Remember My Trip to Hawaii? Well, Here's the Post!

A Day at the Beach

I'm learning that in the world of blogging, doing is better than thinking.  The perfectionist in me keeps wanting to post things in the order they happen, as they happen, with pretty pictures and everything.  But let's face it, I'm busy and new at this whole blogging thing.  My trip to Oahu was in March and I've held off on posting about my garden because I wanted to get this one done first!  Shame on me.  From now on, I'm not going to be a perfectionist about fromseedtostomach!






Oahu was amazing.  It was my first time to Hawaii.  One of my best  friends from college moved there a few years ago shortly after marrying a naval officer who got orders that sent them both to paradise.  I had an open invite, a place to stay, and a best friend to visit and it took me like 3 years to finally take Laura (on the right in this picture) and her husband Will, up on their awesome offer!  When Laura was asking me about what I wanted to see/do while in town, I told her that all I cared about was checking out the local farmers markets, eating lots of tropical food, and sticking to my budget!

The Farmers' Market was awesome.  I took too many pictures to post here, but you can check them out on flickr.  There's a set for the farmers market and a set for Oahu.

In Hawaii, I fell in love with papaya.  Sure I had eaten papaya before, but never in a smoothie or with Greek yogurt.  I couldn't (and still can't) get enough of this delicious candy-like fruit!  I know it has to travel great distances to get to my plate, so I've tried to keep that in mind and not go overboard, but they're SO tempting!

My appreciation for flowers also skyrocketed as I saw all kinds of beautiful flowers I had never even imagined, let alone seen in real life!  I took so many pictures of gorgeous flowers that I made a set just for flowers on my flickr photostream!

So what did we buy?  Thought you'd never ask!  I got an amazing Land of Organica organic mango sorbet.  Laura introduced me to spicy pickles from the pickle man and picked up a few jars of amazing pickles.  We both tried corn sprouts for the first time and I bought a bag that I never did anything with!  I fell in love with Taro Salad from Taro Delight (where the taro farmer told me all about taro!).  Laura got some beets that we roasted and tossed with goat feta and mixed greens in delicious salad for dinner that night!  Oh, and Laura got a lavender scone (I thought that sounded nuts, but it was SOOO good!).

Alii Kula Lavender Booth

While the KCC Farmers Market was certainly a major highlight of my trip, I would be remiss not to mention the amazing cookies from Honolulu Cookie Company.  I've never been a huge fan of shortbread, but I sampled every cookie at least once.  I think my favorite was the lilikoi (passion fruit)!  So yummy.  Oh, and I got to see some family in Oahu, too.  My step-aunt and her family moved out there a few years ago and I felt so lucky to get to try Aunt Lynn's Okinawa Sweet Potato Pie and her lilikoi jam!

Oh, and I can't write a post about Hawaii without mentioning the shaved ice.  You can bet I ate that at least 3 times... with the condensed milk and the sweet azuki beans and tropical flavors every time!  I almost forgot to mention the KONA COFFEE!  I don't consider myself to be a coffee connoisseur at all, but there's no denying that Kona Coffee is some of the best coffee on the planet!

I can't finish this post without airing one grievance.  When I started planning my trip, I had visions of roadside produce stands selling pineapples, coconuts, and mangoes.  I was REALLY disappointed that I had to go out of my way to find all the stuff that the fertile land in Oahu bears, especially when there were plate lunch trucks pushing steak plates on every other corner!  Gross.

PS: Pineapples grow in bushes on the ground, not in trees!  (Can you tell that was news to me when we drove past the Dole Plantation on the way to the North Shore?)