A Close Shave Ice

Shave Ice: It's not a snow cone. A decidedly Hawaiian treat, consisting of mounds of shaved (not crushed) ice firmly packed in a cup and loaded with tropical  flavors like mango, pineapple, guava and the more mundane like cherry and blue raspberry. Eaten with a spoon, not sipped or gnawed at like an ice cream cone. The ice has the texture of feathers and melts in your mouth like candy floss. And shave ice stands are as ubiquitous as plate lunch joints in Hawaii. Commercial machines are quite expensive, but we did manage to purchase a home model quite reasonably last summer. It of course doesn't have the blades or the power really needed to do the job, but it's a nice substitute between trips to the islands. A-Lo-ha.

Wallace and Gromit, a decidedly British comedy duo from the hands and imagination of Nick Park. A man and his dog ( who clearly the brains of the operation) who enjoy afternoon tea, cheese and crackers and of course zany inventions (like the Knit-O-Matic). After their cheese holiday to the moon, our stop motion claymation friends find themselves unwittingly embroiled in a sheep/wool smuggling scheme headed by the evil robot dog of Wallace's love interest and wool shop owner, Wendolene. Gromit gets framed for the caper and is sentenced to life, leading to one of the funniest dog prison film sequences ever. He does manage an early release and vindication for being a model prisoner, and being the brains of the pair, exposes the real criminal. A Close Shave won the 1996 Academy Award for Animated Film. It's crackin' good.

The Recipe:

Kids, don't try this at home. Get the first plane to Oahu.

But, if that's not an option, get your hands on a home machine. It's best to start from a block of ice, never cubed. Mound and pack the shavings to the size of a softball in a cup. Add fruity flavors and enjoy.