What a great "Island Plate" signing session we had at Kapi'olani Farmers Market on April 19 and how much I'm looking forward to the next one, 7:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday.

When I see how much the market has grown both in size and sophistication, I am very heartened: Hundreds of people do care about Hawai'i agriculture, about eating local and fresh, about variety and quality in their diets. (And about noshing on delicious things like Bernadette Dicus' piping hot beignets stuffed with caramel. A beignet is a Louisiana malassada.)

And I'll tell you something: If you grab a bench and sit up front, where people enter the market area, you'll eventually see every human being you know and half your aunties and cousins. I spent as much time hugging old friends and catching up as I did signing books.

And how people love to wala'au about food! One man spent a good 15 minutes talking about his young days in New Jersey, I think it was, where he learned to make thin-crust pizza. He claims pizza dough is the easiest thing there is; he says the secret is to brush it lightly with olive oil to prevent moisture in ingredients from sinking into the dough and making it soggy during baking. (Good suggestions, but the real problem is replicating the heat and humidity of a commercial pizza oven or wood-burning stove when you're using a regular home oven.)

A repeat customer asked if I could find out how to make gee ma look fun (black sesame noodles). A woman who used to run a large farmers market stopped by to talk about the relationship between food and love. (Look for my story on mothers and food in our special Mother's Day section, Friday.) Had a fascinating conversation with an anthropologist from the University of Hawai'i who is interested in food history, about whether saimin is Chinese or Japanese.

Another man quipped that he'll send me his recipe for boiling water. "Great," I said, "I've been having trouble figuring that out." (That very day, I scorched something I was making over a double boiler, so there is something to be said for knowing how to boil water; or how NOT to.)

People are so generous. As the day waned, Jeanne Vana of Big Wave tomatoes brought over some homemade mozzarella and what she called "the family tomatoes" (the ones that were a little too soft to sell, but still delicious). I used them with a salad I was testing for "The Island Plate II," which will be released in the fall.

People gave me solid ideas for cookbooks to write. (I'm not telling: There's competition out there.)

And reader Barbara Alama gifted me with a copy of "Gail Wong's Authentic Chinese Recipes" published in 1954, which contained just the hint I needed for another recipe I'm developing. What a treasure! And if I ever need to know how to stew a pig's stomach or roast a pig heart, I've got the 4-1-1.

If you'd like a copy of "The Island Plate: 150 Years of Recipes and Food Lore From The Honolulu Advertiser," ($20) drop by Saturday and I'll sign it for you.

Send recipes and queries to Wanda A. Adams, Food Editor, Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802. Fax: 525-8055. E-mail: wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.

For more information about our 150th anniversary cookbook, call 535-8189 (message phone; your call will be returned). You can order the cookbook online.