Hawaiian Spareribs Aka : Puaa Aoao & Huala Kakika

After my first year of college at the ripe age of 17, my friends convinced me to stop and smell the hibiscus, After discovering another drunken note scrawled across my pink notepad with a map that Dora the Explorer would have had better luck deciphering. I decided to take the leap...I packed a tiny bag with tiny dresses, tiny bikinis, a beauty bag, and left for the airport with the ticket he left taped to his pink Dora map. My boyfriend left the day before and according to the note I was under the impression he needed me to bring seven pounds of pineapple and his dog, Rubix. Rubix was not Russian or cube shaped... He was just named after my boyfriend's conspiracy theory involving the Rubic's cube which would later end our relationship. I felt sorry for Rubix so I brought him along but I couldn't justify the pineapple.
Anyway, we stayed in Kihei on Maui for a few days at his dad's palatial estate where we met up with his deadbeat dad every year only to remember how much he didn't like the guy. Regardless of being young and ridiculous or in his dad's case, old and ridiculous... Hawaii is the very essence of peace and you can't help but feel tranquility coursing through your veins. The luaus, the volcanoes, the surfing... everything was perfect but there was one thing that made the trip complete, time and time again... Puaa Aoao & Huala Kakika... Hawaiian Spareribs...

The ingredients:

4 lbs. spareribs
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup vinegar
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup pineapple juice
4 oz. pineapple chunks
2 chopped green peppers

Directions:

Cut ribsinto small pieces. Brown in heavy skillet. Combine cornstarch, molasses, and soy sauce to form a oaste. Spread paste on both sidesof ribs and rebrown quickly in the hot fat. Combine sugar, vinegar, water, pineapple juice. Heat in a saucepan over low flame until sugar dissolves. Pour over ribs. Cover amd simmer 25-30 minutes. Chop peppers into cubes. Add peppers and pineapplechunks to ribs. Simmer 8 minutes longer. Serves 8.

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Steak Bordelaise

2 cups red wine
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 shallots, finely diced
1 bay leaf
6 tsp. demi-glace
2 tbs. ground mustard
2 oz. worcestire sauce
3-4  6-oz. filet mignons or one big flank steak
Kosher salt and freshly ground
   black pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. canola oil
1 tbsp. chilled unsalted butter, diced
1 tbsp. finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
3 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
2 tsp. sage
3 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
3 tbs. basil
3 tsp. ground garlic
2 tbsp. minced garlic

1. Marinate the steak overnight. First, slice a thin diamond pattern over the steak to absorb the marinade better. Mix the mustard, worchestire sauce, minced garlic, 2 tsp. rosemary, 2 tsp. sage, 2 tsp. basil, 1 cup red wine. Pour over steak and marinate overnight in the fridge.
1. Make the sauce: In a 2-qt. saucepan, combine wine, thyme, shallots, and bay leaf. Reduce wine over medium-high heat until almost completely evaporated. If using a gas stove, tip pan to ignite wine; this will aid in evaporation. Discard the thyme and bay leaf; stir in demi-glace. Cover, remove from heat, and set aside.
2. Prepare the filets: Heat oven to 500°. Season filets with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 10" skillet over high heat. Sear steaks, flipping once, until browned, 4–5 minutes. Transfer skillet to oven; roast until steaks are medium rare, 4–5 minutes. Place steaks on a plate; let rest.
3. Sauce the steak: Return saucepan to medium heat. Whisk in butter. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in parsley and season sauce with salt and pepper. Transfer steaks to cutting board; add juices from plate to pan and stir. Spoon 2 tbsp. sauce onto each of 4 plates. Slice steak into 1⁄4"-thick slices; divide between plates. Sprinkle with remaining rosemary and thyme; drizzle each steak with 1 tbsp. sauce. Serve with baby lettuces, if you like. Yields 3⁄4 cup sauce.

41 Things In the Life of an Italian Child

Some of you may not be Italian but were raised in Italian neighborhoods
or were/are married to an Italian you will know what this is all about
because deep down inside you really are........Italian!!

  IF you're not Italian some of these things may seem a little strange.
BUT if you are, this is a nice reflection back to the way things used
to  be.

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41  Things In The  Life Of  An Italian Child   










01.  You have at least one relative who wore a black dress every day
for an  entire year after a funeral

02.  You spent your entire childhood thinking what you ate for lunch
was  pronounced "sangwich."

03.  Your family dog understood Italian.

04.  Every Sunday afternoon of your childhood was spent visiting your 
grandparents and extended family..

 
05.  You've experienced the phenomena of 150 people fitting into 50
square feet of yard during a  family cookout.

06.  You were surprised to discover the FDA recommends you eat three
meals a day, not seven.

07.  You thought killing the pig each year and having salami,
capacollo,  pancetta and prosciutto hanging out to dry from your shed
ceiling was absolutely normal. (Wow, that's really Italian!)

08.  You ate  pasta for dinner at least three times a week, and every
Sunday, and laughed at the  commercial for Wednesday is Prince
Spaghetti day.

09.  You grew up thinking no fruit or vegetable had a fixed price and
that  the price of everything was negotiable through haggling.

10.  You were as tall as your grandmother by the age of seven.

11.  You thought everyone's last name ended in a vowel.

12.  You thought nylons were supposed to be worn rolled to the ankles.




13.  Your mom's main hobby is cleaning.

14.  You were surprised to find out that wine was actually sold in
stores.

15.  You thought that everyone made their own (gravy) tomato  sauce.

16.  You never ate meat on Christmas Eve or any Friday for that matter
.






17.  You ate your salad after the main course.

18.  You thought Catholic was the only religion in the world.

19.  You were beaten at least once with a wooden spoon or broom.

20.   You thought every meal had to be eaten with a hunk of bread in
your hand.




21.   You can understand Italian but you can't speak it.

22.  You have at least one relative who came over on the boat.

23.  All of your uncles fought in a World War.






24.  You have at least six male relatives named Tony, Frank, Joe or
Louie.

25.  You have relatives who aren't really your relatives.

26.  You have relatives you don't speak  to.  Haaaaaaaaaaaaa!!

27.  You drank wine before you were a teenager.

28.  You relate on some level, admit it, to the Godfather and the
Sopranos. I make a meata ball you can't refuse.   
Forrgetttabbboutit!   Badda bing!   






29.  You grew up in a house with a yard that didn't have one patch of
dirt that didn't have a flower or a vegetable growing out of it.

30.  Your grandparent's furniture was as comfortable as sitting on
plastic.  Wait!! You were sitting on plastic.

31.  You thought that talking loud was normal.




32.  You thought sugared almonds and the Tarantella were common at all
weddings.

33.  You thought everyone got pinched on the cheeks and money stuffed
in their pockets by their relatives .

34.  Your mother is overly protective of the males in the family no
matter what their age.

35.  There was a crucifix in every room of the house .

36.  Wakes would be held in someone's living room.

37.  You couldn't date a boy without getting approval from your father.
(Oh, and he had to be Italian.)






38.  You called pasta "macaroni".

39.  You dreaded taking out your lunch at school.

40.  Going out for a cup of coffee usually meant going out for a cup of
coffee over Zia's house .





41.  Every condition, ailment, misfortune, memory loss and accident was
attributed to the fact that you didn't eat something..