Category: Updates

Those who know me know I like the Apple Fritter pastry. My fave is the one at McDonald’s, which is nicely glazed with suger with apple flecks. It costs nearly $3 apiece.

When I visited the new Target’s at Windward Mall in Kaneohe, I picked up a four-pack of Apple Fritters, which cost nearly $6.

So clearly, it’s a better price. Target’s version (above, top) has a similar glaze with apple specks, and and the Fritters here a skosh larger than McD’s (above, bottom) it’s also slightly coiled like the carnival treat, the funnel cake, though the Fritter is a doughnut, not a cake.

Did a taste test, and while I enjoyed Target version, the McD version had a more appealing, tastier glaze.

The headlines — and headaches — begin…

Here, there, everywhere…

Just home from a splendid Thai dinner at Chef Chai’s on Kapiolani Blvd.

Chai Chaowasaree outdid himself with a sumptuous seven-course meal. He said the fare was stuff from his childhood — authentic dishes with incredible flavors. A happy memory, now a reimagined feast for Hawaii diners.

The lineup included:

* Kai Satay — chicken tenderloin on sticks, with peanut sauce, with a cucumber salad accompaniment, plus Asian flat bread.

* Po pia tod — crispy Thai spring rolls of shrimp, ground pork, onions and mushrooms,  with lettuce, cucumbers and flavored sauce.

* Som tum — green papaya salad, seasoned with garlic, tamarind dressing, dried shrimp, long beans and tomato, with gigantic shrimp chip for crunch.

* Tom kah kai — a creamy lemongrass soup with chicken and mushrooms and coconut milk.

* Pra lad pik — crispy whole fish with chili ginger sauce and scallions.

* Pad Thai koong — noodles with shrimp, chicken, tofu, bean sprouts, chives and chopped peanuts.

* Khao neou mamoung — Thai sticky rice with coconut milk and sweet mango slices.

This special menu is served family style; cost is $67 per person, with seatings at 4 p.m. and at 7:30 p.m.. through Sunday (July 30).

Wayne and Vi, at Chef Chai’s Thai menu night.

Reservations required at www.chefchai.com or (808) 585-0011; credit card required to assure seating.

Felt a creative urge yesterday, so decided to work on a summerish note card. Had this snack-laden paper, which lacked a local punch, so decided to do several variations of this aloha shirt card, capped with a strawberry shave ice, that’s now part of my Wild Cards catalogue. Happy summer!