Yay for week 4! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, I know I did. I had too much fun relaxing it was difficult to get motivated and as a result am a day late with this post. Now the real partying begins. Between Christmas get togethers and New Year’s there’s a lot of reasons to cook in the month of December. So here’s my review for this week!
Hawaii’s Holiday Cookbook–Island Favorites for Every Holiday from New Year to Christmas by Muriel Miura and Betty Shimabukuro
Mutual Publishing has a reputation for producing many of our best local cook books and their latest, Hawaii’s Holiday Cookbook, features the collaborative talents of Betty Shimabukuro and Muriel Miura, both of whom are accomplished cookbook authoresses in their own rights. If there was an Olympic team of cookbook-ing, we’d have a heck of a start with both of them together… it’s like The Justice League of Recipes. I’ve been a fan of Muriel’s books for awhile now, but that’s a post for another day.
This clever book is organized by holidays, starting in January with the New Year, and progressing through to December and Christmas. Under each holiday there are recipes for foods, beverages and desserts that are most associated with it. What’s great about it is that in addition to the obvious recipes there are also the uniquely local ones for foods we often sneak into special occasions. For example, you would certainly expect a chocolate souffle recipe to appear in the Valentine’s Day section of a holiday cookbook, but this book also has an ichigo mochi (mochi-wrapped strawberry) recipe for that occasion as well.
In addition to the unique local recipes, the book recognizes the food we eat for local celebrations like Children’s Day (the banana andagi recipe looks sooo good) and other Hawaiian holidays. I especially like how they’ve localized (Hawaii-fied?) many mainstream dishes to include things like: POG Margarita, kalua turkey, kim chee nachos, and taro stuffing just to name a few. I was a bit disappointed in the “Christmas” section since there were only a handful of recipes and they were mostly breads and cookies. There aren’t many entree type recipes in this book, so I could see how someone looking for a serious cookbook would be disappointed. There are a lot of snacks and quick recipes, desserts, finger foods, salads and pupus. But if you have to cook a seven course dinner to impress the in-laws this might not be your best bet. However, if you’re looking for something to give you festive ideas and ono recipes to make all year round for any special occasion, or just because, this book is definitely for you. As with any of Betty and Muriel’s books the recipes are well written and easy to follow, perfect for novice and professional cooks alike. I had a hard time choosing this week’s recipe because everything in this book looks and sounds delectable!
Okay here we go, for those of us making home made gifts this year, a recipe from the Mother’s Day/Father’s Day section. I think these cookies are spectacularly easy and make great gifts if given in a mug or decorative tin. And since cookie swaps seem to be the bees knees lately….
Wiki Wiki Cookies (yield: about 5 dozen)
Cookies really couldn’t get much simpler than this. And with a little extra effort you can incorporate some of Mom or Dad’s favorite flavors (see variations).
- 1 box (18 ounces) white or yellow cake mix
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 6 tablespoons melted butter
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl; mix well. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes.
VARIATIONS:
Chocolate Mac Nut: Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, i cup chocolate chips, and 1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts.
Lemon Coconut: Add 1 teaspoon lemon extract and 1 cup coconut flakes.
Maple Mac Nut: Add 1 teaspoon maple extract and 1 cup chopped macadamia nuts.
Raisin Drop: Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 cup raisins
Just a note: You could also smash up some corn flakes and throw those in for an easy cornflake cookie 🙂 nom nom nom
* A copy of the book, ISBN-10 1-56647-937-1, was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
