Hawaii food

Captain's Log, Stardate 05.09.2005

It's been a relaxing few days in Hawaii. My cousin flew in to visit from Colorado so I got to see him for the first time in years. We went to a party on Saturday night for him at my uncle's house, and we celebrated Mother's Day yesterday at my parents' house with huli-huli chicken (chicken slow-roasted on a rotating spit over low-heat mesquite wood so it has a smoky flavor and very juicy flesh) and musubi (rice balls).

For breakfast on Sunday morning, we went to our local diner Dot's, which has been around longer than I've been alive. My parents, my aunty and my grandma go there every Sunday morning. The restaurant has an amazing Loco Moco (a hamburger patty made with ground beef, onions, egg and bread pieces, fried and served over steamed white rice, topped with an egg over-easy and savory brown gravy), but I had their homemade blueberry pancakes, loaded with blueberries in the pancake mix. Hawaii doesn't skimp on the butter--they serve the pancakes with a huge chunk hacked right off the butter block.

Today I went to the Mililani Cemetery to put flowers on my Uncle Richard's and my grandpa's graves. I also took a few pictures. I think I'll open my Chicklit/Suspense in that cemetery.

Afterwards, we went to Kua'aina, a terrific hamburger joint in downtown Haleiwa, North Shore O'ahu. This place is da bomb. Their fries are cut extra thin with the skins still on, so they're crispy and out of this world. Their hamburgers are at least two-napkins' worth of drippy mess. We arrived when it opened at 11 AM, so we beat the lunch crowd (although today there was less people than normal, maybe because the summer tourist season hasn't started yet).

Tonight, my paternal grandma is coming over for dinner. We'll be eating Korean BBQ--kalbi (marinated, charcoal-grilled beef), meat chung (marinated beef pan-fried with an outer layer of eggs), and chop chae (stir-fried rice noodles). I'm not sure if I spelled those correctly but who cares--they all taste great.

Hmm, I guess I have a definite food trend going on here.

Writing: The Chicklit anthology idea may not pan out. Janet Spaeth got word from Barbour that their Chicklit anthologies aren't selling as well as their romance anthologies, possibly because the reader demographics are different.

So now, we're trying to figure out what we want to do. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to work with these terrific, seasoned authors, but if it's not possible then I can work on my Hawaii Chicklit/Suspense and be happy.

I wish I had more time here. There's so much I want to do and see, research for my book. My parents aren't into rushing places anymore, though, so I'm dependent on how they feel about taking me around. I also don't really know what's new, how the culture has changed since I was last here.

I haven't prayed enough about this, I think. If God wants this story done, it'll have to be by His strength, with His creativity, using His insight. I need to know what message He wants for this story. It'll be nice to write about the local Hawaii I know and remember, but the heart of this story needs to be more Christ-centered.

Diet: Actually, despite the wealth of good food, I've been conscious of my portion sizes. I'm probably still overeating a bit, but not as much as I used to.