Tell me in the comments… what is your favorite drink recipe?
Further Tiki Reading:
Critiki (Find a Tiki bar near you)
Travel, Fitness, Music, and Fun!
Tell me in the comments… what is your favorite drink recipe?
Further Tiki Reading:
Critiki (Find a Tiki bar near you)
In between enjoying shave ice and malasadas at the aloha festival in San Mateo last year my husband and I pursued the education booth inside the expo. We found a booth featuring the DeYoung museum that the 1st ever west coast exhibition of Hawaiian feather work would be running this year. The exhibition features 75 extremely rare featherwork cloaks and capes in existence. I knew I had to check it out while it was in town.
The great thing about the DeYoung is that is it nestled in golden gate park, you could spend a whole day there and not run out of things to do from the Academy of Sciences to the peaceful Japanese tea garden. It is also a great place for a run or a good sweat. We started our day at the academy with a planetarium show and a gourmet lunch at the DeYoung before diving in the featherwork exhibit.
A majority of these piece are borrowed from the Bishop Museum making it the first time they have been shown on the mainland. The bishop museum was named for the last descendant of Kamehameha dynasty who passed in 1884. Capes, cloaks and feathered headpieces were worn as spiritual protection into battle. Feathers were plucked from honeycreeper birds, the iwi and apapane, both still found in Hawaii’s higher elevations, away from development as the native Hawaiians made sure not to pluck too many so that the species would continue to survive. Unfortunately not all birds did not survive extinction such as the yellow-and-black oo (moho), or the green ou (Psittirostra psittacea). The exhibit also includes birds on loan from the nearby Academy Of Science so you can get a sense of what the feathers looked like from the birds.
Many of the pieces look modern especially with “tribal” or geometric patterns but they are all from 18th and 19th centuries.
If you would like to visit (which I highly recommend you do!) the exhibit will be at the DeYoung until February 28th.
Below is a playlist from Mountain Apple’s SoundCloud page of Kuana Torres Kahele (you might recognize his voice from Disney’s Lava) to get you in the Hawaiian mood.
The beginning of the year is a great time to go on a diet or a great time to eat some delicious King Cake.
What is king cake? It’s a delicious cinnamon roll type of desert in some cases there is a creme cheese or fruit filling. In New Orleans residents begin throwing parties or bringing king cake to work around January 6th. The use the cake to bring family and friend together to kick off the Mardi Gras season.
The actual name “king cake” is from the biblical three kings and is commemorated on January 6 which celebrates the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child. The season for king cake extends from the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Twelfth Night and Epiphany Day), up until Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday;” the day before the start of Lent.
Several years ago I was in New Orleans for St. Patrick’s Day which was right after Mardi Gras. My favorite coffee spot PJ’s had a few leftover slices if cake and I devoured them. Since then every year I try to either make my own cake or order it.
Most people outside New Orleans or the south have no idea what a king cake is. Being that I live in the Bay Area this dwindles the opportunity, but there are a few ways to get yourself a king cake.
For those not kitchen challenged there is the home version. Cost Plus sells a mix which is quite good. My mom has made it many times and it is very tasty, You do however, have to wait for the dough to rise. There are a couple of good online quick recipes that involve cinnamon roll mix with sprinkles.
Now if you want the authentic version I have two favorites that you can order and have delivered to the comfort of your own home.
One year I purchased a HUGE Randazzo cake. It is a cinnamon infused hand braided with white Randazzo (creme cheese) icing. Comes with Mardi Gras trinkets and serves 20-24. Cakes are available from 1/7-2/5 cakes and are $52.95 a piece. This cake is more traditional in the sense that it’s hand-braided and absolutely delicious. If you are looking to be the hit of your office or Super Bowl party, this is the cake.
The last few years I have been buying Sucre King Cake. It was voted a favorite by the Times Picayune 2012 king cake contest. It featured their signature buttery Danish pastry made sweeter by raw sugar cane and cinnamon and then folded in with creole cream cheese. This cake is a bit smaller and serves 8-10 people! It’s available from 1/6-2/16 for $20.
A few months ago I was casually browsing my notifications on Instagram and noticed a handle called Aloha Crate had liked my “Aloha Friday” post. I was curious and investigated what it was all about and had to try it for myself!
Aloha Crate is a subscription service started by Lauren O. Victoria and Kimo Smigielski. Every month they hand-curate the best in tasty treats from Hawaii. Many of the treats are from small locally owned companies in Hawaii. There are two subscription options: monthly at $14.95 and yearly $164.45. Shipping for the crates is free every month!
It was almost like Aloha Crate read my mind in what I desired in subscription box. Hawaii is one of my favorite places to visit because of the amazing flavors in their treats. I love Hawaiian Teas, Shortbreads, Mac nuts, and honey from Hawaii. I have tried so many amazing things there (I so wish they could ship Shave ice). Even before I visited Hawaii for the first time in college, I regularly wore Hawaiian shirts (in middle school!), had aloha print on my first car seat covers (pity the fool that bought the car from me, as he would need the jaws of life to remove), and collected Tiki Mugs.
My first box arrived promptly on March 15th. I loved how the box came decorated with the cute Hula Girl. I tried to wait until I got home to open the box but did a quick peek while at work. (I couldn’t help it!)
Below are all the treats in my March 2015 box:
Tapa Toffee: All I can say is that these morsels of delight were gone quick. These are chocolate covered mac nuts in cute cup shapes with nut toffee. Very delicious.
Lucky Candy/KAJ-I: I was surprised as I didn’t think I would enjoy these but I did. They are little hard strawberry frosted candies. They sort of remind me of those hard root beer barrels, only strawberry. These candies are packaged in red wrapping that symbolize good fortune!
Lilikoi Bars: Another item that was gone in a flash was these bars. Lilikoi is a tart fruit found in Hawaii that is used quite often in Hawaii. The bar reminded me of my favorite lemon bars as a child, so tasty.
Wasabi Oriental Mix from Aloha Gourmet: A fun mix that my fiance got to before me, but that’s OK because Wasabi usually isn’t my bag. Sharing is caring right?
Kilauea Fire Hot Sauce: This is a item I have yet to experience, but the bottle is so adorable. This is also a reason why I am really enjoying this crate as I can make the products last a lot longer than a month!
Kahala Fruit Tea: When I reached out to the Victoria of Aloha Crate I had mentioned that I saw this in the February box and was a bit bummed I subscribed too late. But no worries she included it just for me in the March Box! I love the customer service so far! The tea is refreshing and what is really cool is you can eat it when you are done steeping. The tea is ruby red in color and contains flavors of Organic Hibiscus flower, dried fruits, and Natural Hawaiian Herbs known to prevent strokes, control diabetes, and promote good overall health. I also loved that it was caffeine free.
That’s for my first box! I’ll be back soon with a recap of the April 2015 box!
In November I completed my very first half marathon at the inaugural avengers run at Disneyland. I trained with my fiancé starting in July using the RunDisney training guide. I felt fully prepared for the race but learned a few things along they way that I am sharing below:
1. Expo
Plan extra time at the expo. At the Disneyland events the expo is at the beautiful Disneyland hotel. I was extremely impressed how quick the lines for packet pick up was. I did make the mistake of not doing a full lap of all the venders and buying extra things because I saw something I liked better after purchasing something else. The expo also has great speakers. I caught Disneybound illustrating the perfect green alien costume. I really wish I caught the entire speech.
2. Dinner the night before
Your dinner the night before is key for a healthy race the next morning. You will need reservations as most places near the park will be booked. In fact any Italian or pizza place will be almost impossible to get in. While most people swear by carbing up I settled for a plain chicken dish at Ralph Brennan’s. They also had special pasta menus for dinner just for runners that night too. On Friday Disney had a pasta in the park party. It was a extra cost so I didn’t partake but looking back all the cute Instagrams of Disney treats I wish I did.
3. Pick a better corral
This was my first half and my fiance’s first half in many years and we knew we were pretty slow so we signed up for the last corral. This was a big mistake and very frustrating because almost everyone in this corral was walking. We spent most of the race dodging the slower folks. We also noticed that when we got to the characters for picture opportunities the lines were already really long. If a runner falls below a certain time they could be pulled off the course so we know better for next time.
4. Plot your Disney character visits
As mentioned above because we were in the slower corral by the time we got into the park during the race the character visits areas were packed. Next time I plan to look at the map ahead of time to plot where the characters might be and plan to run a bit faster before and in between to make up time if there is a long wait. We did capture a few photos but none with the popular Avenger characters we would have loved to capture.
5. Ice bath
We stayed at the best western Stovalls in which is located across the street from Disneyland. I had stayed there previously and knew they had a great location, free breakfast and most importantly for this trip; a bathtub. It sounds painful (and it is) but a ice bath is key for a quick recovery. As soon as we got back to the the hotel from the race we grabbed plastic bags and went to the ice vending machine to fill them up. We dumped all the ice in the tub and filled it with cold water and plunged in for 15 minutes. It was awful but this prevents lactic acid buildup in your legs and ensure you will be able to walk in the parks the rest of the day. I was sore but not as sore as other folks I saw hobbling around in the next couple of days after the race!
Hopefully this won’t be my last RunDisney race as I’m already trying to figure out how to do the Star Wars event next year!