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After a long day on the boat and in the ocean, nothing sounded better than some cold sweets. We headed over to JoJo’s shaved ice for some of the best Hawaii has to offer (rumor has it that Matsumoto Shave Ice in Haleiwa, Oahu is better and that Shave Ice Paradise is horrible). A lifetime of fairs and carnivals has brought me plenty of opportunities for sno-cones but this was my first proper shave ice. I’m only sorry I have waited this long.

It’s hard to believe that I was in sunning it up on the beaches of Hawaii last week. It all seems like a dream at this point.

We arrived in Honolulu and then caught another flight to Kauai. The Honolulu airport has an outdoor garden that is inside of security and is a great place to sit around for an hour and work on your base tan while waiting for your next flight. Since go! airlines moved into the market a few years ago, inter-island flights have dropped to just $40 (from over $100) making island hopping actually feasible and not just a luxury. We flew Hawaiian Airlines and they were even more competitive, plus each flight comes with a free cup of guava juice. Bonus! But they put one of our bags on the wrong flight. Bonus negative.

After arriving in Kauai we dropped off our bags at our room and headed straight for the beech. When you live in landlocked Colorado, beach time becomes gold and you hoard all of it you can.

After a little bit of swimming and exploration of our resort and beaches we headed out to Roy’s for dinner. Roy’s is something that you only want to do when your in Hawaii. In Hawaii, where the restaurant actually started, they are the actually Roy Yamaguchi’s restaurants. On the mainland they are some sort of conglomeration put together with Outback Steakhouse Restaurants Inc. and are not the same thing. In fact, there used to be a Roy’s in Cherry Creek but it went out of business. Anyway, my meal was delicious and I’d suggest it to anyone who is in Hawaii and is willing to fork out the bucks.

Here is Paula Deen’s recipe for Fried Butter Balls (this is real):
2 sticks butter
2 ounces cream cheese
Salt and pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
Peanut oil, for frying

Cream the butter, cream cheese, salt and pepper together with an electric mixer until smooth. Using a very small ice cream scoop, or melon baller, form 1-inch balls of butter mixture and arrange them on a parchment or waxed paper lined sheet pan. Freeze until solid. Coat the frozen balls in flour, egg, and then bread crumbs and freeze again until solid.

When ready to fry, preheat oil in a deep-fryer to 350 degrees F.

Fry balls for 10 to 15 seconds until just light golden. Drain on paper towels before serving.

Pageantry and ritual are what I enjoy most out of organized religion. Judaism is no slacker religion when it comes to pageantry and ritual. I celebrated my first ever Passover Seder last year. This year me and G decided to step it up a notch and host (really, circumstances as they were, our house worked best in which to host the Seder we were invited to) Passover Seder this year. So on Monday night we had 20 close friends and acquaintances over. The guests brought the food and religious paraphernalia I didn’t own or had never heard of. G simply supplied a couple some snacks. It was just as fun as the last one with lots of singing, laughing, questions & answers (because nearly a third of us were gentiles), discussions, food, and wine. We all had a (matzoh) ball.

It seemed every single part of the meal held some sort of meaning and there are so many little details I was unaware of or just learning about. For example before we all sat down, many of our guests were asking for pillows. I figured our seats were too hard. It turns out it was another ritual: “We lean on a pillow to be comfortable and to remind us that once we were slaves, but now we are free.” See, I dig this stuff. Little secrets messages, ceremony and procedure; not so much the liturgy, sacrament and days of reckoning so often emphasized in organized religion. Speaking of things religiousy, does anyone know where in Denver kosher Coca-cola can be purchased?