LPS Lunch: Fantastically Magical

Today's Special

Come with me and you'll be, in a world of pure imagination - Song lyrics, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

In LPS land, magic can happen. Especially in the LPS Cafeteria.

Look around. The food is perfect.

For lunch, there's a three-layer strawberry cake, McDonald's hamburger and fries, blueberry pie, hotdog sandwich, fish, bones, bananas, mac and cheese, clams, soup, bread, and cheese.

Stop by and see into your imagination.

A small plastic square becomes a gooey marshmallow. Cut-up pieces of greenery transform themselves into a vegetarian delight.

In this world of a child's creation, what you'll see will defy explanation.

Cereal boxes are disproportionately sized and a giant cotton candy is baking in the oven.

There's coffee and tea brewing on the red-button burner of a plastic canvas 'stove.' Drinks are in a plastic pill box standing by Fridge.

If you want to view a paradise of goodies, simply look around for a pillbox-turned-treasure chest of county fair snacks. Press any of its lids for an array of cookies, broccoli pie and peppermint candy.

Here's a place where magical secrets abound, the latest rumored being that of a 'rock salad' that only Daisy, Rosie, and Reid have seen and eaten.

It has greens, and bird-of-paradise pieces (that Reid just learned he is allergic to), nuts, and an antique rock that unlocks the partaker's secret wish.

Playtime on the studio loft with First
Granddaughter and her LPS characters.
Hawaii Kai, June 2021

Don't you agree?

Everything is amazing.

So, let's raise our cup of blue raspberry slurpee to littlest furry pets with their pre-school gossip about a charmed salad.

Two-toned pink and chocolate cakes.

And strawberry-topped muffins served on a bottle cap saucer.

Here's wishing your day is filled with pure imagination, the wonder of a child's heart.

For You, I Give Thanks

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. - Melody Beattie

I am blessed to have so many great things in my life, things that have changed me, but I start and end with you - my family back home.

Inscription in Mum's handwriting: Of the seven jewels of my life here are six of them. To the missing diamond this photo is heartily dedicated.

Collage: Dad and Mum with my six brothers; four of our six dogs including their ink sketches by Dad. Manila: October 7, 1973 (four months after I had left for the US) 

Through the years, far though I've wandered across the seas, you have given me the roots to stand tall and strong.

For you, I am thankful. 

Manila: December 1996

The compass that has guided me.

My steady rock.

The inspiration to reach great heights, and my comfort when I falter.

Just as you have blessed me, in many ways that you may not even know, on this Thanksgiving Day, I'd like to celebrate you with the wish that your days may be filled with joy and peace!

 

For These, I Give Thanks

Today is a day of completion. I give thanks for this perfect day. Miracle shall follow miracle and wonders shall never cease. - Florence Shinn

Last super moon of 2020.
Photo: V.E.V., Columbus: May 6, 2020

Days like these.

Perfect.

Exquisite images, sightings.

A white swan by the lake. A rustling deer .
Photo: V.E.V., Blendon Woods: October 2021

Left: Stray pot-bellied pig. Photo: A.V.H., Hawaii Kai: Sept 2021.
Right: Baby geese. Photo: I.T.V., At the Academy: May 5, 2021

Lazy days. Silly days.

  

Left: Nap time. Makapu'u Beach: June 2021

Right: So who's cross eyed now??!!

Fun days.

Left: Riding a tandem bike at the Boardwalk. Right: Water sliding. Aug 5, 2020

Precious days with and remembering beloved pets.

Left: Meeka celebrates a birthday. Columbus: September 2020

Right: Bubba and Snowball's herb garden where Snowball's hutch used to be and where Andy's ashes were buried. The small river rock on the right marks where First Daughter planted wildflower seeds that the vet gave to plant in Andy's memory. July 7, 2020

Baby Minny, Madeline, and Lexi

And, of course, food.

Left: Thanksgiving Dinner. Columbus: 2020

Right: At Duke’s beachfront restaurant, an iconic establishment in Waikiki, anniversary dinner gift from Second Daughter: April 23, 2021

The funny thing about any big meal is that you spend 12 hours shopping for it then go home and cook, chop, braise, and blanch. 

Then it's gone in 20 minutes and everybody lies around sort of in a sugar coma and then it takes four hours to clean it up. So, we take out or eat out.

From First Daughter and Son-in-Law, a fabulous anniversary dinner treat at Roy's: oysters with caviar, seafood and peas risotto, filet mignon, chocolate souffle with vanilla ice cream and complimentary champagne and bread pudding. April 2021

Lunch at home, previewing Second Granddaughter's handcrafted Thanksgiving tablescape: an Indian and pilgrim family scene on her hand-tied runner (left) and her Mondrian-inspired hand painted centerpiece (right). November 2021

But most of all, my perfect day ends with you. 

People who make me happy, the charming gardeners who make my soul blossom.

First Daughter and family vacation. Maui: August, 2019

 

Left: Mother's Day with Second Daughter, Granddaughter. Columbus: 2020.
Right: Shooting hoops. Columbus: October 2021

Today is a perfect day to be better, to be present in all things and thankful for all things. 

Movie night. Hawaii Kai: June 2021

Family. Loved ones. Good food.

Good heavens. Let's eat!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rainbow Drive-In MishMash Feast: 'Plenny Ono Grindz'

Today's Special

'Grinds,' also spelled 'grindz,' is a Hawaiian word used to refer to good food.

The day was impossibly beautiful. 

The sun was flirting with the horizon, ready to set but not quite. Across the way, the lights of the lanai twinkled in the twilight. The horizon beyond the house was streaked with pale lemon and green and pink.

I rubbed my eyes. It had to be getting close to suppertime.

Yay!

Tonight's dinner at First Daughter and Son-In-Law's was a smorgasbord of takeaway food from the popular Rainbow Drive-In: 

* The unmatchable and ever-popular mixed plate of barbequed meat, boneless chicken and mahi-mahi

* Beef cutlet with brown gravy

* Hamburger steak

* Scoops of rice

* Slaw

* And extra order of macaroni-potato salad 

We had enough to feed Nigeria.  

I studied my plate before sampling.

Everything was fried in grease that was probably as old as the business which has been family owned and operated since 1961. The BBQed meat pieces were welded together by a sauce that I had brushed off before taking a bite.

Nice.

And the smell was like you wouldn't believe, of chopped onions setting upon mounds of ginger and garlic sizzling with a pinch of this, a fistful of that spice.

The slaw, heavy on the mayo, had a vegetable in it that looked green but was otherwise unrecognizable. I could have eaten the rice with my hands, but I opted to nab spoonfuls in a birdy, girlish way.

First Daughter and family. Hawaii Kai, May 2021

(Aside): If this food makes you tense, then for goodness sake, forget it and eat cottage cheese instead.

The day dragged to a close.

Although the sun had sunk behind the houses, the sky was still luminous.

Food tastes better when you eat it with your family. - Anonymous

Maybe it was the rub on the BBQ or the little green things masquerading as veggies which had been now simmering in my gut that gave me a feeling of relaxation while the rest of the world became busier.

Tomorrow, I'd face the refrigerator with my hand over my heart and once again pledge allegiance to hunger. Plus I could walk along the beachfront for the sake of my waistline which, like the universe, was ever expanding.

But for now, I'd declare that the meal was a sumptuous affair of the finest dishes I had ever tasted. Or to put it the local way, we enjoyed plenny ono grindz that night!

Malasada: 'It Brok Da Mout'

Today's Special

'Brok da mout' is a Hawaiian slang phrase meaning that whatever you ate was incredibly satisfying. 

You. The incredible baker.

You. The person with the happy chocolate chips.

You. The person waiting for a call back from The Great American Baking Show.

Please tell me. Do you know what a malasada is?

If negative, let your tummy be all ears. 

This scrumptious fried pastry, slightly more crispy and chewy than a doughnut but without a hole, will stop even Martha Stewart in her tracks and make her part ways with mere Krispy Kremes.

Sometimes called Portuguese fried dough, malasada is a fried confection made of small balls of yeast dough and coated with granulated sugar. 

If on Kapahulu Avenue you see the world billowing, cars skidding, and tightly-packed people lined up front and toward the corner street, you'd most surely have arrived at Leonard's, a Portuguese bakery that has beguiled customers with this sweet concoction. 

Like today.

Although it was only mid-morning, the place buzzed with life like a huge hallowed out tree colonized by a swarm of bees.

I felt like being hemmed in from all sides by everyone wearing the expectant expression appropriate to those marching forward to the promised land of a delectable treat.

Like them, I was imagining the excitement of choosing a filling. 

Hmm... will it be chocolate or banana cream? 

Perhaps one of the regionally popular haupia or guava flavors? I was picturing my delight in seeing a row of malasadas nestled between the folds of parchment paper and smelling the mingled perfumes of vanilla and lilikoi. 

I was also fancying the joy of adding an original creation like the malasada babies or Pao Doce pups.

As I partake of the sugary dessert, I just knew that I'd quickly devour it with abandon, finishing it off in a couple of hearty bites, and licking my lips.

Malasada, so darn good. Where have you been all my life? 

You brok da mout!

Musubi: It's 'Ono'

Today's Special

A wise person once said that food was an important part of a balanced diet.

I totally agree. 

Life, particularly on this Thanksgiving month, is all about what and how we eat. 

So it is that this series is a celebration of food, with especial tribute to the culinary treasures of Hawaii, including the islanders' unique way of describing their delicious cuisine. 

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'Ono' is a Hawaiian word meaning 'good to eat.' 

The sky over Waikiki Beach was gray and pink, with the very first yellow seams of dawn just starting to peak thru the cracks in the clouds.

Morning had arrived much too quickly, but not soon enough for spam musubi, a mash-up of Japanese cuisine and American canned meat shaped into a fast food origami. I knew it looked weird but I didn't want to look back and think, I could have eaten that.

I mumbled a quick prayer. Please, God. If you can't make me thin, make my friends fat.

That said, I took a deep breath, head high, body alert. I was ready, alright.

Sunlight was already gilding the kahili ginger-scented air. I walked north among the spandexed and the suntanned, past trendy beachfront cafes to the closest ABC store for a quick grab of this breakfast oddity.

Not to disappoint, rows of plastic-wrapped Twinkie-shaped mounds of steamed, sticky white rice snugly warming under a heating lamp greeted me. 

Well, hello, spam musubi.

I took my first warm bite. 

Flavored with unagi sauce and furikake seasoning of seaweed flakes and sesame seeds, the musubi was layered with egg and wrapped in a black band of dried nori seaweed.

The luncheon meat was salty, as it should be. A bit rubbery but flavorful. 

Onolicious! 

I was grinning like I was holding a big secret. (Disclosure: You only live once... lick your fingers).

I just did.

People say you can't buy happiness, but you can buy musubi and that's kind of the same thing. 

On this fine and soft day on Waikiki Beach, it was all I needed.

Spam musubi, you know you have my heart.