My First Love

I was just on facebook and guess what I found?  My long time neighbor Elroy posts this picture {How rude!}:

Prune & Apricot Mui... yumm!

My first love, yes even before pake cake and Diamond Head strawberry soda, was cracked seed of any kine; red ginger, rock salt plum, sweet li hing mui, lemon peel, guava peel, cherry seed, you name it!  My papa would buy me seed from Sam Store each and every time we go "holoholo".

It was a family tradition to go Christmas shopping with Mama Valu and Papa Levao each year.  We would drive to Holiday Mart in Kailua to shop and eat lunch.  I looked forward to our yearly trips to Kailua because I would find the huge glass jars with all kine cracked seed at the back.  My mouth would water just standing there looking at the jars.  Most of my Christmas shopping money was spent on cracked seed.

I thought I'd share my much cherished recipes that I've kept secret for many years with you.  I will make all these recipes for Christmas as our family goes Christmas Caroling in memory of the best years of my life spent with my family, especially my mama and papa. {RIL}

These recipes were adapted from "Oldies But Goodies," published by the Kamehameha Schools Alumni Association in 1983 (and for what it's worth, all the recipes were contributed by alumni from the class of 1953).

They include true crackseed -- prunes that are "cracked," or quartered, seeds and all -- as well as other seedless fruits that are flavored the same way. Basically, you cook up a syrup of sugar, salt and lemon juice, then add dried fruit, cool and store.

Prune Crackseed

4 pounds prunes (with seeds)

Juice of 12 lemons, or 6 lemons and 6 limes

5 tablespoons Hawaiian salt

1 pound raw brown sugar

1 tablespoon dark molasses

2 jiggers rum (about 1-1/2 tablespoons)

Crack prunes into quarters.

Combine lemon juice, salt, sugar and molasses in a pan and bring to a boil. Add prunes; reduce heat and simmer until mixture thickens. Cool.

Add rum. Store refrigerated in sterilized jars.

Preserved Apricots

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup water

1 tablespoon molasses

1/4 teaspoon Chinese five spice

2 tablespoons Hawaiian salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

12 ounces dried apricots

Combine all ingredients except apricots in a large pan and bring to a boil. Add apricots and boil 1 minute. Cool. Store refrigerated in sterilized jars, with or without syrup, depending on how juicy you like them.

***Please try these recipes and let me know how it goes.  Post pics on my facebook.

Thank you for reading.

Aloha,
Faga