April 2018 - The Baby Luau

Hawaii has a long-standing tradition of throwing huge parties to celebrate the first-year anniversary of a baby’s birth. A celebration of this kind is referred to as a Baby Luau. Other indigenous cultures have similar traditions, based no doubt on the high infant mortality rate among earlier, pre-modern generations. If a child survived the various medical, environmental and social perils lurking in his or her first year of life, this was indeed cause for celebration and a good indicator that the child may even thrive into adulthood.
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​This tradition is alive and well in Hawaii today, and we have been fortunate enough to have been invited to a few of these mega-parties. Usually Baby Luaus are held at beach parks and involve copious amounts of Hawaiian food, games and bounce houses for the keiki (the Hawaiian word for children,) and plenty of beer for the grownups. 

For a quick refresher on the basics of Hawaiian cuisine, I invite you to visit “A Hawaiian Afternoon Tea” in the World of Tea Parties section of myteaplanner.com. Here you will find an introduction to Spam Musubi, Poke, Kalua Pig, Edamame and Haupia, perennial favorites at every Hawaiian gathering. There are also suggestions for expanding the Hawaiian Tea Menu into a larger group event such as an Easter Brunch or a Graduation Party. These suggestions, of course, can also be applied to a Baby Luau.
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​Although the baby is the star of the show, a Baby Luau is not just about the baby. Since the one-year-old herself has little awareness of what is actually going on at this gathering, other than a feeling of happiness at recognizing her grandparents and other familiar family members, a Baby Luau is really a community event, a time for the entire extended family, along with friends, neighbors and co-workers, to express gratitude for a new life among them and for the continuing cycle of life in the world around them. 
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​Wayne and I recently had the privilege of co-hosting a Baby Luau for our little friend Willa, along with her parents, Diana and Francis Blanco, at our beach home in windward Oahu. The festivities included a wading pool for the younger children, the beach itself for the older keiki and the grownups and a basketball hoop on the grass, accompanied by old-time rock and roll courtesy of Alexa. The menu featured the ever-popular Poke (marinated raw fish cubes,) and Edamame (spiced, cooked soy beans in their pods,) but Willa’s mother, Diana, opted for a more health-conscious contemporary menu while still offering foods that children love. Willa’s Dad, Francis, manned the outdoor barbecue, and everyone was happy. Here is a sampling of what we ate:
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​            Fresh Vegetables and Cheese Cubes with Ranch Dip
            Pretzels and Chips with Cheese Dip
            Fresh Fruit Salad (Pineapple, Cantaloupe, Strawberries, Grapes and Bananas)
            Caesar Salad
            Potato and Crab Salad
            Irish Soda Bread with Cream Cheese and Apple Butter
            Barbecue Baked Beans
            Hamburgers and Hotdogs with Buns
            Grilled Marinated Chicken Legs
            Grilled Marinated Steak
            Marinated Vegetable Kabobs, some with Shrimp, some with Steak Cubes
 

​A birthday party 
On St. Patrick’s Day: Soda
Bread and Chocolate Cake. ​

​After plenty of feasting with many visits back to the food tables for seconds and thirds, the guests were delighted by the arrival of the Shave Ice and Ice Cream truck. This welcome husband and wife team parked at the gate and dispensed bowls of ice cream topped with shave ice in any flavor or combination the recipient might fancy. I noticed that the adults were just as thrilled with the Shave Ice truck as the children were, but they did wait politely until all the children were served.
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Birthday Cake followed quickly after the Shave Ice. With my passion for baking cakes, I was eager to volunteer for this task, and I couldn’t stop at just one Birthday Cake. I offered three choices: Three-Layer Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake with Fudge Icing, Lemon Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze and Blueberries and Hummingbird Cake with Cream Cheese Icing. I was pleased that several of the guests sampled all three. We served the cake, lighted the birthday candle and sang “Happy Birthday” indoors to avoid melted icing in the sunshine, a peril of baking layer cakes in Hawaii.
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​​For those of you unfamiliar with Hummingbird Cake, it is a lightly spiced cake made with chopped rather than mashed bananas, crushed pineapple and chopped nuts. In the American South, Hummingbird Cake is made with toasted pecans, but I chose chopped toasted macadamia nuts for our Hawaiian Baby Luau. And I used Hawaiian Apple Bananas grown in my neighbors’ back yard. You can find a discussion and recipe for Hummingbird Cake in the Afternoon Tea for a Large Group section of myteaplanner.com. 
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With the exception of the store-bought Poke and Edamame, all the food at Willa’s Baby Luau was homemade, either prepared by Diana, Francis, Wayne or me. In our blogs and on our website, Kathleen and I are fearless proponents of homemade food at social gatherings. With planning, cooperation and teamwork, friends and family members can make a special occasion even more special by donating our time, creativity, hard work and love. For courageous home cooks, we even feature a home-prepared Wedding Reception menu, including a homemade Wedding Cake, on our website, complete with timeline, planning guide, grocery and equipment  lists and division of tasks for a small group. At Willa’s Baby Luau, in addition to our four-person food preparation team, other friends arrived early to help with decorating or stayed late to assist with the clean-up.

​When we work together as friends, we learn so much about the gifts and talents of others. I was intrigued by the very tasty Potato and Crab Salad made by Willa’s mother, Diana. With the inclusion of crab and frozen green peas, it is quite different from any potato salad I had ever made. Diana told me that a less expensive version of this Hawaiian favorite can be made with imitation crab, readily available at local grocery stores and fish markets. This product, sometimes called Surimi, is made of ground white fish with flavorings added to simulate the taste of crab. Critics point out that Surimi is much less nutritious than crab, but it is certainly less costly, has a good flavor and texture and does not require cracking and picking over the crab legs. I will share Diana’s delicious recipe, and you can decide which form of “crab” to include in your Potato and Crab Salad.

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Potato and Crab Salad
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​This delicious party favorite includes only a small number of ingredients and can be made a day early and refrigerated. Also, the proportions of the ingredients can be adjusted according to your own preferences. If your family loves mayonnaise, feel free to double the amount listed in this recipe. The same goes for the olives, peas and all of the other items included in this potato salad. This recipe will feed about twenty as a side dish, but you can double it for an even larger group.
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• 5 pounds of russet potatoes, peeled, cut into chunks and boiled until tender (about 20 minutes)
• 12 large eggs, boiled, peeled and chopped
• 1 pound of imitation crab (or fresh crab, boiled, shelled and picked over)
• 1 (one pound) package frozen petit peas, thawed
• 1 (fifteen ounce) can pitted black olives, drained and sliced
• 1-2 cups mayonnaise
• salt and pepper to taste

 
to serve:

• paprika
• chopped flat leaf parsley

 
Makes: about 20 servings
 
Special equipment: 2 large pots for boiling the potatoes and eggs, paring knife, large spoon for mixing, extra large mixing bowl, large attractive serving bowl

1. Boil the eggs and refrigerate them in an ice bath. Peel, chop and boil the potatoes until tender. Drain and set aside to cool. While the potatoes cool, peel and chop the eggs, thaw the peas and slice the olives.
2. Assemble all of the prepared ingredients in an extra large mixing bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the imitation crab and mayonnaise. Start with 1 cup of mayonnaise, stir and add more if you want a creamier texture.
3. Arrange the salad in a large attractive serving bowl. Sprinkle the top with paprika. Then sprinkle chopped flat leaf parsley decoratively around the outside edge of the salad. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to serve.