Haupia

Here is a quick and easy recipe for Haupia; a coconut desert that has the consistency of Jello and is really popular at local parties and luau (because it's so `ono/ delicious!).

Ingredients:
2 cans of coconut milk
8 tbsp of cornstarch
10 tbsp of sugar (white, granulated)
1 1/2 cups of water

Makes: 8x8 pan or about 16 really thick pieces or 9 really huge pieces

Directions:
Mix sugar and cornstarch together in a bowl. Stir in the water, a bit at a time. Stir in the coconut milk. Add contents of bowl to a heavy pot on the stove on Med-Hi heat (leaning more towards high heat), stirring constantly. Keep on stirring until mixture is very thick (approximately 10 minutes) and has a thick pudding-like/ thick syrup texture. Pour hot mixture into baking pan; cover and chill overnight. To serve, cut using a butter knife and use a fork or spatula to scoop it out. Yay!

Giveaway!

I'm soooo close to the end; finals to grade, one exam to take and one to proctor (hee, hee... proctor). I can't wait!

To celebrate the end of school, I've decided to do a giveaway! If you leave a comment between now (5.14.09) and next Wednesday (5.20.09), you'll have a good chance to win this little mamegoma plushie! They're adorable, see; they have little accessories that come with them! The one you guys can win is especially cute... he comes with little bunny ears. I'm going to announce the winner on Thursday, who will be chosen as usual by a random number generator :)and then notify the winners, who will need to provide me with an address. Then he'll be on his way to his new home!

Happy Mother's Day

Oahu/ Honolulu Shopping series #2: Shirokiya

This past week was Boy's Day, but it went by so fast that it was hard to notice! I only really noticed when I went to Shirokiya, a Japanese store in the Ala Moana Shopping Center (1450 Ala Moana Boulevard is the address of the mall; Shirokiya is on the mauka or mountainside next to Macy's). This store consists of two levels of Japanese goodness; the first level is on the mall level and features Japanese jewelry, makeup, Kimono and accessories, furniture, a Japanese bakery and sweet mochi shop, an electronics section and a book/ stationary section. The second level features Japanese grocery items, candy, kitchen supplies and an eatery featuring many different stations that serve up hot Japanese bento and other delicious food (like takoyaki...yum!) Although Shirokiya in general isn't cheap, there are some really great items and it's super fun to look at!

My favorite part of Shirokiya has got to be the re-ment section, next to the Japanese books and magazines. Although they recently raised the price on their re-ment, Shirokiya has a huge selection! I also love the accessory section where you can get chirimen coin purses, keychains, and lucky charms... so fun!

Well, for Boy's Day there was a great deal of featured items and celebratory products that were flown in special from Japan. Koinobori, or koi fish shaped flags are traditionally flown for all the boys in the family. There was a huge selection of special mochis too! I took some pictures for you guys; hope you don't get overloaded from all the Japanese goodies!

Japanese stationary items (look at all the cute clips!)

Japanese solar toys nohohon (these are my fav!)

bags and accessories

Origami selection

Candy bentos

Caplico drinks

Mochi selection!

Closeup of the intricate mochi; these are persimmon shaped!

Yummy!

One option for food at the eatery in the upstairs section of Shirokiya

Koi flags for sale!

Hope you and yours had a happy Boy's Day!

May's calendar!

Thanks so much again for all the comments (in general) on my blog, and for all the congratulations on the DC trip. I had to share this card I got from my good friend Nia who also sells cards and other goodies in her etsy shop, check it out! Isn't this one adorable? She's sewn all the letters in and added kawaii buttons for all the circles... ingenious!


In other news, May's calendar is here! It features space bearlet, with his alien chicken friend and helmet; I know I know, he's not a needle-felted bear, but I ran out of time:( He'll be available shortly in my shop (probably when I get to the blue background color scheme in my shop... right now I'm on orange). I haven't even thought of a story to go with him yet!

To download, visit my flickr or photobucket (link for photobucket in the top right hand corner). Have fun!

so busy!

This is what I'm doing instead of making May's calendar. No, I'm not watching SNL's truly hilarious skits of jeopardy with Will Farrell and assorted guests (including the ever-awesome Sean Connery). I'm making jeopardy for my students; it's their final review.

Daily Double: In Russia, this tsar's attempts to alleviate class tensions by ending serfdom would later backfire when he refrained from fulfilling his initial promises, eventually leading to his assassination in 1881 by a radical group known as "The Will of the People." Who was he?

If you can answer that, you've just won 800 points for your team! Yay! (their prizes are lollipops) Uggh, just 2 more days of class, 1/2 a day of volunteering, and 1 ten page paper to go before the end.... oh, and plus 30 final exams to grade. I expect that's all going to be totally finished in about 2 weeks. Then I can get back to crafting for real! Don't worry though, the calendar will probably be up by Wednesday!