I’m a new mom!
Well, that's how it feels, anyway. My tiny sidewalk garden is growing: a couple of cuke plants, tomatoes just a few weeks old that already need transplanting yet again, a gaggle of miniscule carrot tops and a windowbox of mesclun-style greens. Got some worm poop from...
Back again, with a commercial rant
News: I'll be blogging from the Merrie Monarch hula competition for the Star-Advertiser this year. It's just a month away; I'll be there from Tuesday to Sunday (April 10-14) and can hardly wait. You'll be able to read about my daily activities on the S-A web site but...
Stuff I’ve learned lately: light mayo, pizza pick, K-Cup garden and green goo
Shine a "lite" on this: There's a brand of lower fat mayonnaise that actually tastes like the real thing. It's Duke's, which rules in the South the way Best Foods rules here. You have to mail-order it, but that's not too onerous if you split up the order between...
Bonnie gets a new standby; we get a great idea
We've all got standby dishes: Those recipes we know by heart and are known for by our friends. My friend Bonnie Judd is an eclectic and excellent cook and the most gracious hostess at her beautiful country home, Pu'u Pueo. Oh, the parties we've had there! Bonnie is...
More Maui adventures
Spent a long weekend on Maui, which explains the blog-less days of last week. My mother's home is Internet-free. Every time I go there, I suffer severe withdrawal, though not quite severe enough to send me to Starbucks (or Wailuku Coffee Co.) every day. Best meal,...
A tale of kale
Boy was I proud of myself on Valentine's Day! For a while, anyway. I planned a red main dish: Indian butter chicken, which has a tomato-based sauce, accompanied by cardamom rice (1 cup long grain rice, steamed with 2 cups water, a tablespoon of ground cardamom and 1/3...
A trip to Babylon — the imagined and the real
When the new Safeway opened on Beretania, I approached with caution. I used to live in Makiki and the old store conveniently shared a parking lot with my bank. It was right-sized, neither dauntingly big, like Costco, nor cramped, like Foodland Beretania. I knew all...
Planting the seeds of agricultural change in the Islands: ‘Ingredients Hawai’i’
Twenty years after the Hawaii Regional Cuisine chefs group set out to improve the numbers, we still import 92 percent of the food eat here in Hawai'i. But that can be changed. It should be. It will be. That was a central message Saturday night as filmmakers Robert...
Local food deep-fried and supersized: It’s good to be bad
OOOOPS! I thought I posted this Thursday night. So here it is!... PLEASE NOTE: I posted twice today — see the one before this if you like caramel and butterscotch! Having savored a melting misoyaki butterfish on the Valley Isle, I wanted to check out the Honolulu...
True confessions and the final cut
True confessions. I've never been to Punahou Carnival. And yet again, this year, I'm not going (got a cooking class coming up and story deadlines). But today, I'm making Punahou Caramel Cuts, like penuche candy, only in cooking form. I love penuche candy (aka brown...