Hawai'i

I'm just back from our honeymoon in Maui, Hawai'i. Wow, what a beautiful place! We drove all over the island and saw everything! Beaches all over the island, tropical fish and sharks at the Maui Ocean Center, old plantation cum surfing towns including Pa'ia where we stayed, Haleakala- a volcanic crater at 10,000 meters above sea level, waterfalls, rain forest and black sand beaches along the Road to Hana. Incredible. The stories of the laid back hospitality of Hawaiians is true too- cars would stop on the road for us to pull out of a parking spot for example. C'mon, does that ever happen here?

BUT, I am here to talk about food. And brudda, did we eat some fantastic food. Here is a "slide show" of the highlights for you- click for a larger photo. No recipes this time (although those will probably come later when I start trying to recreate some of the things we ate)- these pics are just to get your mojo going.

1. Coconut, Mango, Pineapple, Macadamia Nut Cookies at Hula Cookies
2. Remember the game POGs in the '90's? This juice is where they started
3. Fruit stand in Keanae off of the road to Hana- best banana bread ever. It was still warm.

1. Pizza at Flatbread Co. in Pa'ia. Kulua pig (pig cooked underground for hours- falls apart like pulled pork), pineapple, goat cheese, BBQ sauce. So so good
2. Fruit stand on the road to Hana at the entrance to the Twin Falls
3. Stairs up to Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant on the ocean in Lahaina where my husband had a cheeseburger, fries, and a beer for breakfast. At 10 am.

1. Hali'imaile General Store restaurant. Listed as the best restaurant in Maui's Upcountry. Very good
2. Tyler's dinner at Hali'imaile- Braised Short Ribs and Truffled Mac n' Cheese. Best mac and cheese I've ever tasted.
3. My dinner at Hali'imaile- Macadamia Nut-crusted Mahimahi with Tropical Fruit Salsa, Passionfruit Butter Sauce, Coconut Mashed Sweet Potato (sweet potatoes are purple in Hawaii!), garnished with fried sweet potato

1. Feeding the goats at Surfing Goat Dairy where they make the most amazing goat cheese. And where I was inspired to have a goat farm some day :)
2. Sign for Mama's Fish House Restaurant. We stayed at the Inn at Mama's Fish House and it was fantastic.
3. Appetizer of Tempura Shrimp with Macadamia Nut Dipping Sauce at Mama's Fish House

1. My meal at Mama's Fish House. Opakapaka (sea bass) sauteed in white wine, garlic, capers, tomatoes.
2. Tyler's meal at Mama's Fish House. Mahimahi stuffed with crab and lobster with a pineapple sauce.
3. Dessert at Mama's Fish House called the Polynesian Black Pearl. It's Chocolate Mousse with a Passionfruit Cream center in a pastry/cookie shell. Stunning and delicious.

1. Tray in our room with bananas, papaya, banana bread, Kona coffee, and a lime. Made yummy smoothies for breakfast with the fruit
2. Beef burger at Ulupalakua Ranch
3. Grilled squash with honey and feta at Ulupalakua Ranch