Hawaii

 

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Quarantiki - Tiki Tuesday

Tuesday, April 15, 2020

My brother Pete and his girlfriend lived in Hawaii back in the late 90s/early 2000s. They were married in 2001 and returned to the mainland not to long after that. Pete gave me the above tiki upon his return. I lost it not long after that and have been looking for it ever since. Well, today I found it just in time for Tiki Tuesday. It was pressed against the back of an old wooden shelf in a located in a dim corner. It blended in very well so no wonder I couldn't see it. Glad I found it. It says Hawaii at the bottom. 

I made a new drink from a recipe I found in Jeff "Beachbum" Berry's book Sippin Safari.  It's called the Rum Cow and it's awesome and I'm for sure making it again.

Hawaii

Sunday, August 5, 2018

Dale and I stopped by a Colorado Barnes & Noble today where I picked up an Insights Guide to Hawaii. The cashier asked if I am planning a trip to Hawaii soon. I told her no, not soon but that it is on my list for the near future. Actually Dale and I were in Hawaii back in 2001 for my brother Pete's wedding to my sister-in-law, Stephanie. I've always wanted to go back.

Photo Op

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Still in Colorado. Dale is such a good sport. When we stopped by a local grocery store for some vittles, I found a photo op promotion for Hawaiian foods. Dale combined a smile with an eye roll when I asked him to take my picture but he agreed. What a guy!

Tropix Hawaiian BBQ

Friday, August 3, 2018

Dale, Brenda, and I went to Tropix Hawaiian BBQ for lunch. We all started with the egg drop soup and spring rolls.

Brenda had a small plate of the crispy shrimp. Dale had the white fish, and I had shrimp pad thai.

All of it was quite tasty. After we ate I ordered a pineapple coconut smoothie to go. Yum.

I'm not sure what exactly constitutes Hawaiian cuisine although I found a bit of information on Wikipedia. My understanding is that in the pre-contact period of ancient Hawaii (300 AD - 1778 AD) the inhabitants of the islands ate plants and animals brought by the Polynesian voyagers. "After first contact in 1778 European and American cuisine arrived."

Immigrant groups from China, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico arrived on the Islands between 1850 and 1930 to work the sugarcane and pineapple plantations. They introduced their own cuisines which influenced the area. 

Spam has been popular on the Islands for decades and today I learned why. It seems fishing was prohibited around the Islands during WWII and Spam became popular to natives as a source of protein. It was brought to the Islands by American servicemen as part of their rations. 

Spam musubi is a slice of fried Spam on rice and wrapped in a strip of nori (edible seaweed). It was on the menu at Tropix. I may have to try it next time. But maybe not. I'm not sure how I feel about Spam.

Tropix Hawaiian BBQ

Tropix Hawaiian BBQ

Tropix Hawaiian BBQ

Merman Monday

Monday, January 29, 2018

hawaiianmerman on Instagram

National Park of American Samoa

Photo of the National Park of American Samoa from the U.S. Interior's Instagram page.  The park is located "2,600  miles southwest of Hawaii'i" and "is one of the most remote national parks in the United States. It includes sections of three islands -- Tutuila, Ta'u, and Ofu -- and about 4,000 acres of [the park] is underwater, offshore from all three islands. This photo was taken at the Ofu unit, which has a shallow protected reef with a great diversity of coral cover fish." Photo by the National Park Service.

Ray Conniff's Hawaiian Album

I've been listening to this album by Ray Conniff for the past couple nights. It dates to 1967.

Word is that Mr. Conniff wrote all the arrangements for the album during a two-week stay at the Kauai Surf Hotel. He was shown by Hawaiians how to strum the uke and also how to sing the songs in their own way.  Ray said, "It was the most enjoyable two weeks work I've ever done in my career."  (Source: rayconniff.info)

Track Listings:

  1.  The Hukilau Song
  2.  Blue Hawaii
  3.  Pearly Shells
  4.  To You Sweetheart, Aloha
  5.  One Paddle Two Paddle
  6.  Beyond the Reef
  7.  The Hawaiian Wedding Song
  8.  My Little Grass Shack In Kealakekua, Hawaii
  9.  Sweet Leilani
10.  Tiny Bubbles
11.  I Wish They Didn't Mean Goodbye

Hawaiian Burger

Dale and I ate at the Lowbrow tonight. The special was a Hawaiian burger which I didn't even know was a thing. However, upon a little research I've found that there are tons of recipes for this type of burger online.  All recipes found online include pineapple (mostly grilled) and most include cheese (frequently provolone but also mozzarella or Swiss). Some recipes included bacon (Canadian and also applewood smoked) which gives it a connection to Hawaiian pizza. Sauces were usually a teriyaki/mayo type. Other ingredients I saw included onion and red pepper. A list of different types of hamburgers on Wikipedia say the Hawaii burger is "topped with pineapple and teriyaki sauce" and is "from the Japanese American culture." Other than this I could find no other references to the history of this type of burger.  The version at the Lowbrow included pineapple, provolone, and a barbecue type sauce. It was delicious.

Aloha Shirt

Saturday, September 17, 2016

I got my first Hawaiian or aloha shirt way back in high school. It was for some kind of school spirit week something or other where one day you had to wear a Hawaiian shirt and so I picked one up at Ragstock. I believe I had a chance to wear it on another occasion or two. 

Long after that shirt disappeared I found myself wanting another one for a luau in Hawaii. My brother was getting married there back in 2001 and he had invited us all to a very large ticketed luau to attend while visiting. It was great fun. Dale, my brothers, and I believe even my dad picked up aloha shirts in the hotel gift store for the event. I've looked for that shirt lately but it seems to have disappeared.

In the absence of finding that one I decided to get a new one just for the heck of it. I ordered it through a company that sells through Amazon and it just arrived the other day. I think it looks pretty good. Dale even complimented me on it (see top photo). I might just have to get another one...