For school fund-raisers, sweet sells well

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

The Iolani School Family Fair features homemade jams and jellies, a book bazaar and booths with an international menu ranging from Greek wraps to gourmet salads. Photo courtesy of Cathy Lee Chong

Central to these fairs is the good home cooking of parents, grandparents and other supporters who bake, pickle and can to supply the sales booths. Each fair has its specialties, sought-after by those in the know.

As the countdown grows short to two upcoming fairs — those at Hanahau'oli and Iolani schools — we asked fair planners what makes a hot seller.

Their answer, in summary: Something buyers are unlikely to go to the trouble of making for themselves. Chutney is the prime example here — at Hanahau'oli, Auntie Ann's Mango Chutney sells out within hours. One of the mothers has taught several years' worth of parents to make the chutney, a recipe she adapted from an auntie. The parents and children share the duty of picking mango, chopping and freezing it, cooking the chutney and bottling it.

Also likely to fly away quickly: Anything sweet. Anything with li hing powder.

"For the bake sale, you have to come early," said Faith Sato, who has worked on the Hanahau'oli Children's Fair for the past 10 years. "We have such wonderful creative bakers — they make mochi cakes, cheesecakes, you name it." As to the li hing products — they're an out that the committee offers to non-bakers. "Just put li hing powder on anything and we'll sell it," said Sato.

•	Hanahau'oli Children's Fair "Lord of the Rolls," with country store and bake shop 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday on campus, corner of Makiki and Nehoa streets in Makiki Iolani Family Fair "Wild Wild West" with food booths, boutique, book bazaar and "Le Gourmet" Noon-11 p.m. April 19 and 20 on campus, 563 Kamoku in Mo'ili'ili

In fact, the fair was Sato's first introduction to the school, and the artwork and other children's contributions she saw there were the reason she decided to enroll her children there.

The ripples from these fairs spread out into the community, even beyond the parents and relatives. Both Iolani and Hanahau'oli rely on corporate sponsors to donate food and gift certificates, which are used to buy ingredients.

Every year, Armstrong Produce donates basil for another popular Hanahau'oli seller: pesto. A friend in the community volunteers his culinary students who get public service credits for helping to make the pesto in their certified kitchen, so the school is able to make a lot of the popular Italian sauce ingredient to sell.

And restaurateurs have made a special gourmet booth possible for Iolani.

At Hanahau'oli, the ambience is that of an old-time country store, with bins of homemade kitchen items (scrubbies, towels, potholders, soaps and such) plus foodstuffs such as pies, cakes, cookies, jams and jellies.

At Iolani, planners wanted to offer fairgoers a chance to enjoy something special without piling on calories, an upscale experience without having to dress up. This gave rise to the cafe-style Le Gourmet booth, which features an international menu that ranges from Greek wraps to lavosh with wasabi butter, plus a line of salads based on recipes from such restaurants as Roy's, Hoku's, Sansei and L'Uraku.

Nalo Farms' Dean Okimoto began donating greens to the fair five years ago for these dishes. Chairman Juli Sui recalls chopping salad garnishes until 2 in the morning some years. "We were literally working out of the ice box," she said. This year, fresh California rolls from Hatsuhana Restaurant have been added to the menu courtesy of parents Kozo and Naomi Yamagishi.