’ll know if it was worth the wait. Now that Dylan’s birthday week has
passed and we’re heading into the last few weeks of our stay we’ll be working
hard to fit in as much fun and work as we can. I am helping get the preschool
off the ground and Dylan is soon going to start collaborating with Heather and
I on a few building projects for it. We still have to visit Volcano National
park and have a few more beaches to check out, not to mention lots and lots of
cooking. I hope you all are enjoying the slow arrival of spring and a bit of
warmer weather, it continues to be hot and sunny as ever here. I’m just glad we
planned to end our trip when New England is getting warming up and turning
green again so that by the time next winter arrives, I might actually welcome
the cold.
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| Ho'Okena Beach, sandy beach and beautiful, lush mountains to the left and bright blue open ocean to the right... paradise. |
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