Sundays in Pahoa are Farmers Market day - with a HUGE one popping up along the highway. It features farm grown fruits and veggies (mostly), lots of plants, flea market fare, and a lot of ready to eat foods. After stocking up on berries and fruits and veggies and roots, we took my parents advice and searched out 'the crepe place'.
One year ago, on Father's day last year, my parents and sister stopped at the Maku'u Farmers Market outside Pahoa on their way into Hilo for our wedding. Like everywhere he goes, my Dad found fast friends and a new 'Auntie' amidst the vendors. He has a way about him that is so open and joyful that people gravitate toward him and easily open up and talk with him. It's something I really admire about him - a gift that seems to come so easily to him, and is something I have to work at more than I'd like. He's so easy to talk to, and makes those around him laugh and smile instantly.
While at the market last year, for breakfast, they had crepes that they still rave about to this day. When I called this morning to wish my Dad a happy Father's Day, my folks urged us to get a crepe while at the market. How could I refuse my Dad's suggestion on Father's Day?
So we found the crepe place: a stand run by a soft-spoken woman who makes crepes at record speed, stuffed full of savory or sweet delights. Although the Greek was strongly suggested, we opted for a Polish sausage crepe, which also had cheese, spinach, tomatoes, and a cream sauce inside. It was as delicious as my folks said. So the next time you're in Pahoa on a Sunday, take my Dad's advice and get a crepe at the farmers market. And grab one of the $1 lemonades to wash it down. You'll be glad you did. (Just don't try to take a picture of one - because they give off an angelic glow, at least in the noonday sun).
One of the items we picked up at the market were Poha Berries - also known as Cape Gooseberries. Oddly enough, they're a relative of the tomatillo, and also grow inside a papery pod. They have a sweet/sour taste, with a definite hint of tomato flavor, too, like a sweet/sour cherry tomato. They're spherical, golden in color, and about 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter. When I saw them, I knew just what I wanted to do with them: make breakfast muffins, of course.
It's been a week without my precious breakfast muffins, and I can't go any longer. So when we got home from the market (we also stopped at Malama for some flour and baking powder and other provisions), I got to work making a batch of breakfast muffins featuring poha berries and banana.
Poha berries are traditionally used for jams, in salads, and as a glaze for pork... but I figure if it's a berry, it should be pretty good in a muffin. We'll find out tomorrow morning if they're any good.
Dan's been craving pizza, so for dinner I made one featuring locally grown red onion, garlic, and peppers, plus some prosciutto.
It definitely hit the spot, and kept us satiated while we watched a marathon of Man vs. Food on Travel Channel. One of the episodes was about the 12 egg omelet at Beth's Cafe in Seattle, and when the host said something about putting the EAT in SEATTLE (with those words on the screen), it suddenly hit me that SEATTLE and LET'S EAT are anagrams. Why I never realized this, and why the Bite of Seattle isn't called Let's Eat Seattle, I don't know... but I feel compelled to do something creative with this new found knowledge. Just not sure what yet.
After dinner, we chowed on a few of the 2 lbs of lychee we bought at the market today. It was Dan's first lychee experience, and seemed a good one.
They're a peculiar little fruit, encased in a hard, bumpy red shell that, when opened, reveals a fruit about the size and texture of an eyeball, that tastes like a peeled grape. Like dragonfruit, it's a mild flavor, and would make a good palette cleanser.
(Dan's writing all about our trip over at our other blog, The Dans In Hawai`i, so I'll just stick to writing what I know: food.)
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