My mom and dad are co-owners
of our Hilo home, and try to spend at least a month here each year.
Traveling is no longer easy for them, however, so I’ve started
accompanying them on their outward bound trips to Hawai‘i (unlike
the trip home through the tiny Hilo airport, navigating security at
LAX can be a nightmare).
Since they now fly first
class, and since the remaining coach seats on this particular flight
were almost the same price as first class, I got to sit with them and
take my first first-class airplane trip.
Huzzah! Good time fun!
getting our hot towels
before dinner
Now, I must say that the
dinner on this United Airlines flight was not anything to boast
about; I’ve had better in coach on Air France and Luftansa. But the
other aspects of flying first class were pretty darn good: incredibly
attentive and friendly flight attendants; delicious hot fudge sundaes
for dessert:
Mom’s sundae is on the way
And best of all, all the cocktails you want—served in a real glass,
with hot nuts!
check out that white
“tablecloth” on my tray table
The guy in the seat next to
me was a photographer who grew up in Harlem, and he regaled me with
stories of famous musicians he’s known, such as Count Basie and
Duke Ellington. Then when he found out I was interested in
photography, he pulled this photo out of his briefcase to show to me.
Can you tell what it is?
Looks like a carving of a torso, right? In fact, it’s a shot of
some cooled lava rock, taken down in Kalapana on the Big Island. (Not
his photo, and he unfortunately couldn’t remember the name of the
photographer.) Pretty darn amazing, if you ask me.
Back in Hilo, Robin’s and
my first order of business was setting up our new lanai, which Robin
had completed right before our trip. Here it is, all decorated and
ready for relaxation (I’m sitting there as I write this):
The second order of business
was for me to make some kalua pork for my mom’s 84th
birthday party. (You can find the recipe and more photos on my
previous blog, here.)
wrapped in ti leaves,
ready to bake
There’s another Hawaiian
food similar to kalua pig, called laulau (rhymes
with “cow-cow”). This smaller, single-serving dish can be
made with pork, chicken, fish, or a combination thereof. Besides its
smaller size, its main difference from kalua pork is that the meat is
first wrapped in taro (called kalo in Hawaiian) leaves, and
then in ti leaves. Unlike the ti, which is discarded after cooking,
the taro leaves—similar in flavor to spinach—are eaten as part of
the dish.
laulau packages
ready to steam
The day before Robin and I
had left for the Mainland, our neighbor’s dog kennel collapsed,
knocking down part of a heliconia plant in our yard. The neighbor,
Kevin, was very apologetic, and gave me some homemade
laulau (pictured above) as a peace offering. We had it for dinner last night
with Mom and Dad.
I’m sure the individual
laulaus were intended for one person—Hawaiians can pack in
their food—but a half each was plenty for us. We had it with
steamed brown rice, roasted long beans, and my mom’s papaya chutney
(recipe here.)
the half laulau is made of pork, wrapped in taro leaves
It was ono; gotta make me some soon!
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