Luau '07

It has come and gone. If you missed it, my apologies. We had plenty of food to wipe out starvation in three third-world countries, or at least starvation for a whole bunch of people for approximately 4 to 12 hours depending. We fed approximately 150 people in three different groups. From noon to 2 p.m., we fed family. From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. we fed the neighbors. From 4 p.m. on we fed Kulani's law firm associates and his biking buds. Kulani manned the grill the whole time, and I played sous chef and daycare worker.

Luau By the Numbers:

• 120 pounds of chicken (chicken quarters marinated in Kulani's "Hauli Killer" sauce and finished on the grill)
• 50 pounds of sirloin (sliced thinly, marinated, and grilled to make Kalbi)
• 120 pounds of pork (cooked slowly in ovens overnight, shredded, then add in juices and salt)
• 20 pounds of potatoes and some carrots for Argentine potato salad (a throwback to the mission)
• 30 cups of rice
• Two big salmon fillets from Costco for lomi-lomi salmon (with fresh tomatoes from Angela's garden)
• Six Costco packages of mild Italian sausages (to grill Argentine style, with chimichurri sauce)

And special thanks to family who helped provide more authentic Hawaiian cuisine: Angela brought her chicken long rice. She makes delicious chicken long rice. Kuhia provided the ever popular Haupia (coconut pudding). This year he brought just the right amount, as there was none left over. Kehaulani brought awesome guava cake. Jonelle brought poke and poi. Mighty tasty. And friends brought desserts and salads. Thanks to all.

A very special thanks goes to my sweet neighbor girl Kyra O'Brien for watching Nohea for me so I could have two hands to work. And to Alika for being so helpful with whatever we asked him to do. And to Ben who helped man the grill all Saturday.

This year we tried entertaining the little kids a bit more by having a treasure hunt. That only lasted all of 10 minutes. So next year we'll need to work even harder on the games. Not to be Grandpa Simpson here, but in my day, all we needed were two things to represent flags or a ball, and we would go to the park to play some type of ball game or capture the flag. Kids these days need entertainment. Grumble, grumble, grumble.

The question I get asked the most when we do our annual luau is why? Why go to all this work for no particular reason? For us, it's two fold. We are continuing the traditions of Kulani's Hawaiian ancestry by remembering how to cook the native foods, and in keeping with Hawaiian traditions, you do NOT exclude anyone from a luau. You must have enough food for anyone to drop in and have some. And secondly, to be together with people and enjoy their company and talk with each other. With the invention of blogs, Internet, text messaging, the ability to communicate in person with people may be on the same path as the dinosaur. We're doing our part to keep the lines of communication open. If you missed it this year, there's always next year. Mahalo.

Pictures: Kyra holding Nohea at the luau.

I bought two gazebo tents at Big Lots for 75% off for $25 a piece. They served us well for the luau then broke apart after the event. Good thing I paid the 75% off price and not the full pop. The following is a picture of people eating underneath the tent. We also set out blankets and pillows, so in true Hawaiian style, people could take a nap between feeding one and feeding two (or second lunch, as some hobbits call it).