Catherine Toth Fox, author, Kai Goes to the Farmers Market in Hawaiʻi (BeachHouse Publishing, 2019).
Hey Cat, what are you reading?
Cat:
Narrowing down my favorite book is like asking me to pick a favorite dessert: Not only it is impossible, but it really depends on what I’m craving at the time. Right now I’m obsessing over local cookbooks, particularly the ones that used to be sold as church and school fundraisers. That said, Hilo-born Maui chef Sheldon Simeon penned a true homage to local-style dishes in his debut cookbook, “Cook Real Hawaiʻi” (Clarkson Potter/Penguin Random House, 2021). It’s filled with recipes for dishes we grew up eating at baby lūʻau, office potlucks, backyard barbecues, tailgates and Sunday family dinners: kamaboko dip, Portuguese bean soup, prune mui, hurricane popcorn. There’s even a recipe for Spam musubi! I absolutely love this cookbook.
3 MORE READS:
“Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaiʻi” by TW Neal (Neal Enterprises, 2018): This deeply personal memoir by Maui-based writer Toby Neal is heart-wrenching and captivating—and tells the story of a wild Kauaʻi in the 1960s.
“Behold the Many: A Novel” by Lois-Ann Yamanaka (Picador, 2007): Re-reading this is like sitting with an old friend. This haunting story about three sisters who are stricken by tuberculosis and sent to live at an orphanage in Kalihi Valley in 1913. I actually attended kindergarten on the site of this orphanage.
“Don’t Worry Little Crab” by Chris Haughton (Candlewick, 2020): This story is about a little crab who’s a little nervous about venturing into the big ocean—which is something my 5-year-old son can relate to.
Mahalo to Catherine Toth Fox, author, Kai Goes to the Farmers Market in Hawaiʻi (BeachHouse Publishing, 2019). You can get any of these titles at our online shop or special order them. Get Catʻs book, Kai Goes to the Farmers Market in Hawaiʻi, here.