aloha from the big island

[Guest guest]

hi folks,i've been reading the when i can and it looks like you've been having a good time without me <grin> and i'll have to admit that i've been missing the raw seattle potlucks and commenderie (sp). i've been wintering on the big island since thanksgiving, enjoying the fruit, the wonderful weather and the many natural wonders of hawaii. last weekend was an especially good time... saturday morning i went to the hilo farmer's market and sunday morning i went to the pahoa farmer's market seaching for new fruits. i found green and mamay sapote, vee-apple, jaboticaba, rolinia, abiu and cake fruit. saturday afternoon i went to the warm pool, a volcanically heated brackish oceanside pool. saturday nite i camped on the edge of a 50 foot cliff above the surf crashing. sunday afternoon i went to kehena beach for a drum circle and monday i discovered a roadside cave that is heated with volcanic steam that someone had been made into a sweat. ah... life in paradise... tonite's camp is not exactly what i think of when i think of paradise. i'm camped in volcano national park at 4,000 ft. elevation and believe me... it's 'cool' out there. but it's time for me to return to washington i could use a little help. i've got a ride from seattle to b'ham the morning after i get in but i'm looking for someone to pick me up at the airport and put me up for the nite of march 26 (the floor would be great). i get into seatac about 9:30pm. any volunteers??? please write to me directly ( kelpguy ) so we don't clutter the list and also send me your phone number and best time to reach you. i could 'sweeten the deal' with a bag of kelp. thanks... here's a new raw 'discovery' for me, it's a sprouted coconut. for those of you that don't know... a sprouted coconut is a mature nut that has started to grow into a tree. the milk and the hard meat turn into a 'sponge' that's like a light moist candy... and that's the part we eat. below is a picture of a sprouted coconut cut it open to show the 'sponge'. notice the green frond coming out of the top right end of the nut and the root stretched out below. i wouldn't know where to begin to describe the flavor of the sponge but it doesn't taste anything like coconut, however it's fresh, moist, kinda crunchy and of course, sweet. if you look in the empty 1/2 half shell in the bottom of the photo you'll see some pieces of a substance that is found between the hard meat and the sponge. it's fatty/greasy and not very palatable. some folks say the sprouted nuts are the ultimate stage to eat coconut but i noticed i like the young cocos more. however, the sprouted nuts *are* easier to get than the young nuts cuz they are on the ground and all you have to do is pick them up (um... the young nuts are still up in the trees). lookin forward...norm )~..... raw food, simply delicious .....