Ne Ne Geese...

Just about the last instructions Billie and Gary gave us, before going to the airport for their vacation, was that we should take the leftover bread to feed the Ne Ne Geese every evening, up on the north end of the golf course. Billie and Gary are the new owners of Hale 'Aha. They discovered that the little fellows gather there every evening after sundown, about the time Billie and Gary like to take a walk. Ne Ne is pronounced Nay Nay and they are Hawaii's State Bird.

So, we took a bag of bread pieces, and our umbrellas, and walked up along the edge of the golf course, behind the house. Clouds were rolling in, and a rainbow formed just over the edge of the cliffs over the ocean. As we stood watching the spectacle, a young woman came running from the nearby condos, waving her camera. "Wait, let me take your picture!" she called. She thought it was so sweet to see this old gray haired couple holding hands, walking on the golf course. She said she'd send us the pictures. She was getting married the next day! (And sure enough, a few weeks later, we received some prints of us framed by a rainbow, and also of her in her wedding gown with her new husband on their wedding day.)

It was starting to sprinkle as we hunted for the Ne Ne Geese. Billie said they would be near the shelter. We finally found them, and they began to gather around us. They were expecting us. So, when we brought out the bread, they quacked softly to each other and moved in closer, but were very polite, waiting their turns for a morsel of Bob's good bread. If you have a bread machine, copy down this recipe. It's adjusted for the tropics, so you'll have to adjust it for wherever you live.

BOB'S 3- SEED OAT 'N' WHEAT BREAD

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for breadmakers... makes 1-1/2 # loaf

Liquid Ingredients...

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1-1/8 cups water

4 TBSP oil (Safflower recommended)

1 TBSP molasses

2 TBSP honey

Dry Ingredients...

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1-1/2 tsp salt

2 cups whole wheat flour

1-1/2 cups bread flour (unbleached)

1/3 cup rolled oats

2 TBSP Gluten flour

2 TBSP Sesame seeds (raw, unhulled)

2 TBSP Flax Seeds (raw)

1/2 Sunflower seeds (raw)

3 tsp Red Star active dry yeast

Crust setting: Light or 1-1/2# wheat

Enjoy plain or toasted

Excellent served with Herb's Guava Butter (see earlier BLOG)

Or eat it just as it's handed to you, like the Ne Ne Geese do. They weren't at all fussy. By the way, we got soaked by the time we got back to the house.