NEWS:

Garden Island Range & Food Festival

Island Breeze made with rambutan at Kalapaki Joe’s Lihue. Daniel Lane photo

Last Sunday, the Garden Island Range & Food Festival showcased locally grown and made food. As the farm chair, I wrote about sourcing produce for the hyper-local event last week. About 350 visitors and residents showed up and ate food that 13 farmers, 5 ranchers and Kauai Shrimp donated, and 14 restaurants cooked. Kauai Coffee was there as well as The Right Slice and Lappert’s Hawaii. Salty Wahine Hawaiian Gourmet Sea Salts were uses in some of the dishes and they donated blends for the chef’s gift bags. Aunty Lilikoi also donated variety packs for the chef’s gift bags.

Students from the Culinary Arts program at the Kauai Community College received first hand education by top chefs by helping them prepare. Two students won $1,000 scholarships and got their picture taken with the mayor. We had a display table filled with local fruit, vegetables, orchids from Orchid Alley Kauai and meat from A`akukui Ranch that we auctioned off and procees are going to the Kauai Food Bank just in time for Christmas.

It was a Zero Waste event. All the participating chefs provided biodegradable plates, forks and cups, and kids from 4H made sure guests put their trash in the proper receptacles.

“All the recyclable waste is in a pile mixed with wood chips and fungal spores,” says Joseph Dunsmoor of Zero Waste Kauai. “I am doing an experiment on how well a fungal cold compost will break down the material, especially the forks and spoons. It will all break down to arthropod manure before next year and I will share the results.”

Kauai Coffee Visitors Center. Daniel Lane photo

Kauai Coffee

On Monday, November 26th, buy Kauai Coffee online and get free shipping. If you’ve never had it, check out the Kauai Coffee article in MidWeek Kauai. It’s a wonderful way to give the gift of aloha for Christmas. Make sure you do it from 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time. Free shipping is to the U.S. only.

Kauai Kunana Dairy

We’ve covered Kauai Kunana Dairy several times in MidWeek Kauai. The certified organic farm is Animal Welfare Approvedand makes delectable, fresh goat cheese, feta cheese and a limited line of gorgonzola, Cheve Sec and Summer Crotin (the last two are aged goat cheese). There is a garden on the property and from it they make baked goods, sauces, honey and body products, which you can buy at the farmers market along with fresh-made juice, chocolate covered frozen bananas, and their execellent fruit and vegetables. Recently they’ve changed markets. They are now at the Koloa Market, Kapaa Market and Waipa Market.

Farm Credit Services of Hawaii, ACA Scholarship

Farm Credit Services of Hawaii, ACA are offering two $1,500 scholarships for the 2013 school year. Recipients of this scholarship will be determined based on recommendations, academics, and future agricultural goals. To be eligible for the scholarship candidates must have graduated or will be graduating from High School in the year of application. Deadline for applications is March 15, 2013.

Youth Garden Grants

THE NATIONAL GARDENING ASSOCIATION is offering Youth Garden Grants through Home Depot. Five winners will receive gift cards valued at $1,000, and 95 winners will receive $500 gift cards, to purchase gardening materials and supplies from their local Home Depot store specific to the needs of their program. Deadline is Dec. 3, 2012. Schools, youth groups, community centers, camps, clubs, treatment facilities and inter-generational groups throughout the United States are eligible. Applicants must plan to garden with at least 15 children between the ages of 3 and 18 years. For more information about these grants, check out the Kids Gardening website. For a list of possible grants, check out the Hawaii Environmental Education Alliance website.

Community Garden Grants

FISKARS’ Project Orange Thumb seeks applications for Community Garden Grants and Makeovers to help communities achieve their neighborhood beautification goals and support healthy, sustainable food sources. Nonprofit organizations in the United States and Canada are invited to apply for ten grants of $5,000 and a complete garden makeover. Deadline to apply is Dec. 15, 2012. For application requirements and more information, check out the Project Orange Thumb website.

EVENTS:

Wednesday, November 28

Cooking Demonstration

4 to 6 p.m., free

Salty Wahine cooking demonstration. Daniel Lane photo

The Kauai Culinary Market at The Shops at Kukuiula will feature pummelo—grapefruit’s larger, sweeter cousin. Living Foods Chef Michael Simpson will use the succulent and fragrant, orb-shaped fruit in Thai Pummelo Salad. Admission is free and samples are on the house!

The fun, fruity show is produced by the Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers (HTFG) in an effort to share info about pummelo and other not-so-well-known edibles that are available in Hawaii. HTFG members are growing a wide variety of ultra-exotic tropical fruits statewide and they say the fruits are under-utilized by the mainstream market. Ultra-exotics under cultivation here include Surinam cherry, calamonsie, jackfruit, ulu, tamarillos, chico, lychee, white sapote, bilimbi and others.

Saturday, December 1

Winning plants at 2011 Kalo Festival in Waipa. Photos by Daniel Lane

Waipa Kalo Festival

Waipa, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., $3 adults, $1 children

Join the Waipa Foundation for a community hoolaulea at Waipa’s beautiful Halulu Fishpond, alongside Hanalei Bay. It’s a fun and informative day celebrating kalo (taro) with activities for the whole family including local music, educational displays, demonstrations, hands-on children activities, unique Kauai artisans, and, of course, amazing food showcasing kalo. There will also be community contests for best kalo recipe, biggest kalo and keiki art. I will be accepting entries for the recipe contest and picking two judges from the audience, so stop by if you want to sample an amazing variety of taro dishes. Dan will be there taking pictures for an upcoming MidWeek Kauai story, so you may end up in the paper! For more information call 808-826-9969.

Farm to Table Dinner

One of four gardens at Kauapea Farm. Daniel Lane photo

Kauapea Farm, 4 to 10 p.m., $100

Kauai Farm Connection is hosting their first Farm to Table Dinner under the harvest moon. The evening includes a garden side reception, five-course meal prepared by chef Aurora Levy Rosen. Enjoy local, organic farm raised pork loin, fresh sausage, cured meats, garden soup, vegetables, greens, herbs, hand-crafted cheeses, along with savory creations of sweet potatoes, cassava and taro, followed by mouth watering fruit of the season sorbet. Imbibe in local libations and live music by the award winning duet “MaMuse”. Reservations are required and seating is limited. Call 808-652-5110 for reservations and more information.

Wednesday, December 5

Koloa Rum Cocktail Party

Nanea, 5 to 6:30 p.m., $40 (includes tax and gratuity)

Gaylord’s Mai Tai made with Koloa Rum. Click the picture for recipe. Daniel Lane photo

The Westin Princeville and Koloa Rum Company are teaming up for a cocktail party with live entertainment on the waterfall terrace at Nanea. Watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean and talk story with Bob Gunter, president of Koloa Rum. He’ll be there, along with Jeanne Toulon, offering samples of their four award-winning rums. Live musical entertainment will be provided by local musician Billy Paul. Event pricing includes all food items, rum tasting and two drink tickets.

Koloa Rum Company is the first and only licensed distillery on the island of Kauai, handcrafting single-batch, premium Hawaiian rum from the finest sugarcane and the pure, abundant water sources on the island, resulting in four distinct variations: White, Gold, Dark, and Spice. All four rums will be available for tasting throughout the event, in addition to a variety of pupus. For a detailed description of the menu, click here.

Koloa Rum infused pupus include:

• Pork Belly Barbacoa
• Rum Braised Short Ribs
• Mojito Shrimp
• Rum Glazed Duck Breast
• Ahi and Rum Ceviche
• Chocolate Waffles
• Rum Creme Anglaise
• Rumbaba

Thursday, December 6

Pau Hana Wild, Wild West

Plantation Gardens, 5:30 to 9 p.m.

Join Plantation Gardens for a western-style party. Dress in full Western attire and enter to win prizes. RSVP to mona@pgrestaurant.com.

Sunday, December 9

Kauai Stories Book Release Party

4 to 7 p.m., Lihue Barbecue Inn, free

Pam Brown promoting her book at this year’s Koloa Plantation Days. Lincoln Gill photo

I had the opportunity to contribute a story and recipe to the anthology, “Kauai Stories: Life on the Garden Isle Told by Kauai’s People” edited by Pam Brown. If you’ve ever wondered about eating the feral chickens that run all over the island, you’ll like my Kauai Chicken Soup Recipe. My “Tasting Kauai” story is about the strange and exotic produce I found when I first moved here, and what is was like to work on an organic farm. It was a time of great wonder and great fear, and I blend the early experiences with a seasoned eye cultivated from more that two years of writing about food and farmers on Kauai.

The compilation is loaded with charming, heartwarming stories that give the reader an intimate view of life on Kauai. Stories range from defining aloha, life on the ocean and hiking the Kalalau Trail during hurricane Iniki to traditional hula, plantation life, World War II, and voyaging canoes. There is a “Chicken Nuggets” section with funny stories that describe what happens when resident meets chicken. My favorite is by Jean Rhude who’s story “Toro Nagashi” eloquently describes a Bon Festival on the Wailua River. Rhude describes her experience so well, that I feel like I was there on that magical, dreamy evening!

The book release will offer light pupus. Beer and wine is available for purchase. Books will be available at special launch pricing.

Friday, December 14

Kauai Culinary Tour

8 a.m. to 3 p.m., $130

Lunch from our last tour. Wild Wailua Fern Shoots, Kauai Fresh Farms Tomatoes and Pulehu Kauai Grown Shrimp. Daniel Lane photo

Join us, Tasting Kauai, for a culinary romp through paradise. Our day-long Kauai Culinary Tour is a unique opportunity to have an authentic taste of Kauai. Tour a sustainable fruit farm and sample seasonal fruit. Enjoy a gourmet, four-course lunch and cooking demonstration presented by executive chef Guy Higa at the lush Kauai Marriott Resort. We end the day with an exclusive tour of Hawaii’s only meadery where we’ll sample honey wine made from Kauai honey and seasonal fruit. Pick your favorite bottle and take it home, it’s on us! Space is limited and reservations need to be made by Wednesday, Dec. 12. Call 808-635-0257 for more information or to make a reservation.

ONGOING:

RumFire

RumFire’s “You Dine We Donate” raised over $4,000 for Kauai United Way in the month of October. As it was such a great success, they’re going to continue the program in November to benefit the Kauai Branch of the Hawaii Foodbank.

For the month of November, RumFire will donate all food and beverage proceeds from RumFire’s sunset view Table #53.

Basic Orientation to Aquaponics and Worm Composting

$35, October 6 through December 1, Saturdays, 8 a.m. to noon, Kauai Community College

The Kauai Community College is offering a Basic Orientation to Aquaponics and Worm Composting workshops. Nine, 3-hour sessions will be held on Saturdays. The course introduces ecosystem methods in sustainable agriculture, the practice of farming using principals of ecology, and the relationships between organisms and their environment. Crops that require high levels of soil nutrients can be cultivated in a more sustainable manner with the use of environmentally friendly fertilizer and management practices.

Learn:

• How to build and operate a worm composting farm
• Seedling propagation
• Aquaponics infrastructure, system building and operational care
• Aquaponics water quality and management
• Direct and indirect benefits of aquaponics and worm composting from the economic, social and environmental perspectives

To enroll, call 808-245-8318

Check out this interview with Bobby Burns, KCC instructor and Worm Warrior.

Kauai Culinary Market

The Wednesday Kauai Culinary Market in the outdoor courtyard of The Shops at Kukuiula is one of my favorite farmers markets. The property is gorgeous, there are restaurants and shops lining the walkway, and lush landscaping with colorful flowers and towering palm trees. The market not only features Kauai farmers, but food artisans as well. There’s also live music, a beer and wine garden, and cooking demonstrations. The demonstrations feature local chefs, and farm fresh ingredients from the market. There is seating, and not only do guests get to ask questions, but they get to eat what’s made.