A Kaua‘i-style New Year’s celebration KAPAHI — New Year’s Day at 2 a.m., Les Gale stood at the kitchen counter grating the last of 32 pounds of sharp cheddar cheese. “She won’t let me buy shredded cheese,” Gale bemoaned the
A Kaua‘i-style New Year’s celebration
KAPAHI — New Year’s Day at 2 a.m., Les Gale stood at the kitchen counter grating the last of 32 pounds of sharp cheddar cheese.
“She won’t let me buy shredded cheese,” Gale bemoaned the next day, referring to his partner, Elaine Valois.
Valois is as renowned for her culinary skills as the couple are for their annual New Year’s Day bash. The annual soiree, which got its start in 2001, draws upwards of 200 guests to the small kitchen in Kapahi.
“The first year we had around 40 friends,” said Valois, as she tossed a giant bowl of fresh spinach leaves with her hands. “I don’t know where they all come from.”
Tuesday was no exception, as dozens of friends streamed into the yard to usher in 2008 in spite of the persistent mist.
“We were up till 2 a.m. last night and we rose at 6 this morning,” Gale said of the last-minute preparations. Every year the couple spends a week getting the property ready: erecting tents, borrowing tables and chairs — not to mention an abundance of menial cleaning tasks.
At noon the first guests began to arrive. “Time to hide all the evidence of hard work,” Valois said as she gathered four brooms and two mops from the porch corner to tuck behind the water heater in the backyard.
There were three tables beneath the carport packed with potluck dishes brought by friends and acquaintances. From simple shredded carrot salads to marzipan-filled fresh baked bread, a chocolate fondue fountain and raspberry-studded cheesecakes.
Every year the selection changes, but one dish guests can always count on is Valois’ famed Santa Fe soufflé.
“John Wayne soufflé is what some call it,” Valois said. “John Wayne always married Mexican women and this was from one of his wives, I’m told.”
Each tray of soufflé has 8 pounds of cheese and two dozen eggs. The first tray goes on the table at noon and empties within the hour.
“We make four trays of the soufflé and four of crab and spinach raviolis,” Valois said.
Valois is the captain of this grand event and barely pauses to eat until a friend appears in the kitchen with a plate full of food. Valois takes it hungrily and eats quickly. Guests ask where to find a toothpick or a cheese knife, and Valois gracefully directs the festivities between bites.
It should come as no surprise this octogenarian has a history of choreography. Even with a spatula and wooden spoon in hand, her dancer’s poise is evident.
While it’s true that Valois is abuzz with energy and organization, she is fortunate to have plenty of assistants the day of the party and the week leading up to it.
Valois insists on fresh squeezed juice for her guests. “We had three or four people here yesterday cutting up the tangelos, juicing them and then cleaning up afterwards. We made 16 gallons of juice,” she said, referring to the group as her “main-squeeze club.”
Guests cycled through the kitchen to warm dishes in the oven or to wash a few dishes or carry a full bin of garbage out.
“Every year I say it will be the last,” she said. “I don’t know what happens — I say no, and friends just laugh and say, ‘After you’re dead, Elaine, we’ll still show up.’”
• Pam Woolway, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681, ext. 257 or pwoolway@kauaipubco.com
