I swear, there really is ice under all that.

1. Sweet Home Cafe
The name makes me think it will be Southern cuisine, but actually they serve Taiwanese hot pot. This is a pot of steaming broth that they place on a burner on your table. You choose and add veggies, meat, dumplings, and many more things (kind of like a fondu). As a bonus, at the end of the meal you receive a large bowl of Taiwanese shave ice for free. Yes, free! What makes this “Taiwanese” is that the focus is on the toppings rather than the ice and syrup. And, oh my goodness, they pile it on.

Ice
I know there was technically ice under there, but who cares.

Syrups
They don’t use them.

Ice Cream
None

Price/Size Optimization
Free. That’s pretty awesome.

Utensils
Big bowl and metal spoons.

Atmosphere
Because this place is so slammed with loyal customers, everyone is asked to finish their meal in 90 minutes. This means you might have to rush through the shave ice at the end. We didn’t have this problem though.

Service
Attentive and friendly

Bonus Features
Toppings, toppings, toppings! We had chocolate pudding, tapioca pearls, fruit jellies, and some white stuff.

I don't mind being cheesy if it's for shave ice.

2. Haleiwa General Store
Our friends Steve and Mary have been telling us this is their favorite shave ice on the island ever since we moved here. But because we normally hit up Aoki’s in this town, we hadn’t tried it until yesterday. Upon learning that it was our first time there, the one guy manning the shaving machine informed us of the reasons for their quality product. They change the blade frequently to ensure fine shavings, use Dave’s Ice Cream (a local company), and their syrups are made by a local couple.

Ice
Smooth

Syrups
Cane sugar based. I thought my 3 flavors tasted basically the same, sugary. Not the best.

Ice Cream
Dave’s vanilla ice cream. They give you a good amount in the cup.

Pile of shave ice ready to be served.

Price/Size Optimization
A little pricey. However they do give free snow caps (condensed milk topping) and li hing mui.

Utensils
They serve the shave ice straight in the catch cup, so you don’t pay extra for the holder. You also get a spoon-straw, which I hate, but also give you a regular spoon to make up for this deficiency.

Atmosphere
Good ‘ole North Shore. They have a couple tables outside with umbrellas that also makes it nice. This place isn’t crowded like Aoki’s and Matsumotu, so there is no waiting in line.

Service
Friendly and relaxed.

Bonus Features
Free snow caps and li hing. They also don’t mind giving you extra spoons.

A new favorite.

3. Jojo’s Shave Ice
This is the only shave ice place we went to on Kauai, but it was awesome. I’m not sure if it was just that I loved my combination, but it was really good. I’m not ranking these, but if I were it would be right at the top of all the places we’ve tried so far. I had the Haupia combo (Combo #4 on their menu): Mac Nut ice cream topped with coconut flakes, coconut shave ice, and coconut cream.

Ice
Smooth

Syrups
Full-bodied (can I steal that word?)

Ice Cream
In addition to vanilla, you also had macadamia nut as an option. A very tasty option as it turned out.

Price/Size Optimization
A little more expensive, as is everything on Kauai.

Utensils
Plastic spoons, and the loathed spoon-straw.

Atmosphere
This place is definitely hole-in-the-wall, but with the bright yellow sign it is also cheery. It is located in Waimea so is perfectly positioned to be a desirable post-Waimea-Canyon-hiking-trip stop.

Service
Friendly.

Bonus Features
You can get your own spoons and napkins so you aren’t jipped. It is also right next to the public library which has a free bathroom, a must for the potty training days.

I was first introduced to this Japanese tradition by my friends Karen and Adam Lauer. Karen’s family on the Big Island makes mochi in the traditional way (pounding the rice down to a paste, and then filling and shaping into a ball). It’s popular for Christmas and New Years, and Boys Day and Girls Day too. Clayton and I have had mochi before, both plain and filled with ice cream. We’ve had it as a topping, on frozen yogurt and snow ice. But we’ve never made it ourselves.

I decided that this year was the year. This year I was going to have mochi for New Years. I was originally going to buy some from Nisshodo Candy Store, but because the stuff is so popular in Hawaii right now I only got a busy signal when I called to reserve some. So I switched the plan and decided to try to make it myself. I opted for a version of mochi called “chi chi dango” because it is a non-filled dumpling version and, let’s be honest, has an awesome name. Of course, I’m cheating by buying the ingredients from the store instead of making the mochi fresh. But it’s a good start. I found a recipe online and decided to go for it.

The special ingredients you need are mochiko (glutinous rice flour) and katakuriko (potato starch). These are easy to find in our grocery stores, but may not be readily available on the mainland. I made the mochi on New Years Eve, let it cool completely overnight, then cut it today. I was shocked at how easy it was to make, and it’s really tasty too! Very sticky and soft. Yum!

For our church, it’s also Free Malasada Day. 12 years ago people at the church decided that instead of riding a float in the parade, they would make and give out TONS of malasadas. The parade goes directly by the church, and this was an easy way to do something nice for the community.

If you don’t know what a malasada is, let me explain. Clayton and I mistakenly thought, when we first moved here, that they were nothing more than just donuts. They are actually Portuguese donuts.  The difference is that malasadas are yeastier, chewier, sugar-coated, and piping hot. Our favorite non-traditional variety is custard-filled. Portuguese people came to Hawaii in 1878 to work in the plantation fields. Malasadas came with them, and Hawaii is a better place for it.

Folks at the church making malasadas (Clayton and Autumn discuss the dough in the background)

Click here to view the embedded video.

The parade was really fun, and really long. One of my favorite moments was when the Kahuku high school football players chanted their haka. For some reason my camera didn’t work when I tried to video it, but fortunately it’s online here with the whole story behind it. They just won the state championship, so everyone in the crowd was really excited. Another cool moment was seeing performers from the Christmas in Polynesia show do some dancing in the streets:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Autumn enjoyed the fire trucks, horses, puppets on a float, the other children sitting near her, and the free candy when Santa came through.

These past few weeks I’ve noticed how accustomed I am to this. When my parents were in town my dad would have his sandals on the whole day. I remember thinking, “That doesn’t look comfortable. Why would you even want to have them on your feet all the time?” Then today I was looking at old holiday pictures of Clayton and I decorating a Christmas tree. My eyes were immediately drawn to the floor where were were standing on the carpet *gasp* in tennis shoes! I mean, that carpet is filthy now!

I don’t know how this will translate to when we are living in Chicago. My first thought is that snowy boots are the last thing I want tracked all through my house. But I know I wore my shoes all day for most of my life, so maybe I will get used to it again. But for now, if you come to our house, keep them slippah’s outside.

We have been hard at work for the past 2 years on renovating Polynesian Hall (a hall at the Bishop Museum that is dedicated to teaching about cultures all across the Pacific Islands). We have chosen artifacts, created layouts for the new cases, written text for the panels and labels, and had more meetings about the details of all of these then is imaginable. And today we got a taste of the end product.

Mock-up day is also a time to see where things go together perfectly and where it is a total disaster. Today we looked at one case: Hawaiki (also known as Ancestral Polynesia- basically the area of Samoa and Tonga). Before any of the graphics were up, people began commenting on how crowded the case looked. Once all the poles and panels were in place, this commentary continued. We brought down the artifacts to look at them in relation to the text panels, and began brainstorming. “Maybe we should shrink the font a little here”, “Are these artifacts going to block this text?”, “What if we got rid of these poles all together?”, “Are the artifact labels too crowded?”

After an hour and a half of discussion and walking around the case we had a long list of new ideas and edits to make. More work to be done – and this is just the first case! But we are making progress and getting closer. Many more mock-up days to come!