Tips for a Successful Herb Garden

Those of you who like cooking (or eating great food, for that matter), will appreciate the great flavors fresh herbs provide.  Running to the supermarket for fresh herbs every time you need a bit just to spice up a recipe can be a drag. There is also the problem of what to do with the rest of the herbs, once you have used enough for your particular dish.  The solution to the fresh herb dilemma is easy: plant an herb garden.

What Francis Tapon Can Teach You About Following Your Dreams

If you know me well, you know how much I love to travel. In fact, I believe that the best way to spend your money is to go see the world. Although I have traveled extensively and even lived in four different countries, my experiences cannot compare to professional globetrotter and author Francis Tapon. 

Francis recently published his second book, The Hidden Europe, a volume documenting the three years he spent visiting all nations in the Eastern half of Europe. His book is a funny and insightful account of his experiences in these countries. Is The Hidden Europe a true travel resource book? Probably not. I would characterize it as an adventure travelogue, where you learn just as much about the author as about the places he visited. Francis is opinionated, irreverent, and refreshingly honest. He inspires his readers to go out there and experience these places for themselves. Here is my interview with him. 

Tallinn, Estonia 

Garden and Pool

Happy Aloha Friday! As I promised in an earlier post, here are some pictures of our back yard and pool. We designed the pool with the help of Steve DeBiasi of DeBiasi Pacific.  It took about two months to build.  All the lava rock surrounding it is textured and painted concrete. The guys who formed and brought these "rocks" to life are true artists.

 Behind the waterfall is a swim cave with a small 
hidden waterfall inside

Soufflé time!

A little while ago I found this recipe at zencancook.com and decided to give it a try.  It is a Grand Marnier Soufflé, baked in an orange.  Since this is my first attempt at baking soufflé, I enlisted the help of my friend Melanie.

source

My Garden

After the March 9 hail storm (first ever in Kailua, HI), I was sad to see my plants shredded.  Thinking it would take months to undo the damage of a few minutes of ice, I was prepared for the long recovery ahead.

My garden proved me wrong and came back to life with a force.  The pictures below were taken a month after the storm, in the middle of April. While the ti plants will need a longer time to recover, most other plants show little or no sign of the damage today. 

The black ornamental taro has completely regrown