A Mother’s Day Aloha

Good Morning, and Happy Mother’s Day

This Mother’s Day took place in 2021 on our backyard lanai.

I wanted my big day to focus on our time of living in Hawaii. We lived in Waikiki, Pearl City, Honolulu, and Ewa Beach during our 13 years of residency. Because both of our children were born in Hawaii, I was able to celebrate 12 memorable Mother’s Day’s while there.

The word for ‘mother’ in the Hawaiian language is Makuahine.

How to say ‘Mother’s Day’ in Hawaiian is:

La Makuahine,

and how to say ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ is:

Hau’oli La Makuahine

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I would like to extend a Flower Lei Day Aloha to you!

(Me, with my mother-in-law, Sarajane Whann 1988, in Hawaii with our wrist lei’s.)

Just giving birth doesn’t make us mother’s. A mother is so much more than that. For those that know that, I wish you a wonderful and happy day, everyday!

Aloha,

Julie (Kulii)

Aloha means: Hello, Goodbye, and I Love You.

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The little charm on the napkin I made out of clay and baked in the oven, using a rubber stamp to make the impression.

This year I wanted foods that looked like something you would eat at a Vintage Luau.

Pineapples, a MUST!

Coconut, Da Kine!

Macaroni Salad, wouldn’t be Hawaii without it!

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My Beautiful Aloha Table

The tablecloth and napkins are Vintage Hawaiian.

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The Humuhumunukunukuapuaa Cocktail

The Humuhumunukunukuapuaa is the former state fish of Hawaii.

There isn’t anything “fishy” about this cocktail. It just has the same name.

The Humuhumu…

There are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet.

A, E, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, U, and W

The missionary’s that came to Hawaii did their best to write down their language as it was spoken by the native people of the islands. The Hawaiian people pronounce each of their vowels, unlike the English language where we don’t always.

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We actually enjoyed this cocktail through Mother’s Day weekend.

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My Vintage Hawaiian Coconut/Papaya Pound Cake

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The Whann Women

Sarajane, Beryl, Veronica and Julie

Sarajane and Milton Whann

(Milton Bernard Whann died February 11, 2022.)

Sarajane and Milton with little Veronica

(The reason I am not including photos of Brodie here is because he wasn’t born yet. I really wanted to feature photos of Gordon’s parents and grandmother, and their visit to Hawaii.)

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On The Menu:

Polyn-Asian Turkey Loaf with Pineapple and Cherries

Actually, two Turkey Loaves Here

Spinach and Kale Salad with Coconut and Macadamia Nuts

Asian Macaroni Salad

King’s Hawaiian Dinner Rolls

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My Delicious Dinner Plate

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My Mother’s Day Dessert

Vintage Coconut/Papaya Pound Cake

I made it myself.

It was delicious, but a challenge to make. You’ll see why. 🙂

Hawaii isn’t just about the Polynesian Cultures, they also have a very large Asian influence.

I wanted to incorporate the many influences of Hawaii in my day.

Orchids and Hibiscus

That is Spooky

Me, Enjoying MY Cake

(All Recipes Are Down Below)

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Some Souvenir Memories

A few plastic cups we picked up at The Aloha Stadium Flea Market, two cups that my children made for me for Mother’s Day when they were little, and a beautiful pottery heart keepsake that Veronica made for me to house my trinkets.

I love to find various statuary odds and ends and create my own fountains with them.

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Hank Came For a Visit

How I do Adore our Dogs

Grand-Dog Hank with Spooky and Sparky

Brodie With The Dogs

Sparky and Hank Get along GREAT!

Hank is a Cutie

The End 🙂

(Not Quite Yet.)

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The Following Day

Coconut Papaya Pound Cake with Mint…

My Beautiful Hawaiian Jewelry Bracelet Gift…

Cake with Toasted Coconut, and Coconut Ice Cream, with Dried Fruits and Nuts

It is ONO!

(That means delicious.)

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The Humuhumunukuapuaa Cocktail

This Special One is Just for ME!

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Recipes Start Here:

Hawaiian Cookbook

by Roana and Gene Schindler

This is an excellent cookbook for those of us that have a vintage foot in old Hawaii.

The Hum Hum…

Although, we didn’t go by this recipe exclusive.

Ingredients:

1 Ounce Orange Juice

1 Ounce Honey Cream

1/2 Ounce Heavy Cream

1 Ounce Dry Gin

1 Ounce White Rum

1/2 Ounce Coconut Milk

The above is the original recipe.

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OUR Recipe is as follows:

~ 2 Cups Ice

2 oz White Rum

2 oz. Gin

1/2 Cup Orange Juice

1/4 Cup Coconut Juice

1/2 Cup Guava Nectar

1/4 Cup Coconut Milk

1/4 Cup Heavy Cream

1/2 Cup Pineapple Juice

3 Tbsp. Grenadine Syrup

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Pictured are the ingredients we used which is a slight variation to the original drink.

In a large pitcher, add about 2 Cups Ice…

Then add your Rum, Gin, and Orange Juice..

Coconut juice…

Guava Nectar, Coconut Milk, and Heavy Cream…

Pineapple Juice…

and lastly your Grenadine Syrup.

Taste the mixture and add ingredients accordingly.

Pour into a tropical glass and enjoy.

You could blend the mixture if you liked as well. Either way this is a great tropical drink.

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I love old vintage cakes and I came across a recipe that just reminded me of an old Coconut Pound Cake. With the exception that I then made it into a Coconut/Papaya Pound Cake.

In my Aloha Kitchen

This Cake Truly was ONO!

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BUT…. Let’s get past this! Shall we?

That is Gordon trying to remove my STUCK cake.

There we go! Not too bad looking. We can fix that though. 🙂

I can just add a bit of dried papaya and some frosting….

Yes! This is working!

But, before we get here, let’s start at the beginning….

Julie’s Coconut/Papaya Pound Cake

w/ Frosting and Dried Fruits

The Ingredients:

It wouldn’t be vintage without my using the vintage mixer my grandmother gave me many years ago that she purchased from a yard sale for $20.00. That still works wonderfully, I might add!

That is the cake stand that my mother bought me many years ago for a birthday present.

We Need:

1/2 Cup of Butter or Margarine

1 Cup Crisco Shortening

3 Cups Granulated Sugar

3 Cups Swan’s Down Cake Flour

1 Cup of Coconut Milk

6 Eggs

1/2 t. Almond Extract

1/2 t. Coconut Extract

1-2 Cups Shredded Coconut

1/2 Cup Each of Dried Pineapple and Papaya Fruits

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Royal Icing

Confectioner’s Sugar

Coconut Milk

Meringue Powder

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Cake Toppings

Dried Fruits

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Pre-Heat the Oven to 300F

Here I greased the Bundt Pan with Crisco and then used regular Flour to dust it.

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Separating The Eggs, Set The White’s Aside

Butter, Crisco, and Egg Yolks

You want to beat the Egg Yolks with the Crisco and Butter on a high speed.

Once blended, gradually add the granulated sugar.

You want to beat until light and fluffy.

Time to add the Almond Extract and the Coconut Extract flavoring.

Continue to beat until they are blended.

Ready to Sift the Cake Flour

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Now we want to start to add our Cake Flour. We want the mixer on a low speed and alternate between Cake Flour and the Coconut Milk. (If you don’t have Coconut Milk you can use regular milk.)

You want to start with the Cake Flour, and end with the Cake Flour.

So, just add a little bit of Cake Flour and mix it all together, then add a little bit of Coconut Milk, and mix it all together, then add a little bit of Cake Flour….

Mix on low until everything is thoroughly blended.

Beautiful Batter

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In my small bowl I added the Egg Whites and I am mixing them on a high speed until they form still peaks.

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Like So….

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Now I am adding the 1-2 Cups of Shredded Coconut to my original batter and mixing well.

You can see my two bowls of batter.

Here I am gently folding in the Egg Whites to the original batter.

My Bundt Pan and My Batter

Before I decant into my Bundt Pan I wanted to add some Dried Papaya and Dried Coconut to the batter. I just eyeballed it and used as much as I wanted. Probably about 1/2 a Cup each. Just stir in by hand.

Now It’s time to pour into my greased and floured Bundt Pan.

The Oven is Pre-Heated to 300F.

You want to bake for about 2 hours. I did check the cake at 60 minutes, and then at 90 minutes just to make sure it wasn’t burning. Each oven is a little different and cooking times can vary. I also wanted to make sure the cake wasn’t burning. If it is getting too brown for you, cover with Aluminum Foil and continue the cooking process.

When done, remove from the oven and set on a cooling rack until thoroughly cooled.

The mistake that I made was that I left it in the Bundt Pan overnight because we weren’t going to eat it until the following day. What I should have done was to remove it once cooled. Then, it wouldn’t have gotten so stuck.

So, next day! Managed to wrangle it out of the pan.

Those big chunks you see are collateral damage. Delicious, collateral damage btw.

(Never throw something delicious away. It can always be eaten with ice cream!)

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With the cake salvaged as much as possible, it’s time for the frosting. 🙂

I wanted to make a Royal Icing.

The instructions are actually on the container of Meringue Powder.

But, instead of water I used Coconut Milk.

Just follow the Meringue Powder instructions and you can make it for yourself.

Making Royal Icing in my Vintage Mixer

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My original intention was to just drizzle the Royal Icing on top of my cake. However, seeing as how I had gaps and holes in it, I wanted to hide them, so, I added some Papaya Dried Fruits to fill in some of the gaps.

I also added some small dried fruits of Coconut and Papaya around the cake bottom.

In order to fill in those gaps as well.

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Toasting Shredded Coconut

It’s actually quite simple. You just spread the shredded coconut on a baking sheet lined with Aluminum Foil. Place into a 350F oven and remove after about 10 minutes and stir around. Place back into the oven for an additional 5 minutes or so. Then remove and stir around. You want it to be a toasted color and taste.

Right Out of the Oven

These are Coconut Strips that we toasted for our Cake as well as our Spinach and Kale Salad.

I am so enjoying my CAKE!

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King’s Hawaiian Dinner rolls

I would like to say that before Obama became President no one on Mainland America even knew of them. They were exclusively Hawaiian. Happy to have them here!

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Asian/Hawaiian Macaroni Salad

(Write up by Gordon)

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The Ingredients:

1 Box Elbow Macaroni

1 tsp. Sea Salt – we used Hawaiian Sea Salt

~3/4 Cup Chopped Celery

~3/4 Cup Chopped Bell Pepper – Orange and Red

~3/4 Cup Miracle Whip

~2 Tbsp. Honey Mustard

~1 Heaping Tbsp. Sweet Relish

~1 Cup Stick Carrots – chopped slightly

~1/2 tsp. Ground Pepper

~2 Tbsp. Aji Mirin Sweet Cooking Rice Seasoning

~3 Tbsp. Sesame Oil

~1 Tbsp. Roasted Sesame Seeds

~1 Tbsp. Black Sesame Seeds

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Place about 3 quarts of water into a large pot and set it on high heat.

Add your salt to the water to flavor the macaroni.

Clean and rinse your celery as it is grown in sandy soil. Chopping off the root about an inch from the base will get rid of a good deal of this dirt. It will also release all the stalks from the base. Then cut off the top of the celery to get rid of the dried and brown ends.

Slice the celery stalks in three sections then chop them into small pieces as shown.

Slice your Bell Peppers into lengths then into small pieces.

When your water has come to a boil, add your macaroni.

Stir the macaroni occasionally to insure it doesn’t stick.

After the macaroni has cooked as directed and is slightly al dente or is cooked in a way that it still retains some texture, pour the macaroni into a colander and rinse it well with cold water to stop the cooking process.

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Pictured are some of the ingredients I used to give this macaroni salad an Asian taste.

Once the macaroni has been cooled and is well drained, place the it into a large bowl.

Add your Miracle Whip to the salad…

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Then add your Honey Mustard.

You could easily substitute this for an Asian hot mustard in keeping more with the theme.

Now add your Sweet Relish to the bowl…

along with your Bell Pepper.

We purchase these stick carrots and we felt they were slightly too big for the salad.

I gave them a rough chop as shown to work better in the salad and placed them into the bowl.

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Add your fresh ground Black Pepper and Mirin to the bowl.

I like to use Mirin as it provides a slightly sweet Asian flavor.

Add your sesame oil as well. This ingredients will provide a slightly nutty flavor, but can be overpowering to the entire dish if you use too much. We love it, so that would be hard to do for us. 🙂

Give all the ingredients a good stir and add any previous ingredients to make it your own.

Lastly add your Sesame Seeds to the pasta.

See how the contrasting Black Sesame Seeds give the pasta a nice look! Stir well again and taste the salad and adjust the seasonings as need be.

We hope you enjoy my take on this American Classic!

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Cute Sparky Break 🙂

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Our Polyn-Asian Turkey Loaf with Pineapple and Cherries

(Write-up by Gordon)

Ingredients:

1 Vidalia Onion – Coarsely Chopped

4 Garlic Cloves – Finely Chopped

1 1/2 Cups Bell Peppers – various colors coarsely chopped

Plus 1/4 Cup more to top the loafs before cooking

1/2 Cup Plain Bread Crumbs

1 tsp. Hawaiian-Style Sea Salt

1 Tbsp. Sweet Paprika

1 Tbsp. Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1/2 Cup Splenda Brown Sugar

4 Tbsp. Oyster Sauce

4 Tbsp. Sweet Soy Sauce

4 Tbsp. Hoisin Sauce

1/2 Cup Soy Sauce – Aloha Brand

3 Eggs

3 Lbs. Ground Turkey

16 Pineapple Rings

20 Maraschino Cherries

1 Cup Hawaiian-Style Bar-B-Que Sauce – (Halm’s)

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Vidalia Onions and Ground Turkey

Ready to Get Started

Hoisin, Oyster, and Sweet Soy Sauce

Hawaiian Shirt Gordon 🙂

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Chop your Vidalia Onion coarsely as shown…

and add it to a large bowl.

Now finely chop your Garlic Cloves as shown…

and add it to the bowl.

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Chop 1 1/2 Cups of Bell Peppers…

and add them to the bowl.

Add your Plain Bread Crumbs to the bowl.

Here is the Sea Salt and Sweet Paprika brands we used.

Adding the Hawaiian-Style Sea Salt …(if you don’t have this you can add any sea salt.)

Then, the Sweet Paprika and freshly ground Black Pepper.

Add your Splenda Brown Sugar to the bowl.

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Here are the sauces we used with the eggs in the next few slides. I really like this combination of sauces and I fully recommend you experiment with your own combinations. The Sweet Soy Sauce tastes so much like Karo Syrup you could eat it with your pancakes… amazing!

Mix the ingredients in the bowl as shown.

Now add your Oyster Sauce…

then your Sweet Soy Sauce…

and Hoisin Sauce to the bowl.

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In a smaller bowl, add your Soy Sauce (Aloha Brand is one of the best we have used)…

then add your eggs…

and using a whisk or fork, whisk the eggs and Soy together.

This is the Ground Turkey that we used.

Here you can see the various levels of fatty Ground Turkey where the one with more fat is whiter. I did this so the meat would stay juicy.

Add your Ground Turkey to the bowl and mix together …

then add your eggs and soy mixture and mix them together.

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Here is a great picture of the end result.

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Line your bread pans with foil to help you to remove the meat loaf when fully cooked.

Preheat your oven to 375’F.

Add the mixed ingredients to the bread pans as shown. Here I am topping the loafs with some chopped Bell Peppers to just give the top some color.

Place the loafs onto a sheet pan and place them in your oven baking them for 1 hour.

When the loafs are at an internal temperature of 160’F, remove them from the oven and let them rest for about 15 min. Letting them rest will allow the super heated juices near the outside of the meat to return to the center of the meat, cooking the center of the loaf. This is why you can remove the loafs when they reach 160’F. They will reach their optimum temperature of 165’F after they rest. Once rested, remove the loaves and place onto a large cutting board.

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(It was Julie’s idea to not slice entirely through the turkey loaves, in order for the loaves to fan outward for a nice presentation.)

Make a slice about one inch wide and about an inch from the edge of the loaf as shown.

Bend the loaf on the cut side and insert a Pineapple Ring into each slice.

Here you can see how I made this decorative look to the loaf. You can also grill the pineapple slices separately to give them a boost of flavor.

Place the loaves on a large platter.

Add your Maraschino Cherries to the loaves as shown.

As a garnish, I used a ripe Pineapple and sliced it in half.

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Here are the packets of Hawaiian-Style Bar-B-Que Sauce we used.

Drizzle the Bar-B-Que Sauce over the Meatloaf and Pineapple garnish as shown.

We could have also grilled the pineapples to give them those great grill marks but we were short on time.

We hope you will try this recipe as it is a great Hawaiian replacement for the same old Meatloaf.

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Spinach and Kale, Coconut, Mandarin Orange Salad

w/ Vinaigrette

(Recipe Write-Up by Gordon)

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Ingredients:

8 Radishes – quartered

1 Cucumber – Sliced into 1 inch thick pieces and quartered

3 Clementines – peeled

1/2 Red Onion – sliced thinly

2 Cups Baby Kale

2 Cups Baby Spinach

Garnish with Macadamia Nuts and Roasted Sweet Coconut

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Slice your Radishes and Cucumber as shown and place them into a large bowl.

Now add your thinly sliced Red Onion

and your Clementines.

Then add your Baby Kale and Baby Spinach…

and mix all the ingredients together.

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The Vinaigrette

This is a picture of some other ingredients that went into our other recipes, except the Roasted Coconut and the Macadamia Nuts.

To make the vinaigrette I used a variety of flavors.

To start, I used 1/4 Cup Pineapple Juice…

then added a few Tbsp’s. of Rice Vinegar, White Balsamic Reduction…

then about a Tbsp. Aji Mirin Sweet Cooking Rice Seasoning…

then a Tbsp or so of Ginger and Honey Apple Cider Vinegar….

and then about a Tbsp. or so of Turmeric and Honey Apple Cider Vinegar.

Lastly add about 1/4 Cup Olive Oil.

Add some Hawaiian Sea Salt then Fresh Ground Pepper.

Use a whisk to mix all the ingredients well. Now, take a Spinach leaf and dip it into the Vinaigrette to taste it. The Vinaigrette should leave an acid bite at the back of your throat. If it does that and you like the taste … you are done. If not, add some more of the ingredients and taste it again.