T-shirt #199 - People's Food Co-Op of Kalamazoo

T-shirt #199 - People's Food Co-Op of Kalamazoo
or
Adventures in Hawaiian Food

Aloha! I packed my white (cream) People's Food Co-Op of Kalamazoo shirt not just because I had not featured it yet on the blog but also because I wanted to represent. I knew that Hawaii was big on "local" food, though in Hawaii this means something a little different. Local food is a mix of traditional Hawaiian fare, such as poi, and food influenced by the U.S. military presence, such as Spam Musubi.

I was impressed with the numbers of signs I saw for buying local and buying organic in Hawaii, and the daily farmer's market in Hilo is a wonderful foody paradise. So I wore my PFC of Kalamazoo shirt in Hawaii on a number of occasions to "represent" my allegiance to these same beliefs of buying local, buying organic, eating healthy food, and so on.

The picture above failed somehow, so you cannot see the bowl of poi that I am about to try for the first time, which I did drown in sugar. Not my favorite taste, the taro, but not terrible. I do like the leaves wrapping what Hawaiians call Laulua pork, which is delicious pork wrapped in taro leaves.

Today I share a few adventures in food on Hawaii, the big island.

MR. T-SHIRT BLOGGER'S OFFICIAL HIATUS TEXT - Mr. T-shirt Blogger (that's me) is on vacation in Hawaii until October 9th. Blog posts may be simple and brief during this time, or there may be many Hawaii pictures and updates. No promises. It's vacation.

When My wife an I got married four years ago (as of 10/3), we never took a honeymoon. With our difficult work schedules, there has never been a good time to schedule a trip. Given recent life events, we threw out caution and welcomed chaos and uncertainty. Carpe Diem! So, off we go (or by the time you read this, there we are).

Today's shirt - My second People's Food Co-Op of Kalamazoo shirt. I featured the first one way back in T-shirt #9.

Our beers at the Lava Rock Cafe in Volcano
1309.29

Me with the PFC shirt
about to try "local" food
Mac salad - Lava Rock Cafe
1309.29

Back at the Lava Rock Cafe
the morning of 1310.01
Trying my first Loco Moco

Loco Moco is a local breakfast food. It's a mound of rice, either white, brown, or fried, mixed with diced sausage and bacon, topped with a large hamburger patty, further topped with fried eggs and drowned in brown gravy. Picture above is a close up of Loco Moco with fried rice. The picture below shows the Loco Moco with a side of Portugese Sausage, a special kind of local sausage due to the large numbers of Portugese people in Hawaii.

Dinner from 1310.01: Laulau in the foreground, poi up and left, Kalua Pig up and right,
poke farther up and right
Pipi Kaula far up and left

Lava Rock Cafe in Volcano
on the big island of Hawaii

The Kilauea General Store
the covered walkways so common
in Hawaii

Kilauea quilting and gift shop
Next to Lava Rock Cafe and Kilauea General Store

Kilauea Lodge breakfast 1310.04

Dinner for our anniversary at Kilauea Lodge 1310.03
meatloaf "revisited" with mashed potatoes,
red cabbage, and greens

Dinner for our anniversary at Kilauea Lodge 1310.03
place setting and menu

Sunset on Mauna Kea 1310.02

- chris tower - for 1310.06 - 19:33 (4:33 Pacific, we're in Oregon)