![Whole Foods interior](/img/places/wholefoods/wholefoods_int.jpg")
Hawaii's first Whole Foods Market opened a few hours ago, and if the next few are like this one, the other supermarkets had better step up their game.
Whole Foods is known for being the pricey gourmet/granola supermarket. Ecologically conscious and epicurean. Continuing the design trend Hawaii has been seeing in the newer Safeways like Kapahulu and Manoa (remodeled), the Whole Foods Market interior features dark floors, wood accents and warm lighting. If they had tables, you'd want to sit with coffee and a good book.
Food-wise, a surprisingly large amount of floorspace is devoted to prepared foods, everything from the standard poke counter, to paninis to a Chinese food counter. Many items are prepared fresh in the store. Sausages are stuffed by the butchers. Coffee is small-batch roasted by Allegro. PIzzas are fired in what looks to be a wood oven.
But what about the prices? I did a quick price comparison of a few staples to see if the "Whole Paycheck" nickname is deserved.
| prices on Sept 10, 2008 | Foodland Aina Haina | Whole Foods Kahala |
|---|---|---|
| apple bananas (local) | $1.99/lb | $1.99/lb |
| mangoes (local) | $2.19/lb Oahu | $2.29/lb Big Island |
| multigrain bread | $6.19 | $6.29 |
| lowfat milk | $7.29/gal | $8.99/gal |
| large eggs | $3.99/doz | $3.69/doz |
| 6 pack, Kona Longboard beer (local) | $9.99/lb | $9.99/lb |
The first thing I notice is that food has become crazy expensive in Hawaii. Holy energy crisis, Batman! Eating costs too much. Beyond the generally high prices everywhere these days, Whole Food's prices for staples are pretty darn close to Foodland; some a bit higher, others lower.
The real reason people come to Whole Foods isn't for the staples though, it's for everything else: the cheese selection, the olive bar, the countless varieties of organic potato chips, the "I'm a conscientious shopper" vibe. And they do it well. Walking down the aisles, everything looks so good. Not good in the sense that you know it must be good for you if you can force this healthy crap down your throat, but good in the sense that you want to eat everything you see. Whole Foods first foray into Hawaii has succeeded at creating a store that carries items I want to buy. Maybe that makes me a cliche, but I'm okay with that.
This is one store I'm happy has opened in my 'hood.
Lavender reminds me of old ladies. My grandmother's linens in the guest bedroom were decorated with delicate lavender flowers, to match the depression glass bowl of lavender potpourri in the bathroom.
It wasn't until much, much later that I realized those same lavender aromas could be used to perfume food as well, and not just the biffy. Who says you can't teach a new dog old tricks? This recipe is a perfect use for culinary lavender, resulting in elegant cookies that are timeless in their appeal.
Makes ~20 shortbread cookies — recipe can be doubled
- 2 c. flour
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 2 T. dried lavender, finely ground
- 1 c. cold butter
- powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 375. Mix everything but the butter in a medium bowl. Cut the cold butter into chunks and add to the dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender or two knives in a scissors motion, work the butter in until it is evenly distributed and no large chunks remain.
Dump the mix into a medium baking pan. The exact size you choose depends on how thick you like your shortbread, or more practically, what you happen to have in your cupboard. After pressing the mix down with your fingers and smoothing it out, you ideally want a thickness between a quarter and half an inch.
Press the tines of a fork into the flattened shortbread to give it a pretty design. If the fork started pulling up the shortbread, rub flour onto the tines to remove any stickiness before continuing. Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden. Score into square or diamond shapes while still warm, and then cool completely in the pan before removing them. Dust with sifted powdered sugar.
The first time I made this recipe, I made a double batch and had far too many shortbread cookies. To my surprise, they freeze really well and are delicious thawed or crisp and cold. I'd like to think grandma would approve.
The annual birthday cakes continue, this year with a three-dimensional stegosaurus. The earth underneath is marzipan, using whole instead of the traditional blanched almonds to give it texture. I spread it thin over the back of an industrial baking pan, tinted it with green food coloring, then dressed it with marzipan boulders and thai basil foliage.
The cake itself is made from a triple batch of devil's food cake, cooked in bread pans, shaped, then glued together with milk chocolate frosting and skewers. As in past years, the cake was a problem. This time the flavor was good, but the moist texture was unstable. One of the hindquarters kept collapsing.
The scales across the back come from a sea shell chocolate mold. I cut away the shell sides to get the classic stegosaurus wedged scales. Carved away sides became tail spikes. Finally, the eyes are from a candy necklace.
Total prep time: about five hours. Total time for crazed preschoolers to demolish it: less than five minutes.
Past cakes:
→ Year two: Pickup truck
→ Year three: Bob the Builder (and his reaction)
→ Year four: Spiderman
Bogart's Cafe & Espresso bar sits at the foot of Diamondhead with a view over Kapiolani Park to rising hotels; close to the hustle of Waikiki but not too too close. It's the small kind of place you'd find up on the North Shore, right down to the surfboards and local artwork decorating the walls.. A few tourists make their way here but the constant parade of people comes mostly from the surrounding neighborhoods, stopping for coffee and breakfast before (or after) catching a few waves.
Bogart's also serves lunch--sandwiches mostly--but at its heart this is about the breakfasts. According to the staff, the most popular item on the menu is the bagel sandwich ($4.50), a bagel with egg, spinach, tomato and mozarella. By itself, it can be on the bland side. Adding meat or mushrooms for an extra $1.75 elevates this into the sandwich it wants to be.
Bogart's Cafe & Espresso Bar
3045 Monsarrat Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 739-0999
It’s been mighty quiet here in blogland while I’ve been following up “anomalous test results” with my doctor. She paraded me from one specialist to another to be examined, poked, drugged, starved and probed. I’ve been hooked up to monitors and run on a treadmill until I thought I’d puke, and had cameras snaked through places I didn’t think were possible. In the end the consensus is unanimous. I don’t have heart disease or intestinal problems. No high blood pressure and certainly not the Big C cancer. In fact, it turns out I’m perfectly healthy—even above average for my age—and can now return to my normal regimen of debauchery and rich food.
Bring on the bacon and beer!
Although I’ve been neglecting this site, people have still been visiting and commenting. (Thank you!) Here’s an easy question from “Beth” to get the ball rolling again.
Hello I’m doing a project for school and I wanted to know if u could make [Orange Mango Sorbet] without an ice cream maker and if so how? Thank you!
Ice cream makers simplify the process and result in a smoother sorbet, but are by no means required. All an ice cream maker really does is stir the mixture at low temp. You can do the same thing with your freezer, a wooden spoon and a little elbow grease, vigorously stirring your sorbet several times as it freezes. I’ve written step-by-step instructions here that may help. The same approach can be applied to any of these other recipes:
→ Ginger Pineapple Sorbet
→ Green Tea Ice Cream
→ Lychee Ice Cream
→ Lychee Sorbet in Coconut Macadamia Tuiles with Papaya Coulis
→ Soursop Sorbet
Good luck!
