Pumpkin and Spice

I don't know if I've suddenly become more popular, or if maybe summer's just a naturally busy time for everyone, but my calendar has been jam-packed lately. My birthday was June 1st, which was a Monday, so, of course, I got to celebrate the weekend before and the weekend after (which happens to be when my sister-in-law's birthday is, so we shared that weekend this year.) I've also  just started training at my new job, which means my schedule has been all over as I get trained for all possible positions. I'm going to be the "head" cake decorator, which is a nice 8:00-4:00 gig, but I need to know how to close and open as well, for when people are out on vacations, sick, &c. Nothing's terribly difficult, but I've had to train on the 5am shift, which (as I'm sure you're all aware by now) is not exactly in line with my natural sleep schedule, which tends to skew towards the night-owl side of things. Luckily, work is literally only a mile and a half away, so commute time is minimal and if I lay my clothes out and set the coffee maker up the night before, I can "sleep in" until 4:15am. That won't be my regular shift, but it's been kicking my butt in the meantime.

Anyway- Last weekend I had my birthday party. Now I love a good theme party, and I love the process of planning a party, so I kept myself pretty busy with the party preparations. I've been in a tropical mood lately, so I decided it would be a blast to have a Hawaiian Tiki Party! Our apartment complex has a cabana by the pool that's available to rent for parties, so we rented the cabana and decorated it with hibiscus flowers and colorful tropical decorations. The plan was for people to also be able to swim, but of course, it was raining and lightning, so that was nixed. The cabana was covered, though, so we didn't let the rain put a damper on our tiki spirit. (And honestly, after enough pina coladas, I don't think anyone cared about the weather!)

I wanted to have some dishes at the party that really tied in with the tropical Polynesian theme, but that were also low-stress to prepare. (I have a bad habit of planning elaborate party menus and then stressing myself out trying to get everything cooked, in addition to decorating and getting myself ready.) One of my favorite dishes at the party was the huli huli chicken. Huli huli is a Hawaiian barbeque chicken that is traditionally served at luaus. It's (evidentally) popular enough in Hawaii that they actually sell bottled huli huli sauce at grocery stores. I had to make my own, which is luckily easy-peasy. I adapted my recipe from gohawaii.com. I added an additional step of brining my chicken overnight, which added a great extra layer of flavor and made the chicken super moist and juicy. Instead of grilling the chicken as they suggested I browned mine in a skillet, then baked it in the oven, basting it towards the end of the cooking time with the sauce, to avoid burning it, as the sauce is very sugary. I also made extra sauce, so I had some leftover to put on the chicken for serving. I used legs and thighs for the party, but bone-in breasts would also be great, though the cooking time would be increased.

This is a great recipe- easy to make, tastes awesome, and the leftovers re-heat well (and are also pretty darn good cold.) It's also very economical, which is a major bonus.

(Oh, and stay tuned- because I'm also going to be posting the recipe for my oh-so-fab pina colada cupcakes, and trust me, you don't wanna miss that! Also, I can post the recipes for two of the tropical drinks we featured at the party, if there's intrest. Let me know your thoughts on that.)

Huli Huli Chicken
Adapted from gohawaii.com
Serves 4-6

• 2-3lbs bone-in, skin on chicken pieces
  For Brine-
• 1qt water
• 1qt ice cubes
• 1/4c salt
• 1/4c brown sugar
• 2 cloves garlic (lightly crushed)
• 1 cinnamon stick
  For Huli Huli Sauce-
• 1/2c ketchup
• 1/2c soy sauce
• 3/4c dark brown sugar
• 1/2T garlic powder
• 1/2T ground ginger

The night before, boil water, salt, sugar, garlic and cinnamon until salt and sugar dissolve. Remove from heat, and add ice. Place chicken pieces in a large bowl. Once brine is cool, pour over chicken (make sure all pieces are covered). Cover in plastic and refridgerate overnight. In a small saucepan, combine all the sauce ingredients and heat until sugar dissolves. Refridgerate overnight to allow the flavors to meld.
The next day, remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry. Preheat oven to 375F. Heat a grill pan or non-stick pan, and lay the chicken in (do in multiple batches if needed to avoid over-crowding the pan.) Brown on one side for five minutes, then flip and brown for five minutes on the reverse side. Lay chicken on a sheet pan (preferably one with a lip) and bake for 15min. Pour half the huli huli sauce in a bowl and reserve the rest for service. Baste the chicken on both sides with the sauce and return to the oven for another 15min. Baste again and return to the oven for another 15min, or until the internal temperature reaches 165F. Serve with remaining sauce.