Purple Potatoes

At the commissary last week, I spotted something I had to have -- a 1-pound bag of Okinawan sweet potatoes. The packaging proclaimed that these tiny sweet potatoes had purple flesh. I've had purple sweet potatoes at the Polynesian Cultural Center's luau and they were pretty good, so I snagged a bag to make alongside our meal of maple-garlic pork chops. The $1.64 the bag cost was pretty much worth the hilarious picture on the package -- a purple sweet potato dressed as a superhero. I peeled and boiled the potatoes, then served them with a gluttinous amount of butter. They were indeed purple and turned an even darker shade of violet after they were cooked.

The potatoes had a much thicker texture than typical sweet potatoes and a slightly different, less sweet flavor. I enjoyed the novelty of purple potatoes, but I didn't think they tasted as good as traditional orange sweet potatoes. However, I think serving both types together would make a good (and very colorful) side dish.

Sumida Farm

Jarrod and I frequently drive down Kamehameha Highway in Pearl City to go out to eat or to go shopping. That often-congested expanse of road is filled with restaurants, stores, and the Pearl Ridge Mall. And nestled in among all the commerce is a most unlikely thing: a few acres of bright green watercress fields, complete with scarecrows and a little thatched-roof hut. I've been fascinated by Sumida Farm since we first drove by it last October, and I finally remembered to take my camera with me so I could snap a few pictures as we passed it.

I was curious about the farm and a quick Google search turned up some interesting information. According to the Hawaii Indpendent (which recently ran a profile on the farm), it sits on 10 acres of land and produces 70 percent of Hawaii's watercress. Sumida Farms has been in business since 1928 and somehow managed to avoid being overtaken by shipping centers or bought out by developers.

I've always been annoyed that the Pearl Ridge Mall is in two separate wings, so you either have to pay 50 cents to take the monorail or get in your car and drive the distance (maybe a quarter mile + traffic and stop lights) to get to the other part. But now I realize that Sumida Farm, a green oasis situated perfectly between the two sections of the mall, is the likely reason for the inconvenience. And I have to respect the farm owners who probably withstood multiple haranguings by developers and offers of millions of dollars for their prime acreage so they could keep their 10-acre farm that was there long before Macy's and Sears and Chili's ever thought of expanding to Hawaii, before Kamehameha Highway was even a paved road.

Caramel Apple Bliss

I'm starting to pine for fall. Living in warm climates for the last three years has really made me miss seasons, especially fall, which has always been my favorite. All year long, I look forward to pumpkins, apples, sweaters, boots, the first snow, spice-scented candles, watching Sunday afternoon football while the chili simmers on the stove, the changing colors of fall foliage, the crunch of stepping on dried fallen leaves, the crispness in the air, then Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas (which is not technically a part of fall, but it's the culmination of the most festive few months of the year). As a kid I even loved starting back to school (and college!).

Mid-September is about the time I start getting jealous of all my "foul-weather" family and friends. In Hawaii, the daily high rarely ventures out of the 80s and it can be a bit hard to get in the fall spirit. But in an effort to create a fall-like atmopshere, I put out all my fall decor this weekend and I decided to bake a treat to match the season: caramel apple cupcakes from the October Rachael Ray magazine.

The "cake" part of these cupcakes is really more of an apple-cinnamon muffin. But these treats earn their "cupcake" title from the decadent, gooey caramel topping. The cupcakes are about 1/2 shredded apple and 1/2 cupcake batter; the result is a cupcake full of sweet, tart apple bits. The flavor melds perfectly with the caramel topping and each bite really is reminiscent of a caramel apple. These are the unfrosted cupcakes:

And here they are after they've been smeared with a big dollop of melted caramel and cream. They're absolutely perfect after heating in the microwave for 15 or 20 seconds. Yum! It's caramel apple bliss.

It Broke Da Mouth

Jarrod and I recently discovered (with the help of some friends) an amazingly good Hawaiian pizza parlor. The full name is Da Big Kahuna's Pizza -n- Stuffs, but we just call it "Big Kahuna's." The two best things about Big Kahuna's are the delicious, one-of-a-kind crust and the unique toppings with an island flair. We ordered Da Sumo Special, which came loaded with kalua pork, Portuguese sausage, pepperoni, ham, Italian sausage, bacon, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes and black olives. The menu delcares: "this one broke da mouth." (That's Hawaiian for "amazingly good.")


Next time, we're going to order the kalua pork pizza. It comes topped with Hawaiian barbeque sauce, chunks of pork and green onions. The menu includes over a dozen other specialty pizzas like beef brisket, chicken stir fry, eggplant, Mexican (it even has pinto beans!), Jamaican jerk chicken, and one I'm especially intrigued by: Da California Club. It's a five-cheese pizza, topped with chicken, bacon, ham and tomatoes. When it comes out of the oven, it gets mounded with chilled shredded lettuce and ranch dressing. Judging by the first three pizzas we've had from Big Kahuna's (two Da Sumos and a vegetarian) every pizza on the menu will probably "break da mouth."