One of my literary heroes is celebrating a birthday today…Charles Dickens. Chuck is credited with creating the modern soap opera… and if you haven’t seen the British production of “Bleak House,” you are missing out.
NPR has a radio story on Chuck. Have a listen… and join me in raising a glass of something or the other to our literary pal, Chuck… and to his pet ravens (yah… he had pet ravens… how cool is that?)
no cook… no bake rum balls, y’all.
In a large bowl, mix and knead until doughy:
2 cups fine graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark spiced rum
1/4 cup dark corn syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter
Chill… and then roll into one inch balls. Roll balls in 3/4 cup course grain sugar (found at Trader Joe’s). Cover with plastic wrap and refrig for 48 hours. This will yield about 70 of those little devils. Enjoy.
Oh, Man… was that fun!?? The Tiki Hut was lit low, there were tiki torches flickering away… there was Spam and pineapple-kabobs… Exotica music… ukulele stumming… Here’s a few pictures of the mischief of Aloha First Friday fun…(some photos courtesy of stick-figurer) (and by the way, I was gifted a Hula’s Tiki Mug by stick… and it’s AWESOME! So thanks, stick!)
For more photos… you can head to the Squid Row Mama Flickr site… tab above today’s cartoon.
Having promised you some art… I bring to you… some art. This month’s Aloha First Friday inspired some watercoloring…
I’ve been decorating the Cartoonery for some Tiki Room action. This picture isn’t very telling… but there are flickering tiki torches, grass hut-ness (and Tikis) sure to put you into an Island Fever…
If you’re nearby, don’t miss the Maka Koa’s Rum Balls (hee hee) and, yes, oh yes… there will be Spam. Not a fan of the ground up & canned meaty goodness? There’ll be other fun treats (pictured here)…. So Aloha! … and come by The Cartoonery for some Hawaiian fun… Hoo ha! 
… and there will be little drink umbrellas, too… after all… it’s Randie’s Tiki Room… or Tiki Hut… and I forgot to mention that there’ll be a few Tiki themed watercolors… (I’ll post those tomorrow). Aloha!
