A New Year in Waimea

Sun with Liquid Sunshine
The days are cooler, especially at night, in Waimea where we have the seasonal rain (liquid sunrise) so that an evening meal of soup is often appealing. I made a good chicken stock from a rotisserie chicken, after slicing the breast for a luncheon salad.

• Simply put the bones in a deep pot with cold water to cover,


• add some celery (I often use the leafy top of the ribs (we often call them stocks) along with carrots, roughly chopped, along with a bay leaf or two.


• Bring the pot over medium heat to a simmer and turn the heat down to low. After several hours, the stock will be a nice golden color.


• Let it cool, refrigerate overnight, spoon off the fat that has hardened on the surface.

With this stock, there are so many good soups. Vegetable soup is one: saute chopped onions, carrots, and celery ( a traditional french mixture called mire poix) along with fresh parsley if you have it, which is one of the nice things to grow in garden pots. When the onions are translucent, cool the mixture, add some of the chicken stock and puree with a hand held wand or in a blender or food processor. Add more chicken stock, reheat, turn off the heat for a few minutes, add seasoning, including a few drops of fresh lemon juice.

Other soups and even cooking pasta in the stock are variations. Yes, cooler days even on the Kohala Coast lend themselves to relaxing evenings enjoying the sunset and with nourishing meals. Include a spinach salad, a chilled white wine, french bread, and a fruit dessert with a few drops of a liquor, and you can easily prepare a dinner for friends or treat yourself.

A Balancing Act: Soup to Furniture to Spirit
Whether its soup to finish a day with a larger lunch or many other aspects of our lives, a balance is a delightful way to live. In furnishings, its interesting, because editing and creating harmony produces a wonderful room and home for us all. We have reorganized client's homes on occassion, moving accessories and furniture from one room to another, eliminating some items too. In a luxury model home, we were asked to finish what another designer had done and the results were very pleasing by using editing, balance, and rearranging.

On a personal level, socializing with friends but also going for a walk alone or with a companion in shared silence creates a balance in life, as does exercise and relaxing.

Food, both the simple and elaborate, is another example. Our lives are filled with these balances and there are opportunities everyday to practice this secret of good living and a life of goodwill and thoughtfulness.

Recuperating

Self-Care
It may not be so fashionable to mention having a cold virus, but indeed that was my unexpected, and of course unwanted, present for Christmas. Certainly we all have times of being under the weather, and it was my turn.
So it is chicken soup, good rest, and as I have gotten somewhat better, short walks. But it is remaining on a schedule of going to bed on time, drinking lots of liquids, and reading that gets me through. I will admit, readily, that I am not over this one, even after three weeks and visits to several doctors along the way, as we traveled during December and now January.
Tranquility and Peacefulness
Now how does an interior designer rest? Of course by reading design magazines and books, mostly we enjoy Southern Accents and Canadian House and Home, these days.
Also I enjoy simple meditation, by relaxing and thinking calm thoughts and gentle breathing. Its not mysterious or culturally based, but just follows the principles of relaxation.
Wishes
Comfortable surroundings are appreciated on an everyday basis and yes even when we are recuperating. I like our Honolulu apartment with its harmony of golden marble floors, walls a bit deeper, chaises in a nice chenille, and four lovely paintings we have collected.
Wishing you good health and goodwill to share in the New Year, this year 2008.