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Spirit
of Aloha | Articles
| Aloha Shorts | September/October
2006
Aloha
Shorts
News
and Notes from Around our World
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A Very Special Hawai‘i Event
When she was a young teacher, Anna Sloggett used to motivate her students by inviting them to her home for dinner if they completed enough book reports. A former student, now a Hilo dentist, remembers how he overcame his fear of softball when she took his hand and ran the bases with him. These anecdotes, and many more, will be celebrated on Sept. 17, when this Living Treasure of Kaua‘i observes her 100th birthday at an old-fashioned poi luncheon at Gaylord’s at Kilohana, the historic plantation estate in Puhi.
An iconic Kaua‘i figure and the granddaughter of William Hyde Rice, the last governor of Kaua‘i under Queen Lili‘uokalani, Sloggett has taught more than a thousand students in her 31-year career as an elementary school teacher. She was born in 1906, after the San Francisco earthquake drove her mother to the safety of Kaua‘i to give birth. Hundreds of her students, now scattered around the world, are gearing up for this once-in-a-lifetime celebration. For more information and reservations, call 245-3180.
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Chill Out in Honolulu
If you’re heading for Honolulu and a great chill-out environment, you’re coming to the right place. Thanks to the people who make Baileys Original Irish Cream liqueur, Honolulu was recently found to be the third-most chill city in America, based on indexes such as leisure time, access to bars, beaches, coffee shops and parks, major sporting events and concerts, and quality public transportation. The city’s percentage of individuals who eat out was the highest in the study. So, now, when it’s hot in Honolulu, you know where to chill. |
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Maui Vodka on the Rocks
To make her 100th birthday a truly Hawaiian event, we recommend that some of the toasts to Anna Sloggett be made with a new vodka that is blended on Maui with water from 500 fathoms below the ocean surface off the Big Island of Hawai‘i. Ocean Vodka, the first certified organic vodka made in Hawai‘i, is now available at restaurants, bars and retail outlets statewide. The vodka, made by a new Maui company called Hawai‘i Sea Spirits, is already garnering excellent reviews, including one from playboy.com, which reports: “Ocean is sweet—it must be the corn—and fairly viscous, with a lingering aftertaste … [the] vodka is good for the environment, and good for you—if you don’t have one too many Bloody Marys.” |
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Big-Time Cookie Man
Back in Business
In Kailua town the other Saturday afternoon, at a new concept store called Chip & Cookie, a lively group of kids—some still in diapers, most with their parents—gathered around a lanky, genial man who was conspicuously dressed in a funny, floppy green hat, khaki shorts, a bright polo shirt and funky red shoes. They were there to listen to a story about a group of animals trying to do the right thing. The man, Wally Amos, 70, who read with passionate, soaring tones, concluded by telling his avid audience that “when you share, you have lots of friends—and you feel better about yourself,” and then he passed around a basket of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. The editor of SPIRIT OF ALOHA helped himself to one, and then sat down to talk to the man who is still probably the most famous cookie maker in the his-
tory of the Western world.
SOA: Is Chip & Cookie a new reincarnation of Famous Amos?
WA: After I lost Famous Amos through a series of mistakes—some of them mine—I swore I’d never have anything to do with the company again, but I always wanted to get back in the cookie business. Chip & Cookie started as a Web site in 2004, selling only dolls and books, no cookies. We had these adorable little characters that my wife created, but no physical home for them. Then I decided what I really wanted to do was to open up another retail store, where I could sell homemade cookies again. This is what made me famous. I wanted to go back to my roots.
SOA: Chip & Cookie is a catchy name, but how do people know it’s you?
WA: There are ways I tie myself into it so that people know it’s Wally’s, and so they know these are the cookies I made famous. If you look at the fine print, you see that, actually, we’re called Wally Amos Presents Chip & Cookie.
SOA: The theme of Chip & Cookie is “reading takes you everywhere.” How long have you been a literacy advocate?
WA: In 1979, I became the national spokesperson for Literary Volunteers of America. I’ve been involved with literacy for 27 years. I’m known for that work almost as much as my cookies, and I’m passionate about reading to kids. About nine years ago, I got involved with Read to Me International. We sponsored the launch of the organization here in Hawai‘i, where we started reading to kids in elementary schools. I got hooked. When we started Chip & Cookie, it made sense to tie these two interests together—cookies and reading. Chip & Cookie is an ambassador for reading. We use the store to promote reading aloud.
SOA: If you’re spending so much time reading to children, who makes the cookies?
WA: I’m still back in the kitchen, working every day.
SOA: Why do we love cookies so much?
WA: Chocolate chip cookies represent love more than any other food. They’re the most American food, even more than apple pie. Cookies are love you have to share. Take cookies and love everywhere.
SOA: Are you like Coca-Cola, or do you share your cookie recipes?
WA: I’m giving you permission to reprint my Aunt Della’s famous Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe right now. |
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Footprints in the Sand
Born in Hawai‘i, Bill Worthington spent eight years with Nike as a footwear designer and several years with Fila as creative director. Then he decided to design his own line of high-end men’s and women’s sandals “to make a big footprint in the ocean lifestyle market, while leaving the smallest footprint we can on the planet.” The result is the OluKai line of sandals, which debuted earlier this year in two categories: Mauka, the Hawaiian word for inland, and Makai, the word for toward the ocean. A special edition of OluKai sandals helps support Rabbit Kekai, the legendary Hawaiian waterman, surfer and teacher. A portion of each sale of the Kekai sandal is donated to his foundation, which encourages children to participate in productive, healthy activities through experiences centered around the surfing lifestyle. The sandals are available at most Hawai‘i sandal shops.
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Plate Lunch
Goes Nationwide
Hawai‘i’s tasty, ubiquitous plate lunch originated in the late 1800s, when immigrants from Japan, China, the Philippines, Korea and Portugal, working in the labor-intensive pineapple and sugar plantation system, brought their own cuisines to the fields in personal containers. University of Hawai‘i ethnics studies professor Jon Okamura believes the plate lunch grew out of the Japanese bento, a lunch box full of bite-size goodies. Whatever its origins, the modern popularity of the plate lunch owes a great deal to a company called L&L Hawaiian Barbeque, which was started as L&L Drive-Inn in Hawai‘i in 1976 by entrepreneurs Johnson Kam and Eddie Flores Jr. L&L is now branching out all over the U.S., with more than 160 locations, mainly in western states and New York. “If you want to eat laulau in Seattle, well, we’re the only place,” says Flores, “and people travel miles and miles to get this. And they’re not just Hawai‘i transplants either.”
Company officials credit a new awareness of Asian and American fusion cuisine for the company’s success in new markets. Along with generous portions, low prices and delicious food, L&L also delivers the aloha spirit.
New, healthier plates have helped overcome Mainland aversion to certain fattening Hawai‘i staples, and often include a scoop of brown rice, a serving of tossed green salad, and a choice of fish, garlic shrimp, skinless chicken or a salmon patty as the main entrée. |
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Try Not to Miss These Events
All the elements that make Hawai‘i Hawai‘i will be on display in the next two months at various events throughout the state, but three of the most interesting and representative are the following:
1. Rejuvenate your spirit and your body at The Third Annual LifeFest Kapalua (Sept. 8-10), Hawai‘i’s premier wellness event, where world-famous health experts share their ideas and authentic Hawaiian health practices are studied and practiced. This year, Dr. Andrew Weil, the gracefully aging guru, will return to discuss healthy lifestyle techniques to promote optimal health. Fitness experiences like Chinese qigong, ChiWalking and ChiRunning, Yoga and Chocolate Experience and a Charity Power Walk keep you in the swing of things. For more information, call 866-669-2440 or www.kapalua.com
2. The Maui Pineapple Co. has roots in Maui dating back to 1909, and is now the only remaining pineapple cannery in the U.S. Celebrating its heritage, the inaugural Maui Pineapple Co. Homecoming & Festival (Sept. 16) will feature leading Hawaiian musicians Raiatea Helm and Aunty Genoa Keawe, a Keiki Iron Chef competition, a chocolate dipping station featuring (of course) Maui Gold pineapple, a farmers’ market and more. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Maui Pineapple Co. Cannery in Kahului, Maui. For more information, call 531-608, ext. 4.
3. Much of Hawai‘i’s fresh foods come from the Big Island, which is reason enough for the 11th annual Taste of the Hawaiian Range (Oct. 6), an annual food and agriculture festival sponsored by the Cooperative Extension Service of the University of Hawai‘i College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, which brings food producers, preparers and consumers together to celebrate. This year, more than 30 of Hawai‘i’s premier executive chefs, including Alan Wong, George Mavrothalassitis and Peter Merriman, will prepare spectacular, original recipes from grain-fed animals. It’s held in the Grand Ballroom and Lagoon Lānai of the Hilton Waikoloa Village from 6 to 8 p.m. More information at www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/taste |
MUSIC:
Now Hear This!
Brickwood Galuteria, Hawaiian 105 KINE’s “Aloha
Morning Show” radio host, chooses this list of recommended
music from the Islands, with all selections widely available
at Island record stores:
• Uncle Willie K. and Eric Gilliom—Barefoot Natives: A meeting of rare, compelling musical minds, this CD by two highly popular artists has been variously described as “eclectic acoustic crossover with Hawaiian roots” and “feel-good mellow.” That it is, with a crossover blend of original material and familiar tunes by George Harrison and Jim Messina, of Loggins & Messina. Lovely, soaring Island rhythms, infectious and rapturous, mixed with great talent from these two Maui musicians, helps explain why the album debuted at No. 11 on Billboard’s World Chart.
• Various Artists—Honolulu Magazine’s 50 Greatest Hawai‘i Albums of All Time: This second compilation of 11 select tracks from legendary albums of Hawai‘i’s most beloved music includes tunes such as “Friends,” by Cecilio & Kapono, “Yellow Bird,” by Arthur Lyman, “The Hawaiian Wedding Song,” by Alfred Apaka, and “Hawai‘i Aloha,” by Don Ho. Liner notes claim that “Hawai‘i makes its music like no other music in the world—then that music makes Hawai‘i.”
• Eddie Kamae & Friends: The distinctive continuity of six decades of traditional Hawaiian music is well displayed on this album, which features a series of pure, simple jewels from the past and present. Kamae, well fixed in Hawaiian musical history for his work with Sons of Hawai‘i, brings together the musical authority of Dennis Kamakahi, Sonny Chillingworth, Diane Aki and Moe Keale for this new offering, which, if you’re new to the music of the Islands, is a perfect place to start. |
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Books
Looking for Kim Chee Pizza
Since 1998, the food and features editor of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Betty Shimabukuro, has been compiling a weekly column called “By Request,” which is fashioned around the idea of readers writing in for recipes and Betty trying to find them. This has led her to many out-of-the-way culinary adventures, encounters with legendary chefs and frequent tests of cooking skills. If you’re interested in the way Hawai‘i cooks and eats, her book By Request: The Search for Hawai‘i’s Greatest Recipes (Mutual Publishing, Honolulu, 2006) takes you back to places like the beloved Tahitian Länai restaurant for Moa Ta Haari Chicken, to the Punahou Carnival for Portuguese bean soup, and to Savas Mojarrad’s Olive Tree Café for fresh fish souvlaki, with a little fried Twinkie for dessert.
Old MacDonald Had a Cookbook
Among the interesting ways to spend a Saturday morning in Honolulu is to show up at the regular Kapi‘olani Community College Farmers’ Market, which was started in 2003 to bring together only Hawai‘i-grown and -produced products from members of the Hawai‘i Farm Bureau Federation. The success of this market, and the three others that followed in Kailua, Mililani and Keauhou, on the Big Island, has resulted in The Hawai‘i Farmers Market Cookbook (Watermark Publishing, Honolulu, 2006), edited by Joan Namkoong and Haley Matson-Mathes, of the Honolulu chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier. While its focus is on good food and how to prepare it, the book is also an excellent guide to shopping at farmers’ markets, with seasonality charts for vegetables and fruits, and interviews with farmers.
How to Make a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dodo
Take two ounces of Bacardi vanilla rum, three ounces of Tuaca, and one pint of Ben and Jerry’s chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Blend the ingredients and serve in a 14-ounce hurricane glass, topped with whipped cream chocolate. We’re serious. And this is just one of the hundreds of drinks and shots in the no-nonsense Hawai‘i’s Tropical Drinks and Gelatin Party Shots, by Mark Sullivan (Mutual Publishing, Honolulu, 2006). A veteran of four Hawai‘i bars and restaurants on the Big Island and O‘ahu, Sullivan takes you from one end of the tropical mixology spectrum to the other, and includes such alcoholic wonders as the No Fear, Surfer on Acid, Hairy Navel, Pupule Punch, Rough Sex and the Green Geisha. By the way, his gelatin shots are worth the price of admission.
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