Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Oh you all are lucky! At our local farmer's market prepared foods are only allowed if they are pre-packaged and have a health dept. approved nutrition label. Needless to say, it kills the vibe and the inspiration as this is a tiny place.

Does anyone have any idea how I might get the city council to approve the kind of vendor stands you all have? Thanks!

As many know, it's not that meat doesn't taste good, it's that it's FLESH. Some people are not into eating FLESH, considering it a revolting practice. Human flesh is supposedly divine when it's roasted up, why aren't we eating that? It's just exactly the same thing. Tastebuds are very easily entertained by flavor - all junk food being a case in point. And how then, can vegetarians not judge meat-eaters? Respect and unconditional love over-rides judgement among the educated.

Swank chignon on the little girl!

Just remembered the farmers markets. I lived on the north shore for a while so am more familiar with those. Don't know about the Waimea side markets. Kapa'a has a wonderful Wed.market in the parking lot of a kid's ballpark. Odd hours though, I forget when - 2pm or something like that. Tuesday, 2pm, is my favorite in Hanalei on the north shore. Thursday is the first (and best) of two markets in Kilauea, again on the north shore. It's in the parking lot near the Kilauea Bakery. *Lighthouse Bistro next door? Very, very pleh. Saturday morning is the second Kilauea market, next to the post office.

The markets there are very, very basic, but there is always some suprise or another. Be sure to have a Young coconut, if you never have, and eat the meat after you've drunk the water. I could live on those.

My adopted grandparents were Polish farmers in upstate New York and they made their own blood sausage which I had to be coerced into trying as a child. But I was shocked at how delicious it was, and how complex it tasted, even to an eight year old palate, heh. It was probably the experience that shaped my acceptance of all other 'odd' food. Ironic because of course, now I'm a vegetarian, also influenced by my experiences on the farm. A few years later, after the blood sausage, they thought it would be a great idea to take me, a 12 year old 'city' girl, to the slaughterhouse. Not. Hence, tofu, tempeh and an entire other world of 'odd' food!

I like a lightly toasted bagel with cream cheese and lox, a cup of tea with homemade almond milk and a glass of fresh orange and pink grapefruit juice mixed. I also LOVE fresh rugelach!

I'm vegetarian now, but my fondest childhood memories of the Thanksgiving sandwich made of leftovers was always plain and simple turkey salad made with all the leftover shreds of light and dark meat mixed with Hellman's on toasted homemade whole wheat (mom was a hippie) or rye. Some years there was pumpernickle (she was a German hippie), but it was always the same simple turkey salad. I loved it; after the excessive flavor explosions of the Big Dinner, plain turkey salad on warm toasted bread was like manna, and I looked forward to those leftover's sandwiches as the great day approached!

Pho, fo' sure and then buckwheat soba! I'd love to try some JGV recipes for noodles...wow.

It's true, you both are great on camera! I'd love to see more, ha ha : )

I love your descriptions and your writing! So entertaining. Thank you for sharing your trip!

On Maui, Hanafuda Saimin won a James Beard award, for what that's worth...I'O is a hot, stylish place with produce from its own local, organic farm. Girard's is pricey and super-nice, uses mostly organic and is considered the best food by a chef friend of mine. Roy Yamaguchi has Roy's for the best fish. Des Amis in Paia, Maui has great tasting savory crepe meals for under 10$ and Hailemaile General Store also won a JB award years ago, though when I ate there, my food was cold, bland and carelessly prepared though I loved the restaurant ambiance. Have fun!

What you pay for your food is a question more of prioity than cost. Healthy food is so much cheaper than the big bags of candy and chips I see the people on food stamps buying to go with the stack of videos they've rented for the night to watch on their big screen tv with their 3 children. Don't have three children, or even one, if you can't afford to feed even yourself healthy food.

The point is, people CAN afford to pay for healthy food. They just choose not to. The ones who complain about it being too expensive are just not yet aware of how valuable their health is. Also, shopping the local farmers markets is totally comparable to prices at the local shopping center. Of course, factory farmed food is super cheap, because it's subsidized by the government. If it wasn't subsidized to keep the prices artificially low, deluding the public into buying it, you'd be paying the same price as the health food. Cut to the chase and pay for the health benefits up front. Your body and your taste buds will thank you. And it is far cheaper than the cancer that cheap 'food' is certain to give you 20 years from now.