A Worthwile Mistake

Around a month ago a mix-up in our production department led to the development of one of our most flavorful Macadamia Oils. Our flavored oils are produced in 60 gallon quantities. This is a lot of oil! We begin with our Hawaii’s Gold™ Macadamia Oil, and then depending on the flavor we're making, we then add concentrated natural extracts to make our Pele's Fire™, Garlic Isle™, and Kauai Herb™. Well on this lucky day, our production assistant had made a 60 gallon barrel of Garlic Isle™ Macadamia Oil. Because the extract used doesn't add any color to our pure oil, she forgot that it was already garlic flavored, and then proceeded to make what she thought was going to be Pele's Fire™. She soon realized that she had actually added our chile extract to the already flavored Garlic Isle™.

After several moments of what I can only imagine to be something like panic, she brought this up to Barbara Gray, our Vice-President. The first thing Barbara decided to do was laugh, and then of course taste it! It didn't take long for our whole factory to realize that this was a really yummy combination. Since then we have all been trying it out on popcorn, chicken, in stir-fries and marinades, and any other concept our creative employees can dream up. The bakery next door added it to their already delicious corn bread muffins. Needless to say those dissappeared rather quickly.

This flavorful combo isn't all together new however. Our President and un-official deep-fry expert, Matthew Papania, has been using this combination every year to make his famous (here in Hawaii) deep fried turkeys at Thanksgiving. Yes, not only do all the employees get a turkey to bring home for Thanksgiving, but it's already deliciously cooked! He injects 5 parts of what is now Haleiwa Heat™ to 1 part Aloha Shoyu (his preferred brand of soy sauce) and one part of equally mixed salt, pepper, and paprika into the turkeys themselves. He then applies a dry rub of the salt, pepper, paprika mixture to the outside of the turkey and immerses it into a cauldron of simmering Hawaii's Gold™ Macadamia Oil. For his purposes, he uses 15 gallons, but then he makes about 20 to 30 turkeys in one day. He recommends using a 12-14 lb. turkey because this way it's easier to cook it thoroughly without burning the outside. It only takes about 35 to 40 minutes to cook all the way through. (Gone are the days of waking up early Thanksgiving morning to put the turkey in the oven!) Seriously, I've been craving it since last Thanksgiving. I'm sure that being as pregnant and hungry as I am, it would be hard to share it at all. :-)

So, of course, it would only follow that we would add this flavor to our already popular Macadamia Oils. We are selling it for an introductory price of $5 for the 5 oz. and $8 for the 12.7 oz. We would encourage all of our culinary challenged (like me) customers to give it a try because it makes flavoring your foods so easy and delicious! Please feel free to share your ideas or recipes with us here on our blog. We love hearing from our customers and get some of our best ideas that way. Happy Cooking!!

Back to School Means a Very Specific Care Package for Hawaii Co-Eds

Despite the stubbornly high temperatures (for Hawaii I mean :-) and the lack of rain here on the North Shore, there is no doubt that Fall is upon us. It's hard to ignore the season with so many students gearing up to either go off to college for the first time or return for another year. Like anywhere else, leaving home to attend college in another region of the country or abroad usually means adjusting to that region's weather and culture. This is even more true for students leaving Hawaii for schools on the Mainland. For some, it will be their first trip off the island!

One way to adjust to the usually drastic change in "food culture" is to bring your own non-perishable favorites with you. Parents are stocking up on all the things that are usually unique to Hawaii and nearly impossible to find elsewhere. Here is just a sampling of some of the things that go into these packages - not the usual brownies and cookies:

Guava Jelly (It really beats grape hands-down)
Aloha brand Shoyu (Soy Sauce to us "Mainlanders")
Cuttle Fish (A small marine animal related to the octopus which is dried and salted)
Mochi Crunch (A Japanese rice cracker with nori [seaweed]) to mix up with popcorn
Cans of Spam (Yes, they sell this on the Mainland, but it's still necessary to pack)
Rice Cooker

In addition to having to adjust to the change in their favorite food's availability, many students from Hawaii now have to adjust to sometimes drastic climate change. Here in Hawaii, the air is always moist and of course it never snows. So how does the new Hawaii co-ed deal with the dryness and cold? Well jackets of course and a steady supply of our Kukui oil, lotions, and creams. It's no coincidence that we at Oils of Aloha usually see a surge in the sale of these items around this time of year: they are indispensable in cold weather. Instead of extreme dryness and cracking skin, you can actually have soft, supple moisturized skin all winter long! Who knew? Well the parents sending their kids off to the Mainland do, which is why our products are usually included in these care packages.

Beginning today, we are offering 10% off your entire order until September 9th, so you can stock up for Winter for less. Just enter "backtoschool" (all lower case, no quotation marks) at checkout. Also, please feel free to share some of your own care package necessities with us here. We have quite a few parents sending their kids off to Mainland schools this year and could probably use some advice.

Made In Hawaii Show

One of the only complaints I hear when family and friends come to visit, is that it is hard to find gifts that are actually made in Hawaii to bring back to the Mainland. In a sea of "Made in China" stickers that adorn the majority of products sold in the most popular tourist shops, it seems that authentic "Made in Hawaii" products are scarce in comparison. My visitors usually end up bringing home lots of macadamia nuts, Kona coffee, & Oils of Aloha products, which are wonderful gifts but finding variety is a challenge. However, that doesn't mean it's impossible!

In an effort to increase awareness of Hawaiian made products, Bank of Hawaii has partnered with hundreds of Hawaii businesses to put on the Made in Hawaii show. If you are lucky enough to be in Hawaii during this time, you'll have the privilege of being exposed to some of the greatest products, food, craftsmanship, and entertainment Hawaii has to offer. The best part is that many of the businesses will be offering special discounted pricing, so if you're in town, make sure and go. I think I'm going to be doing my holiday shopping a little early this year.

Oils of Aloha will be at booth #134 and we'll be passing out our delicious Macadamia Oil popped popcorn, as well as introducing our new Kukui Paradise Fragranced lotion. We'll be offering all of our products at special show pricing. If you can't make it to the show, then you can use the coupon "MadeInHawaii" at checkout and you'll receive 25% off of your total order. (Make sure and omit the quotation marks when typing in the code.) This offer is good from August 16 - 20 at our website: www.oilsofaloha.com

The show is at the Neil Blaisdell Theater on August 17, 18, & 19. On Friday & Saturday, it's going from 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Visit the website http://www.madeinhawaiifestival.com for more information as well as 5% off airline travel from the mainland with Hawaiian Airlines.

Haleiwa Bon Dance

One of the many things I love so much about living in Hawaii is the opportunity to be exposed to cultural traditions I would otherwise never have the chance to experience first hand. The diverse cultures here in Hawaii seem to merge seamlessly while retaining their unique traditions. One such example is the Bon Dance I was fortunate enough to attend over the past weekend.

A Bon Dance is a historic Japanese Buddhist festival to honor one’s departed loved ones and ancestors. Over the 500 years that it has become tradition, it has evolved into a family reunion of sorts where family members show their ancestral appreciation through celebratory dance. On the last evening of the Bon Festival, a ceremonial lighting of lanterns is observed. The lanterns are then set to float on the sea to guide the ancestral spirits on their journey. This is called Toro Nagashi and is a beautiful sight to see! Here in Haleiwa, the Bon Dance is attended by all cultural groups and religions as it is a festive and beautiful way to honor those you love.

The Bon Dance that my husband and I attended, along with Jean (our Office Manager) and her lovely sister, brother-in-law, and niece, was amazing! It was held at the Haleiwa Jodo mission. I could almost liken it in similarity to the Dia de los Muertos festivals held in Latin American countries and Arizona where dance, food and celebration are centered around honoring ancestral spirits. I was brave enough to try and follow along with the dance itself and although I didn’t do too well no one held it against me. There were so many others there trying to learn too! It was also nice to stand back and see the experts. Their movements were so elegant and the music so enchanting! The musicians were so captivating and the drums almost hypnotic.

It was a great time, and I walked away feeling richer from the experience. Here in Hawaii, you don’t have to travel far from home to get a taste of the Eastern influence. The rich history of the Japanese culture in Hawaii has endowed our little North Shore town with a gift that I will always remember.

I am including a link to Jean’s You Tube video. There is some really great footage of the Bon Dance. We would like to offer our readers a 12% off their entire next order by using the coupon code: HappiCoat. This is good through July 31st. The Happi (pronounced like hoppy) coat is the ceremonial long coat worn by the dancers in the photos. Also, we would love to hear any stories you may have on the subject of Bon Dances here in Hawaii or Japan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5CkDb4J350

About three weeks ago I was driving home from work on what seemed to be a normal afternoon. I decided to drive into town (Haleiwa town that is) to run some errands and on my way back I noticed an incredibly weak and injured dog attempting to cross the street. Of course, being the person that I am, I had to stop to see if she was okay. (Just a little background on me: out of our more than 20 family pets we had growing up, I rescued 18 of them from bad situations and took them home, much to my poor parents’ exhaustion.) You could say I have quite the soft spot for animals, especially dogs, but this poor girl was the worst I had ever seen.

When I pulled into the Waialua Community Center, she had made across it the street and had cowered behind a tree. I got out of my car and called to her, and as I approached I noticed several disturbing things: patches of hair were missing from her body, there were various cuts and scrapes all over, she was incredibly skinny, she was shaking, her eyes were clouded with infection, and she was covered in giant hive-like bumps and fleas. If that wasn’t enough, there was such a horrific odor coming off of her that I could barely breathe. She seemed like she wanted to run away from me, but she was too weak and was unable to walk correctly on her two hind legs. My first worry was that she had been hit by a car and had perhaps broken her hips. I decided right then and there that I was going to help her.

In the meantime, another local humanitarian had stopped to help. A very kind and concerned woman helped me hoist the poor puppy into the back of my car. By this time it was already after 5 p.m. and the nearest Veterinary emergency room was over an hour away. I decided to take her home, feed and bathe her, and see what happens. After a very thorough flea bath and a small meal I could better assess her situation. Her hind paws were so worn down that they were bleeding, which would explain her inability to walk. She had a very healthy appetite, and slept heavily through the night. The poor thing was exhausted.

The next morning I took her to the local Vet and got a much clearer picture of her condition. She was too weak for her shots, but we did get some anti-biotics, some anti-inflammatory medication and a round of de-worming medications. It turned out that she has a severe and possibly permanent allergy, which would explain the hair loss and hives. She was of course emaciated and had been exposed to the elements for quite a while. The itching was making her so uncomfortable, so in addition to the anti-inflammatory medication, I applied Kukui oil to her problem areas to relieve the itching after asking the Vet if that was okay. It really seemed to work. The oil kept her from digging into her skin because it stopped the itching and the next day the rash was less inflamed, her skin less red and her hair looked shiny and new. I liked the idea of using the Kukui oil because dogs have a tendency to lick ointments and injured areas, and Kukui oil is of course non-toxic.

Today, “Baby” is almost like any other dog, except maybe a little more appreciative and well-behaved. I was happy to find out that she was both house and leash trained, incredibly gentle and sweet, and only around a year or two old. After getting to know her I realized that I couldn’t part with her. I can now say that I am the proud owner of one of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever known.

In honor of Baby's success, we would like to offer our pet-loving customers an 18% discount on all Kukui Oil until July 18th, 2007. This applies to both the scented (KOF4 / KOF16,) and our unscented (KO4 / KO16) varieties. Just enter LOST_DOG in the coupon section at our online checkout.

Aloha! My name is Keri and since I am the writer of this blog I thought that I would give our readers a brief background history on how I came to live in Hawaii. I was born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona and while I have lived in several other places there are only two places that I have ever called "home:" Arizona and the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. My husband and I moved to Hawaii in November of 2005. As he is in the Army, we were given the choice of moving onto Schofield Barracks (the base here) or finding a home off post. After exploring the Island we fell in love with the slow-paced agricultural town of Waialua. It's proximity to the historical surfing capital of the world, Haleiwa, certainly helped to seal our decision. Between the pristine and unpopulated beaches to the lush volcanic mountain formations, we were in heaven. The beauty and people of the North Shore are truly unique. I felt welcome on the very first day we came here although there were certainly some minor cultural adjustments to make. (Before you come, buy a Pidgin dictionary, and then you won't have to say "What?" so often during conversations with the locals.)

After settling into our new surroundings, I began looking for a position that was not only close to home but a position that I could really appreciate as more than a "job." I was lucky enough to be offered a position at Oils of Aloha as a customer service and accounting representative. I have worked here for almost a year, and in October I'll be taking maternity leave. Our first child, a son, will be born sometime in late October and I couldn't be happier. I am looking forward to my child's earliest memories being those of the North Shore of Oahu and its sunsets, beaches, people and culture. During my leave and after I will be responsible for our web-based customer relations via this blog and our future message board on our website. I have always enjoyed speaking with our customers here in Hawaii and on the Mainland and I look forward to utilizing our website to do that.