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Amish Friendship Bread
Do the Amish really use instant vanilla pudding in their breads? That question posed itself as I made Amish friendship bread. To make this, you need a starter from a friend, which I was lucky enough to acquire. “Only the Amish know how to make this,” the recipe says ominously. “If you give it all…
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Roasted Beets and a Mean Mother
At first, I didn’t force the kids to try the beets, but then I remembered the precept. I had to get the kids to try beets, in case they went to a friend’s house and were served something godawful. Now, considering all the cultures around here, I figured the likelihood of somebody visiting a friend…
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Why Does This Look Like Cali?
I knew there were 72 steps. What I did not know was that there was a hike up to those steps, and another 99 steps following those 72 steps. Also, I did not know that Diamond Head crater would be like hiking southern California in the middle of a summer day. Breezeless (the crater walls…
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Werewolves, Shots, and Schools
When we looked at this townhouse, there were 4 kids living here with their parents, who assured us that the elementary down the school was great, in fact superior to the school on the mainland they’d come from (Utah). A cursory glance at GreatSchools.net said it had test score ratings of 8 out of 10.…
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I Love Me Some Shave Ice
There are, of course, famous places to get shave ice. People have told me about a few, like one up north and one downtown (I actually forgot the name of the one downtown). I haven’t been to any of those yet. If you recommend one, please leave it in the comments. I’ve only been to…
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Our Girl Arrives
My FIL always takes a single pic, even though it’s digital. He probably figures with three kids, someone’s always going to be goofing off, so what the hell’s the use in trying to get a good one.
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The Unbelievable Lightness of Not Having Stuff
There have been many difficult components to this cross-Pacific move: the separation, first from my husband when he came over here; now from my oldest daughter, who wanted to stay back with her g-parents and finish out her 5th grade promotion stuff and Girl Scout activities; the enormous expense; the selling of all the old…
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Hawaiian Cupcakes and Cakes
The cupcakes are attended by beautiful, thin young women wearing black, as though they are ready to put Chanel makeup on you instead of selling you a cupcake. Each cake is nestled in a wooden holder inside the counter; the store is kept cool and closed off, the counter seems to be open to the…
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North Shore Field Trip
The other day, Yahoo ran a story about the North Shore having the second-highest number of shark attacks in the world. Awesome. SURFER magazine said that Hale’iwa is the best surfing beach in the world. Double awesome. Not that we surf, or want to be attacked by sharks.
MARGARET DILLOWAY 