Hawaii Food and Recipe Blog

I’m back from the most awesome vacation ever! My mom, Karen and I had a blast in Hawaii and I will be working on getting all our photos digitized and uploaded today so I can share some pictures and great recipes/food stories with you. Keep checking in and mahalo nui for being patient as I get it all finished!

ALOHA!

No other heading will do - it’s official, I am going to be traveling back to Oahu April 2nd. I promise to take beaucoups of pictures of the area (and the food of course!) and to pick up a few new cookbooks while I’m there. Obviously the blog will be a bit quiet while I’m gone but boy oh boy, won’t I have a lot to talk about when I get back!

So question - anywhere I should try and hit while I’m there? I will be in Oahu from April 2nd to April 8th, we’re staying in Waikiki and if there are any "must see" restaurants I want to know about them!

I can’t wait - I already picked up a big carton of Dole Pineapple Orange juice. I’d drink straight pineapple but after a couple glasses the acid really makes my lips raw Still it’s great to know I can get it any time I want a little something tropical! Although when you visit Hawaii you’re more likely to see Guava Nectar on the table than pineapple, which is also yummy!

What, you’ve never heard of boiled cookies? You can often find them at the grocery store - in our area they are just labeled "no-bake" cookies. Growing up there were three things you could count on at the holidays: sugar cookies (I’ll give that recipe out another time, it isn’t what you think), chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, and boiled cookies. So I was super excited when I found out that they have boiled cookies in Hawaii! But as you might expect, theirs has a tropical twist, shredded coconut. I can’t think of anything that tastes better than chocolate and coconut, except possibly this trio of boiled cookie recipes.

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The Original: HL’s Boiled Cookies

"Wet" Ingredients:

2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 lb oleo, margarine or butter

Place all of this in a heavy bottomed pan on the stove and slowly melt the butter, then once it’s combined bring to a boil. (Helpful hint - what you’re really doing in these recipes is making a sort of fudge, then mixing in extra yummy, chunky or chewy ingredients.) Boil three minutes and remove from heat, then add the "dry" ingredients.

"Dry" Ingredients

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (trust me, you want the nuts)
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups quick oatmeal

Mix them in well, then spread in a buttered 13×9 inch pan and cool. You are going to end up with what I consider the class, a cookie that is so sweet it’s sinful. This one is heaviest on the chocolate and great for choc-aholics.

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The First Modification: Gramma B’s "Quik" Boiled Cookies

I don’t know why Gramma B preferred this variety - I like mine dark chocolate, I suppose she was more of a milk chocolate kind of person.

"Wet" Ingredients:

2 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. Nestles’ Quick - the dry kind, not the syrup!
1/4 lb. butter

As before, melt in heavy bottomed saucepan, then bring to a boil. Boil for 2-3 minutes, then mix in the "dry" ingredients.

"Dry" Ingredients:

1/2 c. peanut butter
3 1/2 c. oats
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together and either spread in a butter pan or drop by spoonfuls on waxed paper to cool. These cookies are a bit lighter on the chocolate and with more oatmeal, I also think they highlight the "peanut" flavor a bit more. Also delicious

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The Hawaiian Remix: Chocolate Coconut Boiled Cookies

"Wet" Ingredients:

1/2 cup oleo, margarine or butter
2 cups white sugar
1/3 cup of cocoa
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt it together, as in the other recipes, then bring to a boil. Boil three minutes, then mix in the "dry" ingredients.

"Dry" Ingredients:

3 cups quick oatmeal
1 cup flaked coconut. Yes the stuff in bags at the grocery store is fine.
1/2 cup nuts, chopped. You could use peanuts, or go crazy and add chopped mac nuts for even more tropical flavor!

Mix it all together, and drop by spoonfuls on waxed paper. These cookies need to be refrigerated in theory - though I doubt you’ll really have them laying around very long!

Have fun tasting all three to see which you like best!