It is the day before the great turkey holiday, time for me to say thanks to everyone who has shared a recipe with me this year.
My Thanksgiving eve tradition is to pass on the good will by offering reprints of the five best "By Request" recipes of the year in return for a donation to the Star-Advertiser’s Good Neighbor Fund.
Every year, this little exercise in paying it forward earns several thousand dollars to support Helping Hands Hawaii, which in turn supports local families in need. Never underestimate the power of recipes.
This year’s list:
» Kailua High School Shortbread Cookies: If you went to public school in Hawaii, you know the shortbread was the greatest part of lunch. Edith Ichimasa, cafeteria manager at Kailua High in the 1970s, still has the recipe she used, and was happy to share. These cookies are fabulous.
» Da Kitchen Garlic Chicken: Fried, garlicky chicken is a plate-lunch favorite. Da Kitchen’s version uses cornstarch as the basis of its light batter and a healthy amount of garlic in a pungent sauce.
» Punahou School Beef Stew: This isn’t just a recipe; it’s a lesson in how to make a great stew, starting with a flavorful beef broth. Head cook Reney Ching says it was inspired by her grandmother.
» Bill’s Bakery Biscuits: Bill’s was a popular stop in Kapahulu in the 1960s, and what many people remember most about it was the biscuits. Henry Shun was a baker there back in the day and recalls that they sold 14 sheet pans of biscuits daily. These biscuits aren’t simple, but they are delicious, crusty on the outside and soft in the middle.
» Lilikoi Pound Cake: It was a good year for passion fruit, and this fragrant cake made excellent use of all its tangy goodness. Although the season has passed, it will come again, and this recipe is worth hanging onto until then. P.S.: If you were smart enough to freeze some of your summer bounty, you can bake cakes for holiday gifts.
HOW TO ORDER
Send $5 per set of recipes to "By Request," Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu, HI 96813. Make checks payable to the Good Neighbor Fund. Enclose one self-addressed, stamped envelope for each set of recipes ordered (if you want five sets, send five stamped envelopes).
This is a snail-mail offer only. No email, fax or phone orders. It is also an all-or-none offer. You can’t pick out one recipe for $1. C’mon, it’s for charity.
Speaking of which, if you want to make a larger donation to the Good Neighbor Fund, we’ll gladly pass it on. Just be sure to indicate how many copies of the recipes you want and how much is a pure donation.
Deadline to order is New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31.
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Send recipe requests to “By Request,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu 96813. Email bshimabukuro@staradvertiser.com.
