Plov

When we spend time with Natasha and Oleg, we know we will eat well. Both are great cooks and Natasha is a master baker. Following her on Facebook is like watching that British Bake Off show.

Anyway, one dish we have regularly is called Plov. I found this recipe online and it seems to match what we ate last night. Plov is a rice dish that includes lamb as the protein source. I do not think we have ever eaten lamb at home, but we have had two different lamb dishes since Natasha and Oleg arrived. It turns out you can purchase lamb at Costco.

We have eaten Plov with our Russian friends several times and I remember this picture I took in 2013 showing Oleg's brother preparing Plov at the dacha.  He made it outside using the more traditional dome shaped cooking dish which you can see in the picture. The recipe I link above describes this cooking dish as a "cattle". I tried everything I could think of to learn about a "cattle" online, but could find only information on cows. Maybe the word was misspelled in the recipe.

A couple of pictures from this morning's breakfast to further illustrate the same topic.

Public Access

I am not an experienced beach person, but I find this interesting about the beaches on Hawaii. All beaches are open to the public. Public access is established by law. So, even if a super fancy hotel is built on the ocean, the beach in front of that hotel is available to the general public AND the hotel must allow some way for the general public to get to the beach. I learned about this opportunity when we spent time on Kauai and lived just up the road from the Princeville Resort (formerly the St Regis). This very nice hotel provided a series of stairs that one could take down to the beach. Cindy liked to walk this stairs for exercise. I would walk up, but not down. I was always amazed to see surfers bounding up the stairs with their boards. The hotel also graciously allowed use of its elevator to provide access. Taking your board on the elevator would probably have been pushing it a bit. Very nice. It must be the Aloha spirit. I don't know if this is the case in other states.

We visited another beach today that was also situated in front of a hotel/golf course. Cindy, Oleg, and Natasha hit the beach to swim and boogie board. I could not find a location with a comfortable seat in the shade so I decided to hike some of the Ala Kahakai Trail. The trail follows the coast line for 175 miles and I must have done a 1/2 mile or so. The existence of such a trail speaks to the same commitment to preserve access to the coast line. The picture that follows was taken from a vantage point where I turned around and shows the hotel behind the beach where the rest of the group was swimming. You will have to look very close to see if you can find Cindy.

Russian friends

We have the opportunity to spend parts of our island break with friends. Natasha and Oleg, our friends from Colorado via Russia, came last night. We have travelled with them several times exploring both Russia and the U.S. and it is always a pleasure to spend time sharing stories of our very different life experiences. With their extended family in both the U.S. and Russia there are always new developments and things do work a bit differently depending on the country. Last night while we were standing around the communal barbecue grills going through the usual "where are you from" routine, Oleg introduced himself as being from Volgograd. I have to admit that got peoples attention. Oleg saw the reaction and corrected himself to say Stalingrad (the earlier name) as I suppose he assumed this might be more familiar. I explained Oleg now lives in Colorado Springs, but the impression that folks might have met a Russian vacationing in Hawaii may make a better story back in Duluth.

Having friends from different places gives you a different impression of the world than you might get from the television alone. We were in Russia (Cindy several times) before I started this travel blog, but I can offer some pictures from our visit.

Big wind

All of Hawaii is experiencing a high wind event with gusts at 30+ near the shore and far higher in the mountains passes. I took this video and back indoors in time to avoid the rain. It is difficult capturing the wave action with a cell phone, but I thought I would try.

French Breakfast

I post few food photos. I am hardly a foodie and unless you count poke I eat little that others might find unusual. This photo is an exception because it comes with a story about the people I meet in Hawaii. 

Many I meet here come from somewhere else. I am talking about locals and not all of the tourists that seem to come from the west, midwest, and Canada. Last year I offered a description of the barista at my favorite coffee shop. She came to Kauai to be a teacher and then moved on to make lattes because it was more lucrative and provided a way to stay on the island. The woman who visited and then stayed to surf and start a chocolate farm would be another example. 

The authentic parisian cuisine was prepared by authentic parisians. Actually, I don't really know if they are from Paris, but their accent is authentic French in origin. Their Facebook page tells their story of multiple trips to Hawaii to scope out where they might start a business. I know there are places that are very cosmopolitan and I have visited a few over the years. What is interesting about Hawaii is the heterogeneous mix of people within a relatively small population. 

I have no idea what I would have to offer if I wanted to make a living here, but I certainly find the islands a great place to visit for the boring part of the midwest winters.