• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Great Eight Friends
  • Gr8 Food ∞
    • Appetizers
      • Dips and Spreads
    • Beverages
      • Adult Beverages
      • Non-Alcoholic Drinks
    • Bread
      • Quick Bread
      • Yeast Bread
    • Breakfast and Brunch
      • Egg Dishes
    • Desserts and Snacks
      • Cakes and Cupcakes
      • Candy and Confections
      • Cookies
      • Fruit
      • Pies and Tarts
      • Snacks
    • Instant Pot Recipes
    • 130+ Main Courses
      • Beef
      • Fish
      • Lamb
      • Meatless
      • Pork
      • Poultry
    • Salads and Dressings
    • Sauces Salsas Marinades
    • Side Dishes
      • Pasta
      • Potatoes
      • Rice and Grains
      • Vegetables
    • Soup
  • Gr8 Friends ∞
    • Gr8 Dinners
    • Gr8 Holiday Ideas
    • Other Occasion Parties
  • Gr8 Fun ∞
    • Debbie's Craft Corner
    • Gr8 Trips
      • Field Trips
      • Vacations
    • Other Gr8 Stuff
      • Our Favorite Kitchen Tools
    • Restaurant Reviews
  • Who We Are
    • GR8 Party Outlines
    • Become a Gr8 Friend!
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Become a Gr8 Friend!
  • Main Courses
  • Appetizers
  • Beverages
  • Bread
  • Breakfast and Brunch
  • Desserts and Snacks
  • Instant Pot Recipes
  • Salads and Dressings
  • Sauces Salsas Marinades
  • Side Dishes
  • Soup
  • Gr8 Friends
  • Gr8 Dinners
  • Gr8 Fun
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Our Backyard Hawaiian Luau

    June 6, 2020 by Kyle Leave a Comment

    Here I am today in 2020 reminiscing about my Gr8 dinner party 15 years ago. In 2005 we had just finished installing a pool and it seemed obvious that we would want to entertain our Gr8 friends in our newly tropical landscaped backyard. A perfect setting for a Backyard Hawaiian Luau! 

    Eight people posing with grass skirts and leis on at a Luau dinner party.

    The backdrop was set and the planning began. After deciding our menu, I created the invitations.

    I found three ceramic vases at a local craft store and by adding a tropical looking fern and the menu, I was able to deliver simple invitations.

    Hawaiian Luau dinner party invite on paper included with a fern in a ceramic vase with a fern leaf on it.

    Planning the table decor is always fun. It is generally my goal to use items that I already have or borrow what I need. Joel had surprised me with some plastic dishes (no glass allowed around the pool) that were perfect! With some tropical flowers, we were set.

    Place setting using for a Luau dinner party using pineapple plastic plates and orchids as the centerpiece.

    Our Hawaiian Luau Feast

    Often a Luau occurs in celebration of a special occasion such as a wedding. In our case, we celebrate our friendship and there is nothing better than celebrating with food and drink!

    We started our feast with fresh ahi poke.

    Large bowl of ahi poke with another bowl of brown rice.

    We also enjoyed Debbie's delicious Slow Cooker Hawaiian Style Meatballs.

    Platter of Hawaiian style meatballs garnished with parsley.

    I was excited for my friends to try one of my favorite new recipes, Papaya and Avocado Salad.

    Papaya and Avocado Salad served on a blue and white plate with butter lettuce and poppyseed dressing drizzled on top.

    Attempting to make the evening as authentic as possible, Joel decided that he wanted to cook a whole pig.

    A Hawaiian style Luau would normally cook a pig in a hole in the ground. Well, we did not want to dig a hole in our new backyard (is that even legal here?), so second best was to roast it on a spit on the grill.

    This was a big surprise for our Gr8 Friends. A real showstopper!

    Whole pig roasting on a spit over the barbecue grill.

    Honestly I was not interested in this project 🙂 and left it completely up to Joel. Although he had fun with it he underestimated the time it would take to completely cook.

    The pig was not done in time for dinner. Good thing I had my version of Kalua Pig cooking in the crock pot as a "just in case" back-up!

    A man posing with a whole pig in the background roasting on a spit on a backyard grill.

    Our final dish was beautiful and sweet! Anna shared her delicious Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

    Individual serving of Pineapple Upside Down Cake with whipped cream and a cherry on the side.

    What would a Hawaiian Luau be without grass skirts?

    A man and woman with leis on a green grass skirts on.

    Good thing our Gr8 Friends are good sports! They had fun learning the hula

    Two women and two men in green grass hula skirts learning the hula dance from two female instructors in flowered skirts.

    from a local instructor.

    Hawaiian hula instructor with a lei around her head.

    Can you remember what year this Gr8 themed dinner party occurred? Your clue is in this photo! 😂

    Two people (one on the phone) with Hawaiian leis at a backyard table set for dinner.
    Nice flip phone Deb 😄

    Aloha Friends!

    « Camp Boomer Cookout
    Hawaiian Pineapple Rice Recipe »

    Reader Interactions

    Be a Gr8 Friend and tell us what you think! Cancel reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Be a Gr8 Friend!

    Talk With Us!

    • Debbie on Layered Vegetable Pâté Recipe
    • Charles Ayash on Layered Vegetable Pâté Recipe
    • Kyle on Easy No Bake Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies
    • Kyle on Warm Spinach Potato Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette
    • wonderfulcook.com on Warm Spinach Potato Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette
    my foodgawker gallery

    Need More Servings?

    Our recipes will do the calculation for you. Just hover over the number of servings then move the slider to the number desired. (Please be aware: this will not change pan or bowl sizes, so you may have to adjust for that.)

    It's Grilling Season!

    ThermoWorks Thermapen Mk4

    Footer

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Our Party Outline

    As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright ©2022 Foodie Pro on the Foodie Pro Theme