12 Days of Fishmas

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Countdown to FISH-mas with 12 fun-filled days including sweet holiday treats, giveaways, and visits from Scuba Claus himself!

Join Scuba Claus and Elf at the Dive Link presentations in the Open Ocean exhibit at 11am and 3pm. Scuba Claus will wear a special dive mask that allows him to interact with the audience, so have your wish list ready!

Aloha Friday Recipe: Ginger-Orange Sweet Potatoes

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2 pounds steamed Okinawan purple sweet potatoes, steamed, peeled and sliced into rounds

1-2 ounces grated fresh ginger

1 ½ cup fresh-squeezed orange (or tangerine, tangelo or other) juice

Toss sweet potatoes and grated ginger; arrange in serving dish. Drizzle juice over; garnish with marigolds or other edible flowers.

Recipe courtesy Ediblecommunities.com

New Pearl Harbor Visitor Center open

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The new Pearl Harbor visitor center opened December 7th, on the anniversary of the attack. To read more about the grand reopening, click here.

Fins & Flippers Tour at Maui Ocean Center

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Upgrade to the Fins & Flippers tour for a unique experience at Maui Ocean Center! Guided by an Ocean Naturalist, Fins & Flippers is an hour-long tour that introduces guests to fascinating facts about sharks and sea turtles. The tour also includes a sneak peek behind the scenes at the Aquarium and a supervised feed at the Hammerhead Harbor and Turtle Lagoon exhibits.

The Fins & Flippers tour is $10 per person plus admission. Due to limited space, a fee is applicable to adults or guardians accompanying children on the tour. Reservations are highly recommended. Reserve your spot by calling (808) 270-7088.

Aloha Friday Recipe: Punalu’u Sweetbread Turkey Stuffing

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½ of the 24 oz. Punalu’u Traditional Sweetbread
Turkey gizzard, heart, & liver
1/2 c. finely chopped round onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 c. finely chopped celery
1/4 c. parsley flakes
3/4 c. chicken broth
Tbsp butter
Salt & pepper to taste

Remove gizzard, heart, and liver from defrosted turkey. Chop and sauté in saucepan with butter until tender. Add in garlic, round onion, celery and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Continue to sauté until onion and celery turns clear. Cut Punalu’u Traditional Sweetbread into ½ inch cubes and place into large mixing bowl. Add in cooked mixture and toss together to incorporate. Slowly pour chicken broth over to moisten. Toss just a little more to incorporate evenly. Stuff into seasoned turkey.

Recipe courtesy of the Punalu’u Bake Shop

Temporary reduction in Diamond Head Trail hours

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The Diamond Head Crater Summit Trail hours have been reduced to 6 a.m. to noon, Monday-Friday. The trail will be closed to the public from 12pm to 6 pm M-F so that contractors can improve parts of the trail that have deteriorated. The restricted weekday schedule will remain in effect for the length of the project, which is expected to last 60 days. However weekend hours will remain the same. Weekday hikers are asked to begin their journey to the summit no later than noon and return to the parking lot by 2pm.

For more info about this project, click here.

Free admission to National Parks on Veterans Day

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If you’re going to be in Hawaii this Veterans Day, the National Park system is waiving entrance fees! When you’re vacationing every little bit helps! If you’d like to see the list of the National Parks in Hawaii, click here.

Not able to make it to paradise? Click here to find a National Park near you.

Hawaiian Word of the Week

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Bread- Palaoa

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: Pork Tenderloin w/ Granny Smith Apple Compote

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1 1/2 pounds pork tenderloins
6 pieces bacon or pancetta, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup canola oil
6 toothpicks

APPLE COMPOTE
5 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into large dice
1 cup + 1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 dried chipotle or Ancho chili (optional)
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups water
salt to taste

Directions: TO MARINATE THE PORK
Trim the silver skin off of the pork tenderloins. (The silver skin is a tough white membrane found on the outside of the tenderloin.) Cut the tenderloins into six equal portions. Lay the tenderloins flat on a cutting board and cut into medallions, small round steaks like filet mignons. Wrap a piece of bacon around the outside of each pork medallion. The bacon should be trimmed so it goes around the pork once, with only a slight overlap. Place a toothpick where the bacon overlaps to hold it in place.

In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, garlic, and rosemary and then rub the mixture onto the medallions. Refrigerate covered for 1 hour.

TO PREPARE THE APPLE COMPOTE
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the apple pieces, sugar, cinammon sticks, vanilla skins, butter, water, salt, and optional chili in an ovenproof casserole dish and cover with a lid. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes our until the apples are tender, but not to soft. Remove the cinammon stick, chili, and vanilla bean skins. Keep warm.

Preheat an ovenproof saute pan or skillet over medium heat. Season the pork with salt and pepper. Place the canola oil in the pan and add the pork when the oil is hot, being careful not to crowd the pan. Sear the pork until brown, about 3 minutes per side, then turn the portions on their sides so the bacon cooks, too.
You can finish cooking the pork over medium heat or place it in the oven for 10-15 minutes, depending on how well done you like your pork.

When the pork is finished, remove the toothpicks and serve the pork with the warm apple compote. To round out the presentation, serve with grilled zucchini, asparagus, and carrots.

Recipe courtesy of Maui Magazine/Chef Tom Lelli

Food Review – The Fish Hut

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We saw lots of great reviews for this place so when we were in the area of Coconut Marketplace for lunch we stopped by. We got mozzarella sticks and the coconut shrimp. The mozzarella sticks were awesome but let’s face it, they’re mozzarella sticks out of a box. The coconut shrimp was wildly overcooked…the nicer term for burnt. The only reason we ate it was because we were so hungry. The fries were like cafeteria fries. I was surprised they don’t carry cocktail sauce too given they’re a seafood restaurant. (At least they didn’t when we went there) So our impression of this place isn’t the greatest and don’t know that we’ll be making a beeline back there anytime soon to give it a second chance. Maybe we just picked the wrong thing to try.

484 Kuhio Highway, Kapaa, Kauai, HI