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I made these tonight. Easy, but time consuming. I rolled them quite a bit thinner, and used a cutter that was probably about 1".

I used the freeze-dried strawberries, freeze-dried blueberries, espresso powder, vanilla bean, and mint extract to flavor mine. Strawberries were great. Blueberries were iffy. Espresso needs quite a bit less by weight than the others. Vanilla bean and vanilla extract worked fine and was very pretty. I didn't use any coloring.

I make a lot of caramel, so I go through sugar at a pretty fast clip. Faster than I'll admit, actually.

There's a vanilla farm up the hills on the windward side. Good place to visit and go for tours. We just stopped by their little shop, but they have a cafe/restaurant and do tours. http://www.hawaiianvanilla.com/

The cheapest foodie souvenir I've ever found is Hawaiian salt, readily available in the grocery stores for about $2.

It's no secret, but Huli Sue's is a good/fun stop. There are a few little (and big) farmer's markets, but I totally don't remember the details!

Beyond that, find you some malasadas, shave ice, and plate lunch.

Ooh, fun. We're going about a month later, but have a multitude of family commitments that will interfere with my eating agenda.

Harrod's always makes me crazy (too much, too busy), but the food hall at Selfridges in London is lovely, and we wiled away a lovely couple of hours at the Vinomatic wine bar there a couple of years ago. (Service was amazing, too. The manager saved a couple of bottles for us from his stock and sold them to us at retail, and tracked down a wine shipper so we could get them home).

I'm planning on trying the new (?) cafe at Liberty this year.

I'll be watching this thread for other ideas.

We're having our Chinese New Year party next weekend (hey, we're a bunch of white people, it's really just an excuse for a post-holidays party). It's not at all authentic, but it's a fun reason to celebrate.

Smoakville in Napa, CA

There isn't a lot right near the campus, but Downtown LA has really come into its own for restaurants in the past few years, and is relatively close and easy to get to. Too many choices to pick one for you, but it'll put you in the right neighborhood to look in...

I like the crunch and bright bit of saltiness from a finishing salt. I agree that salt should be layered in the dish, but some items scream for a hit of finishing salt - red meat, potatoes, some vegetables, peanut butter...

I've asked for salt in Thomas Keller restaurant and been given beautiful grey salt for my steak. I've been to restaurants where I've thought that a dish would be perfect with a tiny bit more salt to bring the flavors into balance. And, most of the time, restaurant food is well salted, because chefs know that salt and fat give you flavor.

For the knife, I'll just reiterate what everyone else is saying - go in and hold them. I love my Shun, but it will depend on your hands.

For the extras, I just want to unrecommend a magnetic knife strip, especially if you get a Shun. Mine just mangled my knives. A silpat is nice to have, as is a v-slicer, but I usually end up looking at the wacky food and picking something out.

Happy shopping!

bacon always wins.

I actually love risotto for a crowd. It doesn't really take any longer to make a huge batch, and I leave all the veggies and stuff for people to add to their own portions.

Good stuff, black!

We did beef Wellington a few Christmases ago, and we used the Tyler Florence recipe. It worked great, and I like his recipes because they are very clear. Have fun!