It's 2009; where is your blog? I know where mine is — launching today at www.honoluluadvertiser.com/blogs. "My Island Plate" is an opportunity to talk story — with me, and with each other — about home cookin', restaurants and foodie times gone by. It will appear each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and each entry will end with a question out of my food-obsessed stream of consciousness. You can respond to the question, share recipes, rant about what bugs you, brag about your food finds and more. In the future, I'll be adding recipe requests that have stumped me, so readers can check the running list periodically to see if they can help.

— Wanda A. Adams

COOK FOR A CURE

FIND LOVE IN HELPING OTHERS

It's tough to get restaurant reservations for Valentine's Day, but you can always get a seat in your own dining room — or a friend's. The Life Foundation suggests that supporters host a Valentine's-themed Cook for a Cure event — dinner or cocktail party, lunch or brunch — the weekend of Feb. 13 to 15. Guests would contribute what they might have spent for a Valentine's Day meal to the Life Foundation, O'ahu's oldest and largest AIDS organization, which offers both client service and prevention efforts.

Hosts who raise $500 or more receive gift certificates to restaurants participating in the Life Foundation's March 4 O'ahu Dines fundraiser. Information about Cook for the Cure: www.oahudines.org; or 521-2437.