Homemade by Jenny

Kalua (not to be confused with kahlua liqueur) pig is probably one of the most delicious methods of eating pork. Mainly because its flavor is a more pure pork flavor and not masked by barbecue sauces and other flavors commonly used elsewhere. Traditional kalua pig is cooked in an underground oven called an imu . The pit is mostly lined with wood, rocks and banana leaves, the pig rubbed with salt and wrapped in additional vegetation, and covered by sand or dirt and left to cook for 7 hours (or overnight). The pork obtains a smoky flavor and it is extremely tender. Because of this long, difficult process of cooking traditional kalua pig, and the lack of two strong, handsome Hawaiian men (pictured below) to do the heavy lifting of an entire pig, other methods have been created to mimic the flavor of kalua pig. One of those methods is using a crockpot. All you need (in addition to a large crockpot) is: 4 lb. pork butt roast 1 Tbsp. Hawaiian sea salt (or 1 ½ Tbsp. other sea salt) 1 Tbsp. li

My favorite pot-luck dish, and it takes just 5 minutes to make! 2 large cans chunky fruit cocktail 2 large cans mandarin oranges Drain well (I usually put them in a strainer in the sink and let them continue to drain while I make the second mixture). 1 container cool whip 1 container small curd cottage cheese 1 box instant vanilla pudding Mix together the above ingredients. Add the first mixture to this second mixture. Blend well, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

It was a happy birthday for my husband with this yellow butter cake with chocolate buttercream frosting ! I found a simple recipe for it over at Annie's Eats . I opted to not use her recipe for the frosting. 1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter (at room temperature) 1 ½ c. all-purpose flour 1 ½ c. cake flour 1 Tbsp. baking powder ½ tsp. salt 1 ¾ c. sugar 4 large eggs 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 ¼ c. milk (I used whole milk) Preheat oven to 350. Line the bottoms of two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Butter and flour the edges of the pans, tapping out the excess (I used ‘Pam for Baking’ instead). In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions

For my husbands birthday, he requested a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I knew that he was very fond of buttercream frosting so I got online and looked for a good recipe to try. Many recipes involved melting chocolate morsels and I didn't feel like doing all that much work, considering I have a toddler running at my feet, so I kept looking until I found one that was simple and easy. I did finally find one here . While I had no intention of piping, I did notice that it was a bit too fluffy and soft for it (it would have taken a lot more dry ingredients to change this). So if I were to decorate a cake, I'll probably find another recipe. But for a soft, fluffy, tasty frosting, this was the right recipe. I loved the flavor. 1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 3 ½ c. confectioners (powdered) sugar ½ c. cocoa powder ½ tsp. salt 2 tsp. vanilla extract 4 Tbsp. milk or heavy cream Cream the butter in an electric mixer until fluffy. Sift powdered sugar and cocoa

If you have ever been to Carrabba's Italian Grill , then you've tried their complimentary warm bread and an olive oil based dipping sauce. The first time I tried it, I fell in love. Here is a version that my father-in-law found and shared with us: ½ tsp. Italian herb seasoning OR ¼ tsp. dried oregano and ¼ tsp. dried basil ¼ c. extra virgin olive oil 2 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese Fresh ground pepper (to taste) Combine seasoning and olive oil on a 6-inch plate or shallow bowl. Top with parmesan cheese. Serve with fresh and warm French or Italian bread. If you've never made homemade from scratch bread, you can try these much easier alternatives (which is what I prefer to use): Pillsbury French Loaf and Pillsbury Italian Bread. We've only ever used the French loaf and it's delicious with this dip. You can find it at your local grocery store with the other Pillsbury products like cinnamon rolls and biscuits.

Yet another local-Hawaiian (with Asian flare) favorite of mine. I made shoyu chicken for dinner tonight and my house still smells so good. It was torture for the entire hour it was baking in the oven! Below is the original recipe and my changes are in parentheses. So let's get started. You're going to need: 8 chicken thighs (I only used 5 because my family is small and I like to use the extra sauce for other things. I also leave the skin on the chicken thighs to keep them moist while they cook.) Sauce: 1 tsp. MSG (obviously did not add this) ¼ cup corn oil (used vegetable oil, because that's what I had) ¼ cup soy sauce ¼ cup brown sugar 1 clove garlic, crushed ½ tsp. grated ginger Mix together sauce ingredients. Place chicken thighs in pan, pour sauce over chicken and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour, turning chicken twice during baking. Skim fat from sauce, if desired. (There wasn't any fat to skim... always a bonus!) The result? Mouth-watering goodness: As soon as the

At holidays when I was a kid, my dad's entire family gathered up at my grandparents house in Ahualoa and we all enjoyed a potluck style holiday feast. At one of these occasions when I was about 4 or so, my Auntie Debbie (another great cook in the family) made a dessert/side dish that consisted of marshmallows, something orange and fluffy, all stuffed into an orange peel. For years I have thought about it and while searching through recipes last year at Christmas, I found a magazine clipping of a recipe for something VERY similar to what my Auntie Debbie had made so many years ago. One bonus of this recipe is that my daughter (who was just over a year old at the time) absolutely loved it! What baby doesn't love sweet potatoes? The photo on the magazine clipping showed four mini-marshmallows on each orange cup, so that's what I did (as you can see from my picture). Because I LOVE toasted marshmallows, it just was not enough. Next time I make this, I am topping the entire

Watching Food Network a couple of years ago, Paula Dean was on and she was making this dessert . All my life I've never been a fan of pumpkin but I was almost drooling over the television as she made this. I oftentimes make another type of trifle (chocolate) and it's one of my favorite desserts so I had to give this very similar Fall-themed trifle a try. I made it the first time at Thanksgiving (two years ago) to take to my in-laws house and I've made it a few times since. It is so delicious and trust me; you WILL feel guilty! 2 (14 oz.) packages gingerbread mix 1 (5.1 oz.) box instant vanilla pudding mix 1 (30 oz.) can pumpkin pie filling ½ c. packed brown sugar 1/3 tsp. ground cinnamon 1 (12 oz.) container frozen whipped topping ½ c. gingersnaps (optional) Bake the gingerbread according to the package directions; cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the pudding and set aside to cool. Stir the pumpkin pie filling, sugar, and cinnamon into the pudding. Crumble 1 batch of gin

This is a recipe that my grandma Juliette got from her sister, Alice. It was then passed down to her children and then to me! 4 russet potatoes 2 Tbsp. chopped onion 2 Tbsp. chopped celery 2 hard boiled eggs 1 box macaroni Mayonnaise Salt and pepper to taste Peel and chop potatoes into chunks and boil until tender (but not mushy!). Let cool in fridge overnight. Boil macaroni until tender. Drain. Chop up hard boiled eggs. Combine potatoes, macaroni, onion, celery, and eggs in large bowl. Add mayonnaise until everything is well coated. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve chilled. I also added some shredded carrots for some color since I had some in the fridge I needed to use. I love this recipe because it tastes the way that local-style (Hawaiian) macaroni salad should taste. The taste is much different than the Southern style macaroni salad found here. Personally, I like Auntie Alice's way better.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a hurricane come through our area. Living so close to the hospital, I was pretty confident that if we ever lost power, it wouldn't be for long. I decided on Friday (the hurricane was set to hit on Saturday) that I was going to make a large pot of hamburger soup. No, there are no hamburger patties, hamburger bun, cheese, pickles, etc. in the soup. My dad always called it hamburger soup when he made it because it had hamburger meat. It's an excellent storm food (if you're confident about your power situation---because it does need to be served warm). I also make it very often in the winter time. My husband and I enjoyed this soup for dinner on Friday, lunch and dinner on Saturday (day of the hurricane), and lunch and dinner on Sunday. It reheats very well. It was also so easy and quick to make on Friday that I was able to make dinner and still help my husband secure the house for the storm. Ingredients: 1 lb. ground hamburger 1 32 oz. (2 lb.) b