peterliu47 In Real Life
I had a great time shooting photos at Tastings Of Archipelago event night before last, hosted by Dania Katz of Edible Hawaiian Islands and my client Rick Cowan at his Archipelago Maui showroom. The event was a fundraiser for the Lahainaluna Agricultural Department Youth At Risk program. Great people, great venue, great cause and amazing food.
See all the photos at my social media site ->
In support of #EatLocalHI week, my wife Kathy and I have just been invited to a special ‘Ulalena event on Friday, October 1, 5:30-8:00 p.m.
The show is complimentary if you bring a locally sourced pupu (appetizer) to share for 4-6 people.
Who else is coming?
If you haven’t been to a tweetup, you’re really missing out. What’s a tweetup? That’s where Twitter users (or “tweeters,” or “twits”) “meet up” IRL (“In Real Life”) to socialize, network and sometimes promote a venue, like we did at Whole Foods in Kahului, Maui today.
Whole Foods Maui is now offering Sunday brunch from 8:00 a.m. to noon, featuring whatever’s on your plate for $7.99 a pound. Defintely something to check out if you’ve never been.
@AlohaKathy, @raatz, @ucsmiles and @jalove at the Whole Foods Kahului Maui Tweetup.
@lhccmatt @sfdhawaii @julieyakacoco at the Whole Foods Kahului Maui Tweetup.
@joelkatzmaui playing his soothing Hawaiian Steel Guitar at the Whole Foods Kahului Maui Tweetup.
@joelkatzmaui playing his soothing Hawaiian Steel Guitar at the Whole Foods Kahului Maui Tweetup.
Back To The 50's Highway Fountain, Laupahoehoe, Big Island, Hawai'i
Back To The 50's Highway Fountain, Laupahoehoe, Big Island, Hawai'i
Kendra Ignacio, co-owner of Back To The 50's Highway Fountain, Laupahoehoe, Big Island, Hawai'i
Back To The 50's Highway Fountain, Laupahoehoe, Big Island, Hawai'i
Chris and Kendra have relationships with local ranchers and growers in the area, and use locally raised, grass-fed beef and local produce whenever possible.
Kendra gave me the grand tour before we ordered our lunch…
Next time you find yourself on the road along the Hamakua Coast of the Big Island, plan on lunch at Chris and Kendra’s diner. It’s truly a one-of-a-kind local dining experience. Meantime, find them on Facebook. Stop by their wall and say hi. Tell them I sent you.
I’m happy to see how our Maui tweetups have grown and evolved in the last year or so. It used to be just a small group of us meeting at a coffee place or somewhere to catch up on each other IRL (In Real Life). It turned a corner when we did the tweetup at AK’s Cafe on Lower Main Street in Wailuku during our Malama Maui tour with the Maui Visitors Bureau, which ended up being great promotion for the venue, and 12 of the 18 people who attended had never been there before.
That event seems to have sparked a new tradition of holding tweetups partly to promote various venues on the island. Last Thursday, my friend Dania Katz of Edible Hawaiian Islands organized one at Star Noodle in Lahaina. Our tweetup group got free pupus (appetizers) and desserts, and the proceeds from everything we purchased were donated to the Maui Food Bank. By the end of the evening, we raised $345 and the Star Noodle staff threw in another $100 for a total of $445 donated.
Mouthwatering ribeye in a teri-yuzu sauce at Star Noodle, Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii
Not bad for a get together with friends old and new… great food, great networking, promoting a great local eatery and raising funds for a good cause. It’s one of the rewards of social media and the real life relationships that result from it.
If you’re on the island, watch our #MauiTweetup hashtag for future tweetup events, like the one coming up at Whole Foods Maui on Tuesday, June 8 and the one at Ono Gelato on Wednesday, June 14. Come meet local tweeters IRL!
See Jen Russo‘s blog post at Maui Dish for the complete scoop on our fabulous Star Noodle evening…
One of the things we miss about living in Northern California is the ability to just get in the car and drive to the Sonoma or Napa wine country. In fact, we used to stay at the Honor Mansion in Healdsburg and participate in the Winter Wineland events every year.
So it’s no surprise we had a great time at the Zinfandel Grand Tasting a couple of weeks ago, sponsored by ZAP—the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers, held at the Pa’ina building on the UH Maui campus.
We were delighted to be able to visit with the owners of a couple of our favorites from the Healdsburg area. Our favorites of the evening were Mauritson’s Rockpiles—the Ridge and the Cemetary, and Seghesio’s Rockpile as well.
To accompany the wines, the Maui Culinary Academy hosted a cookoff with some exquisite food. My favorite, the Hoisin Shortribs with Sweet Potato Ravioli, was among the winners.
I have to confess, prior to this event, I didn’t even know ZAP existed, but it’s a great idea, forming an organization to promote a particular variety of wine. I hope this becomes a regular thing in Maui.
Anyone who knows us knows Kathy and I are wine enthusiasts, so when big wine event comes along on our isle, we’re there.
ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) is having their Zinfandel Grand Tasting on May 21 at the Maui Culinary Academy, West 310 Ka’ahumanu Ave in Kahului. Public Tasting is 6:00-8:30 p.m. and 10 future chefs will compete in a people’s choice cookoff.
This is not to be missed! Get your tickets quick!
Maui Onion Festival, Whaler's Village, Ka'anapali, Maui, Hawaii.
Lisa Kubota and Tannya Joaquin of KGMB9 with Chef Russell Siu at the Maui Onion Festival.
Being the cook in the house, I use onions almost every day, for one thing or another.
When we lived in California, finding Maui onions was a treat. Now I can get them anytime I want, and it’s human nature to take something like that for granted when access is so easy, but I try not to. The Maui onion is truly unique, unlike any other out there.
Kids participating in the Raw Onion Eating Contest at the Maui Onion Festival.
In the four years we’ve lived in Maui, we’d never been to the Maui Onion Festival, but after being involved with the local growers over the last few months, we decided we should go. The schedule was jam-packed with chef demonstrations, raw onion eating contests, live music and hula dancing.
A contest for the Best Maui Onion Recipe was held among some of the top chefs from the islands, and there was plenty of food to be had from several local restaurants.
If you’re looking for something fun to do on a weekend with your family, this is a unique Maui experience that shouldn’t be missed.
Coffee is one of my few vices. I simply can’t get enough of the stuff. Give me a strong dark roast, black, anytime of the day, and I’m happy.
My wife is a Maui Master Gardener and recently met the folks at the Maui Coffee Association, so when she asked if I’d like to tag along to their 3rd Annual Seed to Cup Workshop, it was a no brainer for me. I learned a lot about the beverage that has been a lifeline of mine for so many years, and met a lot of interesting people along the way. Good times.
Earlier this week, South Maui Sustainability held a Harvest Day Party at their Kihei Elementary School Garden. Volunteers Chef Nio Kindla, Kathy Becklin, Susan Wyche and Stuart Karlan led Ms. Manglicmot’s 19 eager kindergarten students around the garden and showed them how to harvest their own vegetables.
Kids with their tomato harvest at the Kihei Elementary School Garden.
Chef Nio Kindla teaching the kids how to make a salad as Kathy Becklin looks on at the Kihei Elementary School Garden.
They brought them to Chef Nio, who made a deal with them that they had to try everything before they decided they didn’t like it, knowing that they hadn’t seen or tried many of the items before. He then proceed to show them how to wash and assemble the vegetables into a salad.
Kids with the salads they made with Chef Nio at the Kihei Elementary School Garden.
When the salad was prepared, the volunteers lay out beach mats so the kids could sit around the bowls enjoy the fruits of their labor. They did indeed try everything.
One of the clear favorites was the green beans dipped in a catsup Kathy Becklin made using tomatoes picked from the garden—a locavore treat. Watching the kids’ enthusiasm over eating the vegetables they handpicked themselves was an extremely rewarding experience. These are kids likely to eat their veggies when they grow up.
A second group of kids were sad and disappointed when the sky opened up and pouring rain prevented them from having their turn at the harvest, but they were treated to a large bowl of salad, which came back empty. Next time.
