Hawaiian Luau

[KARLYN]

Lets Create A Luau In Your Own Home ;
We Could Make Kalua Pig With Cabbage , Pork Lau Lau ,lomi Salmon, Chicken Long Rice, Maui Onion With Hawaiian Salt,and Poi.

[StirBlue]

KARLYN: We had an Hawaiian Luau in our church last summer. It was great fun and the food is very easy to prepare. The decorations were beautiful, simple and easy to make. We have several members who are from Hawaii and they were delighted with the festivities.


Of course some people still think Hawaii is a foreign country.....???
Every one of our states is quite unique in tradition and style.

We have many Octoberfest here to celebrate our German heritage. Would you like to create one in Hawaii?

[Claire]

We lived in Hawaii, off-and-on, for ten years. We decided that this being my husband's 60th year, we would do stuff that was 50s and 60s oriented. Next month is my turn to do our "bunch for brunch". We decided on a luau. We have many friends in Hawaii now, and from Hawaii, and are getting suggestions all over the place.

[IronSides]

sounds good!!

[Claire]

The Luau brunch was a huge hit. Main dish was fried rice, and we grilled some pineapple and spam (yes, I lived in Hawaii on-and-off for ten years, and spam rules the islands). I tried to make lomi lomi salmon, but it didn't work (I think because of the lack of quality of the fish). But everyone really, really got into it and we had a wonderful time.

Oh, we're going to a hukilau, to a .....

[ironchef]

If the quality of salmon in your area isn't that great, you can also use smoked salmon for the lomi salmon. It's not the same as fresh, but it's better than using a low quality fresh salmon (i.e. farm raised Atlantic) because the flavor doesn't taste watered down.

[licia]

We had a luau several years ago, but since none of us had been to Hawaii, we didn't serve authentic food. We had ham, sweet potatoes, salads, lots of fruit and I don't remember what else. We wore leis and also flowers in our hair, and let the guys do the hula in grass skirts for entertainment. Not to be the real thing, it was lots of fun. We lighted the area with tiki torches and candles and also had floating candles with flowers in the pool.

[RMS]

Oh they all sound like fun. I've never been to one!

[Claire]

Oh, you really must do it. I've been to the "real deal" many times (i.e., when local families would throw a potluck party and roast a pig) and many commercial ones. Not to mention campy, fun ones like the brunch. Luckily I have a group of friends who enter into the spirit of whatever we are doing. I DID think of ordering poi but the cost was prohibitive for something no one would really eat, and chicken long rice ... well, rice noodles are so easy to screw up. Can't do the lau lau because there are no banana or ti plants around here! Luckily, since it was a brunch, the fried rice was enough!!! The one thing I didn't do was go to the party store in Dubuque for leis. A friend told me I should have said something, he would have gone for me. Maybe I'll make it an annual event. As I said, everyone got into the spirit of it. There wasn't a solid colored shirt in the room. You wouldn't think there were that many "aloha" print clothes in Illinois. I just wish one of my hula-dancing friends could have been there (and yes, I have a half-dozen tapes and CDs of both old-style "haole" Hawaiian music, the Cazimero Brothers, and Bob Nelson!).

[Dina]

Sounds fun Claire. We got some Haupia (coconut pudding) which I hear it's hard to make from scratch. I will have to research the recipe to give it an attempt. I was looking for poi in our grocery store (which is suppose to be international) but could not find it. I was hoping to try lots of pineapple dishes in the luaus we went to but didn't find any but in their desserts.