Fresh Strawberry Mochi

I've been baby-sitting Maddie. She lives next door. She is so young and full of innocent exuberance and energy that she sometimes gets herself in trouble. She often spills her water, potties in the wrong place, tosses her toys out of reach and gets tangled up in all sort of things. Maddie is adorable! Now what does Maddie have to do with Fresh Strawberry Mochi?

Well, in a nice gesture of appreciation for my baby (doggie) sitting stint, Maddie's owner brought over some Fresh Strawberry Mochi made by Saturday Grandma's. As you can see from the photo, the strawberry centered Daifuku mochi is just very pretty when sliced in half.

Haven't eaten breakfast yet, I was quite excited to receive the mochi. I took a huge bite out of it and was not too sure whether I liked it or not. I loved the read bean filling but the strawberry was a little bit tart. I expected the taste of sweet mochi ice cream...mmmmm...now that's a thought! Does anyone make strawberry ice cream with azuki bean filling mochi? Anyhow, I realized that I had just brushed my teeth so maybe the minty toothpaste was distorting the flavor. Naturally, I needed another bite. The second bite, a good combination of both strawberry and red bean, was a little better but still minty-ish. I ate the whole thing anyway.

Of course, before writing this post, I needed to sample another mochi. This time, not expecting the flavor of strawberry ice cream and hoping not to taste mint toothpaste, the culinary experience was much more pleasant. The tarty sweetness is actually quite addicting. There are two more mochi's left but because my kids helped with the baby-sitting, I should be nice and save these for my helpers.

Saturday Grandma's Fresh Strawberry Mochi is located at 98-718 Moanalua Road Unit #A18 just west of Kaahumanu Street in Pearl City on the island of Oahu. Mochi is available for pick up on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 12:00-5:00 pm and Saturday/Sunday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Orders must be placed 2 days in advance but walk-in purchases are welcome. Other flavors and products available. Phone: 808 484-0052.
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From Wikipedia: Daifukumochi or Daifuku (literally "great luck"), is a Japanese confection consisting of a small round mochi (glutinous rice cake) stuffed with sweet filling, most commonly anko, sweetened red bean paste made from azuki beans.

Women Entreprenuers in Hawaii

From a July 2008 article in the Hawaii Business news comes this statement: Women entrepreneurs are thriving in Hawaii. According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, the state ranks third nationally for growth of women-owned businesses from 1997 to 2006.

The article discusses 3 stages of building a business:

• Startup Phase
  
• Growth Opportunities
• Giving Back to the Community

Three women in different stages are interviewed and the challenge of each stage is discussed. If you'd like to read the article, please follow the link below. You will also find useful resource links to you help you with your own business.

The Phases of Business Building - Hawaii Business - July 2008 - Hawaii

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Pig's Feet Soup and Andagi Coming Soon!

This weekend I'm going to see my relatives at the 26th Okinawan Festival. My grandfather was one of the first Okinawan immigrants to arrive in Hawaii in the 1900's. He settled on Kauai, worked hard and built a future for himself and his family. At this time of the year, people from all over come together to learn about and celebrate the Okinawan heritage and culture.

The Okinawan festival is held each year at the Kapiolani Park and is a good-fun community event for the entire family. There are lots of Okinawan foods to try and many of the local favorites. I'm not one for pig's feet soup but I love the hot, crispy-soft andagi! This year I'm going to try the Champuru plate. Check out what else in on the menu.

Along with food, there are craft galleries and cultural information tents, games for kids and lots of entertainment. Parking in Waikiki always seem to be difficult so there is a shuttle service from Kapiolani Community College to the Kapiolani site and back. For more information, please visit the Festival Web site.

2008 26th Okinawan Festival

Saturday, August 30, 2008 8:30 am to 9:30 pm
Sunday, August 31, 2008 9:00 am to 5:00 pm



In appreciation of our Issei Pioneers, many of us now call Hawai'i our home. Hope to see you there.

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About WAHMS

Everyone has dreams about working from home. As work at home moms, we get many of our business ideas and inspiration from the things that we have passion for. For example, love that perfume...I bet I could get others to buy it too. Or, I know a lot about books - I'm sure I could promote reading and sell books. But as many experienced WAHMs know, loving a product or service does not make you a successful WAHM.

We have learned that an important element in success is market research. Start from the beginning and do your research. Find out what sells and what does not. You can start by doing research on the internet or even do a Google search on your product and see what kind of competition is out there. By finding about your competition, you'll be aware of the kind of promotion and work you need to do to get your name out into the public eye. Don't assume that your passion will drive others to buy your product. This is knowledge gained through our own personal experiences.

If only we had someone to tell us this in the beginning - before we started! Unfortunately, we don't have the daily support of colleagues and may find ourselves working alone most of the time. And like all parents we juggle the schedules of our family along with our work. When business does not live up to our expectations, we often feel like giving up and many of us do. We don't have encouragement from co-workers or bosses. We don't have the push for training or opportunities to better our skills and knowledge - everything comes from within. Our own commitment and desires push us forward. When you feel like you've hit a dead end, it can be very discouraging not to have answers and not knowing where to go from there.

It's important for WAHMs to network, share ideas and provide encouragement and feedback to each other. We hope if you're a WAHM here in Hawaii, you'll consider joining our group to share your area of expertise with us or maybe you could even learn a little here too.

If you're not a WAHM but know of resources where we can enrich ourselves in this ever changing business environment, we'd love to hear from you!

Thank you to those who read our blog! Thank you to our customers. You are our inspiration and our hope!

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A Weekend in Waikiki

We just came back from a weekend stay in Waikiki. It was our summer vacation minus air travel (and luggage) prices. It turned out to be a wonderful vacation as we played tourist in Waikiki and enjoyed the fire dancers at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, friday night fireworks and the Hilton lagoon, beach and pool. We stayed away from fancy restaurants (awwww!) and shopping but did bus to the International Market Place, packed full of vendors. We also stopped by the Big Kahuna 3-D Golf in the Waikiki Shopping Plaza so the kids could play a round of mini golf for $5 each. Not a bad price considering that the kids got a thrill out of the tropical sounds and strange images popping out at them - and it took them more than the usual 10 seconds to play their 18 holes because the atmosphere excited them.

The best food deal of our trip was at the Wailana Coffee House on Ala Moana Blvd. My daughter describes it as a fancier Zippy's Restaurant. The lunch and dinner kid's meals were less than $3 and our kids chose hot dog with French fries & spaghetti with garlic bread. It included drinks plus the nice waitress let me get Jello from the salad bar as dessert. My husband had a Chinese chicken salad (diet) and I got the local special of teriyaki chicken and fried rice. Our entire order was no more than $25.

Now we're back home. The dog is back with us after a stay at grandma's and is delirious to see us. The cat, on the other hand, isn't showing much joy and 1 fish is dead. The kids are arguing with each other. The house is a mess and it's sooo hot! Vacation is over and things are right back to normal. Normal is nice...sometimes.

Hugs from Keiki Gifts
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