Despite Global Warming’s attempts at maintaining a perpetual summer, it seems winter is upon us. It may be bleak and freezing outside, but I’ve got a game and a dessert that will transport you to a beautiful tropical island. Gamehouse’s Aloha Tripeaks is a fun and simple Hawaiian-themed card game, and my tasty mango bread recipe is a delectable luau treat that will remind you of the warmth and fun of summer, even if just for an hour or so.

Your Delightful Game:

Aloha Tripeaks is a great game to get you through a cold winter. In your hot air balloon, you take a trip over the Hawaiian Islands, stopping at volcanoes along the way to play through the five stages that comprise every level. Each new stage offers varied card layout and design, as well as a new tropical background.

The game is easy to pick up and pretty addicting. The concept is simple: the cards are dealt out – some face down, some face up – and you must use them to build upon your discard pile. You can build the deck both forward and backward by selecting available cards on the board, and unlike solitaire, colors and suits don’t matter. If you can’t use any of the available cards, you can get new cards from the draw pile until you find a usable one. Believe it or not, this game does involve a bit of strategy, or at least a bit of thinking. You don’t want to just throw cards down willy-nilly, you want to try and think ahead – use the top card on a pile which will reveal what’s underneath, or build up and down a few times, if possible, rather than building straight up or down the chain.

The first four stages in each level are played normally, while the fifth stage is a slightly altered challenge stage. In this stage you’re given three discard piles and you build on each of them, giving you more options, but also requiring you to be more careful because there is no draw pile. The game has two play modes, normal and challenge. The main difference is that in normal mode you can loop from Ace to King and in challenge mode you can’t.

Two types of bonus abilities, “fans” and “reveals,” appear on cards throughout the deck, and are only usable if you are able to continue the chain and build upon them in the discard pile. Fan cards allow you to remove any card, blowing it away as if caught in the ocean breeze. Reveal cards turn the entire board face-up, but only until your next turn. These cards are cached on the lower right side of the screen and can be used at any time, but can be particularly useful once you’ve run out of moves. To complete each game you must restack the entire deck, and if you’re left with just a few cards on the board, the fan cards especially can help you out.

Additionally, throughout the game you’re given bits of trivia about Hawaii and its volcanoes. You’ll learn that movies like “Jurassic Park,” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” were filmed around Mount Wai’ale’ale on Kauai, and the average rainfall on the mountain over a 32 year period was 460 inches, the second-highest in the world. After a few levels of this game you’ll be able to impress people at parties with all your impressive knowledge of random Hawaiian-related facts.

The graphics in the game are simple and tranquil. Often the cards are dealt on the backdrop of a sandy beach, bordered by aquatic sand etchings or brightly-colored hibiscus flowers and seashells. There’s no audio other than the soft sound of waves washing on and off the shore. The atmosphere the game provides is serene and calming, the perfect way to end a stressful winter day.

Your Tasty Dinner:

This game is sure to stave off the winter blues and put you in a summer mindset. But in case the snow outside is still throwing you off, I’ve got a tasty Hawaiian dessert that’ll help you forget about braving the freezing temperatures and think instead about relaxing on a beach under the glow of the warm summer sun. This mango bread is a fruity and tropical Hawaiian luau treat.

You’ll need:

- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ¼ cups white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cups vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 ripe mangoes, peeled and chopped
- ½ cup raisins
- ½ cup shredded coconut
- ½ cup macadamia nuts (you can substitute walnuts, pecans or almonds, if you don’t have macadamias)

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two loaf pans.
2. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a bowl.
3. In another large bowl mix eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Add flour mixture and stir until evenly combined.
4. Fold in mangoes, raisins, coconut, and macadamia nuts until evenly combined.
5. Pour into loaf pans and bake 50 to 60 minutes. You can check for doneness by sticking a toothpick in the center of each loaf – if it comes out clean, you’re ready to go.
6. Let cool a few minutes and then remove bread from loaf pans and let cool.
7. Throw on your swimsuit and a pair of shorts, put on you sunglasses, and enjoy this summer treat!