Cute Ontario farmers
From Fresh Wednesday's at City Hall. Cute, friendly farmers that sold the best apples and corn I have had all year!

Looking for something to do on the weekend? Head out of the city to one of the farms.

Get to BRANTVIEW APPLES & CIDER farm in St. George (225 Howell Road). You can pick your own apples, buy some fresh apple cider and meet the smiling men as seen in the photo above. Taste some of their apple butter or bring your service group or sports team to the farm to pick apples, we they make a 15 percent donation to the organization from the sales of their products. There will be a big St. George Apple Fest the 3rd week of September.

The cute Brantview farmers can also be found at Squre One and the Guelph Farmers’ Market. Phone: (519) 448-1323. Visit their website for some history and pics of their beautiful land.

Or visit the Willowtree Farm in Port Perry, for fresh produce, baked goods and more!

975 Durham Rd. 21, Port Perry. Between Utica & Manchester. Open Jun - Nov daily; Summer 8 am - 7 pm; Fall 8 am - 6 pm. 905-985-4973/985-7493
I like their banner:

'If you ate today - thank a farmer'

LARABARFresh Wednesday's at City Hall continue until October and I was there yesterday taking in the activity. After doing some admin inside City Hall for the Shoot Toronto photo exhibition (it takes place from Sept. 10-16 in the rotunda) I then met up with Kibbutz D.

We strolled around, bought lots of fruit and veg, had lunch in the square and chatted with some fun farmers and got some free LARABARs.

Larabars are all natural food bars created by a woman named Lara, who wanted a health bar that tasted good and came in some interesting flavours. She came up with the idea while hiking in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

A true entrepreneur, she put in some blood, sweat and tears and made the first 500 at her home with a cuisinart and a rolling pin. Now the Larabars are sold in Canada, US, UK, Singapore, Iceland and Israel.

The one we had was filling and tasted great with a bit of bite as it had some cinnamon in it, it was called Cocoa Môlé. Try and pick one up at your local health food store and taste for yourself. The staff at the booth were so helpful and friendly!

An interesting story about these health bars, Nathalie almost mowed down Sarah Jessica Parker when she was trying to buy a energy bar in NYC earlier this year (not sure if it was a Larabar she was searching for?).

Maybe I will give her a few of these mini ones to keep in her purse so when she has another low sugar attack she doesn’t have to push by SJP to get her fix! She was so frantic to get some food in her that she didn’t recognize SJP until her cashier was excitedly saying, ‘it’s Carrie Bradshaw.’ I love this story!

Pineapple Lumps
A NZ treat! It smells like pineapple, has pineapple flavour but I don't think there is any pineapple in this candy bar (from what I recall when reading the ingredients' list).

My sis and I have a new favourite show -Flight of the Conchords - about two Kiwis who move to NYC to get their folk band into the limelight. It is hilarious and is getting quite the cult following. My friends in NY love it and my friends in TO are also keenly watching each week as Jermaine and Brett go through some interesting experiences in NY. It doesn't seem to be showing in NZ which is a shame as it is truly a gem of a show.

They make a lot of funny NZ references and perhaps one day they will be eating Pineapple Lumps sent to them from their family back home. One thing they do not do on the show is call each other by a nickname as every Kiwi I know is not called their real name e.g. Bug, Bun, Bobs, Coops, Hunty, Heinzy, Madz etc... Seriously, these are some of the Kiwi people whom I have met and for months did not know their real names. Some of them I still cannot recall their real names?!

On the site Homesick-Kiwi.com Pineapple Lumps are, 'the single best-seller among homesick Kiwis. Chewy and satisfying.'

Green Belt Farmers Market comes to town
The Greenbelt wraps around the Golden Horseshoe around Toronto and is vital to the quality of life in southern Ontario. There's so much to see and do in the Greenbelt: hiking, biking, camping, canoing, staying at B&Bs, visiting llama farmers, wineries and more.

Where is it? For all your city dwellers, get out there…the Greenbelt forms a green ring around the cities and subdivisions of the Horseshoe, extends up through the Oak Ridges Moraine to Lake Simcoe and Lake Scugog and eastward, and also includes the Niagara Escarpment along the Bruce Trail to Tobermory.

With urban sprawl that keeps extending we need to ensure that the green belt is saved for its environmentally positive effects and also for future generations to enjoy. The mass build up of homes and extension of the city is cutting down all our green land to make cookie-cutter homes, which are ugly and lack character. My advice is, buy a home in the already built up areas and not in new sub-divisions, which are razing down trees and digging up valuable green land!

This Saturday (August 25) there will be a Green Belt farmers market at the Don Valley Brickworks which will celebrate fresh and local produce from the Greenbelt. It will be a family day out with fun stuff for kids, hands on cooking workshops and outdoor performances.

There are other farmers’ markets happening around the city and here are a few that you should check out to support our local farmers and get some Ontario freshness on your table.

Nathan Phillips Square Market (I will be there tomorrow doing some shopping)
Toronto City Hall corner of Bay and Queen Streets.
Open Wednesdays 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., June 7 to October 18.
Vendors: 20
905-841-9278

North York Farmers’ Market
Mel Lastman Square, 5100 Yonge Street. Open Thursdays 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., June to October. Vendors: 10-12
905-562-4372

Riverdale Farmers’ Market
Details: Riverdale Park West in front of Simpson House, 201 Winchester Street. Open Tuesdays 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., May to October.
Vendors: 16
416-960-0370

St. Lawrence Market
Front and Jarvis Street, north building. Open Saturdays 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., Open all year.
Vendors: 76

Visit Harvest Ontario (www.harvestontario.com) to find out more about pick-your-own farms and farmers' markets in your area.

The Pines is for sale
The Pines on Erie Road in Crystal Beach is for sale. It has been there for over 40 years and the family is now selling to someone who wishes to take it on. They will only sell to someone who will keep the tradition of the Pines going.

John in the pic, spoke to the family and they will even hand over the secret Pines sauce recipe to the new owners. More on the pines to follow...

Japanese jelly - Awayuki
So good and so refreshing, if I could read what it said on the back of the box I would tell you what is in these little jelly cups.

The gift box from Japan didn't last very long as the jellies came in the most wonderful flavours.

This type of box is given as a gift but in Japan, for every day jelly consumption they portions are smaller and cost something to the equivalent of 4 for $1.oo or 100 JPY Japanese Yen.

Taro and rou rou

If you are not sick of Fiji posts then read on. If you are sick of them here's a diversion...go to this website and read interesting stuff about career and personal coaching at my friend Daryl's site called Dynamic Life Creations.

So readers that have stayed on here is info about the food in the photo which was a typical dish served in Fiji.

I have never eaten taro (white triangular shape at centre of the plate) or rou rou which is the local spinach (green stuff on the plate) but we had plenty of it while in paradise (a.k.a Fiji).

Taro is like a harder potato with a starchy texture but tastes like a dry mixture of pumpkin and potato and the rou rou is the local spinach. It was so nice to eat as it was always served in a coconut milk sauce. I think I will try cooking our local spinach, which is leafy rather than the Fijian one which is ong and stringy, in coconut sauce as it was delicious.

Taro was served to us every day while we were on the Yasawa Islands and it seems that the vegetable has been a staple of the indigenous Fijian diet for centuries. Locals call it taro root but it is not really a root but a corm.

Corms are short, vertical, swollen underground plant stems that serves as a storage organ used by some plants to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat. Interesting factoid, non?

In 1993 Samoa had a problem with their taro crops and Fiji stepped in to fill the gap. They then became the main supplier for New Zealand, Australia, and Los Angeles in the United States (there are a lot of Californian's in Fiji as it is an overnight 11hr flight to the islands).

Am not sure if you can buy it in Toronto but will have a look next time I am at the market and will try and make taro and rou rou for the Dolce's. Will need to call Grace of Pig 'N Pancake fame, in Oregon for a recipe.

taro corms

LutefiskA Norwegian specialty, dating back to the time of the Vikings, lutefisk is made from air-dried whitefish, usually cod, prepared with lye (a caustic/alkaline ingredient/industrial chemical which is used in cleaning too!)

Preparation involves a series of soaking the fish in water then in the lye and then back in the water; each process is several days so depending on which recipe is used it can take from 5-14 days to prepare this fish. After the long, ardent process you get a fish that is depleted of all vitamins and flavour but then is cooked in salt water to revive the fish. Strange, non?

During the soaking in lye and water the fish will swells to a larger size than in its original (undried) state and it morphs into a jelly-like consistency. When this treatment is finished, the fish is still saturated with lye and has a pH value of 11–12, and is therefore caustic (corrosive).

To make the fish edible, a final treatment of yet another four to six days of soaking in cold water (also changed daily) is needed. Eventually it is ready to be cooked and served.

Popular around Christmas, it is washed down with a strong potato based spirit called Aquavit.

Lars the Norwegian Paul McCartney has this to say about Lutefisk,

'It is something people either love or hate. Traditionally people who love it, have it at Christmas, and it really fills up the restaurants in November and December. Very few make their own - it is just to much work, but at Christmas it can be bought ready for cooking.

I hate the stuff, and can not understand why one destroys the best fish like this. To be able to eat it, people need some of this: http://www.aquavit.com/ which is also a part of Norwegian tradition. That part I like.'In the pic above- lutefisk is the white stuff on the top left hand side of the plate.

Oh so 'Special' Norwegian delights
There will be a series of posts on Norwegian food gathered from friends Lars, Trond and Espen who we met in Fiji. We had some long conversations about food and the Norwegian style of food. Trond and Espen are traveling the world for a year, taking a break from their jobs as chefs at one of the poshest restaurants in Norway. And Lars is the Paul McCartney look alike who is Trond's Dad (see pic below).

The trio recommended that one of the things one must eat when they are in Norway is the 'Special'.

This special hot dog is grab and go food for the Norwegians and is very popular for hang-overs. The 'Special' is made with a hot dog covered in shrimp salad (mayo, artificial shrimp and sometimes vegetables). This tops the many condiments you can find on Toronto and NY hot dog stands. Fish and hot dog- what a combo?

And if you get the special, 'Special' it is wrapped in a large flat potato pancake to hold the hot dog , shrimp surprise and all the condiments. This meal in a bun is also topped with mustard, mayo and more in case you didn't have enough flavours - yum?! Don't have a pic but will try and get one from Lars who is back in Norway. They said the best place to get these are in the gas stations. I found an interesting article then on this sausage phenomena in a Norwegian publication.

"During a lecture at a recent conference on obesity the well-known nutrition expert blasted gas station fast food, newspaper VG reports.

I believe that the sale of hot dogs and candy at gas stations should be forbidden. They should sell gas and auto parts," Norum said.

When you go into a gas station you can hardly do what you came for, namely buy gas, because there is a huge queue for sausages," Norum said.

'The total hot dog market in Norway is 39,000 tons a year, with 9,000 tons being sold in gas stations and fast food outlets."
Aftenpolten, Norway news.

Travel for Green-lipped
I love traveling places as it is always interesting to see other countries' supermarkets, what they eat and how their food is packaged, cooked and displayed. It was a such a surprise to see these green lipped mussels at the Woolworth's supermarket on Waiheke Island in New Zealand. They were emitting such a bright green color I just had to take a few pics and we had to buy some for dinner as they looked so fresh.

I wasn't sure if we had them in Canada so Googled them and read on Wikipedia that they are only native to New Zealand. I was loving the vivid green color of them, it reminded me of the colors that we saw each day snorkeling in the South Pacific Ocean.

We bought a few kilograms and made them back at the bach - this is what New Zealanders call their cottages. Not sure where the origin of the word bach (referring to a holiday home) comes from is but it would be good to find out.

I usually sautée mussels in a broth of butter, lots of onions, white wine and garlic from a recipe that Ms. Dunnigan my Quebecois friend taught me. That night the chef made the Perna canaliculus steamed with garlic and a little white wine and they were delicious and extremely fresh. We had been enjoying fresh fish for a whole month and it was delightful! Back home I am not eating as much fish and seem to be eating a lot of pasta, no surprise there, non?Am going to have to get back onto more fish and fresh fruit.

For those who are into the health benefits of eating certain foods, eating the green lipped mussel or taking tablets that they sell containing an extract from the shellfish is known to help with the treatment of arthritis; they have a high level of glycosaminoglycan which can assist in the repair of joint tissue damage.
You may be able to get these at the fish market (will check at the St. Lawrence Market) otherwise Air New Zealand now has daily, direct flights from Vancouver to Auckland so you'll have to just go there - remember you will get free tea or coffee at the airport ;)

Giddy Up!Horse burger anyone? Bug and Bun and a random fella eating horse meat burgers in Slovenia.
Am not sure how they tasted but will need the low down when I get in touch with them next. Ah the adventures of summer travel.

From Wiki:
Horse is commonly eaten in many countries in Europe and Asia. It is a taboo food in English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, the US, and Australia; it is also taboo amongst the Romany people and in Brazil.

Horse meat is not generally eaten in Spain, although the country exports horses both "on the hoof and on the hook" (i.e. live animals and slaughtered meat) for the French and Italian market; however, horse meat is consumed in some Latin American countries such as Mexico.
It is illegal in some countries.

Am not sure how I feel about it, we do eat cows and pigs so why not horses? Am sure it tastes just like chicken ;)

Giddy up!

Fresh Wednesday's at City HallGet down to Toronto City Hall for some fresh produce from Ontario farmers and get some entertainment while you're at it. Get free hugs from a random free hugging group (which is very nice) and eat from some interesting stalls selling Canadian bacon, Jamaican food and more. Then quench your thirst from the TO tap water mobile. 'Toronto tap water - always safe to drink. Tested 24/7' A few weeks ago, I think they said our water is cleaner than Evian ...v.interesting indeed.In the pic, Sean choosing some corn for his dinner. Sean get back to work managing the city or doing whatever you do in the ivory tower!

Fresh Wednesday's lunchtime concerts happen until August 22nd and I think the farmers' markets continue 'til end of September.

Calving season in NZ
On the Hale farm in NZ my romantic notions of being Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie were quashed. I thought I would be churning butter in some Victorian frock, milking cows and hand feeding apples to horses and other farm animals who were all part of the farm family.

Instead I put on a blue one piece smock and green wellies and went to the cow shed (see glamour shot above - I know, Laura Ingalls would be appalled). There I witnessed the civilized entrance and exit of the cows to get milked by the slickest automatic milkers housed in a slick milking station. I am sure I am not saying any of this in correct farm terminology! Help me out Hale's.After this lovely parade to the milk utensils, the cows then walk causally back to their luscious fields to munch more green grass and laze around in the New Zealand fresh air. Not a bad life until some are sold for our steak dinners.I was there during calving season and this is a busy time for Mr. Hale. A few calves are born each day. They are then almost immediately seperated from their mommies (v.sad) and Mr. Hale and his farm hands have to teach these calves to drink from a fake nipple (see pic).

The calves are so cute and quite large for only being a day old, it is cute to see them act like little babies when they are learning to suck. They have milk all over their face and are a little wobbly when walking. They also behave like children; some are more aggressive pushing the others away from a nipple and taking up lots of space while others are just pushed out of the crowd and will not fight the bigger ones to get a feed of the milk.The milk is colostrum or the 'first milk' which is taken from the new mothers, it takes four days for that milk to exit the new mother's system. Colostrum is high in carbs, protein and antibodies which delivers lots of nutrients to the new calves.

Once all the milking is done a big truck picks up the milk (not the colostrum) and whisks it away. Almost immediately, Mr. Hale can get a reading on the internet as to how much milk was collected along with other statistics. How advanced...am sure Pa Ingalls would not fathom such technology way back when in the mid-west.

This milk is then sold and then turned into butter, powdered milk and other milk by-products that are shipped and sold around the world. I think the farm is connected to Fonterra the largest co-op in NZ which is owned by over 11,000 dairy farmers.

It was a lovely morning watching the cows and calves in the sunshine. We took a ride around the farm on the ATV and it was great to feel the crisp morning all around us. I am sure I will find a mom and pop farm with one lonely cow that I can milk someday! Maybe I will have to find a farm outside of Toronto that caters for farm wannabes like me.

Traditional Fijian lovo
Traditional Lovo is used on special occasions. We were lucky enough to experience this day long affair which ends in a great meal. Similar to the New Zealand hangi, food is wrapped in natural materials and buried and cooked. All foods are cooked in the lovo, pumpkin soup, taro, potatoes, fish, chicken and more.

It is a long process that starts early in the day. Step one: build a great fire and when it burns down to just coals place a grill on top and the food for your feast. These baskets were woven especially for the meat and fresh fish. You cannot see the detail but the fish ones were woven with a fish tail .
Cover the food with palms and branches, then with burlap sacks and cover the whole meal with sand. The food will then cook with the smoke/steam from the hot coals. The smell is amazing.

While watching this we were told how this is the way they used to cook bodies during the days of cannibalism...eeek! Now I always think of that when I look at these pictures.



After a few hours the meal is ready. The palms have also turned a lovely golden brown from the heat.
Dinner is served and it is splendid. Traditional lovo dinner at Otto and Fanny's is not to be missed.

Pig 'N Pancake
It is the long weekend and will try and beat the exodus of traffic to cottage country so will write a short post before I set off . No doubt, the weekend will be filled with bbqs and big breakfasts, the usual cottage fare with lots of fresh local Ontario produce too. The last time I entered the beach supermarket, local strawberries were at the entrance and I was treated to a delightful smell of fresh non-gm strawberries. The Body Shop should bottle that smell!

Big breakfasts reminded me of a lovely couple we met in Fiji. Michael and Grace from Oregon (he is originally from Vancouver) were on holiday with their two children and had owned a franchise of the Pig 'N Pancake in Oregon for the last several years (how many Grace?)

During our long food discussions at Otto and Fanny's we had great breakfasts but the pancakes were not up to scratch. M & G said that they have the best pancakes at the Pig 'N Pancake and named off the eight or 9 varieties but said the plain buttermilk ones were the best. It is making me hungry looking at the website's menu.

It would've been nice if Grace and Michael got into the kitchen to make us some of the famous pancakes like they made at the restaurant but apparently the franchise has a secret recipe that even they do not have access too.

Here is a basic pancake recipe for your breakfast this weekend. Remember to put some Canadian maple syrup and fresh fruit on top!

* 2 cups all-purpose flour, stirred or sifted before measuring
* 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg, slightly beaten
* 1 1/2 cups milk
* 2 tablespoons melted butter


Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine egg and milk; add to flour mixture, stirring only until smooth. Blend in melted butter. Cook on a hot, greased griddle, using about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook until brown on one side and around edge; turn and brown the other side. Serves 4.

Or just buy a box of Aunt Jemima which is also a quick alternative to making your own. Aunt Jemima knows her stuff too!

To the Canadian readers - have a great long weekend.

Kava drinking
Kava is the alcoholic drink that Fijians drink at traditional ceremonies like a lovo feast. This traditional feast will be explained in further detail later with great pics from JP's great camera.
Kava looks like mud and I think it almost tastes like it too! (see the brown liquid in the large bowl, that is kava - looks yummy eh?) The ritual before downing the dentist-like numbing agent is to clap three times before you are handed a coconut shell full of this root goodness and to slurp it all down in one go and then clap once to signify that you are finished.

In the past the drinking of kava was saved for important ceremonies but today it is used more informally and quite socially with the village males who drink it while singing or swapping stories. The singing by the Fijians is something very beautiful too, they have very distinct and strong voices.

It is rude to not drink your whole coconut cup full so you have to just take a deep breath and do it even if you think it is vile tasting (this is what I did). Kava is made from a root and has a peppery taste and is known to have many benefits as a herbal remedy from curing anxiety to depression to insomnia. I found a laundry list of its benefits on a website selling it so not sure how accurate all these claims are to its healing magical powers. One thing is for sure, it will get you very drunk if you drink enough!

Kava's Latin name Piper methysticum literally translates as "intoxicating pepper" has been used for centuries, by the inhabitants of the South Pacific Islands -as a ritual drink, a social beverage, and also as a medicine. Kava (Piper Methysticum) is a lush, leafy green member of the pepper family, from the tropical islands of the South Pacific.

Kava comes in a powdery mix that is brewed in cold water for a few minutes, then it is squeezed through a cloth to filter out all the sediments (muddy looking stuff) and then voila it is a clear liquid to drink. If you get to try some Fijian kava try it - I think the Fijians laughed at all the tourists faces and reactions when they were downing these little coconut cups full of goodness.

The woman in the picture Carol Dunlop is also the only female skipper in Fiji, she skippers the yacht called Surprise which is a privately chartered boat. In a male dominated county she is quite the anomaly and I love her spunkiness. She sat and sang and drank kava with the males all night which is most likely unheard of in Fiji. Her crew and guests came to Otto and Fanny's on our last night there for a lovo feast, cava drinking and singing. It was all very festive and our hosts Fanny and her son Harry put on a great spread, as usual. Bula!

Would you like tea with your baggage?After Fiji there was a wonderful week spent in Auckland, New Zealand. Upon arrival at Auckland International Airport I had quite a pleasant shock which at first I thought was a joke. A big sign was popping out from the custom's line which read 'free tea and coffee.'

I thought this was an offer if you buy something from duty free or if you signed up to some credit card or some tourism gimmick but it was none of the above. It was simply a warm welcome and free tea and coffee to passengers arriving from their worldly destinations.

It was served by the two friendliest ladies I met on my month-aventure. The tea counter is near the baggage claim area so while waiting for your bags to roll off the belt you can chat with the ladies and get a steaming cup of java or tea. After a few minutes I got the latest gossip on weather in NZ and who they were and all about how the free tea stand is the only one in any airport in the world (which I beleive to be true- I thought Canadians were hospitable).

We gossiped more on where I was from (they thought I was Brazilian from my now faded tan) and we chatted about Sicily and more about the coffe which was arabica. I didn't actually want coffee or tea at that moment but it was the whole interaction that made having the coffee so pleasant.

The free tea and the airport itself were all very civilized, not like the chaotic third world feel of the Los Angeles Airport (LAX) where you want to scream at how crowded and dark, disorganized and dirty it is.

I wrote down the ladies' names on a napkin and exchanged email addresses with them but I have since disposed of the napkin accidentally. Will try and get their address from J who will be traveling through the airpot on a ski weekend this coming weekend (for some people the holiday never ends!)

New Zealand is a beautiful country with some great food and people. More posts to come on Fijian and NZ adventures...

Bula!

Coconuts, coconuts everywhere...

With two weeks holiday in paradise a.k.a. Fiji, getting back into blogging seems like hard work. Our days were very busy...morning swims, mid morning snorkelling (swimming with sea cucumbers, manta ray's, parrot fish and other colourful sea creatures), late morning naps in the hammock, delicious lunches freshly prepared by the friendliest Fijians at Otto and Fanny's, afternoon snorkelling, a little Scrabble, afternoon tea (3pm) followed by watching breathtaking sunsets by the beach and ending the day with a fabulous meal. This is how our days were spent.


We went to bed early due to the generator being shut down at 11pm, which gave us a long and restful sleep to recharge our batteries to do it all over again; this indeed, was tough work!


At Otto and Fanny's we stayed in authentic Fijiian bures and the property was filled with tall coconut trees which brought pleasant shade to the sunned out beach goers. One thing we noticed was that every so often (at least every hour) a coconut would plummet from the trees onto the property. (Our Norwegian friend Lars, aka Paul McCartney, while resting in the hammock almost had a coconut drop onto his noggin!) Luckily we were spared this experience although at times they fell close to us.

These were large coconuts and there was an abundance of them but oddly enough we did not have any meals with coconut?! I thought we would have fresh coconut slivers for our desert, macaroon type cookies, coconut curries and more. We were served authentic and delicious other meals but no coconuts were to be found on our menu...

One day we did spot the staff eating large bowls of boiled coconut -which didn't look too appetizing. Perhaps that was considered a staff meal and not appropriate for guests.

Anyhow the mystery of the land of coconuts continued throughout our trip. With such an abundance of the fruit I thought we would be drinking coconut water, offered coconut oil at every opportunity to purchase and have coconut in all of our meals and drinks.

We did make gorgeous bracelets on Manta Ray Island from the coconut shell and when we requested a drink of coconut, the staff at Otto and Fanny's collected two for us to drink the crisp coconut water.

According to Wikipedia, 'virtually every part of the coconut palm has some human use.' Someone in Fiji needs to get their coconut hat on and make some money from this lovely fruit! (more pics to be added to the blog as still travelling so not able to upload many pics!)

:)

BEAUTIFUL FIJI
Bula (hi/bye/welcome)
The internet is too slowfor pics but the update is that Fiji is paradise.
Crystal clear waters in the most vibrant green and blue hues, beautiful reefs, the most colorful fish, a plethora of coral which comes in all shapes and forms, completely isolated and idyllic beaches where you can snorkel off the shore, the loveliest Fijian hospitality, Fijian sunsets...the list goes on.

Our accomodation in the Yasawa's consists of only 7 bures (tiki style/bamboo huts) which hold 2-4 people. At breakfast, lunch and dinner we are a small but diverse mix of Norwegians, Americans, Canadians, Kiwis and people from Malyasian and Indonesian descent.

The power is turned off at 11pm, and our dinners commence at 6pm. In these few hours we chat about life, love, religion, music and of course - food. Last night we had especially lengthy talks about food. Grace and Michael owned a pancake house in Oregon and the Nordic folks are chefs in a top restaurant there. The rest of us like to eat so the conversation went on for ages...I will try and post some recipes/comments from our 'holiday family dinners.'

Fiji Bitter Beer is on tap and there are lots of coconuts everywhere. The only dangers in Fiji are sunburn, falling coconuts and getting stung by a jellyfish. Luckily we only got stung by a jellyfish but we did see many a coconut fall very close to our hammock. When the internet comes up again I will try to post more food tidbits. I even ate Kolkoda (from my last post) and it was divine!

Bula
xx

Fijian foods
I am off to Fiji - the islands in the South Pacific Ocean for two weeks. I have been out of blog mode for a while with all these national holidays getting in the way.

Happy belated Canada Day to you all...hope you had a good one. Ours was filled with bbq and more bbq, pies, ice cream, cakes and more treats like brownies, fresh strawberries, cherries and more.

Needless to say it was a great weekend with lots of fresh Ontario produce.

This pic is of Kokoda, a Fijian food. It is made out of raw fish meat seasoned with lemon juice and coconut milk; can't wait to have some great fish meals.

While away, I am going to try and post if I can but not sure if I will be able to access the internet.

Am asking guest bloggers step forward -any takers? Or readers, I will be back in two short weeks. By then, I should have a wealth of stuff to post in regards to plane food (tip: always order a special meal as you get served first), Fijian delights and New Zealand treats - am going to Pat and Robbie's farm so will take pics of me milking the cows!! Am very excited. Maybe Pat will make her famous Pavlova....mmm!