Posted on: Saturday, July 2, 2005
SATURDAY SCOOPS
Picnic with personality
Advertiser Staff
The Fourth of July weekend marks the height of summer picnic season.
Andrew Shimabuku • The Honolulu Advertiser When planning a get-together on this patriotic holiday, naturally, a color scheme of red, white and blue comes to mind. But this year why not add an Island touch by designing a paniolo picnic?
Start with a few yards of palaka fabric. It's available in most dry-goods stores for less than $10 a yard. Add palaka paper plates and napkins, sold at Compleat Kitchen in Kahala and at Ala Moana Center and Kaimalino Designs on Pauahi Street. A few paniolo-inspired props, such as an 'ukulele and cowboy hat, can add to the ambience.
Kathy Rueter of Diamond Head frequently walks down to Sans Souci beach for a romantic picnic with her husband or informal sunset pupu with friends.
As the marketing manager of Compleat Kitchen, she is always on the lookout for items that will simplify a picnic while making it more festive and fun. She has a special place in a closet where she keeps a picnic basket with the essential gear ready to go at a moment's notice.
Rueter offered suggestions for packing a picnic basket:
• If sandwiches are on the menu, wrap them in butcher paper or parchment paper to prevent them from getting soggy. Plastic wrap can hold in moisture. • Pack a cooler in the order it will be used (desserts on the bottom) to keep food cool until it's needed. If serving meat, however, the raw meat should go on the bottom. • A fully packed cooler will keep food chilled longer. • Chill all food, then pack it in a cooler or insulated basket with ice packs.
Picnic checklist
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Tools for a paniolo-theme picnic Put Island flavor into your July 4 celebration with these items: Photos by Andrew Shimabuku • The Honolulu Advertiser —By Paula Rath Learn Hawaiian arts and crafts such as flute carving, poi pounding, lei making, lauhala weaving, imu cooking, stone carving, kapa beating, lomi lomi and wood carving at today's Ulupo Heiau Ho'ike at the Windward YMCA, 1200 Kailua Road.
The event is sponsored by the Kailua Hawaiian Civic Club as a fundraiser for scholarships and to promote cultural/ecological restoration.
There are also escorted tours of Kawai Nui Marsh and Maunawili Valley. Other attractions include traditional Hawaiian children's games, hula, fruits and vegetables, demonstrations, educational exhibits, food and entertainment.
Hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free, but tours cost $8 general, $4 kids under 12. 595-3922.
Those gleaming machines are gathering again for a good cause: The 3rd annual "Cruise Night" car show, from 5 to 10 p.m. today in Pearl City, is a benefit for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Besides the more than 50 cars and motorcycles to admire, there'll be live music, food and games for the keiki.
The family-friendly event is at Hi-Way Service 76 gas station, 826 Kamehameha Highway, near Longs Drugs. Admission is free. 455-2855.
There'll be food booths, arts and crafts and entertainment by The Big Island Conspiracy, Makana & Friends, Island Soul, Bruddah Smitty, and others. And Makaha Sons Jerome Koko and Louis "Moon" Kauakahi will offer their remembrances of Iz.
It all takes place from 12:30 to 8 p.m. Monday on the lawn of the Hilo Hawaii Naniloa Resort. Admission is free; no outside coolers or food, please. (808) 969-3333.
Yes, folks, there is another pair of Sunset on the Beach events this weekend at Queen's Surf Beach in Waikiki, featuring entertainment, food booths and movies on that 30-foot screen.
Tonight's film is "National Treasure," starring Nicolas Cage as a historian in search of long-hidden riches.
Tomorrow's film is "The Dish," a little-seen but well-reviewed tale, based on a true story, about an Australian satellite dish set up to aid NASA during the U.S. moon-walking mission in 1969. Sam Neill stars.
Tomorrow's Sunset event also includes a live feed of NASA's "Deep Impact" project to create a crater in Comet Tempel 1.
Sunset on the Beach events begin at 4 p.m. each day. Admission is free. 923-1094.
Today
10:30 p.m. at the 16th annual McKenna Motors BayFest at the Marine Corps Base in Kane'ohe. Besides fireworks, there's the E.K. Fernandez midway of rides, contests, food and entertainment beginning at noon. Admission to BayFest is $5 general and $3 kids 4 -10 before 5 p.m. today-Monday at the gate ($15 and $10 after 5 p.m.); $10 and $7.50 ($8 group rate) through Ticketmaster; free for keiki 3 and younger. (877) 750-4400, ticketmaster.com.
Tomorrow
• 8:45 p.m. at Aloha Tower Marketplace. Festivities include entertainment, a fashion show and more, beginning at 5 p.m. Admission is free. • 10:30 p.m. at BayFest. Monday
• 7:45 p.m. at Kailua Beach Park. And, from 10 a.m.-noon, there's the annual Independence Day parade, from Kainalu Drive/'Oma'o Street to Kailua Intermediate School. Free. • 8:30 p.m. at Sills Field, Schofield Barracks. The Army is hosting a full day of activities that include crafts, pony rides, games and entertainment, beginning at 8 a.m. Free. • 8:30 p.m. over Magic Island. The annual celebration hosted by Ala Moana Center offers entertainment by Pali (noon); Round & Round (2 p.m.); and Kalaeloa (4 p.m.) at Centerstage; and the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet Band (6 p.m.); Dita Holifield and Red-Handed (6:30 p.m.); The Makaha Sons (7 p.m.); Go Jimmy Go (7:30 p.m.); and eightOeight (8 p.m.) at a stage on the mall-level makai parking deck. Free. • 8:30 p.m. at Pearl Harbor. The annual block party features entertainment, carnival games, arts and crafts, rides and a petting zoo, from 2 p.m. Free for military and Department of Defense personnel, family and guests. • 10:30 p.m. at BayFest.
Whether you're a hard-core hiker who likes to pack a picnic onto your back and head out on the trail, or a beach lover who relishes the sand in your sandwiches, or your idea of the great outdoors is a carport, a picnic is always more fun when it has a theme.
Combining patriotic and paniolo themes makes for a celebratory Island-style picnic this holiday weekend. Every good picnic deserves a good theme, right?
Picnic basket
Blanket, tablecloth or oilcloth
Utensils
Cutting board and serrated knife (preferably in a sheath)
Corkscrew or bottle opener
Mosquito repellent or citronella candle
Napkins and plates, paper or plastic
Paper towels
Moist towelettes or anti-bacterial gel
Zip-closure plastic bags
Trash bags
Cooler, ice and lots of water
Barbeque checklist
Hibachi
Charcoal
Fire starter and matches
Barbecue tongs
Meat fork, spatula
Meat platters, aluminum pans
Marinades or oils and seasonings
Go floral: An aloha print oilcloth can act as a tablecloth or seating mat (60 cents per inch, Compleat Kitchen). Don't forget the cutting board and serrated knife (preferably with a sheath).
Cutlery: Knorks ($3 for 4) are a knife and fork in one.
Nap: The Aloha Print Blanket Tote ($37) has two inflatable pillows for napping after grinds. When pau, it folds into a shoulder bag.
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawaiiana galore at Windward ho'ike
'Cruise Night' rolls into Pearl City today
Annual tribute to Iz on Monday in Hilo
On the Big Island, there's the 9th annual "Tribute to Iz," a celebration of the life of beloved musician Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.
Advertiser library photo
Kick back at Sunset events in Waikiki
Join the chorus of oohs and aahs at Fourth of July fireworks displays, festivities
What would the Fourth of July weekend be without fireworks displays? With a little planning, you can take in a big blast each night through Monday:
