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Jul
23
Posted by stephanie ahina
First you get the fruit, then you clean it and you clean it. Then you measure the fruit and the sugar. You heat it on the stove and add the pectin to get it to gel. What do you get? Strawberry Jam. Each year my family loves to pick strawberries at the Biringer Farm out in Marysville. We go for the sunshine, the fun and the bonding with the family. My grandchildren love to eat the strawberries with grandma’s homemade chocolate dip. Boy, do they get dirty. When that is done, my daughters and daughters in law help me to make the strawberry jam. It is fun time and we get to reap the rewards.
Taryn, Aja, Pukana, Kawehi, Vanessa and grandma hard at work.
We went from 2 flats of strawberries, to bottles and bottles of jam. Yummy!
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Jul
01
Posted by stephanie ahina
This past weekend was the perfect time to leave our busy lives behind for some fun and relaxation in beautiful Westport. My parents are here from Maui, Hawaii and we wanted to show them a good time. When we lived in Hawaii (many years ago), we would make the time to go camping at the beach often. So with my parents here, we had the opportunity to sneak away from our busy lives and enjoy each others’ company. We packed up the cars (4) with our gear and food; gassed them up and was on our way. The drive was about 2.75 hours at cruising speed which was a little too long for my parents. When we finally got to the cabin (some camping huh?), my mom was so glad to have arrived that she called my sister on Maui to tell her that we were at the camp and was surrounded by forests. We went crabbing (no one was crabby) at the pier and that took a lot of work for those of us that had our fishing/shellfish license. Baiting the pots; sitting around and waiting (that took a lot of work) We would check our pots in shifts while we took the kids to the beach. We Hawaii people love the ocean and so Westport was a great place to hear the sound of the ocean, feel the breeze on your face and the sand in between your toes. There’s a song with the words, “You can take the boy from the island, but not the island from the boy”. Well, that is us; no matter how long we may be away from home, Hawaii is still home to us. My grandchildren did not even think that the water was cold; we parked the cars and out they went and headed straight for the water splashing and having a great time. We were not fortunate this time around to find those sand dollars our there.
While we were out at Westport, we did a lot of sightseeing and stopped at the Marina to check out the shops. The fudge and salt water taffy is a favorite of my daughter in law; we cannot leave Westport without stopping to buy some. My mom and dad had purchased some souvenirs to take home with them; something that they will be able to use everyday and not let sit on the shelf. The highlight for my mom was being able to eat her crabs fresh out of the water that was actually caught by us instead of having to buy it from the store. We had to make sure we left Lynnwood with our vinegar and shoyu.
I did notice though that Real Estate out there has not slowed; there are quite a few new construction projects going on and a lot of homes on the market. If you love the beach life and are thinking of moving elsewhere, you might want to consider Westport; I think it a great place to retire.
My parents and niece came from Maui, Hawaii and stayed with us for a month. It was great having them.
