Kona Coffee Cultural Festival celebrated Kona’s coffee harvest family style as the UCC Ueshima Coffee Co. Kona Coffee Picking Contest and Coffee Games got underway Sunday at UCC Kona Coffee Estate. West Hawaii school children between 8 and 12 years old from both Hawaii 4-H clubs, Kealakehe Robotics team, Kahakai Elementary School and Kona Martial Arts got their competitive fun on as each team competed for prizes. Games included the coffee bean chopstick challenge, coffee spoon relay, ulu maika, beans in the balloon and a Kendama master event.
Kahakai Elementary students captured first place, earning $250 for their school. Hawaii 4-H placed second, winning $150, and Kealakehe Robotics came in third, receiving $75 for the club.
The many young festival fans who attended the contests and games enjoyed good sportsmanship, shave ice, hot dogs and had fun competing in creative games from days of long ago.
During Sunday’s KTA Super Stores Recipe Contest, amateurs, professionals, students from Hawaii Community College West Hawaii Culinary Arts program and keiki polished up their culinary and presentation skills. More than 25 recipe entries were judged on presentation, harmony of ingredients, craftsmanship and design, providing an opportunity for each contestant to present a recipe to the judges that sparks creativity and an appropriate 100 percent Kona coffee theme. Winners captured cash prizes, gift certificates and bragging rights as the winning recipes of the 2014 KTA Super Stores Recipe Contest.
2014 KTA Super Stores Recipe Contest winners:
Professional Entree — first, Angela Kenyon, Kukio, Kona coffee braised shortribs; second, Deana Delmar, Kona coffee braised oxtail; third, Francis Kramm, Daylight Mind Coffee Co., coffee smoked pork belly
Professional Dessert — first, Jane Crozier, Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii, Kona coffee cheesecake deconstructed; second, Doug Connor, Daylight Mind Coffee Co., gluten-free milk chocolate layer cake
Amateur Entree — first, Peggy Kilkenny, pig pickin’ in paradise; second, Sabzne-Maeva Andersen, Kona coffee mochiko chicken; third, Paula Mizo, Kona coffee spicy fired chicken
Amateur Dessert — first, Barbara Housel, tropical Kona coffee tiramisu; second, Sunserene Quevedo, coffee panna cotta; third, Sabine-Maeva Anderson, Kona coffee haupia pie
West Hawaii Community College Culinary Student Entree — first, Arnel Anores, Kona coffee coconut shrimp with bamboo rice and local vegetables; second, Barney Barnes, Kona coffee flank wrap
West Hawaii Community College Culinary Student Dessert — first, Samantha Madsen, Kona coffee mocha cheesecake; second, Cindy ‘Taz” Buen-Sugaz, kope pala ai macaroon; third, Steven Kahiwa-Kakalia, tiramisu trifle