Day 2

Last night was the grand event. We celebrated Sue and Tom's 60 th birthdays and Tom's retirement. Their daughter Becky organized decorations, celebration and games. The decorations were awesome with leis, hats, special table settings, favors and more. Tiki torches decorated the perimeter of the sun porch. We started the festivities of two wheels of brie encrusted in macadamia nuts with aplle and crackers and spam glazed in pineapple juice, brown, sugar, mustard and ginger. I don't want to hear castigations about spam. Hawaiians consume more than 6 times the amount of spam than mainlanders. To go with I made a passionate punch of rum, pineapple juice, gingerale and papaya nectar adorned with mango, berries and parasols and orchid straws.

The game was a men vs. women trivia game with categories of questions that include Proctor and Gamble slogans, highlights of Tom's career at P & G and current events from 1949. As always the hilarity and laughter rocked the house. The teams are highly competitive but alas the girls won 19 to 11. We had it down! Hula hooping and limbo claimed the teens and the little guys.

Dinner was a luau feast with orange baked chicken, pania'olu steak and prawn curry. We enjoyed this with jasmine rice, a stir fry of broccoli and bok choy and a tropical fruit salad dressed with a papaya, yogurt and honey sauce. For dessert there were individual souffles of passionate cake with strawberry compote. It was such fun.

After dinner schmoozing and fun included the inevitable slip ass game. Generations 1 and 2 and 4 went to bed leaving the generation 3 cousins to play and laugh riotously into the wee hours. They consumed much popcorn and a batch of brownies that once baked were consumed in seconds. They are sleeping in as I write this trying to recover.

The morning after is spent recollecting and laughing over the fun of the night past. It is so great to wake to the stillness - I am up first and see family and chat as they awaken and come for coffee and toast with some local honey. We don't talk much about the mornings and the laughter isn't quite as loud but it is a warm family time of love and fun.

Brie in a Macadamia Nut Crust adapted from Sam Choy

1 8 ounce wheel of brie
1/4 C flour
1 egg
1/2 C. panko
1/2 C. finely chopped macadamia nuts
chutney
crackers and apple slices

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the panko and nuts in a shallow pan. Unwrap the brie and dust it with flour. Beat the egg and add a tablespoon of water and mix well. Dip the brie in the egg mixture. Then coat the brie with the panko mixture.

Place the brie on a tin in the oven and heat for 8-10 minutes. The brie just needs to yield to your fingertip. Take the brie and place chutney along side on a platter and serve with crackers and apples.