Free Range Friday ~ Water. Even Coconut Water

The other day some friends who were leaving until next year brought me over some goodies they thought I'd enjoy, among them two already husked (and it looked like washed and scrubbed too) coconuts. I don't think they knew I really, really like coconuts, going back to when I was a young girl (obviously instead of the old girl I am today).

We had this uncle who had a big house down in Miami Beach with a man who looked after it named Charlie. He was always as ready to get us fresh coconuts from the trees as he was to find places for us to play hide and seek. Yes, you're long gone from this plane Charlie, but thanks for being yet another wonderful adult in our lives, and thanks for the coconuts!

I know there was a machete involved in husking and opening them but being as in my later life I didn't happen to keep a machete around, I'd buy husked coconuts, use a hammer and nail to get the milk out and then smash them hard on a sidewalk or driveway. Or patio floors...anything super hard and wooden decks don't count. Nowadays, lacking a driveway, a sidewalk and/or a patio, I smash them with a hammer. Almost as satisfying and it does the job.

If you are having an internal rage going on that you'd like to prevent being external? Smash a coconut open, cement or hammer method, it's incredibly therapeutic! This also works for kids. You can take any angry child and hand them a coconut to smash and things change quickly. I should have kept a family coconut arsenal around, but the times I tried it, it worked.

 But I'm getting ahead of myself. Again.

Here's what you do.

First, take a clean nail to all three 'eyes' hammering it through past the meat of the coconut. It's pretty easy; whoever designed these knew something about this

Let the water/milk drain out

If you want to save this, go ahead, but I'd just drink it right away. I did drink it right away.

After your first smash, like above, smash it a bit more to get smaller pieces because

it's easier to gently slide a sharply pointed knife in around the edges and pop out the meat.

That piece should have been smashed one more time. Sometimes patience is not my virtue.

And wa lah!

There are lots of way for using coconut meat beside just eating it as a snack, which is a fine way to eat it, in my opinion. Best to google it and find out what sounds good to you. Just remember the difference between green, young coconuts and mature ones like these. The meat they talk about in that is not solid, and can be used much differently than this. But check it out!


Yesterday, I watched this bird a long, long time. But I'll spare you all of the 200 photos...even though he was worth almost every one of them.

Not a bird, just wanted to see if you were paying attention.

Have a fundamentally unflawed Friday. Do something fascinatingly focused.

Free Range Friday ~ Culebra

Yesterday felt like winter. The wind huffed and puffed and blew off my planned ferry ride over to pick up a dog from the vet that got hit by a car earlier in the week. She's got a pretty damaged leg and we decided that bouncing around in her kennel at sea would not be a good thing. Teresa will be going over this morning; the wind is still gusting but the seas are supposed to be a bit less bumpy.

On the way back home after the aborted 6:30 run, the moon and Jupiter were making a sky show. It was worth being up and about, if just for that.

Because it is a comfort food, the best thing I ate yesterday was a bowl of oatmeal. Milk from a cow on Culebra, organic oats I had from back in the bread making days, and brown sugar. People vary their oatmeal recipes, mine is simple. Using milk instead of water, I toss in the oats with the milk and then start the cooking process. Not using instant oats, it takes a bit longer, but once the slightest bubble comes up, it's turned down to a simmer for a few minutes, with the occasional stirring. Then, turn off the heat, put on the lid for another few minutes and wa la, perfect oatmeal! If you want, you can put in sugar while it's cooking, though swirling the brown sugar as it melts into the oatmeal has something to be said for it.

And while a bowl of oatmeal is a massive photo opportunity (probably a great challenge to a food photographer), I didn't take a photo. It was too comfortable, there under the covers. Maybe next time.

An article I saw yesterday was pretty interesting. Even folks who live in a skyrise can do many of these with the food they buy. Some are practical, some are just fun to try. 15 foods you can regrow from scraps!

I think most of us have tried to grow an avocado seed into a tree, some with more success than others. And most kids have had a potato growing into a jungle on a classroom windowsill. How about celery though, or scallions? You can either replant them in soil or just keep them on the kitchen counter, changing the water every few days. With scallions, you won't get the white bulb (unless you want to steal a few) but you will have the green tops, over and over again. Give at least one of them a try.

What I did take a photo of, and more than one, was this great white heron who flew into my yard, using Greg's boat ramp for a landing zone.

Very skittish, he caught sight of me pretty quickly and took off for more secluded spaces.

So while I was outside, I took a cloud walk. The sun broke through a few times, but never for long. There were dragons flying by, so I wasn't missing the sun much (sorry, visitors, we don't often get wintery days).

There is always color to be found here though, even when it feels and looks like winter. The orchid trees are blooming, bougainvillea are showing their diverse color ranges, from purple to pink to copper to gold, And my stony little beach is an ever-changing palette.

Have a free your own Friday Friday. Do something flexible.