On The Lookout For Whales

Aloha Family & Friends
The other day while showing our latest oceanfront listing, we took a moment to enjoy looking out over the beautiful Pacific. That view alone would make a great afternoon. Then suddenly, a mother whale breached from the water, rotated in the air and splashed back into the ocean. Before we even finished our “Whoa, that was great!” comments, she came back up and this time with her little one. Mama would flap her fin and the baby would jump up and flick its tail. This amazing show went on for about twenty minutes and was quite possibly the cutest thing ever.

Whale season technically runs from late December to when they start their journey back towards cooler Alaskan waters around mid-April. Since January and February are the months that our 10,000 migrating whales are the most active and playful, we felt quite privileged to witness this mid-March production.

As we’ve heard several friends mention that there seem be more whales than usual this year, we set out to research that a bit. Sure enough, we learned on January 27th, the 400 volunteers for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count logged 2124 separate sightings in Hawaiian waters. This is up significantly from the same time last year and 812 of those were off the shores of Maui. Substantially more than surrounding the other islands. See? EVERYONE loves Maui.

To this day, seeing whales still stops us in our tracks. And it’s not just us; this is true for visitors, longtime residents and even Hawaii born and reared folks. There’s just something about seeing these gigantic mammals frolic and play that we can’t help but stop and watch. Maybe it’s nature or the island reminding us to pause and take a moment to appreciate life around us.

In the immortal words of John Hughes’ Ferris Bueller: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and take a look around once in a while, you could miss it”.

Apparently, the whales have figured that out too.

Aloha, Greg & Leah

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This dessert-for-breakfast baked carrot cake oatmeal is seasoned with aromatic ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg—just like the classic dessert. A dollop of vanilla yogurt stands in for traditional cream cheese frosting.

Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients

2 cups whole milk
1 large egg
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup matchstick carrots
1/3 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup reduced-fat vanilla strained (Greek-style) yogurt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat an 8-inch-square baking dish with cooking spray. Whisk milk, egg, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, salt and nutmeg together in the prepared dish until combined.
Sprinkle oats, raisins, carrots, coconut and pecans evenly over the milk mixture. Stir until well coated.
Bake until the oatmeal is just set in the center and the top is golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Dollop each serving with about 1 tablespoon yogurt.
Want a dairy-free alternative? Substitute the milk with oat milk or almond milk, and choose dairy-free yogurt for topping.

Enjoy!

Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal Recipe from Eating Well