JANUARY 14, 2015 - VOLUME 31, ISSUE 2
The
Molokai Dispatch T H E I S L A N D ’S N E W S S O U R C E S I N C E 1985
S we e t Ne w Busine s s Se r ve s Up Sno w
MHS Student Cooks Up Winning Dish By Colleen Uechi | Staff Writer
By Colleen Uechi | Staff Writer
ometime within the next few months, diners at the Sheraton Waikiki’s Kai Market restaurant will find a beef maple bacon pesto roulade on the menu. Honey-glazed bacon and pesto wrapped in a slab of pounded beef, tied, baked and served in slices with sweet potato mash, the mouth-watering dish will be prepared not by a renowned chef but by a teenage culinary prodigy: Molokai High School senior Kiana Simmons. Last month, Simmons’ roulade won her top honors at the statewide “Buy Local, It Matters” (BLIM) Recipe and Cooking Contest. As co-winner of the Best Recipe Award, she and Kea`au High School senior Kenny Nguyen will have their dishes featured at the hotel’s restaurant in the near future, said Kai Market Executive Chef Darren Demaya. “Watching these high school kids was an eye opener for me because they are cooking at such a young age,” said Demaya, who’s been in the culinary business for 18 years. The contest, which was open to high school students across Hawaii, was the first youth cooking competition for BLIM, a campaign that began in 2005 to encourage support of local producers. Participants had to submit a non-dessert recipe involving at least two local ingredients and write an essay about what buying local means to them. Those with the best submissions were invited to prepare their dishes during a cook-off at the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR), one of the organizations involved with BLIM. Simmons said she listed several local ingredients and settled on a beef rou-
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olokai residents have the hots for an ice-cold hybrid treat: a flavored dessert called snow. It’s the feature of new business Sweet Evie’s Snow Factory, which opened on Molokai last Monday.
“Snow ice is not ice cream, it’s not shave ice, it’s not frozen yogurt. It’s like frozen cotton candy,” said Kalehua SproatAugustiro, who opened the shop along with her husband Maka Augustiro. Unlike shave ice, which is ground into fine granules, snow is shaved into thin slices that, when layered, have the appearance of wrinkled tissue paper. Instead of adding flavored syrups to the ice, the flavors are frozen straight into the ice itself, a concoction of “fruit and juice bases mixed with milk,” which without toppings, amount to fewer than 150 calories a serving, according to Snow Factory Hawaii’s website. Snow Factory has eight locations across Hawaii. Sproat-Augustiro explained that on trips to Maui, their family would stop at the shop multiple times a day. They
eventually decide d t o ap-
proach the Snow Factory franchise about bringing a branch to Molokai. It took a couple of years before they could find the free time and the space to open this year. “This is a pit stop for Molokai on Maui,” said resident Deidre Manaba over a bowl of cheesecake-flavored ice. “… It’s light, it’s refreshing, it’s unique.” The family named the shop for sixmonth old Evie, Maka and Kalehua’s fifth child and their only girl, who makes the rounds through the shop in the arms of various family and friends. The shop is
Snow Continued pg. 3
Photos by Colleen Uechi
Winning Dish Continued pg. 3
THIS WEEK’S
Dispatch
Community Center Re-opens
Photo by Catherine Cluett
Undefeated Start for Girls' Basketball By Colleen Uechi | Staff Writer
D Ikehu Molokai Energy Update
with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards for accessible design. “It’s the gathering spot, the artery of Molokai,” said newly appointed County Parks and Recreation Director Kaala Buenconsejo. “This is probably the nicest community center in Maui County right now.” Buenconsejo said additional work is planned for the Mitchell Pauole Center. The aging roof will be replaced, he said, and funding has already been appropriated.
efending league champion Molokai hasn’t lost any of last season’s momentum. Almost halfway through the season, the Lady Farmers’ basketball team is 6-0 and sits atop the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) Division II standings. Molokai defeated second-place Lanai (3-3) twice last weekend at The Barn, squeaking past the Pine Lasses 48-45 on Friday and pounding out a 54-22 win on Saturday. Lanai led at the end of the third quarter on Friday, but the Farmers wrapped up the win with a couple of free throws by Precious Rawlins with barely a second to go. Rawlins scored nine, while Lehiwa Pedro and Rebecka Adolpho had 12 points apiece. On Saturday, Pedro again led the attack with 10 points. Kelcyn Balbas
Center Continued pg. 3
Basketball Continued pg. 3
Pg. 2 By Catherine Cluett | Editor-In-Chief
A
Wrestling on Display Pg. 3
fter being closed for renovations for almost a year, Kaunakakai’s community facility, the Mitchell Pauole Center, reopened with a blessing last week. The center now features a new 2,826-square-foot covered lanai for performances and gatherings, upgraded kitchen and bathrooms, new flooring, paint and other improvements. The facility was also brought into compliance with Americans
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