Buenos Aires Luau

Even though we are thousands of miles from Hawaii we have a few friends here from the islands, and like all Hawaii-born transplants we have a hankering for the yummy food we all grew up on (btw, Erin and I were in Barrio Chino a few days ago and found crack seed on the shelves of Casa China, one of our favorite haunts!). Apparently, last year Cat and Maren, who grew up on Maui, got together and had (made?) a luau, so when we all had lunch together way back in July we talked about another one when spring arrived and the weather warmed up.

So once primavera arrived the emails started flying. Cat volunteered the terrace outside her apartment - a quiet potted-plant-filled area open to the sun - and we all decided on food assignments. Erin volunteered to make banana bread and cocoa mochi, and I somehow got assigned to make a salad and lomi lomi salmon (most likely because I'm such a fan of salmon and chopping tomatoes into small pieces with a steak knife...). Maren & Juan Pablo (and Nico) made kalua pig & cabbage and mac salad, and Cat & Bruno made ginger chicken, chicken long rice and white rice.

Needless to say, we had a feast! We couldn't have enjoyed a sunnier (and hotter!) day, and it seemed like all the trees in the city and the plants on the terrace had sprouted bright new flowers just for the special afternoon. The food was delicious, especially the amazing lomi lomi salmon, and the beer (unfortunately there wasn't any Primo beer to be found in the city) tasted great in the hot sun. One of Cat and Bruno's friends, Ben, came to bask in the Aloha Spirit (and eat the food), and we all enjoyed sharing our love of Hawaii with him. The boys ran around Cat and Bruno's apartment until Bruno once again kindly entertained Quinn with another Kung Fu lesson while Jack sat and drew with colored pens and pencils. Juan Pablo told jokes in Spanish that I was surprised I understood, and by the time the sun had passed over the building and left us in the cooler shade we were all stuffed and ready to run to the beach for a refreshing swim (since the river is a distance from San Telmo and not at all as refreshing as the Pacific, we passed on the swim).

As the afternoon turned to early evening we crowded into the kitchen, split the leftovers up, and said our goodbyes. Cat and Bruno will soon be heading to the islands to spend a few months on the other side of the world, and we all hope to see Juan Pablo, Maren and Nico someday soon on Maui or Oahu.

Hana hou!!!