Catching Up

I was going to surprise you by showing you a picture of Hector and me in Honolulu, but Hector beat me to it.  When Hector found out Jim and I were going to be in Hawaii, he generously offered to find us, wherever we were, and cook dinner for us.  I said I'd love it if he would show us a restaurant that he likes--something low-key and Hawaiian, a place that a tourist probably wouldn't go to.  He agreed.  So he, along with his friend Craig, picked us up at our hotel and gave us both leis (Jim's was a beautiful and masculine one made of kukui nuts.  Jim, being a Minnesotan, would have thought it not quite the thing to wear flowers, so Hector made a good pick).  I thought it was very much the thing to wear flowers, and was delighted with mine. Then he drove us around to some scenic or historic spots, including President Obama's high school.

Hector and Craig took us to his favorite Chinese restaurant, an unobtrusive place called Asia Manoa, where we had an array of wonderful food. And, ironically, given the brouhaha that has recently erupted over Rose's seemingly innocent request to a waiter to bring her and her guests some forks so they could try out a cake she'd just baked, Hector treated us with a Rose Red Velvet cake that he'd made. The server and staff were delighted to see the cake--and they know that he always shares.

This version is made with beet juice, so it doesn't have the same shocking red as the one made with a bottle of red food coloring.

I can't tell you what a charming and delightful host Hector is, and Craig, who has lived most of his life in Hawaii, also had wonderful stories and great recommendations of off-the-beaten-path things to do in Maui, our next destination.
Let me give you just a very brief travelogue....

The banyan tree in the center of the outdoor bar and restaurant in our Honolulu hotel.

The view from the lanai of our B&B in Lahaina, Maui.

It's whale season in Lahaina, and we saw them almost every day, frolicking in the ocean. (Maybe they weren't frolicking--maybe they were arguing. I don't know. I'd prefer to think of them frolicking).

I don't know if there's anywhere else in the world that has more waterfalls than Maui. Especially on the famous Road to Hana, you can hardly shake a stick without hitting a waterfall. The only thing that there's more of is people taking pictures of waterfalls. My grandfather loved to take pictures of waterfalls. But he had a policy of never going anywhere he couldn't drive to, so that pretty much eliminated Maui. My grandpa was a gentle and forgiving man, but if he saw all the waterfall pictures that Jim took on this trip, it would have been pretty hard for him to just swallow hard and admire.

Some taro fields. The taro is heavily irrigated, and grown in patches. I didn't eat any poi while I was in Hawaii, but if you want poi, you've got to have taro.

A lavender farm in central Maui--one of Craig's recommendations. The photo can't begin to do justice to the vista. Even in central Maui, there's a fabulous view of the ocean.

And more ocean.
But now, on to cakes.
I loved reading all your comments on my blog, and loved seeing all the different versions of your poppyseed cake and apricot roll. Jet lag or no, I couldn't go to bed the first night we were back until I'd read every single post.
If you want a sneak preview of the pistachio cake that's scheduled for this weekend, go to Rose's forum, and look at Matthew's pictures. Unless you're a pistachio nut hater, I think the photos will make you want to try the cake--that was the effect it had on me, anyway. He splurged on nuts from Kalyustan's, and from the looks of it, the splurge was justified.

Please welcome Katya, of Second Dinner, who, while patiently waiting for me to come back from Hawaii, has already posted the poppyseed cake and apricot roll.

Also welcome Svetlana, who is from Israel by way of the Ukraine, and is brand new to blogging. Her post on the apricot cake roll is her first ever.

There are several more people in the wings, waiting to set up a blog or to get my OK to join. This means, unfortunately, that I will have to be stricter about checking to see when people have not been active bloggers for a while, so please let me know if there is something that's keeping you temporarily away from cake baking. I'll be glad to keep your spot open temporarily, but we all agreed that we'd like to keep the group of bakers to a manageable size. If there are people who are waiting to join, it doesn't seem fair to save the spot indefinitely.