Lei Day In Hawaii

May 1st is known as Lei Day here in Hawaii.

The first Lei Day was celebrated on May 1 in 1928. In 1929, Lei Day was made an official holiday (Hawaii was still a territory of the United States). Since then, Lei Day has been a day to celebrate native Hawaiian culture.

Festivities center around Queen Kapiolani Park in Waikiki. Tourists and locals gather to enjoy live music, lei-making contests and workshops, and various local crafts.

The Honolulu City & County's website maintains a picture gallery and schedule of the events that take place in Kapiolani Park on May 1 every year.

For the May 1, 2008 festivities, the City & County of Honolulu made plans to assemble the longest lei (flower garland) in the world. With a Guinness World Record Adjudicator on site, the City & County succeeded and an enormous 5,336 foot (1,626 m) lei was declared as the longest Fresh Flower/Garland Lei in the world.

If you have plans to travel to Hawaii on May 1st, we encourage you to spend some time in Kapiolani Park to enjoy the Lei Day festivities.

Hawaiian Videos: Hawaii Five-O Intro

Welcome to a new weekly features on the Hawaiian Isles Kona Coffee Blog. We'll be scouring the Internet to find interesting videos for you. They will not always be related to coffee, but all of the videos will have something to do with Hawaii.

Our first video is from one of the most famous tv series to come out of the islands: Hawaii Five-O.

Hawaii Five-O intro on YouTube.

Blueberry Coffee Cake Recipe

Coffee Cake Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 Eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (21-ounce) can blueberry pie filling**

Topping Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans (or your favorite nut)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons butter

Pre-Heat oven to 325°F.

1. Cream 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup butter in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Scrape sides of the bowl as necessary
2. Add sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Continue beating until well mixed.
3. Reduce speed to low. Add 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat until well mixed.
4. Spread half of batter into greased and floured 13x9-inch baking pan.
5. Spoon pie filling over batter.
6. (This step takes practice) Spoon remaining batter over pie filling; spread carefully. It is ok if the pie filling is not covered completely with batter. The batter will expand and should cover everything as it bakes.

Topping

1. Stir together 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar, pecans and cinnamon in medium bowl.
2. Cut in 3 tablespoons butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Sprinkle crumb mixture over batter.
4. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and topping is dark golden brown. .

*You may substitute one can (21-ounce) of your favorite flavor pie filling