1.) Geauga County Maple Festival - Chardon, Ohio - April 25, 2010

In an attempt to have your festival experience better, I have moved all festival reviews to a new site - ohiofestivals.net

But fear not! You can still read about the Geauga County Maple Festival at this address –

http://ohiofestivals.net/?p=45

My Festival 2010 Season - Part 1

As an attempt to plan a little better for this year's Ohio Festival Season, I've decided to put a tentative schedule in three parts of the festivals I plan on attending. I figured this could also be used by you, the reader, to plan for upcoming festivals or to find me in a crowd and buy me an apple fritter.

Also, if you are involved in a festival or know of one that I may not have mentioned, feel free to write me or comment here so we all may know. The lack of mention may be because I can't make it, but it can also be that I just don't know about it. So festival mentioning would be helpful. Thanks!

Without further ado, here's part one of the tentative schedule, involving April through June. All links should open in a new window.

April

Fourth Weekend

4/22-4/25

Geauga County Maple Festival - Chardon

Fifth Weekend

4/30-5/1
Dandelion Festival - Dover

May

First Weekend

5/1-5/2
Pioneer Days - Loudenville

Second Weekend

5/6-5/8
Wild Turkey Festival - McArthur

5/7-5/9
Appalachian Festival (doubt I can make it, but looks great) - Cincinnati

Fourth Weekend

5/20-5/23
Streetsboro Rib Fest

5/21-5/22
Possible Spring fest version of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church - Lorain

Fifth Weekend

5/27 (rides only that day) - 5/31
Walleye Festival - Port Clinton

5/28-5/30
Feast of the Flowering Moon - Chillicothe

5/28-5/31
Hellenic Heritage Festival - Cleveland

5/29-5/31
Taste of Cincinnati

5/29-5/30
Asian Festival - Columbus

5/29-5/31
Utica Old Fashioned Ice Cream Festival

June

First Weekend

6/4-6/6
Columbus Arts Festival

6/4-6/6
Newark Strawberry Festival

6/5-6/6
Strawberry Festival - Troy

6/5-6/6
St. Anthony's Pierogi Festival - Lorain

Second Weekend - Away

Third Weekend

6/17-6/19
Grecian Food Festival - Steubenville

6/17-6/19
Dean Martin Festival - Steubenville

6/17-6/20
St. Demetrios Church's Greek Heritage Festival - Rocky River

6/18-6/20
Duct Tape Festival - Avon

6/18-6/20
Festival of the Fish - Vermilion

Fourth Weekend

6/22-6/26
Wadsworth Blue Tip Festival

6/23-6/27
Old Fashioned Days - Brunswick

6/24-6/26
London Strawberry Festival

6/25-6/27
International Festival - Lorain

6/25-6/27
Com Fest - Columbus

6/25-6/27
Founders Day Celebration - Bethel

6/25-6/28
Pirate Fest - Put in Bay

6/26
Dublin Kiwanis Annual Frog Jump and Festival

6/26-6/27
Old European Days & Bierfest - Brimfield Township (Kent)

Eating through Oahu 3/25 - 4/1

.
I just had a weird thought pass through my mind.

While thinking about the week-long vacation that Julia and I shared in Hawaii and all the food we consumed, mental images went from the food we ate during our vacation to my grandmother's Hawaiian vacation stories and all the luaus her and my grandfather went to. During their stay, they went to a luau EVERY NIGHT...and I'm sure there were other luaus going on at the same time across the islands. Who knows how many pigs Hawaii consumes per year?

That made me think - Where did all these pigs come from? Could the islands hold that many?

Then, my thoughts developed even further. I remembered what happened to Pinocchio in the Land of Toys (Pleasure Island) when he spent too much time there. And what about Sen's parents in the Japanese film "Spirited Away" when they ate food not meant for them.

They became pigs!

Could we have risked a possible transformation to fuel future luaus? Or did our pilgrimage to the sacred Kukaniloko birthing stones protect us from being roasted and served with pineapple?

Hmm...in any case, I'm dieting after this trip. I need to prepare for the Festivals 2010.

Here's my top 5 places to eat at in Oahu...

5.) Rocky's Coffee Shop - Waipahu

We went here to get the fried rice omelet, a delicious concoction that does the trick. Not only is it friedJapanese sticky rice, but it's mixed with Spam, Portuguese sausage and bacon. It was heavenly, memorable and inexpensive.

4.) Jinroku - Honolulu

Located in the Waikiki Beach area and close to our hotel, we ended up here because they had Okonomiyaki, a Japanese pancake that I had a craving for. The pancake was good, but pretty small compared to pancakes I've had in Japan and Holland.

Honestly, what really brought the restaurant in the top five was the calamari. It was so tender and flavorful that we probably should have gotten a second order for dessert.

3.) Ted's Bakery - Sunset Beach

Along the North Shore, we passed Ted's Bakery on the way to the shrimp trucks. Fortunately, Julia read the name out loud, making my mouth start to water. I turned around because they had won an award for their garlic shrimp. It was absolutely wonderful.

Notice the salad instead of mac salad and rice.

I also knew that they were known for their Chocolate Haupia (coconut) Pie....

...and I wanted to try the Pineapple Macadamia Nut Cheesecake.

Both were great! Definitely worth the drive from Honolulu.

2.) Helena's Hawaiian Food - Honolulu

Just a little place on North School Street, we showed up towards the end of the lunch rush and still had to wait about 15-20 minutes or so. It was so worth it though that Julia bought herself a shirt.

We got various small dishes: rice, pig and cabbage, haupia (coconut gelatin stuff), tripe strew, poke (tuna sashimi with tomato, green onions), and poi (a thick fluid made from taro corm).

Poi was the only thing I didn't like and that had to do with acquired taste. If I was going to try poi anywhere, I trusted Helena's because everything else was wonderful.

The tripe was so tender and I overlooked the tomato-based broth.

The poke was refreshing and delicious.

After tasting Julia's pig and cabbage (as written in the menu), I ordered a small bowl of pork and found it exquisite. I even mixed in some haupia to enhance the sweetness.

1.) Doraku - Honolulu

We ate here our first night and really enjoyed it - so much that we ate here a SECOND night as well. Their carpaccio appetizers were incredible. The second night, we got both the red snapper and the yellowtail.

And we got some sushi...



A hawaiian (or waikiki) roll with macadamia nuts, pineapple and tuna. The middle roll is tuna, hot sauce, roe and avocado.

Definitely worth the revisit!

HERE ARE SOME OTHER FOODS WORTH MENTIONING



Foie Gras Nigiri - Sansei Seafood Restaurant (Honolulu)



The super big pancakes at Mac 24/7 Restaurant (Honolulu)



Julia's ever-favorite mochi - Beard Papa (Honolulu)




Spam and Egg Musubi - ABC Store



A dog with various relishes and sauces - Puka Dog (Honolulu)



Dim sum - Legend Seafood (Honolulu)



And a double of pineapple and coconut to wash it all down - Dave's Hawaiian Ice Cream - near the Sear's Optical Dept, kitty corner from electronics - Ala Moana (Honolulu)