Maui County Fair starts Thursday!

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It’s Maui County Fair time!  The 86th Annual Maui County Fair starts Thursday October 2nd and runs through Sunday October 5th.   From the parade to the Chili Cookoff to listening to great bands like Na Leo, Ekolu, One Vibe, Willie K, Sean Naauao, Kealii Reichel and of course the rides, the Maui County Fair looks to be THE place to be this weekend!

For more information on where, when and cost involved, you can go to their website.

Hawaiian word of the week

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Akamai-(ah-ka-my)- Intelligent

The alphabet contains 12 letters: 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 7 consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p, w). To simplify pronunciation, sound consonants as in English and break up words so they are easy to say (ie- Humuhumunukunukuapua’a would be pronounced humu-humu-nuku-nuku-apu-a-a)

Pronounce vowels as follows:

a - a in above; e - e in set; i - ee in see; o - o in some; u - oo in moon.

Pronounce vowels marked by a glottal stop (`) quickly ie- o`o sounds like oh-oh! in English.

Stress rising dipthongs (ae, ai, ao, au, oi, ou, eu, ei) on the first letter and end with a short e, i, o or u. ie- oi sounds like oy in soy, ending with a short “i”.

Aloha Friday Recipe: Macadamia Cheesecake Cookies

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Ingredients

1 cup flour
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup macadamia nut bits
1 egg
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

Preheat electric oven to 350°F. In small bowl of electric mixer, combine flour, butter, and brown sugar. Mix until fine particles are formed. Stir in nuts. Reserve 1 cup of mixture for topping. Press remainder into ungreased 8-inch square pan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. In small bowl of electric mixer, combine remaining ingredients. Beat well; spread over crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool; cut into squares. Makes 16 squares.

Approximate Nutrient Analysis per square: 180 calories, 12 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 40 mg cholesterol, 75 mg sodium, 15 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 8 g sugar, 3 g protein

Recipe courtesy HECO

Four Foods on Friday #48

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Here’s this week’s Four Foods on Friday.  Stop by Val’s blog to participate.

#1.  Melon. What’s your favorite kind? 

Cantaloupe.  When it’s super sweet…mmmm.

#2.  Orange citrus. What’s your favorite - oranges, nectarines, navel oranges, tangerines, etc.

Navel oranges.  They have to be without that mutant “butt” that the oranges have started having over the past 10 years.  Must be completely closed on both ends.

#3.  Oreos. What kind is your favorite? (Don’t eat Oreos? What about olives?)

DOUBLE STUFF baby!!!   I don’t do olives.

#4.  Pot pie. Share a recipe. (No pot pie recipe? What about a casserole or some other hot meal you bake?)

I don’t have one of my own so in the spirit of autumn, I looked up this recipe for you guys for Turkey Sweet Potato Pot Pie.

Review: Kona Brewing Company

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We’d always heard great things about this place and finally got around to going there.  We purposely got a plethora of items to try from the Kona crab cake appetizer to the KBC’illa Po’okela pork quesadilla appetizer and the entrees were the Big Wave Shrimp Melt and Porterhouse Dip.  The crab cakes were awful, I’ve had better from the grocery store.  The cajun aioli they served with it was good but you can’t cover up poor quality crab cakes.  (Not a single lump of crabmeat like good cakes should have and it was essentially like paying $6 per crab cake)  The pork quesadillas had very little pork and a TON of big jalapeno slices.  I took 2 bites of mine and said that was enough.  Nowhere near worth the money for either appetizer.  (The salsa which appeared to be homemade was good though!)

Then you come to the entrees.  The Big Wave shrimp melt was just plain awful.  So bad I stopped after 3 bites.  The only flavor in it were the occasional roasted garlic cloves you’d encounter.  What a colossal disappointment.  The description sounded good.  The Porterhouse Dip was actually decent, not great but average which at this point we welcomed.  The chips were REALLY good though.  They’re the only thing they didn’t actually make.  They’re those salt and pepper kettle chips and taste exactly like the ones in my pantry.  Seriously?  You miss the opportunity to make your own signature chips?

One thing that MAJORLY irked us was we got this stuff to go because it was crowded and we were staying a few minutes away and they jipped us our crab cakes. No major deal, it happens with any restaurant from time to time on take out orders which is why you should always check your bag wherever you get take out from. I saw they were missing within 30 seconds of getting the bag since we should’ve had four items, not three. So I gave the hubby the receipt and he goes back and says they didn’t give us the crab cakes. The next thing I know, I see the manager actually walking over to our car!!! Yeah, apparently he didn’t believe the receipt in my husband’s hands and thought within 60 seconds we were trying to do a smooth criminal and swindle them for more crab cakes. (Trust me, if I’d known how horrible they were going to be, I would’ve told him to take it off of the bill and keep them.) Luckily he came to his senses before he got to the car because if he’d had the nerve to open the door, I would’ve ripped him a new one. What, he thought I yanked them out of the bag and put them in the compartment with the spare tire?? Bad move because now not only is your food bad, you’re insulting the customers by essentially calling them thieves and I’m blogging about it. So take that for what it’s worth. Anyway…

I’m sure the beer is great for beer drinkers but don’t boil all of your meats in them, it gives it a funky taste.  We should’ve gotten the pizza like everyone raves about but we were pizza’d out at that point and you figure they charge so much and get such rave reviews that they had to be something right.  Apparently that something is pizza, beer and condiments. 

As with any restaurants, prices are subject to change and always call ahead of time especially if you’re visiting the islands because the restaurant business in the islands is particularly fickle. A restaurant that’s been around for 50 years can and does go out of business in this economy.

Kona Brewing Company
75-5629 Kuakini Highway
Kailua Kona, Hawaii 96740
808-334-BREW (2739)

Sunday to Thursday:
11 am - 9 pm Kitchen/10 pm Bar
Friday and Saturday:
11 am - 10 pm Kitchen/11 pm Bar

Take out Hawaii

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One question I always get asked is “how can I save money on dining out in Hawaii?”  Well you can always do the Entertainment Book or Aloha Diners Club thing as I have blogged about in the past but what if the places you want to go aren’t in those books? 

If you are staying in a condo, this is a no-brainer.  Get your meals to go.  I’m not just talking about the local burger joint or fast food, I’m talking we have gotten prime rib and teriyaki steak from down the street and ate it back at the condo.  Our view was better, we didn’t have to listen to other people or wait in line and the main reason…sorry servers but we didn’t have to pay an additional 10-20% for a tip.  That dinner that we took to the condo saved us $10.00 in tips.  I know, I’m not going to be a servers friend by saying skip out on a dine in meal but sorry, with gas, groceries and every other basic necessity in life skyrocketing, I’ve gotta look out for our bottom line.  There’s no shortage of visitors willing to stick around and pay for the view.  But if you’re scraping for that dream vacation to the islands, or anywhere for that matter, and are looking to cut corners anywhere you can, this is one way you can do that.  We estimated we saved over $100 by doing this and that $100 is back in our savings account earning us menial interest. 

Hawaiian word of the week

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Honu-(ho-noo)- Turtle

The alphabet contains 12 letters: 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 7 consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p, w). To simplify pronunciation, sound consonants as in English and break up words so they are easy to say (ie- Humuhumunukunukuapua’a would be pronounced humu-humu-nuku-nuku-apu-a-a)

Pronounce vowels as follows:

a - a in above; e - e in set; i - ee in see; o - o in some; u - oo in moon.

Pronounce vowels marked by a glottal stop (`) quickly ie- o`o sounds like oh-oh! in English.

Stress rising dipthongs (ae, ai, ao, au, oi, ou, eu, ei) on the first letter and end with a short e, i, o or u. ie- oi sounds like oy in soy, ending with a short “i”.

Hawaii IPTV UH Sports coverage not without start up issues

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Sigh.  I’m SO pulling for IPTV, you don’t know.  I really am but as a customer, I’m getting rather irritated.  If you’ve been keeping track, you’ll see I was very excited about UH Sports coming to our Hawaii IPTV subscription.  Today we just caught the first two games.  Double sigh.  Here are the notes I took while watching.

Florida vs. Hawaii

About the first 10 minutes or so are nothing but static so screeching it almost induces an ear bleed.  11:42 left on the clock in the 2nd QUARTER is when the commentary for the beginning of the game kicks in.  We’re talking like the “hello everybody and welcome…” kind of stuff.  The audio never synchs and you might as well mute it and put on some Hawaiian music to take the edge off of the irritation that you can’t actually enjoy this big match up.

Hawaii vs. Weber State

This ones a doozy.  I mean I’m surprised they didn’t get calls if people had kids in the room.  Let’s start by saying that the first few minutes are like they had a microphone in the parking lot and you’re listening to the songs they’re playing in the stadium.  I suppose if you’re an avid tailgater this could give you the feeling like you’re there.  Missing the game but there…in the parking lot.  Then you hear the studio mics come on and you have Jim Leahey and Russell Yamanoha doing not commentary but pick up lines as though they’re practicing.  Yes, you’re hearing mic check in addition to some woman yelling in the background.  Here’s where you hear colorful things by the announcers like how one is “Nervous like a bastard”, “I can’t see da frickin’ numbers”,  “She doesn’t know what the hell is going on” and “What the hell is this?”  When they messed up their lines, you knew it.  There were some close moments I was just waiting to hear the F bomb.  I have to admit, I laughed a bit but was shocked that this was not caught.  Again the audio never synchs with the game and another broadcast ruined.

I can only pray the game on the 27th is markedly better or there is little hope for this great idea.

Update:  The game on the 27th against San Jose had the audio issues fixed.  A mass email was sent out to subscribers saying this issue was resolved.  You know I’ll be keeping you up to date as to whether or not the fix is permanent.  Let’s hope so! 

Aloha Friday Recipe: Seared Scallops with Asian Slaw

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Ingredients

2 cups finely shredded celery cabbage (napa, won bok, makina)
1/2 cup finely shredded red cabbage
1 small red bell pepper, julienned
1 small carrot, pared and julienned
1/2 small jicama (chop suey yam), pared and julienned
4 teaspoons fish sauce
4 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
12 large sea scallops, with muscles removed
2 tablespoons blackened fish spice
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 stalks green onion, slivered diagonally

Instructions

Combine cabbages, bell pepper, carrot, and jicama. Combine fish sauce, vinegar, chili sauce, and 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice; add to cabbage mixture and toss well. Place on salad plates. Drain scallops well. Dip one side of each scallop in fish spice. Heat a skillet; add oil and heat almost to the smoking point. Add scallops, spice side down; lower heat to medium-high and cook for 1 minute. Turn scallops and cook for 1 to 2 more minutes; place around cabbage mixture. Combine mustard, soy sauce, and the remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice; drizzle over salad. Garnish with green onion. Makes 4 servings.

Recipe courtesy Chef Noreen Lam of The Contemporary Museum Cafe

I’m back for this week’s Four Foods on Friday!

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Back from vacation!  Here’s the questions for this week’s Four Foods on Friday.  If you want to play along, there’s still time!  Just go to Val’s Place and play along!

#1. Share a recipe for something Italian.

Here’s a recipe for Italian Rum Cake.

#2. Jam, jelly, preserves, marmalade, fruit butter or butter. What’s on your toast or bread?

Apple jelly and butter please!  Yum!

#3.  What’s your favorite Kellogg’s product?

I love their Raisin Bran.

#4. Do you like liver? What about liverwurst.

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!  Oops, I mean no.  LOL  As my husband says “I don’t eat any meat designed to filter out the toxins in an animals body!”

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