10 Weeks 10 Dates #4: Aloha Kaua

Steve and I started throwing theme parties together just a couple of months into our relationship, and anyone who knows us knows how much we enjoy putting together a completely themed night. So when we reviewed the dates on Hot Date Ideas and saw the Polynesian Luau themed date, we knew we'd found a winner!

We are lucky that our local grocery store carries beer from Kona Brewing Company, as well as having Kona Coffee (albeit under the brand name "Southern Home"). We were able to plan our menu with only one [slightly] out of the way stop at the liquor store for the rums and Triple Sec needed to mix Mai Tais. I was, as usual, in charge of food and decided on smoked pork shoulder with a brown sugar glaze and pineapple and maraschino cherry accents. We also threw in some sweet rolls from King's Hawaiian bakery—again, and thankfully, found at our local grocery store.

Food taken care of, it was up to Steve to deal with the drinks—or at least, the Mai Tais. Although not the most difficult drink he has ever made, there are a lot of ingredients in a Mai Tai and they certainly gave his famous mixing abilities a slight challenge. And we chose one of the easier recipes! Google offered up some real doozies when I did a search, including syrups and extracts of things that we'd never even heard of. Steve wanted to try the recipes that included, say, orgeat — but I was able to convince him that we probably couldn't find that in our little corner of the country.

Of course, that led us to research what, exactly, orgeat was — that being a syrup made with almonds, sugar, and either rose or orange flower water. I sweetly refused to try to find the ingredients and spend the time making said syrup, especially after cooking the pork shoulder for three hours, but at least we learned something while putting this date together, right?

Normally Steve isn't much of a Hawaiian shirt guy, but for our Polynesian night he donned one and even accented it with a lei to surprise me. I did my best to dress the part too, and although the flower in my hair and the lei around my neck were fake and therefore not authentic, I had fun with my flowy white dress! Usually when we hang out at home, be it weekday or weekend, we laze around in shorts and t-shirts, so I think having a reason to dress up a bit—and actually doing so, even though we were doing a date at our house—added to the romance of the night.

Steve mixed a couple Mai Tais, we feasted on our Hawaiian pork and rolls (and threw in some beans and potato salad for good measure—maybe not themed, but meat and bread alone aren’t much of a dinner), and then we held our own little mini beer tasting! We had picked up three different types of Kona Brewing Company beer—their Pale Ale, their Longboard Lager, and Wailua Wheat. The verdict? The Pale Ale was a bit bitter for our tastes, but the Lager was good and the Wailua Wheat was amazing. We aren't exactly beer aficionados, but having this little tasting certainly made our night that much more interesting.

And maybe it was the balmy weather that night, or our bellies full of a great home-cooked meal, or the slight passion fruit flavor of the Wailua Wheat, or the fact that we were relaxing in our own home but still dressed for going out...but this homestyle Polynesian Luau was just the ticket for us: a lazy summer night that was all at once fun, different, and romantic.

The one part of our Polynesian Luau date that didn't go quite right was the music. Although we tried finding some Hawaiian and Polynesian music on both last fm and Pandora, we weren't really impressed with what either site offered and in the end we sat on our screened-in porch, enjoyed our Kona beer and talked.

When it was all said and done, our themed night together was definitely the best date we've experienced so far — a solid 10 out of 10! Whether you’re part of a long-time couple who could use a fun but relaxing night together, or part of a new couple and want to show off your cooking and/or drink mixing skills and get to know each other a bit better, this themed night—or any themed night — is a great way to accomplish any of the above. This luau night together may have been a bit quieter than our usual theme parties, but Steve and I enjoyed it all the same and may end up making this something of a tradition!