RECYCLING RECIPES
“The Hau Tree Challenge”
EDITOR’S NOTE:
This posting is the first of three in our new series, “Recycling Recipes”.
Check out the recipes listed at the end of the blog story. Perhaps join in on the challenge.
-ENT
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“Did I ever tell you about my coming to Hawaii when Dad went off to Vietnam for his second combat tour in 1968?” Mary Alice queried her daughter and daughter-in-law as she as sought the attention of the luncheon waiter. “And, the regularly scheduled group meetings with the Officers’ Wives Club at Ft. Shafter?”
“No, Mom. Was that the time we left Paso Robles, California to come here?” daughter Kristin Kuulei dryly responded while swirling a comparably dry Martini.
“Yes, exactly. But I’m sure you wouldn’t remember much…you were a just little girl then. Anyway, military protocol required us, ‘wives of Junior Grade Officers’, to gather every month for lunch at the Ft. Shafter Officers’ Club, and the Colonel’s wife—her husband was the base Commandant—always was the first to speak when the formal meetings began,” Mary Alice continued. “I guess the life-tips the older women shared with the other young wives and me were intended to help ease the loneliness of separation caused by the Vietnam War.”
“But how was I to measure life or anything else? I was only 19 at the time.”
“Was there anything tangible that you gained from those get-togethers? Anything to pass on,” daughter-in-law Myrna ‘Kwai-Yi’ eagerly interrupted as she motioned the waiter for another glass of champagne. “What about fashion—you know, what to wear in Hawaii? Or, suggested schools for Kristin to attend?”
A smile replaced Mary Alice’s pursed lips as she lifted her eyes and gazed out from under the Hau Tree onto white sand and glistening surf of San Souci Beach.
“Actually, yes,” she finally offered. “All the newly-arrived wives were given copies of a cook book entitled, Ft. Shafter Officers’ Wives Club Presents: Cooking Hawaiian-Style. Really precious for me, a young girl from the hills of Kentucky, I had immediately thought when I got my copy from the Colonel’s wife. I figured I could impress your Dad with my ‘local-style cooking’ when he returned from Vietnam,” Mary Alice laughed out loud.
“After all, the only dishes I could prepare when we got married were Country-style fried chicken and rabbit stew! Thank God, your father never experienced hillbilly cooking before going to Ft. Knox, Kentucky. He actually boasted about my cooking to all his friends.”
“Hey, Mom,” Kristin interjected. “What were some of those recipes in the Officers’ Wives cookbook? All Haole-kine, I bet.”
“Yeah, and probably nothing Chinese,” piped ‘Kwai-Yi’, fist-bumping her sister-in-law.
“You be the judge. When we get home, I’ll email both of you copies of my favorites from that cookbook,” Mom responded in challenge.
“Try them out. And you tell me…”
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FT. SHAFTER OFFICERS’ WIVES CLUB PRESENTS: COOKING HAWAIIAN-STYLE
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Aunty Malia’s Pickled Ogo
Ingredients:
1 lb. Ogo
1 clove garlic
1 small Hawaiian chili pepper
White vinegar
Mild soy sauce
Wax paper or plastic wrap
1 lb. Ogo chopped in 1 inch pieces, and pack into pickling jar. Fill half way to top with soy sauce; then fill to the top with Heinz white vinegar. Crush the garlic clove and place in the jar. Add the Hawaiian chili pepper. Use wax paper or plastic wrap between the jar and the lid. Close lid tightly.
Refrigerate 2 hours or longer.
ENJOY!
Aunty Katy’s Pickled Onions
Ingredients:
2 Large white onions
Quart jar with a tight fitting lid
White vinegar
Hawaiian salt
Bay leaf
½ dozen whole cloves
Wax paper
Cut onions into sections and pack tightly into the jar. Place Bay leaf at the top, then throw in the cloves. Fill jar ½ way to the top with vinegar; then fill jar to the top with water. Pour in 2 heaping tablespoons of Hawaiian salt. Place wax paper between the lid and the jar and shake well.
Leave at room temp for 12 hours then refrigerate.
Enjoy!
(Note: Aunty Katy would add Hawaiian chili peppers as well to spice it up—and for “bam”.)
Raymundo’s Spanish Stew
Ingredients:
2-3 lbs. chuck roast
1 green bell pepper
1 large Spanish onion
1 (8 oz.) can of tomato sauce
1 lb. carrots (washed and scraped)
2 lbs. potatoes (peeled)
½ C flour
Salt & pepper
2 T cooking oil
Chop vegetables and cut meat into 1 inch cubes. Dredge meat, onions, and bell pepper in the flour, salt, and pepper mixture. In a stew pot, heat the cooking oil, and sauté the chopped onion, bell pepper, and carrots. Put in the meat and tomato sauce, and add additional water to cover all the ingredients. Simmer 1 ½ hours until carrots and potatoes are cooked through.
Serves a family of 6.
Enjoy!
(Note: Drizzle in Hawaiian chili pepper water for great flavor.)
STORY SUBMITTED BY:
M. J. Hagan
IMAGES WITH PERMISSION:
M. J. Hagan
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