Aloha Tofu, the Islands' largest tofu manufacturer, is sponsoring its first-ever tofu cooking contest, with a grand prize including an appearance on TV's "Sam Choy's Kitchen," gifts, culinary classes and a grocery card to the store of the winner's choice.

Recipes should use firm tofu and may be for a main dish or a snack/pupu. Firm tofu is extremely versatile, with a resilient texture and the ability to hold its shape regardless of cooking method. Rules are at www.alohatofu.com.

PIGGLY WIGGLY PIONEERED CONVENIENT SETUP

It was 75 years ago tomorrow that the first supermarket in America opened: the King Kullen Grocery Co. in New York City. Actually, the first self-serve food store was a Piggly Wiggly, opened in 1916; before that time, food was sold in scattered settings — butcher shops, fish shops, farmers' markets, vegetable carts and stalls, dry-goods stores — where customers were served from behind a counter. Supermarkets combined self-service with one-stop shopping — at first for food but eventually for pharmacy, flowers, greeting cards, banking, photo developing, kitchen items and now coffee shops and takeout delis. The first grocery cart, a double-basket arrangement on wheels, came along in the late 1930s, invented by Sylvan Goldman of Piggly Wiggly. But consumers resisted carts (men thought using carts was wimpy; women had had enough of pushing baby carriages); it took an advertising campaign to convince shoppers to switch from carrying baskets.