Zombie Prom

Date night! Before marriage and children, Scott and I attended musicals, plays, poetry readings. It was nice to spend an evening with my man watching a dark comedy musical about a teenage boy who commits suicide only to return as a zombie to take his girlfriend to the Senior Prom. It's not as depressing as you think. The lead character belted out great tunes and the cast comprised of mostly high school students did an excellent job. Army Community Theatre on Fort Shafter was comfortable, spacious, and a pleasant alternative to the usual busy, crowded town theaters.

Happy Birthday Max

Horses, donkeys, pot bellied pig, wild boar, goats, chickens and kittens all greeted us at the Waimanalo Polo Field to celebrate Max's birthday. What a great place for a party where every kid had something to do-ride horses, arts and crafts, and a petting zoo.

Chocolate-Glazed Gingerbread Cake

My home smelled like Christmas as the ginger spiced cakes baked. The combination of ginger and spices with chocolate ganache is just divine.

Rugelach

This is what it's supposed to look like but this is how it turned out. Disaster. I continued because I couldn't bear to waste a whole bowl of cookie dough. Not pretty to look at, but quite edible.
I thought using the healthy gluten free, wheat free all purpose flour(hint: not cheap) would yield a tastier, healthier version of rugelach but instead I got dough that was too wet to roll out and retain a spherical shape after being sprinkled with melted apricot jelly, walnut mixture of chopped nuts, cinnamon, sugar and chocolate chips because it had the consistency of pancake batter.

Lemon Sugar Snap

I think one of the greatest foods is lemons. I use it in everything-meat, desserts, salads, and vegetables. That extra splash of freshly squeezed lemon juice brings out a bright flavor. These cookies required the zest and juice of a lemon which turned out fresh and light and so good with a cup of tea.

Children & Youth Day Festival

There was no excuse for us not going to the festival since Auntie Josette offered VIP parking and the use of her air conditioned office. I've passed the capitol during the festival many years and told myself, "I should go to that." The last time I visited was for a field trip and here I was explaining the significance of the columns (palm trees), water surrounding the capitol (Pacific Ocean), and the rotunda (volcanoes that created the islands) to Anna, Dylan and Shawn.
Uncle Carl saved the day with his humongous umbrella that protected us from the sun and a short downpour as we waited for over an hour for the Moon Bouncer. The kids had fun and that's all that matters.
Free rides, games, pumpkins and plants were available and no, I didn't see the governor.

Gingersnap

As I poured 1/4 c molasses into the batter, memories of my trip to the Philippines when I was 7 years old came flooding back. My father hadn't been home to his native country in over 20 years which called for a big celebration. He was the eldest son that left home to work in the sugar plantation when he was 17 years old. I remembered the day that the my aunts and uncles prepared desserts and I was fascinated by the process of the carabao (water buffalo) dragging weights over the sugar cane to extract the sweet liquid that would become a thick, dark amber syrup needed to make all the kankanen (Filipino desserts). I believe besides the ginger, it was also the molasses that gave these cookies a distinctive sweet spicy flavor.

Beauty and the Beast Musical

This was so worth missing kickboxing, driving in rush hour traffic and getting only 6 hours of sleep after the production let out at 10:30 pm and having to be at work early the next day for final make ups. Fancy stage sets, memorable music, and colorful costumes equaled a fabulous show!
We had a blast and I'm pretty sure the Friedls, the Kadalas and the the many friends we saw on Family Night did too!