Making Chocolate ~ First Failed Attempt

A couple of weeks ago I was at the farmers market and there were organic cacao beans...you know...what CHOCOLATE is made from!!!

I've been told that Hawaii is the only state in the US that can grow cacao beans, AND that the only places in the world that it can grow is 20 degrees above or below the equator...were at 19something degrees above the equator.

The kind market farmer told me that I could start my own cacao tree from the seeds if I dry them, then sprout them. I thought that was pretty cool, but I was mostly interested in making my very own chocolate. Hastily I did a quick google on how to make chocolate. I did not research very long or thoroughly...my bad.

What I found told me that to make chocolate you first need to ferment the beans. It said that traditionally this is done in the field and that the beans are put in a pile and covered with banana leaves. I thought cool I have banana leaves, I'll do that. I didn't want them to be left on the ground...lest some unwanted snail or slug crawl over them and leave me with unwanted rat lungworm nematodes!!!

(Stella and our banana leaf)

So I decided to wrap them up in a banana leaf and set them outside under our black composter lid.

This was not a good idea! It rained all week and I'm sure the beans in the banana leaf did not reach the required 125F needed to ferment. When I checked on them at the end of the week they were beyond gross...too gross to take a picture of them. Maybe I was supposed to use brown dead banana leaves??? They were all covered with gray/black fuzzy mold. I tried to salvage them and rinsed them under hot water and even tried to dehydrate them in the oven for a couple of days, but the mold caked on so that I was thoroughly disgusted and pitched them in the compost.
I will try again. I will not give up. I was so excited in the beginning and took my "step by step" pictures that I decided to post them and my failed attempt.

Family Walk

Back in Wisconsin we were very dedicated to our family walk. Even the snow and bitter cold winds did not deter us from our mile trek everyday before supper. Up until last night we had not taken 1 family walk in Hawaii...why? I think it's been a combination of factors: 1)It gets dark around 6-6:30pm and before we had power that meant we were eating and cleaning up for supper all before the darkness hit...not so easy doing dishes by candlelight. Now we have solar power so this issue has been eliminated. 2)Transition...we're still transitioning, adjusting, moving...the boys started school and that has been a huge adjustment/transition. Now we follow someone else's prescribed homework assignments and strict due dates. 3)Neighborhood Uncertainty. We were VERY comfortable in Wisconsin. We knew our land, street, and neighbors well and there was no fear on our evening stroll. Here we're not so certain of our hood...neighbors here cherish their privacy. We don't want to spook anyone, the Raye Family walks aren't exactly quiet. It's a time for the kids to get their sillies out before we settle down for the evening. It will probably take years for us to feel that same level of comfort that we had in Wisconsin, but we decided last night we were going to get back into our walking rhythm.

 Above Picture: The scene before we left on the walk...Stella had been painting with watercolors, Kyle had been eating oranges (local navals = yum!), and Reeve had cranked up the hand-crank radio to listen to some good ol' NPR...namely Car Talk which airs at 5pm here and Garrison Keilor's A Prairie Home Companion. Our 3rd Favorite radio show is a Wisconsin Public Radio show called Olde Time Radio Drama and we will try to stream that on the internet tonight for the first time since we left Wisconsin. Reeve is very hopeful it will work! He was a dedicated listener.

We started out going in the kind neighbor's direction...kind meaning he consistently mows as much of our lawn on the road that he can. The pothole in the above picture is a baby...a lot of the pot holes are small ponds that take up the entire width of the road.

 There were only a couple of times when we thought maybe a neighbor we didn't know would get spooked, but overall it was a very peaceful walk. Stella stopped to pick some roadside orchids along the way.

 There was a sliver of a moon and some planets as we turned around and headed back towards home.

 Hopefully we can continue our evening walking rhythm and explore the hood without spooking anyone.

Kalapana Lava Flow

We've met some folks that live at the end of the road in Kalapana. The road ends because the lava flowed right over it! They told us that the flow was really good and that it would be a great time to see it. So we left right around dark and drove down to Kalapana. It was flowing, and flowing good, but we were quite a long distance from the flow.

 It's about a 10 minute walk out there...luckily we remembered our flashlight.

Locals that own the property take folks out there on tours, but it's $100/person...not for us at this time. Our friends said it looks small from this distance, but the flow area can be over 100' wide right now. Wow!
Our pictures DO NOT do the lava flow any justice at all whatsoever. It was thrilling to see it in person...even from a great distance.

 We most definitely could have used a tripod.

 The lava reflected in the clouds was magnificent.

In other Raye happenings....Brake Repair with Stella & Tom. It was lovely (for me) when Tom had a day at home to work on his brakes. They were a hassle. He was at it all day. It was lovely for me because Stella "helped" Tom the whole day.

News Flash: We just sold our drake ducks Calvin & Roosevelt...to a guy who is not going to eat them! He wants them in his yard for mosquito, slug, and coqui frog control...how cool is that? We're very happy and so is Jemina (our sole drake with the wrong name). Maybe we should start calling him Mr. Jeremy? He and the girls, Alice, Meg, and Mrs. Drake were strolling around the yard. Now if they would only lay us some eggs.

Aloha Quest

Aloha has multiple meanings...it means LOVE, it means HELLO, it means GOODBYE. Literally translated it is "the presence of divine breath".

Quest means " The act or an instance of seeking or pursuing something; a search". It also was one of our forms of transportation...our Nissan Quest mini-van.

Well Aloha Quest definitely describes our Valentines Day yesterday in soooo many ways. Last week we decided that the Nissan Quest was not what we needed (not the greatest on gas mileage among other reasons). I put an ad out and got several calls from a guy in Washington. He said he was flying into Kona on the 14th and he really wanted to buy the Quest (He was enamored by the seat covers...). He wanted us to drive it to the airport to pick him up (so didn't have to get a cab, etc...). At first we were very hesitant...I mean it's an odd proposition. He was insistent and assured us he would buy it for our agreed upon price. Tom could not take off from his new job, so it was up to me :) I would not be back in time to pick the boys up from school, so I pulled them out at their first break (around 10am).

 We were on a quest to say aloha to our Quest. Reeve took some picture on our 110 mile trek to the airport. This trek always takes me about 3 hours, and that is because I drive very slow and cautiously.

We did not take the Saddle Road this time. We went up the Hamakua Coast and across through Waimea. This part of the island is Paniolo (cowboy) country. 

 We saw Parker Ranch...among one of the LARGEST ranches in the United States. We saw many heards of cattle and horses, which pleased Stella to no end.

 Scenes that do not look like the typical Hawaiian images...

 Hard to see, but in the picture below is the ocean...Yay! We're almost there!!

 In the picture below you can see the airport...right in the center of the picture.

 We met the nice guy and he was more than happy with the Quest. It was Aloha at first sight. And we had accomplished the first leg of our quest. Next part was to figure out how to get downtown to catch the bus back to Hilo. We had about 3 hours to get to the bus stop. Below is Reeve playing with his "jolly stix" at the airport.

When we got to Ali'i Drive...we strolled around and took some tourist type pictures. Kyle took this one of me & Stella next to the mermaid. Reeve liked how the Sailor guy was wearing converse all-star shoes.

 We visited the Hulihe'e Palace...once a vacation home for Hawaiian Royalty and conveniently located at our bus stop.

 Unfortunately we did not have time to put on our swim suits :( Boo! The weather was warm, the water was beautiful, and we all really wanted to go swimming!

 The palace grounds were lovely, and we watched a couple of young girls practicing the hula. Stella was mesmerized.

Reeve could have put out a hat and made some money. He impressed more than one passerby with his jolly stix!

 The bus stop is also across from Hawaii's First Church, Mokuaikaua Church. I wish we had had more time! This summer the boys, Stella, and I plan to go to Hilo early in the morning, catch the dollar bus (yes it is only $1!!!!) to Kona, spend the day playing, and then catch the $1 bus back to Hilo.

 Too much sun reflection off the ocean in the picture below, but trust me the water was gorgeous in the background.

The bus ride home was FANTASTIC!! That is TOTALLY the way to travel the island. I would never, ever in a million years be able to drive as fast as our bus driver! He zoomed us back in record time (like just over 2hrs) and we even had a nice break in Waimea. I got to relax and enjoy the ride. Stella and I searched for whales in the ocean all the way down the Hamakua coast back to Hilo. 

Now for the good part! We've been on another quest...and that is to get a contractors license for electrical and HVAC. FINALLY we got the call that the applications committee has approved Tom to take the Contractors exam...that will be sometime in March. WOO HOO!!!!!
I hope your Valentine's Day was as wonderful and adventurous as ours was!
ALOHA!