Mari & Ilna-you're the best.
McRollers-thanks for reading.
And the Winner Is… (1/1)
"Would you please tell me again how I got roped into this fiasco?" Danny huffed as he sat at a picnic table in front of Kamekona's shrimp truck.
"It's simple." Steve adjusted his sunglasses and smirked. "Angie has you wrapped around her little finger and when she invites you somewhere, you never ask questions."
"I was invited to lunch," Danny argued. "That was false advertising. THIS is not lunch."
Steve looked up and saw Angie, DJ, Catherine and Kamekona approaching with several large trays containing different ingredients. "No problem. Just look Angie in the eyes and tell her you don't want to try the tasting menu with her and you're going home."
"Maybe I will," Danny countered in what both he and Steve knew was the emptiest threat of all time.
"We have all the things," Angie exclaimed excitedly as she carefully carried a loaf of bread with both hands. "We're gonna find the very, very best sam-wich to put in my lunch box."
The happy little girl placed the bread on the table, crawled up on the bench next to Danno, and perched on her knees so she could see all of her options better.
"This is gonna be so fun!" she bubbled.
"Uncle Danno has something to tell you," Steve told his daughter.
Angie beamed at her beloved uncle and godfather expectantly. "What?"
He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I just wanted to tell you thank you for inviting me."
Steve looked at his partner and barked a laugh. "I think we should start with peanut butter and pineapple."
By the time Kamekona had gone over all of the ingredients on the trays in the center of the table Joseph and Elizabeth had arrived to join the tasting.
"We doin' Kamekona's first," Angie told them excitedly. "It's peanut butter and pineapple."
"This tastes best on my mama's sweet bread," Kamekona said as he sliced the loaf he had baked just a few hours earlier.
"I don't care how good the bread is," Danny grumbled. "Nothing can save this abomination."
"I like lots of peanut butter," Angie reminded her mother as Catherine took some bread from Kamekona and began to construct the first sandwich.
"Make sure you put on plenty of pineapple," Kamekona directed as he slathered peanut butter on a slice of bread.
Catherine covered the peanut butter with chunks of fresh pineapple, topped the sandwich with a second piece of bread, then cut it into fours.
Angie's eyes sparkled as she eyed the plate.
"Here's one for you," she said as she passed the first quarter to Danny before taking the second for herself.
She waited, bouncing with excitement, until everyone had a piece of the sandwich in hand then grinned and said, "One, two, three, taste!"
After chewing for a few seconds she nodded her head. "That's very, very good! Do you like it, DJ?"
"It's different," her brother said diplomatically.
Angie looked at the piece of sandwich in Danny's hand. "You only took a little bite," she said.
"I'm trying to save room," he explained. "I know we have a lot to taste."
"You have to try a real bite," she insisted. "Mommy and daddy say it's ok if you don't like something, but the only way to know is to take a real bite."
She looked at him expectantly.
"That's the rule," Steve said, barely able to contain his laughter. "You have to take a real bite."
Danny glared at his best friend then reluctantly took a larger bite. "Pineapple belongs in fruit salad," he said with a grimace. "Not on a sandwich."
"Don't listen to him, keiki," Kamekona said. "He wouldn't know good food if it bit him on the nose."
"I know you don't put fruit on a sandwich," Danny shot back.
"What about jelly?" DJ asked. "That's kind of the same thing as fruit. And you made me and Angie peanut butter and jelly sandwiches last time we were at your house for lunch."
Danny shook his head. "That was different. Jelly is…well it's not pineapple."
The others at the table looked at him skeptically.
"And besides," he said to DJ. "When did you get smart enough to start making those connections? You're just like your mother."
DJ puffed his chest out proudly. "Thanks!"
"This is good but it needs some pickles," Angie said as she tasted John's favorite sandwich, potato salad with barbecue sauce. "Can you put some on please?" she asked as she held the sandwich out towards her grandmother.
"If that's what you want." Elizabeth wrinkled her nose slightly as she lifted the bread and added several pickles. "There are already pickles in the potato salad though."
Angie shook her head. "Not enough of dem." She took a bite of the sandwich and smiled with approval. "That's better. It's very, very nummy."
"It's actually not bad," Joseph agreed as he popped the last bite of his piece in his mouth.
Steve nodded. "I could definitely eat a whole sandwich of that."
"You're not normal," Danny groused. "None of you."
"I honestly thought this was going to be gross, but it's really good," Catherine said as she tasted Jess's suggestion of cottage cheese with 1,000 island dressing. "I bet it would be good with raspberry vinaigrette too."
"It's good on a plate, plain, the way the good people at Breakstone's intended," Danny growled.
"Actually," Catherine's eyes sparkled with mischief, "Breakstone's makes cottage cheese with fruit in it. It's really good."
Danny dropped his chin to his chest. "Why can't you people ever let me win?"
"Me and grandpa tried pickles and mayo-nnaise for lunch the other day at their house," Angie told the others. "But we're gonna try it again because not everybody was there that day."
Danny reluctantly took a bite. "I think this is the least gross thing we've tried so far," he said. "It feels like a normal sandwich where someone just forgot to add meat and cheese."
Angie narrowed her eyes in thought for a minute then looked at Kamekona. "Remember that meat you cook us when we come here for breakfast?" she asked him excitedly.
He smiled. "You mean SPAM?"
"Yes!" She clapped her hands excitedly. "Can I get some of that please?"
Danny made a slashing motion across his throat, practically begging Kamekona to say no.
"Of course you can, keiki," the big man beamed. "Let me go grab you some."
"This is good," Angie said as she took a bite of the SPAM, mayo, and pickle sandwich. "But not very, very good."
"What do you think would make it better?" DJ asked.
Angie wrinkled her nose and looked at the array of ingredients left on the table in front of her. "Wait a minute!" She clapped her hands together. "Could you make a sam-wich with peanut butter, SPAM and pickles?" she asked Kamekona.
"I sure can," he said eagerly.
"Do you see what you've done?" Danny looked at Steve. "She gets this from you."
Steve shrugged. "She's an adventurous eater. Nothing wrong with that."
Danny looked at DJ. "You still like regular stuff, right? Peanut butter and jelly? Ham and cheese? Tuna salad?"
DJ nodded. "Peanut butter and jelly is my favorite. But sometimes Angie gives me a taste of things she invented and they're pretty good."
Danny shook his head ruefully. "Resist, young Jedi. You're my last hope."
Kamekona finished making the sandwich, cut it in quarters, and gave one to Angie. She took a big bite and her eyes lit up immediately.
"This is very, very delish-us. Try it, mommy. I think this is what I want in my lunchbox on the first day of school."
"You'll be one of a kind, keiki," Kamekona said with a happy belly laugh.
Steve dropped an arm across Catherine's shoulders. "Might as well let them see the real her right from day one."
THE END
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