Asagi Hatchery / Dirt and seeds and worm poop: This is the stuff of gardening gift dreams. Shopping for your favorite gardener can get a little dirty; here are some ideas they’ll really dig.
Waikiki Worm Company / A container of wriggling worms or a bag of worm poop: There’s a small subset of the population that think these are great gifts…and most of them are probably gardeners. For the avid worm composter, a bag of wriggling worms is a welcome addition to a slow-growing worm system, but for those who are more squeamish, the Waikiki Worm Company also sells vermicast, a by-product of worm composting that some gardeners call “black gold.” If your favorite gardeners don’t already have a worm bin, get them hooked on worms with the Mini Bin, a starter kit for worm composting.
Waikiki Worm Company / For those short on time or space but interested in growing their own food, the Wiki Garden is a local product that’s essentially a garden in a bag. It’s three feet long with a mesh casing that allows for drainage; and it’s filled with an organic soil mix that contains compost, peat moss, worm castings and bat guano–all the ingredients that help your plants grow.
Holiday Gift Guide 2010 / Christmas is the season of giving. But instead of relishing the joy and goodness of the act, you’re rushing to Costco at the last minute.
Fighting Eel / Fighting Eel’s dresses are obsession worthy. Even celebrities like Eva Longoria and Hayden Panettiere have fallen into the craze for local designers Rona Bennett and Lan Chung’s modernly cool creations.
Honey Girl Organics / Honey Girl Organics’ facial creams replenish one’s skin and spirit, and with a variety of nourishing facial products and rejuvenating masks, Blue Hawaii is a one-stop shop for pampered bathers. Honey-based products have antioxidant properties, and other cremes and lotions have organic olive oil and natural essential oils.
Surfing Goat Dairy / Protein is essential for building up big surfer muscles, so why not make goat cheese this year’s must-have item under the tree? The original plain chevre is rich and creamy, with that nice punch of top-quality tanginess.
Sweet Paradise Chocolatier / Give something unforgettable this holiday, like a drool-worthy puff of cocoa from Sweet Paradise Chocolatier. Tiny turtle chocolates painted with stars, and others concocted from herbs are only a few of the delicate cocoa gems one will find.
Native Books/Na Mea Hawaii / We all have those friends or family members who love nothing more than a new book under the tree. Giant-sized booksellers and overwhelcming stacks of bestsellers can seem a little daunting, so for an afternoon of simple, book-buying pleasure, visit Native Books/Na Mea Hawaii.
Jessica Landau’s Candy cane ornament / Local glass artist Jessica Landau’s whimsical creations are one-of-a-kind works of art. Her seasonal candy cane ornaments are visual delights that are sure to make everyone around the Christmas tree swoon.
Hokulani Bake Shop / Hokulani Bake Shop takes pride in the artistry behind their creations and their cookies are works of art. Shaped like everything from ‘ukuleles to aloha wear, these cookies are tipping the sweet scale.
Kinect / If the techie in your family doesn’t already own an iPad, she probably doesn’t want one. But fear not, there’s still much in the digital realm of electronic gadgets to satiate her gizmodic needs.
Rock Band 3 / Rock Band 3. Yes, it’s another sequel to the music video-game franchise, but this time, they add a keyboard.
Tron / Gearing up for Tron: Legacy? Before the FX extravaganza hits theaters, you can play with the toys and act out your own adventures.
iPod Nano / As if we need another iPod. But really, this one’s different.
Holiday Food Guide / For the holidays, who better to turn to for food and drink gifts than those in the industry? We asked the experts (including the author, the Weekly’s Food and Drink editor) for their holiday gift recommendations.
Holiday Food Guide / Recommendation by: Dave Powers, bartender at Town Oxo graduated stainless steel jigger “A jigger is the main tool bartenders use to measure ingredients for drinks, and a bar spoon is the other,” says Powers. “The typical under over jigger, which looks like two cones squished into each other, only gives you two measurements.
Holiday Food Guide / Recommendation by: Kevin Toyama, Wine Manager and Lead Sommelier at the Halekulani Hotel. “One of the hot new books out is ‘The Pearl of the Cote, The Great Wines of Vosne Romanee’ by Allen Meadows,” Toyama says. Meadows is a formidable, passionate, well-informed voice about the Burgundy region of France.” Price: $90 Where to buy: [burghound.com] “One of the cool gadgets I’ve heard about for opening wine is the ‘Durand’ Corkscrew.
Holiday Food Guide / Recommendation by: Martha Cheng, the Weekly’s Food and Drink editor Big Island Bees Ohia Lehua Honey This honey is velvet luxury in a jar. It already looks different–opaque and white like whipped butter.
We’re of the mind that food and drink lovers are the easiest people to find gifts for. The artisan edibles and drinks market seems to be growing day by day, and with the advent of the Food Network and celebrity chefs, kitchen gadgetry for every which task imaginable (see Q) is now available for home cooks.
Abalone — Packaged as prettily as a box of chocolates, Kona Coast Abalone are perfect for your favorite seafood lover. $18 for 1.94 ounces at KCCand Blaisdell Farmers’Markets and online [atwww.bigislandabalone.com] Bacon of the Month Club — This little piggy goes straight to your doorstep, as each month brings a different artisan bacon–the pigging out doesn’t have stop once the holidays are over.
Ice cream ball — Have a ball while making ice cream. Simply fill the inner chamber of the ball with ice cream mix, the outer compartment with ice and salt, and roll/shake/pass the ice cream ball for about 20 minutes for ice cream.
Rums from Maui — Haleakala Distillers produces light, gold and dark rums made from Maui sugar–for holiday egg nog or smooth sipping. Oh, and for the hardcore boozer, they also make a 155 proof rum.
Is your 5-year-old already wearing thick, plastic-framed glasses? Get the mini shoegazer started on knitting and other artistic outlets so she or he can wear his or her own sweaters already.
Sure, all parents think their kids are smart. If you want to stimulate the quantitative and inquisitive side, here are a few things to get started down that road.
Given the city’s crumbling infrastructure and rail controversy, it’s hard to believe anyone would want to be the next mayor of Honolulu. But a few do want the job, including the incumbent, Mayor Peter Carlisle, the former Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney who won a 2010 special election to fill the remainder of Mufi Hannemann’s term.
I’d never been to a Honolulu City Council meeting until a few weeks ago. Features, not politics, was my beat.
Victoria Holt Takamine is a kumu hula, a cultural activist and a teacher and has an impeccable pedigree to back up all these titles. Born of an alii family whose kuleana was in Moanalua, she graduated as a hula teacher under the legendary Auntie Maiki Aiu Lake and taught hundreds of students in her own halau (Pua Alii ‘Ilima) and at the University of Hawaii.
On April 25, a state judge dismissed trespassing charges against a Kauai man after finding that he had been exercising traditional native Hawaiian rights hunting wild pigs on private land. Kui Palama, 28, was arrested on Jan.
The city plans to dish out $3.5 million from its Affordable Housing Fund and either purchase or renovate a structure to provide transitional housing for Honolulu’s special needs homeless population. “Our community has invested considerable effort and resources in addressing homelessness,” Mayor Peter Carlisle said in a statement, “but there remains a population whose disabilities or chronic conditions make it difficult for them to participate in traditional shelter programs.” Carlisle is referring to those homeless with mental illnesses, addictions and physical disabilities.
Makaweli Poi faces an uncertain future after its owner, a corporate subsidiary of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) ordered the West Kauai mill to suspend operations May 23. Mona Bernardino, chief operating officer of the corporation, Hiipoi LLC, says the move to shut down Makaweli Poi was prompted mainly by financial concerns.
A resolution adopted by the City Council will solidify an agreement between the City and County of Honolulu and the University of Hawaii Water Resources Research Center (UH-WRRC) to conduct an analysis of impacts from ocean sewer outfalls on the marine environments off of Oahu. The city will pay UH-WRRC as much as $2.5 million for biological and sediment studies in portions between now and June 30, 2017 .
Along with the deep, verdant growth of spring sprouts an unyielding desire to spend more time in the open air. That’s why it should come as no surprise that National Bike Month falls in the sun-drenched time of May.
Of the many letters you publish against rail, how many offer an alternative that won’t send us into further economic demise? Billions of gallons of oil are imported for us from every oil-producing nation on this planet so that we can buy billions of gallons of gasoline.
TheBus is taking a back seat to rail. At the May 3 Downtown Neighborhood Board meeting, an audience member asked city Transportation Director Wayne Yoshioka when we could expect the bus route cancellations and changes to be reversed.
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