Pastel Purple Potato Salad

This past week was Merrie Monarch Festival week.  I didn't do much to celebrate the annual festival, and I was away for part of the time anyway (work trip to Honolulu).  Once again, I missed my favorite event (Friday's hula kahiko competition).

In addition to the Merrie Monarch festivities, the Hilo High School gymnasium dedication was this weekend.  I wasn't going to attend, but the boss asked The Help to help him (the governor was coming), and The Help graciously obliged.  The Help likes my boss and does not mind lending a hand for him.  While The Help busied himself with the honorable governor, I tried to look busy.  I ran into a former coworker who made some remark about me pretending to work.  Ummmm, yeahhhhh, but at least I know how to teach kids and I'm not afraid to be in a classroom.  Take that, ya old bag!

For the most part, with the exception of the gym dedication, I tried to stay away from places where crowds gather.  I hate crowds.  It drives me berserk to get shoved and elbowed.  I even sought refuge in Kona, making a late Saturday run to Costco.

My drive to Costco was really not for frivolous purposes.  I was in need of a vacuum to replace my near-paralyzed Dyson.  D1 has been especially pissy lately about the house being messy.  I've been trying to keep the floors in the great room clean, but that was impossible to do with the Dyson I had. I ended up buying a small ball Dyson, which was roughly $200 less than the larger ball model.  I tried it out when I got home, and shit, it FEELS $200 less good than what I'd imagine the larger ball model to feel like.  Oh well, The Help said that it does work, which is 95% better than my old vacuum.

One thing I really wanted to do this week was make a stop at the Hawaiian food truck run by the Hawaiian church group.  I never had the chance.  By the time I got my act together to go, they had dismantled their site.  I guess I will need to wait a whole year to eat their food.

There is one downside to the Hawaiian food truck.  They do not automatically give a portion of potato salad with their plates.  I think you can order a side of it, but it does not come standard.  I know potato salad is not traditional Hawaiian food, but it goes great with kalua pig and lau lau.  Since I missed out on the Hawaiian food last week, I'm going to make sure dinner this week includes some type of Hawaiian food.  Of course, if you come over for dinner, you can count on having this yummy and pretty potato salad as an accompaniment for your meal!

 click on recipe title for printable recipe
Pastel Purple Potato Salad

     3 lbs russet potatoes

     1 lb purple sweet potatoes

     3/4-1 c bacon bits

     2 tbsp minced parsley

     mayonnaise

     salt to taste

Boil potatoes.  Peel and cut into 1/2" pieces while still hot.  When completely cool, combine with remaining ingredients.  Season to taste.  Chill until ready to serve.

Beneath the tropic skies of Hilo. . .

                                                              . . .loyalty and honor shall forever be thine.

April 11, 2015
Hilo High School Gymnasium Dedication

Hawaiian Style Potato Salad

I have been at work for 2 weeks, and one of those weeks has been with students.  I guess teaching is similar to riding a bike. . . you never forget how, some people are better at it than others, being able to ride a bike is not the same as riding it well, etc.  I've been out of the high school classroom for over 10 years, but after this past week, I'm convinced that returning to the classroom was the right thing to do.

While I was a resource teacher, I heard sidebar comments from many people, and the song is always the same:  resource teachers are not in the classroom because they cannot handle.  That is a common belief many teachers have.  And I think that's why many people are shocked when they hear I went back to the classroom.  I get lots of expressions (both verbal and non verbal) of disbelief.

So far, my return to the classroom has been alright.  I anticipated the 9th graders being handfuls, but the seniors were the most intimidating.  The seniors already have a good sense of school culture.  They have established their own norms for teachers.  I wasn't sure how I'd fit in the mix.

D1 was also full of worry.  She was concerned about how I'd be perceived by her peers.  I think she was worried that they would see me as the wicked witch, but I think she has been pleasantly surprised to hear that I'm actually "okay".  Whew.  One guy even told her I was his favorite teacher.  WooHoo!!!

Honestly, the most challenging part about being back in the classroom is lunch.  I am totally not kidding.  I stopped buying school lunch years ago because I couldn't see wasting $4 on stuff I wouldn't feed my dog.  I believe its even more expensive now.  I try to bring a lunch from home, but we don't always have suitable lunch fare on hand.  Luckily, there are a few fast food places on the same street as the school, and one of them even has a drive-thru.  That happens to also be the place with one of the best plate lunch potato salad in Hilo.

Most plate lunches in Hawaii (not limited only to Hilo) come with a generous scoop of potato salad, a very decadent mayonnaise-laden salad.  In order to keep costs down, some places substitute macaroni for all or part of the potatoes.  I don't like it that way.  I'm old-fashioned. . .I like salad with potatoes, and I prefer ONLY potatoes. . .no macaroni.

In addition to potatoes (and/or macaroni), the salad usually contains chopped boiled egg.  From there, things get a bit creative.  I add pitted olives, sliced (and squeezed) cucumber, and some kind of seafood.  I like the way the salad looks when shredded kamaboko is added, but nothing beats crab or lobster.  Many people now use shredded or chopped imitation crabmeat instead of the real thing.  Sometimes, I will also add in some finely shredded carrots, but I don't add too much of that because it turns the salad a yellow color.  Mayonnaise serves as a binder to hold everything together.

I don't make potato salad too often because it usually makes so much that its hard to consume all of it.  I usually make it for family gatherings, although uJohn prefers the salad made by Kikukat Mom.  While Kikukat Mom uses real crab in her salad, she also adds in green peas and broken up spaghetti noodles.  I'm okay with the spaghetti noodles, but I think green peas are just a hair away from mustard on the disgusting food scale.  Some people add chopped onion, but I don't.  Kikukat Mom said onions cause the salad to spoil faster.

I know Kikukat Mom doesn't like onions, but I don't have the courage to come out and say that she made up the spoilage story just to keep me from adding onions to my salad.  Sometimes you just gotta know when to shut up.

Click here for the recipe:
Kikuchan's Potato-Crab Salad

Tapioca and Coconut Milk Dessert

Now that the weather is getting warmer (actually got to go swimming yesterday. . .water temperature was 84 degrees), I'm looking forward to cool salads and desserts (of course, I'll never pass up a slice of cake).  No doubt, we're entering the season of outdoor eating.

As the potlucks and gatherings ramp up, consider making this refreshing dessert, especially if you want something to complement fruit.  This dessert can be made ahead of time, and can be easily increased or decreased by varying the amount of fruit.

I love this with mango (as pictured), but when mango is not in season, I usually have The Help make a fruit salad:  melon, orange supremes, apples, maraschino cherries, grapes (I won't eat), blueberries, strawberries, etc.  The juice that comes out in the process of making orange supremes is enough to keep the apples from turning brown.

Purple Okinawan sweet potato can be substituted for fruit.  Steam a small sweet potato until soft, then peel and dice. 

I like this dessert on the thick side (like the pictures), but some people prefer it to be more soup-like.  If you prefer more of a soup instead of a pudding, add a few ice cubes to the tapioca before transporting.  The ice cubes will keep things nice and cold until serving time.  If you're in a hurry to thin the tapioca, use ice chips instead of ice cubes. 

click on recipe title for printable recipe
Tapioca and Coconut Milk Dessert

     7 c water

     1 c tiny pearl tapioca (size of pin head)

     1 1/2 c sugar

     1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk

     fresh fruit or cooked purple sweet potato, diced into 1/2" pieces

Bring water to a rolling boil.  Add tapioca.  Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.  Turn off heat and let stand for 20 minutes.  Add sugar.  Cool for an hour.  Add coconut milk.  Refrigerate overnight.  Just before serving, combine with fruit (and juice) or sweet potato.