Honolulu Star-Bulletin Features /2005/04/13/

Stuffs

MORSELS

Events across Oahu benefit Foodbank

The Hawaii Foodbank aims to collect 550,000 pounds of food and $425,000 in cash Saturday during its annual food drive.

Especially needed are cans of meat or tuna, meals (such as canned chili), soups, beans, vegetables and fruits.

Bring donations to Restaurant Row, Koko Marina Center, McCully Shopping Center, Pearl City Shopping Center, Town Center of Mililani, Waianae Mall or Windward City Shopping Center. Several of these sites will be hosting entertainment through the day. Many military outlets are also drop-off points.

Cash donations may be made at Market City Shopping Center and along Kalakaua Avenue.

Other special events:

Great Wall of Tuna: The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations hopes to collect 1,500 cans of tuna by Friday. Drop off donations at the director's office, Room 321.
Ruby Tuesday: Restaurants are offering gift certificates in exchange for cans donated through Saturday.
Bag Up Hunger: Foodland and Sack 'N' Save stores are taking cash contributions at check-out through April 30.
Spam Jam Food Drive: Times and Island Mini-Mart stores are taking contributions to purchase Spam through May 3.
University of Hawaii athletics: Bring a canned good to the men's baseball game or volleyball match on Friday and receive a buy-one-get-one-free coupon for tickets.
King Windward Nissan: Canned goods will be accepted through April 30, and a portion of all new auto sales will go to the Foodbank.

IOLANI SCHOOL / 2004
Chef D.K. Kodama will host a cooking demonstration at the Iolani Family fair on Saturday.

Fine fair food

In terms of sheer audacity, food servers at the Iolani School Family Fair can stand proud.

Among the plates they'll be offering are the Oki Dog -- kalua pig and a hot dog wrapped in a warm tortilla -- and a 24-ounce smoked turkey leg. This is not to mention the usual malassadas, Hawaiian plate and barbecue chicken.

The fair takes place from noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the school.

For those seeking a bit more dining refinement than a big old turkey leg, the Le Gourmet booth will offer such items as Greek wraps, a lox and salmon mouse wrap, sushi, specialty mochi, gourmet teas and coffees, salads and desserts.

Chef Göran Streng of the Hawaii Prince Hotel will prepare select sushi and salads from 4 to 8 p.m. both days.

There also will be cooking demonstrations:

Friday: Elmer Guzman of Sam Choy's Diamond Head, 4 p.m.; Wayne Hirabayashi from Hoku's, 5:30 p.m.; Quia Chen from Seafood Village, 7 p.m.
Saturday: D.K. Kodama of Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar, 5:30 p.m.; Ronnie Nasuti of Roy's Hawaii Kai, 7 p.m.

Admission is free. Call 943-2339.

Kailua celebrates

Kailua's hometown restaurants will gather for the 13th Annual I Love Kailua Town Party, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Participating in A Taste of Kailua will be Agnes' Portuguese Bake Shop, Baskin-Robbins, Big City Diner, Buzz's Original Steak House, Chocolate Sushi, Cinnamon's Restaurant, Down to Earth Natural Foods, Jamba Juice, Los Garcia's Mexican Restaurant, Lucy's, May's Hawaii, Pali Gardens, Pizza Hut, Round Table Pizza, Starbucks Coffee, Tats Shaved Ice and Zia's Caffe.

The event will include crafts, a plant sale, children's activities, art displays and free health screenings, plus entertainment.

The event will take place on Kailua Road in front of Macy's, Longs Drug Store and Kailua Shopping Center. Traffic will be diverted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Admission is through the purchase of an event button -- $3 in advance; $4 at the event. The buttons are for sale at several Kailua locations, including Hardware Hawaii and Hula Moon. Call 234-0404 for a list of locations.

Proceeds benefit the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle.

Earth Day dining

Earth Day is April 22, but if you start planning now, you can throw an Earth Day party that will give your guests new ways to consider the food they eat.

Download a free set of Earth Day Creativity Cards, a game designed to inspire conversation and thought at the dinner table.

The cards call on you to describe, for example, the first meal you tried to cook. They also challenge you to come up with such facts as how many times a day the average person burps.

The card game is not so much a competition as it is a way of sparking conversation at the table. The cards can be dealt out slowly through dinner, or a few could be hidden under each guest's plate.

The set of 50 cards may be downloaded from www.earthdinner.org, a site sponsored by Organic Valley Family of Farms, a farming cooperative.

The Web site also offers recipe and decorating suggestions for planning an Earth Dinner.

The dinner itself is a potluck, with each guest bringing a dish inspired by fresh, local ingredients. They should come prepared to talk about the origins of the dish (an old family recipe, perhaps?) or about the source of the key ingredients.

(By the way, the average person burps 10 times a day.)

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