Greek Pasta Salad

KABOOM!!!  By now, most people have heard about what happened at work this past Thursday (it made the Huffington Post).  I was talking to 3M in her office as recess ended and students made their way to their 5th period class.  We heard a loud noise.  It sounded like a single firecracker (although someone thought it was much louder).  When I looked outside 3M's door, the kids were proceeding to class as usual, and nothing looked awry.  I went to the main parking lot to move my car to the makai driveway (it was Thursday so D1 had to go to the hospital for her internship) because its a lot easier to get out from the makai driveway than the main entrance.  I went back to my room and found a slip of paper I meant to give to another teacher for her meeting that afternoon.  While in her room, the lockdown alarm sounded.  I was on my way back to my room (running) when I saw D1's friend in the building corridor.  She had been in the bathroom and got locked out of the near classrooms.  Poor thing!  I told security I'd take her so we ran to my room and locked down.  We busied ourselves by eating snacks and drinking soda.

Lockdown lasted about an hour-and-a-half.  Two students were arrested for detonating a water bottle bomb near the auditorium.  All of this was on the local news. . .including a picture of my car parked on the makai side of campus!  I'm glad nobody got hurt, and I am so proud of the way the situation was handled by the administration.  We really do have the best administrators! 

The uproar caused by the bottle bomb notwithstanding, this was a busy week.  I attended two boys basketball games (both losses).  One game was against the dreaded crosstown rival.  The other game was against the "haves" (we are the "have nots").  The Help came along to take pics for D1's cheer coach.  Of course, he took the opportunity to snap some practice shots of the game.  In spite of all the running he had to do on the football field, he declared that taking football pics was much more enjoyable than taking basketball pics.

Hilo had another week of mostly cold (by Hawaii standards), wet weather.  I took advantage of the opportunity to wear some of the boots & covered shoes I bought.  After years of wearing sandals & slip-ons, I decided to go back to wearing covered shoes.  I love it.  It keeps my feet nice and warm.  Come to think of it, the day of the bomb was the first dry-ish day we've had in a while.  Anyway, a bunch of my fb friends drove up to the mountain this past weekend to play in the snow.  Some random trucks could also be seen driving through Hilo with snow in the cargo area.  Oddly enough, by the time the weekend came around, Hilo was warmer. . .in the 80s.

I'm beginning the countdown until the next holiday.  TEN days.  I might need to start the spring break countdown soon too.  I know there are 73 days of school left for the seniors.  We counted together.

It is too early to be thinking about salads, but with all the counting down, I'm kinda looking forward to summer vacation (or spring break. . .since it will come before than summer).  And I took advantage of the warm weekend weather to throw this salad together for Super Bowl food.  Actually, I wanted to make something else, but there must be some kind of onion shortage going on because I could only find reasonably priced red onions at the market (and I didn't feel like driving around).

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Greek Pasta Salad

     1 c orzo (uncooked)
     2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
     1/2 red onion, finely chopped
     1/2 c minced flat-leaf parsley
     1/3 c red wine vinegar
     1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
     1 tsp salt
     1 1/2 tsp sugar
     1/8 tsp pepper
     1 tomato, chopped
     1 bell pepper, chopped
     1 cucumber, seeded and chopped
     1/2 c kalamata olives, drained and sliced
     1/2 c crumbled feta cheese

Cook orzo as directed on package.  Drain well and toss with 1 tbsp olive oil.  Set aside.  In a medium bowl, combine onion, parsley, vinegar, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper.  Add orzo and toss to coat.  Cover and chill until ready to serve.  Just before serving, toss pasta with remaining ingredients.

On Saturday, The Help and I stopped by Short N Sweet Bakery to try the creme brulee cupcakes we saw on their FB page.  What a treat!

The cupcakes have that classic carmelized sugar topping which shatters when you dig in with a spoon.  But you will definitely need to use a spoon to get all the custard goodness (a nice surprise!).


If you're on the Big Island and you're looking for a nice treat for Valentine's Day, call Short N Sweet and place an order.  These are worth the price!


They are also cheaper than Maui onions.  I am NOT kidding.  When we went to Safeway, a bag of Maui onions (with 3 small-ish onions) was over $10!  That is crazy!!!

Mini Cream Cheese Cherry Fruitcake

I'm finally on vacation.

It seemed like vacation would never get here!

Just a few more days until Christmas.

I hope I didn't forget any gifts.

I THINK I'm done with my Christmas shopping.

I try to bake at least 1 batch of humbug holiday cookies with the Ds, but it looks like time isn't on our side this year.  We normally have at least half a week before Christmas to bake cut-out cookies, but vacation began too late.  Maybe we'll be able to bake something for Valentine's Day.

Instead of cookies with the Ds, I had to settle for some by-myself baking.  I chose to make mini cream cheese cherry fruitcake because I knew neither of the Ds would be too disappointed about missing out on this.

Fruitcake isn't something many people are often enthused about, but everyone (adults) enjoys the local version of fruitcake.  The fruitcake we know and like is actually a pound cake with a spattering of candied fruits.  It is not the type you find at Trader Joe's. . . mostly fruit bound together with tiny bits of cake.

There are a handful of people around here who make a more traditional kind of fruitcake.  Last Christmas, one of The Helps clients gave him a fruitcake which was a deep, dark brown.  It tasted very much like prune mui, and it had a tar-like texture.  She told him it was her specialty.  My friend A's mom makes a steamed fruitcake, which is dark, although not as dark the one I previously mentioned.  Kikukat Mom makes something called "light fruitcake".  While not steamed, it has a tan color which is different from the pictures you see here.  And I'm sorry mom, but I don't like the fruitcake you make.  Like the two aforementioned varieties, it is dense and unappealing (to me!).  The cream cheese variety is much more to my liking.

And I just remembered. . .I haven't bought anything for The Rents.  I guess I'm NOT done with my Christmas shopping.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Mini Cream Cheese Cherry Fruitcake

     8 oz cream cheese, softened

     1 c butter, softened

     1 1/2 c sugar

     4 eggs

     1 1/2 tsp vanilla

     2 1/4 c flour, divided

     1 1/2 tsp baking powder

     3/4 c candied cherries, cut in half

     1/2 c pecans, coarsely chopped

Grease and flour 5 mini loaf pans.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Combine cream cheese, butter, sugar, and vanilla.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  In a separate bowl, stir together 2 c flour and baking powder.  Gradually add to cream cheese mixture.  Toss remaining flour (1/4 c) with cherries and nuts.  Fold into batter.  Divide batter evenly among prepared pans.  Bake 45-50 minutes.  Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to wire rack.  Cool completely.

The best fruitcake in the world is made in Hanapepe, Kauai, by Mrs. Nozaki, a retired hairdresser.  Her fruitcake is outstanding!  I have been fortunate enough to receive quantities of it over the years from her son.  Unlike this recipe, which contains nuts, Mrs. Nozaki's cake only has cherries in it, and the cake's flavor is enhanced by the whiskey-soaked cheesecloth enveloping the loaf.  I haven't received Mrs. Nozaki's cake this year yet, but I'm hoping her son bought out Safeway's supply of candied cherries so he can bake several batches.

Congratulations to D2 who received an award at her school!  I'm disappointed I wasn't able to make it to the presentation (I had a Charles Dickens function in my classroom.), and I am grateful The Help represented me.  D2 tries so hard, and it was nice that she was recognized for her effort.

Congratulations are also due to the HHS varsity boys basketball team.  The took first place in the St. Joseph School's Cardinal Classic.  They won a 67-64 nailbiter against crosstown rival Waiakea.  With hardly any time remaining in overtime, and the score tied 64-64, star guard Jalen Carvalho (nephew of my good buddy SF) hit a 3-pointer to win the game for the Viks.  It was awesome.  Jalen is beast, but the whole team worked hard for the victory.  Best wishes to them as they hit the skies this week to participate in a pre-season tourney in San Diego.

And for my weekly rant. . .where the fuck do they find the refs in this town?  Be it football or basketball, they are all horrible.  What a bunch of blind idiots in stripes!  One of the refs at the basketball game spent more time talking stories with a coach than watching the players.  Auwe!!!

While I began my vacation this weekend, The Help got busy.  Of course, I went along as "assistant". . .underpaid and overworked (me, not The Help).  The Help did a session for Maria at Short N Sweet, a local bakery.  Maria is the designer of D1's birthday cake.  The bakery was hired to do an afternoon tea for a local beauty business.  While Short N Sweet has been doing afternoon tea for a while, Maria had no pictures of past events so she asked The Help to help her capture the event (food-wise).  I think she will be happy with the images.  She was kind enough to give us some goodies. . .gougeres and a flaky mushroom turnover.  OMG!  The Empress Hotel has nothing on Short N Sweet when it comes to tea!

And for the first time in nearly a decade, I got to eat fried kole (yes, we really do eat this fish. . .much to my horror, the top hits for "kole tang" were aquaria websites, not delicacy websites).  3M texted me on Saturday morning and reminded me about the RBI concession.  Mmmmmmmmm.  The fried kole was so yummy that I sent The Help back down to the Boys & Girls Club of Hilo baseball field for another plate!  I hope they will put me on their speed dial whenever they have fried kole at their concession.

deep-fried kole

Crab Lasagna

The days are passing so slowly!  I can't wait until winter vacation.  I have a whole bunch of things I need to do.  Going on a trip will not be one of them, but I am expecting house guests at the end of the year.  LA tells me she and SN will be coming to spend new years in Hilo.  I guess the family hasn't scared him off yet.  Give them time, and the last time he was here he feigned illness so he hasn't seen them in all their glory.

The arrival of out-of-town guests means that Kikukat Mom's family will be getting together.  Once when they were here, I made a huge mess of spaghetti for them.  Another time we did the build-your-own sushi thing.  If duty calls and I have everyone over (aside from New Years Day), I will make and serve crab lasagna.

This is a recipe which has been in my arsenal for years.  Its easy to make and it heats up nicely too.  The last time I made it, I posted a picture of it on facebook.  I received all kinds of requests for tastes (obviously these people are close by) and recipes.  One of my classmates posted a status update saying he and his children made this for his wife's birthday, and it was a huge hit.  That's the kind of stuff which makes me smile.

This was a super busy weekend for me.  D1 had a birthday party.  I can't remember the last time she had a bunch of friends over for her birthday, but her friends seemed to have a nice time.  D1 asked The Help to set up a "photo booth", and we bought a bunch of stick props from amazon, but the girls  just took a group picture. . .not much impromptu photo-boothing with just 1 or 2 at a time.  Oh well.

The only other "planned" activity was swimming.  I'm glad the weather held up.  In spite of it being December, the temperature yesterday hovered around 80 so the girls got to splash around.  The Help said I would've died if I had been around when he removed the pool corner guards (he has these contraptions in the corners of the deep end  to mitigate the effects of the vinyl from constant sun bombardment).  A whole bunch of geckos (the fleshy kine) had set up house behind the guards!

The party food was all stuff D1 requested:  spicy soybeans, tea eggs, somen inari, lumpia, crispy chicken, build-your-own-sushi, 7-layered jello, chocolate birthday cake.  The biggest hit was undoubtedly the crispy chicken.  It all went!  Mr. Dependable showed up with D2 and fed his face.  D2 shoved a bunch of somen inari in her mouth.  Mr. Dependable took notice of The Help's full-light photo booth set up.  I had to chuckle when The Help offered Mr. Dependable his services, "I can take professional photos of you and the other people in your office.  I have slimming software too!"  Bwahahaha.

A free collage by Smilebox

D1's cake was purchased from Short N Sweet, a local bakery.  I first sampled Short N Sweet goodies when they were a hole-in-the-wall place in Kohala.  A few years later, they moved in to Hilo, and The Help and I have been regular patrons.  The lemon cloud cookie is really ono.  One of my coworkers, RN, loves the banana roulade.  While D1's cake was not inexpensive, it was delicious!  The buttercream frosting was just sweet enough, and the chocolate cake was a deep, dark Devil's food.  In spite of the price, I will not hesitate to buy another cake from them. . .it's the kind of cake where you don't mind eating the leftovers.

This week is another busy week.  There is a football banquet this evening.  The coach invited us, and while we were not an official part of the football team, it would be hard not to attend.  The coach will be using about half of The Help's pictures in a slideshow.  I'm certain the boys will enjoy seeing their pictures.  The Help took some pretty wicked action shots of the boys.  His reputation as an action photographer has grown. . .kids who play other sports at school have asked D1 if "unko" could take pics of them.  In fact, boys who play football at OTHER schools, both on the Big Island and on ANOTHER ISLAND have asked D1 if "unko" can take pics of them!  The Help keeps insisting he is a FOOD photographer.

And not to be left out, D2 has a showcase dinner this week too.  She has been volunteering her time and assisting one of the after-school classes at her school.  She and her friend KN have been working with the lower-elementary students on various crafts.  The instructor has been kind enough to let D2 and KN make their own crafts too.  This past week, D2 brought home a self-contained red shrimp habitat in a Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler bottle!

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Crab Lasagna

     1/2 lb lasagna noodles (not "no boil" type)

     1 tsp olive oil

     8 oz cream cheese, softened

     2 cans cream of mushroom soup

     1 lb crab meat

     16 oz cottage cheese

     1 onion, chopped

     1 egg

     1/2 tsp salt

     1-2 tbsp pesto (if unavailable, use 2 tsp minced, fresh basil)

     1 c shredded cheddar cheese, divided

     1/4 c grated parmesan cheese

Cook noodles according to package directions, adding olive oil to boiling water.  Rinse and drain.  In a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, soup (remove 1/4 c of soup and set aside), crab, cottage cheese, onion, egg, salt, and pesto.  Mix reserved soup with 1/4 c water.  Pour into 8 x 13" pan, spreading all over bottom of pan.  Layer 1/2 of noodles, 1/2 of crab mixture, and 1/2 if cheddar cheese.  Repeat.  Sprinkle top with parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Let stand at least 15 minutes before serving.