Busy, hungry, busy

I've been very busy lately!  Moving into a new apartment (for the 478392753th time) and eating regularly, just not blogging!  I'll try to catch up but have to make it quick if we're going to get it all covered...

The Kapiolani Farmer's Market has benefited from my business twice more since my first trip, I officially love it.  A few weeks ago I dragged my dear and pregnant friend - who doesn't want to make it internet official just yet and will remain unnamed :) - along with me.  I gladly carried the heavy items for her and we spent the morning deciding what the items the baby "wanted" and which fruits and veggies he or she is bigger than!  That trip I got a lot of Hawaii-local foods.

Here's what I got that day (second trip) and some photos of what I made with said items:

Taro dip - olive flavor (taro is a popular vegetable in Hawaii, most well known for being the main ingredient in poi).  I love sharing food with loved ones.  Sometimes, I also love having certain food items all to myself!  Bryce hates olives so this dip belonged to me and a large bag of tortilla chips ONLY.

Malasadas

Ever heard of a malasada?  Say it with me, it's just like it looks: mall-a-sawed-a.  Good job!

When I first moved to Hawaii I'd never heard of or eaten a malasada.  People would hear me say this and immediately panic.  "What!? You've never had a malasada?!"  No, I don't even know what the hell you're talking about.  They would describe the Portuguese baked good to me - some type of fried dough coated with sugar or cinnamon sugar or with filling in the middle.  It sounded a lot like a doughnut without the hole to me, and that sounded delicious!  Eventually I got to experience these wonderful treats and I was hooked. 

I did a little research and found out that malasadas are made from balls of yeast dough, deep fried in oil, and then coated with sugar.  They're Portuguese and malasada (or malassada) means light-roasted.  Malasadas were originally made on Madeira Island, part of Portugal's archipelago (islands).  They were brought to Hawaii in 1878 by laborers who came here to work on sugar plantations. 

Most of that information I just gave you (Portugal has Islands, deep frying, manual labor) is completely foreign to me.  Malasadas are something I'm relatively new to, although Ive just discovered that part of their tradition is actually something that's very familiar to me.  The reason malasadas were originally made was to use up the lard and sugar in your house before Lent, when luxuries like sweets are forbidden!  They were made and eaten on Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras, before Lent began on Ash Wednesday.  Here in Hawaii, Fat Tuesday is actually declared Malasada Day!

Being Catholic, I can tell you all about Lenten sacrifices!  First of all - Catholics don't eat meat on Ash Wednesday or any of the Fridays during Lent.  Nowadays, you can indulge in luxuries like malasadas, although you can chose to "give something up" on your own for the 40 days of Lent.  My Mom gives up chocolate every single year!  I know people who give up alcohol altogether.  Being that my biggest vice is indulging in food, I usually chose something edible to test my dedication with.  I've given up fast food (including delivery pizza) once, "designer" coffees once, and french fries twice!  French fries are the hardest because you always find yourself trying to take just one from your friend's plate :)  Maybe next year I'll give up malasadas!             

Leonard's is one of the bakeries here in Hawaii that's known for its malasadas.  Leonard's didn't just stick to traditional malasadas, they created the Malasada Puff (with filling inside) and the Malasadamobile!  They even have a store in Japan.

Now you know all about malasasas and their history, let's get to the drool-worthy photos!  We spotted the Malasadamobile recently while BBQing in Waikiki.

I always get the same thing, but was amazed by the many options available from the roaming truck!


Just in case you confused the Malasadamobile with the Weinermobile or the Batmobile, there's a little sign.

From top to bottom: a cinnamon sugar malasada, my favorite the li hing malasada (red), a haupia (coconut) malasada puff, and a custard malasada puff.

Christine's happy we caught the Malasadamobile!

Two original malasadas for her!  Just kidding, she shared one with her husband :)

Chris, Bryce, and Jaclyn taking a delicious bite, yum!

The inside of the custard filled Malasada Puff!

Here's a better look at my favorite - the li hing malasada (no filling).  Li hing is salty dried plum and it's turned into a powder.  The flavor is sweet, sour, and salty all at the same time.  I like this powder on apples, candy, on the rim of drinks, but the best way to have it is on a malasada!

 

So, if you don't already have the desire to come visit me in Hawaii, these delicious malasadas should convince you to make the trip!  They're so good they'll have you begging for more! 

Begging pose by Bailey :)



Not Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts

Today I bought myself a snack.  Two of my very favorite things, licorice and chocolate, combined to make one treat.  It sounded very promising!

WRONG (ANNOYING BUZZER SOUND)

My instinct was very wrong.  Chocolate coated licorice is NOT greater than the sum of its parts. 

I ate one piece and hated it, the flavor was too sweet and very strong.  It tasted a little bit like a chocolate covered cherry, but in a very bad way.  I ate just one more piece to see if I could get used to it.  No, not at all.

I asked 5 people in my office if they wanted to try.  4 of them looked at me like I was crazy!  Why did they know it would be gross and I thought I'd love it?  1 person tried it.  She took the smallest bite I've ever seen, then said "it's very strong!"  I assured her I wouldn't be mad if she threw it away, and that's exactly what she did.

I don't like to waste food.  After this lovely description - does anyone want a bag of chocolate coated licorice?  There are only 3 pieces missing!

I was going to take a picture of the actual candies, but they look like... you can use your imagination!  That's why they used an illustration to make them look so cute on the front.  Maybe that should have been my warning!

Benihana Birthday Party!

My good friend Chris turned 25 this weekend.  On Friday night he thought he was going to Benihana with his roommates, but when he showed up ALL of our friends were there!  We filled up 2 entire tables, what a great surprise!

Honestly, who doesn't love hibachi?  I remember how excited we were in 8th grade when we whole class got to go to Benihana and I'm 99% sure that I still have the Buddha mug to prove that I went.  (Now that's silly - getting a Buddha souvenir on a Catholic School field trip!)  People love Benihana in Pennsylvania and even here in Hawaii, where you can get good Japanese food on every block!

As expected, there were lots of veggies and the onions were stacked up like volcanoes.  That's even funnier in Hawaii!  Our chef was clearly not too happy and didn't care to show off so our volcano eruption was mediocre.

I snuck a picture of some of the food waiting to be cooked: noodles, shrimp, sauce, and veggies.

Tons of minced garlic, eggs, and veggies for the fried rice.

Benihana's famous garlic fried rice, sure to keep the Cullens and the Volturi away!

Scallops, lobster, and calamari - yum!  Who says you can't have more than one fish in the sea?

Jumbo shrimp and several steaks.  Of course, I was made fun of for ordering mine medium well.  Does anyone else prefer their steak actually cooked?!

The grand finale - green tea ice cream!

Happy Birthday, Chris!  We hope you enjoyed it.

Next year, we're going somewhere cheaper! With love, your friends :)

Pley-time with Yelp

Well, I am now officially an Elite Yelper!  I'd let you know that they asked me to be elite, but never told you that it was made official, which it was :)  I have the cute little '11 Elite tag on my Yelp page and I consummated the relationship this weekend by going to my first event as an Elite :)  The event was Come Pley with Yelp at the Children's Discovery Center.  Isn't the paint just screaming "this place is somuchfun"!? 

The crazy part is that it used to be an incinerator!  You'd never know it used to be something so yucky.

The place was filled with Yelp Elites (adults only) ready to "Pley" like kids, but eat and drink like grown ups!  First we enjoyed yummy lettuce wraps from P.F. Changs, one of my favorites.

These lovely fried delights are from Paul's Poppers.  Look at all that oil!

The 2 varieties we tried were pork, jalapeno, and cheddar and spinach and artichoke with Parmesan and mozzarella.  You know how I feel about peppers of all sorts, so Bryce got the pork & jalapeno one to himself and he loved it!  The spinach and artichoke was delicious by both of our standards.

A place called Tower 10 was there.  I'd never heard of it before and just found out today that it's not open yet!  They served these 2 dishes: a deconstructed Elvis [banana custard, puff pastry, moussey peanut butter, and bacon] and seared ahi tacos.  I took only one bite of the taco and don't remember what the hell it tasted like because I was so excited about the Elvis. 

I put on my blue suede shoes and jailhouse ROCKED the Elvis.  Did I give Bryce a bite?  I don't remember or care, really.  Bryce are you reading this?  I don't have to share, I'm an only child and you're not the boss of me!  Back to Elvis - it was heavenly.  The light and fluffy puff pastry and the cool banana custard complimented each other perfectly in my first bite.  It got even better when I got the full experience with the creamy peanut butter fluffiness and savory, crispy bacon!  The Elvis get the award for best thing I ate all night.  The King is ready for his close up.

Camille's on Wheels, a popular food truck, served these delicious little Thai chicken tacos.

Camille's other offering was their famous (on Yelp, at least) Mango Pie.  I'd been meaning to try this for months and it certainly lived up to all the hype, although the pieces were quite small!  I must secure a whole slice pie for myself.

Fairy Cakes was appropriately stationed in a little, magical playhouse.  They served tiny little desserts through a window.

This "fruit sushi" was a surprisingly great bite!  It consisted of grapes and pineapple topped with lychee, yum!

So we ate, and we ate, and we drank, too.  I blame the lack of drink photos on my hands being entirely too full!  We also got to PLEY (which is Yelp spelled backwards if you haven't yet figured that one out) throughout the Children's Discovery Center with no kids in the way to stop us!

Bryce cheated on his height measurement in the doctor's office!  I wish I was a little bit taller...

We got in touch with our reggae and Asian roots, mon!

My personal favorite part of the night was getting my face painted with a beautiful, glittery, magical design!  I didn't have to beg my Mom or spend any of my allowance money, either :)

We had far too much fun in the reading room with the giant chair.  Check out my reading material!

Leave it up to Bryce to incorporate sports when he should be reading!

We got quite carried away while on the clock at the market!  Bryce's apron was made for a toddler, by the way.

It wasn't all fun and games - Bryce learned all about the importance of fighting fires with a trustworthy companion!

The event was AMAZING!  I knew being an Elite Yelper was going to be awesome and this night was a very good start.  In all seriousness, it wasn't all fun and games, free food and drinks - Yelpers were encouraged do donate to the Children's Discovery Center and I hope they raised a mint!  It's a great place for kids to learn and grow, and for adults to party and PLEY at during after hours!

Stay tuned for many more great Yelp events!