A last minute Luau over Thanksgiving weekend? Crazy? Yes but Crazy good. One week and an half before the date, goaded on by my sister Linda, I decided to have a birthday party on November 28th the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and I decided I would have a luau. This started when I noticed one of my favorite bands, Tongo Hiti was available that night. Once that was confirmed I set about inviting people through Facebook and one e-mail invite list.
Linda and I went to Sam’s Club and got three packages of chicken tenderloins ( 18 pounds) and four double packages of pork tenderloins. We found skewers for the chicken and drink umbrellas at Richard’s Variety Store. Linda brought home bunches of tropical flowers and made them into fantastic arrangements and I changed a recipe of Mai Tais from ounces to gallons.
We froze the chicken and thawed it the day before we needed it. It was still a bit frosty and easier to handle the morning of the party when I cut each of the tenderloin pieces into two and threaded them onto the skewers. My good friend Joe, whipped up a lime marinade and cooked them on the grill that morning. Here is his recipe:
Joey’s Fit to be Thai’d Satay Marinade
- 1 cup lime juice
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup stinky asian fish sauce
- 4 oz chopped garlic
- 4 oz grated fresh ginger
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 8 chopped serano chilies seeds and all..
- 2 bunches chopped green onions…
And Mai Tai in Memory of Charlie Knight
- (2) 1.75 liter bottles of Dark Rum
- (4) 1.75 liter bottles of Gold Rum
- (3) bottles of Roses Lime Juice
- (3) bottles of Orange Curasau
- (3) bottles of Orangeat Syrup
- (1 1/2) bottles of simple syrup
Mix together and garnish with cherries, pineapple and paper umbrellas.
Word of warning. Do not try to make peanut sauce from scratch. Just buy it at whole foods.
For a bit of entertaining eye candy, our 20 something daughters dressed in lava lavas and bikini tops that we sewed with fringe and they danced to the Tunes of Tongo Hiti. In face after a snoot full of Mai Tais, everyone danced.
