Well, it’s official. As of the first day of summer, I am an empty-nester. After more than 28 years of balancing someone else’s needs and desires with my own, I am once again free to make decisions with only myself in mind. This new-found freedom immediately sends my thoughts to cooking; how do you cook for a party of one? My answer: you don’t! You invite friends and family for dinner, or you start a business feeding people. So, after a few weeks of adjusting to my new lifestyle, I am proud to announce the launch of our new statewide business, Lawelawe Hawaii. Lawelawe means to serve, to tend, or to care for others, including the serving of dinner or drinks. Perfect!

Other inspirations come from change. One morning I took a trip to Molokai with Chef Jana McMahon who is a frequent advisor for the magazine. We discovered Pu’u O Hoku Ranch with its 100-yearplan, as well as a salty mac nut farmer and a shared love for Kanikapila. We drove all over the island, picnicked, laughed and hiked. Where are you traveling to this summer? Check out #ehiRoadTrip to see where we are going and what we are eating.

We also wanted to highlight a progressive company we’ve known for years, 23 years to be exact, called Pacific Biodiesel. Get ready all you hard-core locavores because, thanks to Pacific Biodiesel, locally made cooking oil is finally here! Cooking oil has long been a missing ingredient for those of us who strive to create meals using 100% locally sourced ingredients. This company fills the cooking oil demand in a most extraordinary way: they grow sunflowers on previously mono-cropped land, use the sunflowers to create a cooking oil, recycle the oil, and then turn it into a bio diesel that can power cars. Please read up on this company because they are accomplishing so much more.

Finally, this issue marks the start of our 12th year of publishing. Happy birthday to us! On a recent trip we tasted a birthday cake that made us sing! We asked the chef to share the recipe and she obliged, but if you want to skip the kitchen mess and experience this cake straight from the master herself, they can ship it to you too! We did both and must admit that the cake we mail-ordered was a little bit more delicious. Mahalo Nui Loa to Christina Tosi.

As a gift to our readers we are giving away birthday presents to the first 12 people to sign up for 2-year print subscriptions starting the first day of summer, Thursday June 21, 2018. This gift is a collection of our favorite things we have found throughout our travels across the islands over the past few months. Once you subscribe we will mail you your gift. Please visit www.ediblehi.com/ subscribe and become a subscriber.

Mahalo to our advertisers, subscribers, friends and ‘Ohana.

With aloha,
Dania Novack-Katz