There was the time that Sam told some folks on the Mainland that he was going to do an imu for a food demo. They thought he meant the famous flightless bird. That was also the time that they had to use a backhoe to dig the imu pit because it was winter, and the ground was frozen solid.

She loves the story of how, as a young man working in the kitchen of a local hotel, Sam was told that he could get a promotion if he could prove he knew how to chop. So he chopped. Everything in his parents' yard. Including his mother's prize rose bush. "He had to earn the money to buy his mother a new rose bush," Cook says, laughing.

She does a lot of laughing around Sam. "The only problem in working with him is that I know I'm not going to get any notes or taping done when I first get there because I have to laugh for about the first hour," she said.

But seriously, Cook is the writer behind Choy's voice in four of his books, most recently the book and CD combo called "Sam Choy & The Makaha Sons' A Hawaiian Lu'au: Recipes, Music and Talk Story," (Mutual Publishing, spiral-bound, $29.95). It's a book Choy has long wanted to do because, wherever he goes, but especially on the Mainland, he gets asked how to make lu'au foods. Researching the idea, Cook found there was surprisingly little out there about how to do a real, local-style lu'au, and much of the information was wrong.

It's widely known that Choy grew up helping his parents with their lu'au business in La'ie. Another Cook favorite is the story of how a very young Choy used to have to stir the fruit punch in a vat so large that he used to fear falling in and drowning. But this background means that Choy knows lu'au techniques intimately, and off the top of his head.

His goal was to show that, while a lu'au is a lot of work, it is doable, even in a condo kitchen, even on the Mainland, Cook said. And he wanted to take the fear out of it — all those stories about imu rocks that blow up or fires that get away from you. The book opens with chapters on the history of the lu'au, the pig and the imu and on location, guests and how they can help, and "Countdown to Chowdown," a step-by-step guide to advance planning for a "Sam-size" party.

Their work together on this book consisted of Sam talking and digging up his old family recipes, and Cook scribbling notes. "He loves people to have family parties, and he loves to have them himself," said Cook. "One thing he's really big on is assigning the kids things to do. He also wants you to remember that in Hawai'i, it's expected that people are going to bring things — you need plenty table room for the multi-ethnic spread." Besides typical lu'au food, the book contains a full menu of backyard party recipes.