Oh, I want to come! Watermelon by itself is good, but I have a great watermelon popsicle recipe if you want something a little different. I called them Sunset Watermelon Popsicles because the orange juice in them freezes a different color than the watermelon and the gradient color is...well, like a sunset! It seems like a good solstice theme food to me.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunset Watermelon Popsicles

Saimin is the first thing which came to mind. But saimin is a buffet in a bowl and you already have a buffet menu going. And hey, maybe saimin is not a luau dish anyway. I just like it. A saimin bar might be interesting, where guests get to build their own saimin from available ingredients.

Where's the SPAM? That's a Hawaiian goodie. Musubi might work with your menu.

Jim

CdeL... I like your watermelon popsicle recipe. There will probably be 20 kids. It would be a nice treat after they're hot and tired. And I know the moms attending would be happy they're not loaded with chemical coloring.

And Jim. How could I forget Spam Musubi! Personally I think it's kinda gross, but my DS loves it and so do lots of his friends. And that would work for making ahead of time.

The flavors of saimin would work fine, but I'm not sure how to keep the soup/noodles hot yet not turned to mush. But definitely on the right track. I don't care about being authentic luau, it's more about bringing in a buffet of compatible flavors.

Oh, one other request. DH brews his own beer, so we're covered there, but I'd like to do a tropical cocktail as well. Mai Tais perhaps?

A luau is not a luau unless you have Pani Popo (coconut buns). Pani Popo was originally a Samoan baked dish but is widely used in Hawaiian luaus. Everyone will love it, vegetarians and meat eaters alike.

Al

Depends on how corny or serious you want it.

A little silly, a lot exotic, would be to do drinks with hibiscus. If you don't have the right flowers yourself, you can use the jarred ones in syrup, which make good cocktails. (You can get them through Amazon if nowhere near you.)

If you're going camp, and have the cookspace for them, you can make and freeze puu puus, especially '60's style tikimania hors d'oeurve like rumaki and crab rangoon.

When I think luau I think pit roasted. It sounds like you have adequate proteins, though some picky eaters might appreciate some chicken (but the pickies you've invited might be among the vegetarians, or willing to go tofu). There are a lot of fleshy fruits that are great roasted. There are a lot of vegetables you can roast whole too.

I'd want more vegetables than you have planned but I can't think of any luauish ones. And stir fry (which makes me think of Hawaiian fusion) for 100 doesn't sound fun.

It's not particularly of the theme, but a steamed vegetable salad is easy to make ahead and keeps well. It's bright and colorful and might look a little like a luau in a bowl if you squint. I do it with either cut up squash (crookneck, patti pan) or minis, baby carrots or those ball shaped hydroponic ones (the latter tend to roll off the plate, however), baby lima beans, and cauliflower florets. Then I add (not steamed) grape tomatoes, hearts of palm cut into circles, maybe some diced jicama. This is best with a very light dressing with a lot of flavor. I usually make a sesame dressing or an Italian vinaigrette. I'm allergic, but I imagine a dressing made with coconut milk might be great (though you already have a coconut dish). An orange-pineapple dressing like people put on fruit salad might have a luau kick.

Al, I checked out some recipes for the Pani Popo. I think the King's Hawaiian Bakery rolls will have to be the substitute. What do you think?

pllog... I was thinking more vegetables as well. I'll have some fresh raw veggies... carrots, snap peas, jicama, red pepper, grape tomatoes. Those always get snacked on.

Maybe this recipe posted by Judi on the Ginger cookalong would complement the dishes:

Asian-Style Green Beans ======================= 1 lb fresh green beans 1 tsp minced ginger root 1 clove garlic
Mix together 2 T water 1 T soy sauce 1 tsp cornstarch 1 tsp brown sugar 1/2 tsp sesame oil 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
toasted sesame seeds, opt.
Steam or saute beans with ginger and garlic until desired tenderness.
Add the sauce to the beans and cook, stirring gently until sauce is clear-- less than a minute.
Top with toasted sesame seeds, optional

We might be a bit campy...what's wrong with a few puu puu platters among friends! I think the crowd would love them. I could do rumaki with dates, crab rangoon, and mini veggie eggrolls. I have a convection toaster oven / broiler that I can use to cook small batches as needed. Friends are always asking to help out at the party and this would be the perfect thing to delegate.

Hmm... just googled Hibiscus in syrup... If I can get another couple of friends to bartend, that could be fun!

Here is a link that might be useful: Wild Hibiscus Drinks

tofu salmon salad, lomi salmon, teriyaki chicken drummettes

I recently made a jug of Malibu Bay Breezes for a party. It was really good and tropical tasting. You can use any coconut rum.

1 1/2 oz Malibu coconut rum
2 oz cranberry juice
2 oz pineapple juice

We made this 1960's recipe from a Trader Vic's cookbook for DD's Tiki-themed wedding and also for pig roasts. We did strain it before the chilling step.

TAHITIAN RUM PUNCH Serves 125 to 150

12 bottles light rum
12 bottles Jamaican rum
2 pounds raw sugar
4 or 5 whole vanilla beans
6 dozen oranges
6 dozen lemons
6 limes
6 large grapefruit
8 ripe bananas
2 ripe pineapples
6 bottles dry white wine, chilled
15 gallon keg or crock
Sliced fruit and flowers

Pour rum into your container. (If you use metal, be sure it is stainless steel. NEVER use a galvanized container. The action of the fruit juices and alcohol on the metal can make you and your guests deathly ill.) Add the sugar and vanilla beans. If you cant get Demarara sugar, use coarse brown sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Halve the citrus fruits; squeeze the juice into the rum and drop in the shells. Peel and slice the bananas; peel, core and slice the pineapples and drop both the bananas and pineapples into the rum mixture. Let stand in a cool place for 2 days, stirring every 2 or 3 hours during the day.

On the day of the party, remove pulp and rinds. Pour the rum mixture over ice in a large punchbowl. Let the mixture chill thoroughly for several hours and just before srving add the chilled wine. If you havent a punch bowl, just add ice to the container and let it chill several hours, then add chilled wine. Decorate with sliced fruit oranges, lemons, lines and float a few gardenias.

sffog, I think your suggestion of the teriyaki drummettes (or maybe thighs on skewers) will be good for adding chicken for those who don't eat pork. Thanks.

joanm, that sounds easy and refreshing! But maybe, we'll have to go all out with the fresh fruit option...

ruthanna, this sounds like a winner. Were any of your guests left standing? Since DH brewed 20 gallons of hefeweizen and IPA for the party, I think we'll cut this recipe down to 1/3 and it should work great. I've got plenty of lemons and oranges on the trees right now. Did you really use all the citrus fruit peels in the mix? How did you find a large enough container?

A

spacific, the kids here used to make "garbage can punch", everyone brought whatever and dumped it into a clean, new garbage can. It was icky, but I'll bet you could find a large enough container for ruthanna's punch that way. :-)

There are always Hawaiian martinis. I'm not sure but I'm thinking you could maybe leave out the 6 oz. of pineapple juice, LOL. Or do like I do and add a lot more, I like them better not quite so deadly.

2 750 ml bottles Skyy Vodka
1 750 ml bottle Stoli Vanil Vodka
1 750 ml bottle Malibu Rum
1 6-ounce can pineapple juice
1 cup sugar
1 fresh pineapple, sliced

1. Combine vodkas, Malibu rum, and pineapple juice in a large nozzled decanter or 5 quart jug. Add sugar and stir until dissolved.
   2. Slice the top and bottom off of a fresh pineapple. Slice the pineapple in half then slice the halves in half to make quarters. Cut the rind from each of the quarters, then slice the quarters into 1/2-inch thick slices. This will make several bite-size wedges. Add pineapple slices to decanter, and let mixture sit for 3 days at room temperature.
   3. To make the drink, shake 3 ounces of the martini blend with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with one piece of pineapple from the decanter, speared on a toothpick.

Annie

Spacific, yup any frozen rolls do will. The yummiest part of Pani Popo is the coconut sauce that you bake the rolls in. They are to die for! There's a recipes on Allrecipes.com that you can use as a base. I promise everyone will love it.

Al

Ann, we do add the peels but remove them before chilling the punch.

For a container, DH and friends go to the large appliance junkyard and get either a non-working smaller size chest freezer or one of those ice cream novelty cases. After testing for leaks, scrubbing, and steaming, it's a perfect container for making the punch or filling with ice for a mega cooler. After the party, they take it back to the dump.

No suggestions, but I want to come to the party!

Thanks ruthanna and Al for all the help. Wish me luck! Lindac, Iowa's a pretty far drive, but it's been a while since I've met a CF'er so head west!

Just wanted to come back to the thread to thank you all. The party was a huge success, with lots and lots of compliments going to the recipes from the CF'ers. My original estimate of 100 people was a bit off. Not exactly sure, but we think it was actually very close to 200 that attended!

So here's the food recap:

Kalua Pork --- amazing! We used whole pork butts, wrapped them in banana leaves. On Friday, we lightly smoked them - 2 hours or so (capturing the juices from the meat). Then the day of the party, finished cooking them in the oven for about 4-5 hours. At the party, we shredded the meat, added back the juice from the smoking, and kept the meat at a safe temperature in a tabletop roaster.

Glenda_al's Sour Cream Banana Bread --- wonderful flavor and very moist, lots of requests for the recipe.

Judi's Asian Style Green Beans --- a perfect complement to the kalua pork. I varied the method a bit by steaming the beans ahead of time, then sauteeing the garlic and ginger and making the sauce (with less cornstarch). At the party, we just mixed batches of the beans with the marinade as needed. It worked out great.

Ruthanna's Tahitian Rum Punch --- when I first mixed all that rum with the fruit it tasted awful! But after 2 days, it was transformed to a wonderful nectar. The one change we made (both to cut down on the amount of alcohol a bit and because it sounded kind of odd) was to replace the wine in the recipe with Sparkling water with Lime - crystal geyser or Trader Joes). On the day of the party, we added the ice to the punch, then put the sparkling water separate, so guests added the sparkling water and more ice to their glasses to taste. It worked out perfectly. A few even said it surpassed DH's homebrew (which is a HUGE compliment, since he's very skilled at brewing!)

Jim's suggestion for Spam Musubi --- aside from the side effect of having to break into the Monty Python Spam skit all day long, the musubi was a hit and one of the first things to go.

Claire's Watermelon Popsicles --- sorry to say, by Friday, I was too exhausted to make one more thing, so DH went to Trader Joes and picked up their fresh fruit popsicles (they even had one that was layered raspberry, lemon, strawberry). The kids loved them, especially after hours of running around with squirt guns and playing laser tag. We just served the sliced watermelon, always welcome.

Al --- I wish I would have made the coconut buns instead of coconut rice. Although my recipe had good flavor, I made it in the oven, and it came out a bit too mushy, plus others brought rice dishes... but the hawaiian bakery rolls were great with the kalua pork and all was well... but next time!

plllog's suggestion for puu puu platter items --- I served lumpia and rumaki (bacon/date version). Guests couldn't get enough of the rumaki and were offering to man the broiler to get them out faster.

sffog's idea for teriyaki chicken --- good call. For the first time ever, we ran out of the main meat dish. Thanks to sffog, I had 15 lbs. of teriyaki chicken skewers on hand and a guest brought about 50 pineapple/tofu/veggie skewers and I made an additional 20 or so skewers of just mini sweet peppers and onion slices, so all was well.

Ahi Poke --- as you can imagine, 5 lbs. of sushi-grade ahi... what's not to like! We made small batches through the day so it was never sitting out long. It worked well.

DH's home brew --- the kegs were empty by 11 pm (including a 13-gallon keg of Hofbrau from BevMo). His brew just gets better and better!

Misc. salads and slaws - lots of compliments all around.

And then our guests outdid themselves with offerings of beautiful Vietnamese spring rolls, pineapple upside down cakes, fresh fruit cobblers, homemade salsas and dips (Jezebel sauce - yum!) and fruit platters.

It was a perfect day, not too hot, live music from DH's band and another friend's band going throughout the party. Good time had by all!

Ann, it sounds like a perfect party, even without the Hawaiian Martinis. (grin)

200 people? It sounds like your party gets bigger every year, you'd better start looking for a park or somewhere soon!

Annie

I love the idea of summer solstice party; thanks for sharing yours with us. Trader Joes popsicles to the rescue! Popsicles are something that takes some time, for freezing, refreezing, packaging, etc., so I'm glad you went the easy route. I'm thinking it's time for me to make some soon though! FYI, just for the future for anyone who might want to try these, Ziplock Snack Bags are the ideal size for a cover.

The food sounds ideal, and there's no doubt a good time was had by all. Your parties must be famous in the neighborhood now, as they're so well attended!