Postcard from Hawai’i – Page 33

Postcard from Hawai’i – Hardware

Postcard from Hawaii – Alaskan Halibut

One of the dividends of an Alaskan cruise is the fish we brought back. Processed, vacuum packed and frozen while on the boat, the fish was packed into a cooler and checked for the flight back to Hawai’i. It is a bit nerve-wracking, waiting for the cooler to appear on the baggage carousel in Kona. Appear it did, all of the contents still frozen solid as we loaded it into the freezer at home.

Thirty five pounds of coho salmon, halibut and picked dungeness crab. Light on the salmon, I gave much of it to my brother. Heavy on the halibut, on orders from my wife. We did well on crab, I pulled up full traps several times and we picked crab for hours on the back deck as we cruised along. Pick half a crab… eat a leg! It was a tasty way to go.

Last week I noted the market had frozen wild-caught dungeness crab, at $26 a pound. Halibut was a bit more expensive at Costco. Figure there was about $900 worth of seafood in that cooler. We will be eating well…

Pan Seared Halibut — Pan seared halibut in garlic, onion and pepper, over brown rice.

Postcard from Hawaii – Guava Jam

My mother made jam all the time when I was growing up. She still does, I am just not home to enjoy the product very often. I remember a basement with shelves and shelves of preserves. We enjoyed the bounty of summer all through the grey days of winter.

When I was home recently I was somewhat chastised by seeing jars of homemade strawberry jam. It was delightful on the morning toast. Sitting at the kitchen table, helping my mother to destroy the newspaper crossword.

Faced with a bucketful of guava from my own tree there really was no choice. I set about slicing them up for the pot. I mostly remember how to do this, my mother made sure her sons were educated in the basic household skills, to her mind this included canning. I even have the needed tools and a stash of jars and lids.

The trick with guava is seed removal, this requires a few moments in the blender then straining through a screen colander. I have never done guava before, thus the results are a bit uncertain. I referenced a half dozen recipes across the web and noted the basic proportions they had in common. All the recipes I found require no pectin, thus I added none.

All of the jars sealed successfully, so maybe I do know what I am doing. We shall see…