Author Archives: Martine
Trip to Maui day 4
Thursday morning Lorraine had invited me to her canoe club for the outrigger paddle visitor day. She picked me up with my new friend Pam and we made our way to sugar beach where the club is located. After a nice welcome and really impressive chant from a local Hawaiian, some of the leader blew the PÅ«, the Hawaiian conch shell to get us started. We were all assigned to different boat, I ended up on seat 2 behind Pam. We had a great paddle in the ocean on a windy morning. Took a short break which gave us an opportunity to have a chat and get to know each other. I realized that almost the whole boat was Canadian!!
I forgot how much fun paddling is on a big boat with a team. Will have to look for an outrigger boat back home next spring!!
After my morning paddle, chuck and I decided to rent snorkelling equipment and try our luck spotting sea turtles. As soon as we arrived at the beach across from our condo Kamaole Beach III, a lady pointed a giant one swimming leisurely right along the shore followed by a group of enthusiastic children. The turtles are protected here and it is forbidden to touch them or approach to closely.
We put our equipment on and swan over to the nearby rocky area and spotted a few more swimming or simply resting at the bottom. Colourful fishes were hanging around the reef as well which made this little expedition a big success!! Too bad I forgot to bring our waterproof GoPro!!
In the afternoon we Ubered over to Lorraine and John and went for a walk on the long boardwalk built in front of the big hotels along the beaches.
In Hawaii all the beaches are public so anyone can walk and use them regardless of which property is build in front.
We realized that we had to be at the Marriott for our Luau earlier than we thought and had to power walk home!!
Lorraine accompanied us to the Luau and we were there promptly at 4:30. What a treat!!
Typical Hawaiian fare and tasty drinks made the meal part of the evening excellent, we realized again that we were sitting with Canadians at our table! We are everywhere!!
They displayed how the roasted wild boar is slowly roasted, wrapped and placed on coals then buried in the sand.
After the sun down, began the show. It was absolutely magical, such amazing performers, a fantastic host who shared with us the history of their Polynesian ancestors. Simply wonderful!!
Trip to Maui day 3
On Wednesday we were booked for watching the sunrise atop the Haleakala volcano followed by a bike ride down the summit to the beach.
Our pick up was at 3AM ð± in front of our complex. What!!! We were there in the pitch dark hoping someone would come…sure enough they were right on time. Our conductor Dante was up and at it and drove us to the Mountain Riders office. After getting our gear (jacket, pants and glove) and a quick coffee, up we go to the top of the volcano.
We get there by 5:10 and are told that we got there just in time as this place will be packed in 20 minutes. In the pouring rain and strong cold wind, we make our way to the edge of the crater for a prime spot….oh we are ready. We are told that it will be about 6:20 when the sun rise so we have over an hour to wait…a long miserable, freezing and wet hour. As the sunrise hour approach, it became more cloudy and cold. 
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eptical but stayed there in the hope to see this amazing sunrise…..it was not to be…we all made our way back to the van cold and wet.
Our amazing upbeat guide got us all set up with our specially built bikes with brakes from scooter to be able to handle the descent!! With our big helmet and our full rain gear, we set out, staying in a single file, basically gliding down. After multiple sharp turns, we arrive at a great spot where the sun is out and the rainbow is showing. The volcano is at 10,000 feet elevation and each 1,000 feet of descent brings us to a new weather pattern. Pretty neat. We stopped for fun pictures.
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ur ride again when the guide spots a gecko in a bush. Another pit stop for photos.
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the beach after a nice stop for breakfast at 9am in the small hippie town of Makawao.
Back at our condo around 11am where the sun is shiny and we are back to 90F weather, go figure!!
We spend time at the beach and make our way over to our cousin's cottage Lorraine and John in Makena. They pick us up and take us on a great drive along fancy neighbourhood, definitely much more expensive houses!!
We are treated to a beautiful sunset and yummy dinner.
Great conversations to re-connect with families. Our gracious hosts make us feel so welcome.
How fun!!
Trip to Maui day 1-2
On Monday the 13th, I joined Chuck in LA following his trip to Vegas with Stewart. We checked in our flight to Maui and left the airport to meet up with uncle Jimmy and aunt Bernice for lunch. It was so great to catch up with them and for Chuck to see their house. We realized that he hadn’t visited since Lorraine’s wedding!!! They took us to their golf country club for lunch, and we had a great visit sharing all the news from the Murray’s next generation in Ontario.
After a long flight we landed in Maui and discovered that the Uber to our condo was double the cost of a cab! Uber is new in Maui.
Arrived at our airbandb late evening (which was 4Am for us) and accessed our unit without incident. Time for bed!!
The next morning on Tuesday, we decided to go go for breakfast at Fred’s nearby, check out the beach and go for a long walk before our lunch date with cousin Lorraine and John. Beach is beautiful with gorgeous sand and warmish water. The condo and malls lack local flavour to me. Seems fairly typical USA which is disappointing. Returned home and after fun time trying to figure out the shower, got ready for lunch at the 5 Palms restaurant. A wonderful welcome by our cousins with beautiful Lai. The view was spectacular and we had good Mai Tai and food. Had a very nice long chat after which they dropped us up at our condo for a quick visit.
Enjoyed a lazy afternoon followed by dinner at the Cafe O Lei. Excellent Ahi while Chuck had sushi. Good thing we were there early, the place was absolutely packed by 7PM!!
Off to bed early to be ready for our 2:30 wake up call tomorrow!!
Help for Mathew’s Fundraising
To my friends and families.
I post today to ask for your help. I know this is a long post but I hope you will indulge me ð
Since our son Mathew was very young, he has tried to describe to us the images and the stories that were forming in his head. We all remember his âdirectingâ debut telling us to fall down and act dead on film when he was in elementary school. Not surprisingly, film has become the canvas he chose to share his stories with the world.
Mathew wrote, directed and produced 2 seasons of his multi-award winning web series teenagers. During the last 3 years, Chuck and I have supported and help fund his efforts, helping to make this story come to life. We have reached out to our incredibly supportive neighbours and friends to âuseâ their house, for their help and much more. His 2 amazing and supportive brothers have shared their space, opened their rooms, lending their clothes and whatever was asked to allow him to film at our house. I am incredibly grateful to all for these acts of kindness.
The grant and funding process with all levels of government has been incredibly frustrating as he moves past the student projects life. To continue his dream, he is now launching a crowdfunding campaign on indiegogo and reaching out to friends, families and anyone else who would like to support a young filmmaker trying to bring his stories to life. The campaign is to help fund season 3 as well as his first feature film dealing with the incredibly powerful and negative impact of Fentanyl, once again exposing real life tragedy and drama, experienced by various tranche of our society. You can expect it to be edgy, multicultural and real.
I know the end product will be wonderful because Mathew is a great storyteller of course, but also because in all his projects, he partners with his close friend and incredibly talented DOP Dmitry and best friend Sara.
If teenagers is new to you, you will watch this web series and find some moments difficultâŠ.but it has struck a chord with thousands of fan because it represents the real life struggle of some of our teens out there today.  The show portrays LGBT teenagers trying to navigate through high school, the impact and use of drugs in our schools and the multicultural reality of our country. He includes characters of Native, South Asian, African and Caucasian descent all struggling through their teenage years together. This upcoming season, he will introduce a French Canadian character, a nod to his heritage, but also to our countryâs bilingual reality. This is a painting of our society that needs to be told and we are so very proud of him.
And so I reach out to you again, friends and families, far and near, and ask that you consider helping and sharing this campaign with your friends and families and anyone you think may be able to help. It is really important for the success of a campaign to become âin demandâ on Indiegogo which means that they will promote the campaign on their site. The level of donations in the first few days impacts directly that status.
à mes amies et à la parenté québécoise, un petit mot en français pour vous remercier de considérer dâaider Mathew dans sa campagne de financement. Je vous envoies un bise électronique ð
To donate, visit: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/teenagers-season-3-and-more-lgbt-drama#/
Banana Bread with Nutella
In celebration of Nutella day, I added a twist to my favorite Banana Bread recipe. Of course you can skip the Nutella and bake it as is for a less sugary version.
Be sure to have a slice before the kids get a taste. It will disappear!
Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup mashed overripe bananas (about 3)
- 1/3 cup of buttermilk or add 1 tsp of vinegar to 2% milk and let stand for 5 minutes
- 3tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 0 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Nutella
Steps to Make the recipe
In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, bananas, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Beat well with a whisk until well blended. 
In a small bowl, stir the flour, baking soda and salt.
Add to the banana mixture and stir just until combined.
Pour half the mixture into very lightly oiled 8 X 5 (1.5L) non stick loaf pan.
Spread a good layer of Nutella.
Spread the remaining banana mixture.
Bake at 350F oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Spread the top with a layer of Nutella. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes then transfer to plate to cool completely.
Cinnamon-Roll Bread with a twist
My teenage son rarely has much time for breakfast and always looks for something fast to eat like a smoothie or a muffin. I prepared a cinnamon-roll bread that was a big hit so here is the recipe. Â This is an easy no-yeast recipe which is hard to mess-up and the streusel-like topping filling makes it yummy!
Ingredients
- 1 cup each of whole-wheat and all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp of baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/3 cup of unsweetened applesauce (in lieu of sugar)
- 3/4 cup of 1% milk
- 2 teaspoon of vanilla
- 1/3 cup of sour cream (or greek yogurt)
For the swirl
- 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon of water
For the glaze
- 1/3 cup of powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoon of milk
Steps to make the recipe
Pre-heat you oven to 350F and spray a bread pan with non-stick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, mix the first 3 dry ingredients and all the other ones in a smaller bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the large bowl and mix with a fork.
Transfer the mixture to the bread pan.
In the small bowl, now mix the swirl ingredients. Use a spoon to drop the mixture on the  the top of the bread mixture.
Now take a fork or a knife and make swirl design to incorporate the swirl into the bread.
Base for 50 minutes or until you insert a cake pick or a toothpick that comes out dry.
Transfer the bread to a cooling rack and wait 15 minutes.
Mix the glaze ingredients and spread the glaze on the bread.
Now get yourself a coffee or a glass of milk and enjoy!!
Veggie-Egg Stack Sunday brunch
Before leaving for our long snowshoeing hike in our beautiful wood at our cottage, we need some fuel.
Today I improvised a new egg stack without any bread. Yummy and no carbs!!
Ingredients for 2 servings
- 2-3 eggs depending if someone wants 2 eggs (my husband)
- 2 leaves of romaine lettuce
- 2 thick slices of tomatoes
- 6 slices of cucumber
- 1/3 cup of shredded old cheddar
- Half a small onion diced
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- Salt and pepper
Steps to make the recipe
Sauté the onion and the garlic in a bit of butter until softened.
Meanwhile, lay out the lettuce and top with tomatoe and cucumber. Add salt and pepper.
Spread the onions on the stack and use the same pan to fry the eggs over-easy (you could also poach the eggs if you prefer ) .
Spread the eggs on the stack and add salt and pepper to taste.
In the same pan, toss the shredded cheese and melt for a minute.
Top your stack with the cheese et Voilà !
Chick-Pea and Spinach Soup
My son is eating less and less meat but not thinking about replacing it with protein from other sources. I thought about trying a chick pea soup as that legume is full of protein, vitamins and minerals too and he loves soups as much as me!!
Ingredients:
- 1tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 onions chopped
- 1 potato peeled and cut in chunks
- 4 cups of vegetable soup
- 2 tbsp each mined fresh parsley and coriander
- 1 tsp dried marjoram
- 1 can of chick -peas, drained and rinsed
- half a package of fresh spinach washed and chopped
Steps to make the recipe
In large heavy saucepan (I used my creuset), heat oil and cook garlic and onions for 5 minutes or until soft.
Add the potato, cook for another minute.
Add stock and herbs and cover and simmer for 15 minutes. I regularly make my own stock with bones, broccoli or asparagus stems extra…that I freeze until I am ready to make the stock. When stock is ready I freeze in 4cups portions.
Stir in chick-peas.
In a blender or with your hand blender, purée the mixture and return to pan.
Add spinach and simmer for 5 minutes.
You may need to add water if it is too thick.
Add salt and pepper to taste
This makes a very complete meal and my son gives it the thumbs up!!
Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Bacon
I have started using cauliflower more and more in my recipes. It is a great source of vitamin C, combined with manganese which makes it a good antioxidant. It also contains a good amount of Fibre as well as several other vitamins. I am discovering that it is very versatile and am finding new ways to use, such as in my brunch recipe where it is used as the anchor for a healthy stack to replace bread. Since I love making and eating soup, this was perfect for me.
During one of my cleaning of my recipe folders, I came across this clipping from several years ago. I decided to try it and adapt it to suit our taste.
This is a great meal for lunch!
Ingredients
- 1 medium size cauliflower cut into florets
- Salt and Pepper
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 3 slices of bacon, cut into pieces
- 1 tbsp of butter
- 1 onion
- 1 potato, peeled and diced
- 1 bay leaf, 1tsp of dried thyme
- 5 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup of evaporated skim milk
Toss the cauliflower florets with oil as well as salt and pepper to taste and spread on a cookie sheet to roast in the oven at 425F for 10-15 minutes.
Cook the bacon in a large saucepan until browned and then remove them and discard all the fat except for about 1tbsp.
Add the butter and then toss in the onion, the potato, the herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Sauté over medium heat for a few minutes.
Add the cauliflower and the stock (I used my homemade stock from the freezer which I freeze in bags of 4 cups). Bring to boil and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Discard the bay leave, add half the bacon and purée the soup in your blender.
Return to saucepan and add the milk (you can substitute with half and half cream for a richer soup), gently re-heating. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Decorate with the reserved bacon, some fresh parsley or croutons as you wish.
Parsley Pesto Roasted Cauliflower and Egg Stack for Sunday Brunch
Here is an awesome and healthy brunch / lunch idea I tried today. It was so good, even hubby approved!
Ingredients
- cauliflower head
- 4 tbsp of parsley pesto (1 per side). Recipe for parsley pesto from a previous post
- thick slices of tomatoes
- 1 egg per cauliflower slice
- salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste
- black olives and capers to taste
Cut a cauliflower right in the middle and then cut 2 to 3 1-inch thick slices depending on the size of your cauliflower. Spread generously with parsley pesto on the side facing up.
Place the cauliflower slices in the oven at broil (setting high) about 6 inches from the element. Roast for about 3-5 minutes, checking often. Once it is browning, turn them over and brush with pesto on the other side. Place under the broiler for another 3-5 minutes (or however long it takes to brown in your oven).
Place a slice in the middle of a plate and cover with 2 thick slices of tomatoes.
Fry an egg sunny side up and slide onto the tomatoes. Season with garlic salt and pepper and sprinkle with capers and / or olives if you like them ð
Enjoy with a white wine spritzer!!
Martine's food and places 
