Portland is the kicks, man, but I'm getting tired of the grey winter look.
Yes, my brothers and sisters in the Midwest and the east coast are bravely shivering through round after round of snow, wearing layers and layers of socks, and finishing the latest Garrison Keillor novel with the heater cranked up to "molten lava." I feel their pain, but I envy their sunshine.
I noticed how palpable the greyness is last Saturday. As I bumbled through Gabriel Park at a luxurious pace, listening to Jazz From the Left, I noticed that the dense cloud cover gave the whole sky, the hills, the trees, the forest and inky dusk look. It was 8 pm at 5pm, as if God loaded the whole area into Photoshop and decreased the brightness.
Today the weather has perked up with a small blast of sunshine and clear skies. Native Portlanders call this the "mid-February tease." David at Zupans says about this time, you'll see guys pushing lawnmowers, ladies planting daffodils, children running in parks. And a week from now, everyone will be peeking out from under a curtain of oppressive rain that lasts until April. Oh well.
So, dear readers, I want to give you a present. It's a little "I'm sorry" for being absent lately, and a teaser for summer, because in a brief five months, we'll be basking in more sunshine than we could have ordered. It's hard to comprehend; I still only understand this "summer" idea in a cerebral way. Perhaps some summer memories and some summery cookies will help us wait out the rain and snow.
Two weeks before we moved to Portland, Raymond and I found a way to visit Hawaii. Raymond's best friend, Becky, lived on the marine base in O'ahu, and she let us stay and explore with her for a whole week.
Yes, my brothers and sisters in the Midwest and the east coast are bravely shivering through round after round of snow, wearing layers and layers of socks, and finishing the latest Garrison Keillor novel with the heater cranked up to "molten lava." I feel their pain, but I envy their sunshine.
I noticed how palpable the greyness is last Saturday. As I bumbled through Gabriel Park at a luxurious pace, listening to Jazz From the Left, I noticed that the dense cloud cover gave the whole sky, the hills, the trees, the forest and inky dusk look. It was 8 pm at 5pm, as if God loaded the whole area into Photoshop and decreased the brightness.
Today the weather has perked up with a small blast of sunshine and clear skies. Native Portlanders call this the "mid-February tease." David at Zupans says about this time, you'll see guys pushing lawnmowers, ladies planting daffodils, children running in parks. And a week from now, everyone will be peeking out from under a curtain of oppressive rain that lasts until April. Oh well.
So, dear readers, I want to give you a present. It's a little "I'm sorry" for being absent lately, and a teaser for summer, because in a brief five months, we'll be basking in more sunshine than we could have ordered. It's hard to comprehend; I still only understand this "summer" idea in a cerebral way. Perhaps some summer memories and some summery cookies will help us wait out the rain and snow.
Two weeks before we moved to Portland, Raymond and I found a way to visit Hawaii. Raymond's best friend, Becky, lived on the marine base in O'ahu, and she let us stay and explore with her for a whole week.
Becky leads us to a hidden beach on the Marine base in O'ahu. Have I yet mentioned that Becky is awesome? She was a gracious hostess and a joy to befriend. Before our trip, my ideas of Hawaii came from old Elvis movies and those over-colorful postcards in antique malls. I pictured a paradisaical state full of middle-aged tourists in khaki shorts and loud leis, toting cameras with giant lenses. Well, I thought smugly, we are not going to turn into those drooling losers who say "Hawaii is just like paradise! I could live there forever! Now do you want to see my pictures?"
Well, do you want to see my pictures?
Well, do you want to see my pictures?
The water was blue and the waves gnarly. Because I've become an official lei-wearing, mai tai-sipping, plumeria-loving fan of Hawaii. And I've only been to O'ahu so far. There are still seven more islands to explore! But while on O'ahu, we snorkeled, hiked, bought fresh bananas on the side of the road, and swam in the ocean every day. It was just what Raymond and I needed.
We averaged a beach a day. I wish we had a million days. Sure, we visited Honolulu and walked along Waikiki Beach's, the famous shore filled with hard-bodies surfers and binocular-bedecked tourists, but I liked the more remote beaches on the north shore best.
Raymond finds the Tree of Life on O'ahu's North Shore. We spent a lot of time with Becky--hiking the forbidden Stairway to Heaven, walking around Kailua, and dancing like crazy in Honolulu at night. But Raymond and I also fell in love with Sage.
So yeah, we're Hawaii converts. Raymond and I actually liked driving 35mph on O'ahu's highways, winding through mountains and listening to Bruda Iz croon Polynesian-style at us on KDNN, KCCN, KPOI, and KINE. We drove and walked with Aloha, bought entire books postcards decorated with O'ahu landmarks, and left our cell phones mostly alone. I'm eating my words right now; I love Hawaii and I don't care if I look like a tourist. Bring me my SPF 500 and my digital zoom camera!
Packed with coconut and aloha Aloha Cookies
makes 30 2-inch cookies
makes 30 2-inch cookies
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 mashed medium banana, plus enough honey to equal 1/2 cup
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla (or banana or almond) extract
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup rolled oats (I used Bob's Extra-Thick Oats)
- 1 packed cup of sweetened, shredded coconut
- 1/3 cup chopped macadamia nuts
- 2/3 cup chopped sweetened banana chips
- 1 cup aloha
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and set out a stick of good, old-fashioned butter.
In a small bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set that aside. Use a hand mixer to cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip in the egg, honey, and banana. Make sure everything is smooth and dreamy; the banana is completely mashed and the butter has no lumps.
Incorporate the flour/soda/salt, mixing them in at a low speed. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the oats, coconut, macadamia nuts, and banana chips.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, then drop tablespoon-fulls of dough two to three inches apart on each sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the tropical smell permeates your kitchen. Let the cookies cool on a baking rack, then eat with aloha (and abandon.)
If you like this recipe, you might also enjoy:
Sesame coconut cookies
Coconut macaroons
Spearmint lemonade with rosewater
In a small bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set that aside. Use a hand mixer to cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip in the egg, honey, and banana. Make sure everything is smooth and dreamy; the banana is completely mashed and the butter has no lumps.
Incorporate the flour/soda/salt, mixing them in at a low speed. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the oats, coconut, macadamia nuts, and banana chips.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, then drop tablespoon-fulls of dough two to three inches apart on each sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the tropical smell permeates your kitchen. Let the cookies cool on a baking rack, then eat with aloha (and abandon.)
If you like this recipe, you might also enjoy:
Sesame coconut cookies
Coconut macaroons
Spearmint lemonade with rosewater
