• Exotic Wedding Recipes

    If you’re looking to get married in a beautiful place, where you can start your “happily ever after” in a dreamy location, look no further than Hawai‘i Island. Tropical breezes, stunning sunsets, lush, green rainforests, waterfalls, beaches, and mountain backdrops…Hawai‘i…

  • The Joys of the Season

    By Sonia R. Martinez From Thanksgiving until the end of December is the perfect time of year to open your home for entertaining. Your house will be showing its best side by already being decorated and ready for the festive…

  • Plainly Vanilla

    By Sonia R. Martinez The term ‘vanilla’ is used commonly as a synonym meaning plain or basic. Nothing is further from the truth! Vanilla is a rich and complex ‘spice’ used in almost all parts of the world. Vanilla originated…

  • Coffee Time

    By Sonia R. Martinez Hawai‘i Island has been known for coffee for many years, and in the last 10 or so, several ‘new’ areas of our island have become award-winning coffee growing regions. Our island is also growing vanilla beans…

  • Passionately Yours: Liliko‘i

    By Sonia R. Martinez There are many varieties of Passion Fruit (Passiflora edulis), or as we know it in the islands, liliko‘i. The most commonly used in Hawai‘i is the yellow fruit (flavicarpa). A less common variety also seen in…

  • Bok Choy

    By Sonia R. Martinez Bok choy (Chinese cabbage or pak choi as it is sometimes called) is one of those veggies we are able to find year-round in most of our island farmers markets. Brassica chinensis, the scientific name of…

  • Chocolate: Food of the Gods

    By Sonia R. Martinez One of the perks of living in Hawai‘i is we can grow our own chocolate. Yes! Chocolate is made from cacao, and cacao trees grow very well on our island paradise. When strolling through the farmers…

  • The Pineapple: A Symbol of Hospitality

    By Sonia R. Martinez Although the pineapple has long been associated with Hawai‘i, they are actually recent malihini (of foreign origin) residents of the islands. Pineapples (Anana comosus) are thought to have originated in Paraguay or Brazil and were used…

  • Island Tropical Fruitcake

    By Sonia R. Martinez Fruit cake (or fruitcake) is traditionally a dark and dense cake made with chopped candied or dried fruit, nuts and spices, and usually wrapped in linen and soaked in spirits for several weeks. Comedians have made fun of…

  • The Avocado

    By Sonia R. Martinez As you visit the different farmers markets around the island, you will find avocadoes being sold in all of them during season. This is because although Kona’s terrain is known to be suited best for growing…

  • Mangoes

    By Sonia R. Martinez The mango (Mangifera indica), a native of Southeast Asia and India is a member of the Anacardiaceae family, which includes cashews, pistachios, poison ivy, and poison oak.  The tree was transported to the Philippines and other Pacific…

  • Ginger

    By Sonia R. Martinez If I had to guess what item is bought most often at any of our Hawai‘i Island farmer’s markets, I would say, fresh ginger. Although edible ginger (Zingiber officionale) is found today growing in many tropical…

  • Heart of Palm

    By Sonia R. Martinez One item often missing in most farmers’ markets is the heart of palm, so when you find it, it’s like striking gold. You can harvest heart of palm from any kind of palm tree, including the…