Fried Breadfruit

'Ulu (breadfruit) is one of my favorite foods. It is a big beautiful ball of starch that can be eaten green (like a potato), half-ripe (more like a sweet potato), or super ripe and on the verge of spoiled (sweet and sticky). It's easy to cook - I just bake it whole on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350 degrees F until I can stick a skewer through it easily, about an hour - and then cut it up and peel it.

At that point you can use it in a variety of ways. The National Tropical Botanical Garden has lot of recipes, and I haven't tried any of them because my favorite way to eat breadfruit is fried in either coconut oil or dairy butter. Green or half-ripe breadfruit work the best for this, as it holds together well in slices. I slice the baked 'ulu about 1/4" thick and heat a tablespoon or two of oil in a pan and fry on both sides until browned, then sprinkle with salt and eat while it's still hot.

For more information about 'ulu and its traditional uses, try Canoe Plants of Ancient Hawai'i.

How to Get The F*ck Over It and Move On: a review of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Sometimes you need to have someone gently and firmly grab you by the face and tell you to just get over it already.  This book is all about telling you to get the f*ck over it and move on, it just does it really nicely.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
by Marie Kondo

Number one: this is not about getting rid of everything you own, unless that's what makes you happy. This is not about having a minimalist white space with one perfect teacup, unless that's what makes you happy. This is about asking yourself which of your belongings bring you joy, and being honest with yourself about it. A friend of mine KonMari'd her art studio and it's been a big inspiration to me - she's still a collector, it's still a lot of stuff, and it's a beautiful reflection of her personality. You can see photos in her Instagram feed: brandiislight

Number two: if something isn't bringing you joy, sometimes you can make a simple change to make it something that brings you joy (and sometimes that thing is changing the way you think about it).  Although Kondo is about the immediate gut response, I think it can be worthwhile to take a moment and ask yourself why something doesn't bring you joy, and if it's an easy fix, consider doing so. One of my shirts failed the joy check, because one of the buttons would pop out of the buttonhole at inconvenient times. I fixed it in a couple of minutes with a needle and thread, tightening the buttonhole, and now it's joyful! Sometimes you can't afford to offload everything that isn't pinging the joy meter. What Kondo has to say about gratitude and appreciation for the things that you need in your life can really come into play here. The curtain in the living room window may not spark joy in me immediately, but I can appreciate that it keeps the afternoon sun out of my eyes when I sit on the couch. I'll replace it when I can, and until then, I'll appreciate the job that it does. 

You know what doesn't give me joy? 5 page care labels in clothing. A few minutes and a seam ripper made a few not-joyful items joyful. 

Number three: you don't have to do it all in one day. I know that's what the book is telling you to do, but that's just not workable for everyone, so break it up into chunks if you need to.  

Things I was surprised by: 

• how resistant I was to the idea that I deserve to be surrounded by joy
• how much it freaked out people around me
• how much fun it can be

Have you read the book? Have you KonMari'd your living space? What surprised you? 

#mightyuglyhawaii Thank You!

Thanks to Interisland Terminal and the Kaka'ako Agora, a Make It Mighty Ugly workshop was held in Honolulu on June 23, 2015. 

What are the creative monsters that hold you back? One of mine is collecting beautiful yarns and then not using them, saving them for "later". As if there's going to be some kind of shortage.

Thanks to my co-host Trisha, we had an awesomely hideous buffet of craft supplies that included wiggly eyes, hairy yarns, and lots of fabric in various prints and textures, in addition to cardboard and paper. After a quick Skype chat with Kim Werker about how making something ugly set her creativity free, participants scooped up supplies and set to work with glitter glue, hot glue guns, staplers, and their imaginations. There was a lot of ugly happening, and it was a beautiful thing. 

Head over to the Deep Fall 2014 issue of Knitty magazine to read the full review!

Second Saturday Pom Pom Fun

Thank you to all who attended the Second Saturday/WWKIP at the Hawai'i State Art Museum on June 13! There was good turnout and lots of fun for kids and grownups.

Second Saturday June 13, 2015 | TheFUZZ Hawai'i @HiSAM

It was a record-setting day for high temperature in Honolulu, so we're extra thankful that we were able to host indoors.